Productivity

Yesterday I had to fight with a device that stated it was compatible
with what I put on it, but which had no drivers to support this
claim. I contacted the manufacturer and they told me the same thing,
saying they do release the item with that particular image on it, but
the drivers haven't passed testing so they won't give them to me or
anyone else. (Granted, I could pull them from a working unit, but I
don't have a working unit.) I reimaged it this morning with something
else and couldn't get that to work on it, either, at least, not well.
Further, the drivers they DO have on their site that HAVE passed
testing DO NOT F***ING WORK. I think the thing is possessed. So now
I'm going to try a different approach starting tomorrow.

I am proud of myself, however, for following up with the customer and
explaining the situation even though I was scared to death of talking
to him. Once in the past he chewed me out a bit for something I
wrongly did, which incidentally, I was wrong in doing but only due to
lack of experience. My perfectionistic mind at the time said "That
wasn't very nice of him but yeah, I should have been more careful and
been perfect." It took some doing but I got over that, telling myself
that being new to the situation and all, things like that were bound
to happen and he could be irritated all he wanted, the fact is, I
corrected the situation as soon as I knew and learned from it. That
counts for a lot with most people, including me. This time around he
was already starting in with advice on how I need to do my job, so my
red flags were up and I was trying desperately not to disappoint
again. Unfortunately, no matter what I did, it just was not to be.

So I bit the bullet and called him. After all, I know I've done
everything I can to this point, and it's the professional thing to do
to keep him abreast of the problem. At first he seemed vexed but he
didn't argue or anything, just strongly stated what he needed, which I
agreed with anyway. I think I was being harder on myself than he was,
in fact, although in all truth I'm more irritated with the vendor for
their part in my misery.

This has taught me to be more patient (very very patient), persistent,
and less fearful of disappointing, all good things in my line of work,
especially when I'm not 100% certain that I'm right. Speaking of
which, I need to be more forceful about things! I was chatting with
Dell yesterday about a laptop that wasn't working right. After I
described the problem and did some quick troubleshooting with them,
they announced that it was the LCD and they'd get it replaced. My gut
was telling me it was the motherboard, but I shut up and figured
they'd seen this on this model before despite it making no sense to
me. After all, I don't exactly specialize in hardware. I only tinker
now and again when I have to (or when I'm building). I'm certainly no
expert and can't even effectively argue for or against most circuitry
since I'm limited in my experience. I only know I like Dell's tech
support and that I like their stuff for the most part.

I should have mentioned my concern, though. What I should have said
was, "You know better than I, but... I wonder if it could be the
motherboard myself. Would it be too expensive for you to ship a
motherboard to the tech, as well, just in case it's not the LCD?" But
I said nothing. Maybe they wouldn't have heeded my advice, but it
would have been worth mentioning, at least. I feel like I didn't do
enough to help them help me. The tech comes today and replaces the
LCD. It still didn't work. He says, "I'm not surprised. I'd have
thought it was the motherboard." Him, too? And my colleague? So now
we have to wait longer for another part and take more of his time.
It's under warranty and he gets paid by Dell, but I'm about
efficiency. I hate that I was silent on that. But, this is an
example of me not trusting my own judgement and being afraid to ask.

I am NOT afraid to ask about some things, however. We plan to tear
down our garage in May and replace it with a new shed that's about the
same width, only a bit more shallow. We've also wanted to get a trash
permit to take trash to the dump here in town. So today I got out on
time and stopped into the town office before they closed. I love
small towns: You walk in and very informally say, "I have two
questions, and here they are." Then the clerk (whom I've seen on
multiple occasions since it's a small town) says, "Here are the
answers," and is very friendly and smily and overall just plain helpful.

I love small towns. Did I mention that?

Anywho, so now we've got a trash permit, and information on what to do
to get a permit for tearing down the garage and replacing it with a
shed. Ten years ago I would not have been caught dead asking someone
for information. I'd have hidden behind someone I knew while THEY
asked. Amazing what age, experience, and a bit of self-confidence can
do for some people, huh?

Currently, I'm starving, and I want to study Cherokee before my
class. Dale might be getting me for a creemee, too, so I think I'll
find some water for now and study until he gets home or calls.

Oh yeah, and I read another page of Braille last night. One day I
will read it easily and fluidly, and without looking at all. I think
that day will be this year. Probably soon, in fact. Now that I've
started studying Cherokee and Braille in earnest, I've begun to really
miss learning new things and sticking with things. I'm less
scattered, more focused, and ... well, my brain feels wanted. I think
I'll tackle Gaelic next. It won't be for a while, however. I intend
to have a good working knowledge of Cherokee before I switch
languages, especially since I'm going to take a college class this
fall and also start studying Sharepoint with far more fervor than I
once did.

~nv

Poem: Only Me

ONLY ME
2009042671 - c2009 WLC

The most interesting thing just happened
I was sitting here shifting files around
Moving music
Onto little miniature disks
And I heard this song
And saw you there so clearly

Dressed in black, softly lit
Was your hair
Surrounded by an atmosphere
Of inner peace, tranquility
In your left hand
A dipping pen
Below this, paper
Freshly drawn, so clear
Awaiting for the inspiration
To permeate your being
Relinquish to your soul

I felt a touch as if you felt me
Then the feeling all but faded
I sit here shivering in the night
Eager to speak to you again
But afraid you might not listen
Or that I'd get too close again

So I try to catch these glimpses
And hold them tight lest my past die
God, you're beautiful
If only you could see it
You'd let the world in
And then one day you'd make a difference
You'd understand the world
And embrace it more than hide
It's odd to see you all grown up
Waiting for those words to come to you

I used to think you were my baby
But I think you're only me
I'm not left-handed
But if I looked into a mirror
I would be
Only me

---
"Every problem has a gift for you in its hands." ~Richard Bach

grape dumplings, sorta

On several occasions, Ed (my Cherokee instructor) has told us of grape
dumplings. I finally looked this up tonight and modified the recipe a
bit to suit what I had on hand ... instead of grape juice, for
example, I used pineapple juice and mashed up grapes. I have to say
that this came out better than I'd expected. The result is a mass of
chewy, tasty, boiled dough with an occasional juicy crunch of grape in
it.

Most interesting.

The one issue I've noticed already is that for one or two people, the
recipe needs automatic halving. These things stick to your ribs REAL
quick. However, they are a treat to my palate so this won't be the
last time I'll be making them. I can see a few further modifications
to this...

~nv

Poem - THE INDIAN

THE INDIAN
42009041161 - c2009 wlc

You're just a tiny part of me
Echoing within my blood
A concept made up by own mind
Brushing up against my skin
A hand of reassurance from my kin

But precious moments are so few
I dreamt of one day seeing you
And then I woke up in the past
Recollections faded fast

I marched upon a table once
Speaking truth I'd never known
I didn't think I ever cared
To separate reality
From partiality

And when I went to look for you
I found my truths were very true
I didn't think that I would care
When I saw your name right there
Dead to me as was the air

But precious memories are so few
I look at me for a glimpse of you
And then I let go of her past
Some things are never meant to last

WACOM!!

Whack him? I hardly even know 'im!! haha

Srsly, my birthday whooshed past me recently and Dale got me this
wonderful little toy [ahem, tool] similar to the one I had gotten him
last year. It's a WACOM Bamboo Fun tablet. It's a nifty little rig
and I'm surprised at how quickly I became so used to using it as a
mouse. That's not the fun part, though. The fun part is using it
with PhotoShop. PS recognizes the pressure levels of the pen (i.e.,
how hard I'm pushing down) so I can actually DRAW. I can even write,
although depending on resolution and how good I am at remembering that
I can't look away from the screen lest I "write" onto my secondary
monitor (which doesn't have any photoshop "paper" to use)... well,
it's not really that good for writing lengthy things. Not that I'd
want to anyway. If I wanted to do that, I'd do calligraphy more often
instead of typing.

cleaning day

My mother in law made a comment about hoping it doesn't snow where she
lives.

Well, I'm with her on that, really. But I like to write so I decided
to respond thusly:

--
Yeah, well, I woke Dale up at 6:45am so we could jet down the street
to take pictures of the most awesome reflection of gnarly trees, like,
EVER, and when we got down there, it was overcast and breezy enough to
screw up the reflection. It's not like I've been wanting this shot
for two years or anything... (just one!!)

Anywho, we went home and I vacuumed while Dale swept and I lost track
of what he was doing but I ended up having to learn a new "feature" of
said vacuum. Apparently the little cyclone thingie that swirls can
get clogged really bad and this seems to be what was slowly causing
the vacuum to lose suction action. I was forced to realize this when
the power kept oscillating between "sorta" and "no way am I gonna help
you clean when you refuse to take proper care of me." So upon hearing
a soft flapping sound and being utterly unable to get the cat-hair
cleaner to work (I think the proper term is "turbo brush") I shut it
off and began cleaning things in earnest.

The filter was worse than I'd expected, so I cleaned that well,
noticed we'll be needing a hepa filter soon, and then noticed a fuzzy
thing hanging down inside the cyclonic action chamber thingie. I
reached my hand in there and discovered a whole glob of fur, dust,
and ... a long piece of packing tape? How'd THAT get in there? So I
pulled it all out but still wasn't satisfied. As it turns out,
there's another filter of sorts in there, or maybe it's what makes
things turn, I don't know. All I do know is that there were more
fluffy globs of fur stuck in the venty thingies and that this panel
was in my way. So I spent a few minutes trying to ascertain whether
the panel should pop down or be removed, when POP it flips right down
if you tug on each side a bit. Yay!! Then I bent the vacuum backward
to get a better look, and lo and behold, I got every last bit of fuzz
I could find. Then I wiped out the chamber (OMG I forgot I could SEE
in there when it was new) and reassembled everything. Now it can suck
all the fur in the house (Kitty attached if need be) into itself and
spit it into the chamber. Not sure how Kitty will fit in the tubing,
though. That's how powerful this little bugger is.

But Kitty ran away, so I contented myself with cat-hair-cleaning the
furniture. I keep telling Kitty that if she'd just let us shave her,
I wouldn't keep scaring her with the vacuum, but she simply gives me
an "I don't think so now pet me" look and rubs fur all over me in
retaliation of the mere suggestion.

Hmph.

The rats and the hamster now have clean habitats, as well. I also
cleared a spot on my desk for my arms so I can type this without
inflicting odd marks on myself. Winter is fine for resting arms on
top of scissors, crackers, chopsticks, pens, papers, screwdrivers, and
earrings, because I wear long sleeves. Today, however, I'm wearing
short sleeves. Such instruments on bared arms means an open
invitation for people to run from you screaming "OH MY
GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR
ARRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSSSSSSSSSSSS?!" It's not contagious,
really. I'm just a slob.

And you think a little SNOW is bad. Zheezh.

--
I don't know what she'll say to all that, but I look forward to her
response. It will probably be somethig like, "Haha, you're too
funny." What? I know her well!

~nv

Poem - Easter Water

Sometimes these things just pour out of me. This one occurred as I
sat relishing the lingering effects of porterhouse and cabernet
beneath the warmth of my desk lamp. Times like these, I have trouble
believing they are from my own mind, for they are so emphatic in their
desire to break free onto paper. Regardless of their source, however,
they must be shared.

EASTER WATER
2009040461 c2009 wlc

The sweat trickles down the side of the glass
Catching the light
As it slides down the smooth surface
Gliding
Lost in a sea of its own tears
Mesmerized
By the crystalline resemblance it bears
Where else can it go but down
Ever down until it hits bottom
The drops, they hang there
Dangling at the edge of the glass
A moment of indecision
Then one by one, they fall
Plop, plop, plop
Slowly drying upon the desk
On which they landed
Happy now to be at a standstill
No longer agile
Simply waiting for the air to take them
Molecule
By molecule.

The ice cubes sit and wonder
What's it like?
Down there, upon the table
Evaporating
Waiting, as they are, for Death?

But no, cry the droplets.
It is not Death, but Life;
Even as we disappear,
We reappear,
Invisible to the naked eye
But in existence even when it seemed we left.

How so? cry the cubes, slowly melting into water,
For their fear of their own demise was great
Swimming in their own pool
Of perceived extinction.

Open your mind, reply the droplets.
Did you not notice us appear upon the glass?
Did you not watch as we solidified
Seemingly from thin air?

Why yes, saieth the cubes.
We noticed this miracle.
How, then, is this so?

Listen, and learn, the droplets reply.
We shall tell you - it is no miracle.
But you will not understand
Until you yourself have done this feat.

Tell us! plead the cubes.

So we will, promise the droplets.

Once we were cubes, like you.
Swimming in a beverage.
Slowly melting,
Turning into water.

We have seen this! exclaim the cubes,
Slowly beginning to understand.
Parts of ourselves have already succumbed to this fate.
So how did you escape the prison of the sea?
Pray, tell us! they cry.

Patience, cubes. Listen!
Once we melted as you are doing.
We turned to water.
The air then took us!
But 'twas far from death!
Rejoice in what you have to look forward to!
You will become minute,
Broken up into tiny little fragments.
Floating purposefully, yet without direction
And then, one day,
Your fragments will collide.
You will combine with one another
Unified and whole in your parts
As sweat upon a glass
Or pouring down as rain
And you will be forever
A family of atoms.

The cubes,
Still melting in the drink in which they swam,
Ponder for a moment.
Thank you, say they, to the droplets.
We think we understand.
It is good to know there is life where we're headed,
But truly, as you said,
We will not fully understand until we reach where you have been.
Will we?

And as these last words of wisdom
Tumbled out of the glass
The droplets' last few atoms answer faintly,

No, you won't.
You must experience this great Truth for yourself,
And have faith until you do.

dumb me, part 2

I almost did another dumb today but my adult kicked in and reminded me
that I did enough damage to my ankle last night and that it wasn't yet
fully recovered.

First, I woke up this morning with a bit o' limp but nothing serious.
The black and blue was a little round bit of a thing despite a bit
more swelling, and the pain was insignificant so long as I was careful
not to twist or change the angle of things too much. But it was
certain able to bear weight.

So I went to work and hobbled around, somewhat embarrassed, and no one
asked, so I didn't tell them. Except for a couple people in one
department because I knew they'd likely ask eventually. Of course
their reaction to "Well, I was chasing Dale around the house--" was
quickly interrupted by snickers, tee-hees, and exclamations of, "Oh,
we don't need to know!!" ::growl:: "No, no, it's not like that," I
quickly tried to explain through the titters.

Anywho, I did manage to explain what REALLY happened, and was then
greeted with a description of a couple folks' trip and how they got
blisters from walking so much. I admit that their maladies were more
commendable since the trip was for WORK but MY malady was due to my
own stupidity so was therefore funny. I win that award, haha. (Why
am I congratulating myself on this again?)

Now the part where I wasn't quite dumb today is this. Dale asked if I
wanted to go for another walk this evening. I almost said yes but
quickly thought, "Uh, yeah, don't even think about it... remember the
ankle!!" I then argued briefly with myself: "But it's better, surely
walking will only help the stiffness!!" Adult again: "No." So I
said ruefully, "Ut uh. Ankle." "Oh yeah," says Dale.

Wednesday, however... muah hah hah... LOL

~nv

dumb me

So a month or so ago, Dale and I agreed to hang blankies over the
dining room entries to contain the cold in there. It worked. But
then today dumb me does two really dumb things. First, I moved the
rocking chair over by one of the blankies so I could move in a couple
tables in its place in prep for the LAN party this weekend. I recall
thinking, "Hm, I'd better remember that's there next time Dale and I
go chasing each other around the house, or someone's gonna go running
through that blanket, not realize the chair's there, and trip over it!"

The second dumb thing I did was run around the house and trip over it.

Thankfully for the chair, I nearly flipped myself over it in a
successful attempt to keep it from flipping over and potentially
breaking, briefly ignoring sudden pain in my ankle during the
process. However, I've now got a nice lumpy bruise on my ankle from
ramming it into the chair's pointy rocker.

Ouch.

But thankfully for my ankle, Dale thought quickly and offered me ice
wrapped in a towel after I finished reciting every curse word known to
man. Good thing, because I've no clue how swollen it would have been
otherwise. I'm hoping tonight's rest is putting it back on the path
to ankle-health and that tomorrow it'll just be a tad sensitive, if
anything.

In the meantime, the epoxy stuff the Dentist put on my tooth went and
broke today, so now I've got a stub again. I'm in the process of
getting a crown/bridge and already broke the temp early last week. I
was warned that the epoxy could last 5 minutes or perhaps long enough
to the next appointment, though, so I'm not heartbroken or anything.
I do, however, have to watch out for sudden air intake through the
mouth. Talk about pain! I'm a mess, man!!

In other news, I got quite a number of books to read and played Soul
Caliber IV today... Raven's been reformatted... had Indian food
again... went for an awesome walk with Dale earlier... that was before
I smacked the sh** outta my ankle! So overall, an excellent day, pain
notwithstanding.

~nv

massage encyclopedia

Interesting!!!!

http://www.massagetherapypractice.com/massage-encyclopedia

:)

water intake

I've long held that 8 glasses of water per day is insane, let alone
15+, unless you're someone that eats jerky and other dehydrated foods
all day long or doesn't eat at all (in which case you might have other
issues anyway) - the body is mostly water, after all. But if you eat
soups, fruits, veggies, and anything NORMAL... like, oh, say, a varied
diet... how can anyone believe in drinking so much water all the time?
Balance, people, balance. Drink when you're thirsty! Zheezh... I
just don't get it and probably never will. Heck, I've tried guzzling
more than usual just to see if I felt better like some say, and you
know what? I felt fine, except for a nagging sensation in my right
side, as if my kidney was irritated. Then I kept feeling like I
should have to pee but couldn't. So I don't drink fluid unless I want
it, not just for the sake of drinking "enough." My body knows what it
needs, I think. Usually. LOL.

http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=378f85de-27de-4046-815e-293b772666e5
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6263029.stm

Who I am

We had company this afternoon - Dale's lovely folks finally came to
see us and our new house as it is seen post-move. During the visit, I
found myself energized beyond repair and this energy intensified once
the house fell quiet once again. Dale announced that he would drive
down the road to watch for picture opportunities. I bid him farewell,
declining to go with him because the LAST thing I wanted was to be
cooped up in a moving box. The house felt engulfing enough despite
its sizable girth. So instead, I decided to burn off the four
cookies, fish chowder, bread, tea, and soda I'd consumed by doing some
dancing in the house.

Well, by the time the first song had passed through a few bars, I knew
the house could not contain me any longer. For one thing, the house
is a bit old so even though it's pretty solid, it does still shake
when I jump around. For another, the sunlight was poking its fading
rays into the room, gently prodding me with promises of outside
warmth. So I quickly donned my shoes, grabbed a light jacket, and ran
outside as fast as my little legs could carry me - before the last
vestiges of energy realized that they were crazy and should be shoved
into a computer chair once again. NO!! I screamed inwardly at that
last thought; having entertained someone who'd just endured a bout of
the Shingles, I was feeling particularly lucky that I had ANY of my
bodily faculties just then. I intended to use them. All of them!! I
found myself walking - no, dancing! - up our street, the pond bright
in my mind's eye as my destination. Halfway up the hill, my energy
dwindled as I gasped for air. I felt myself rebelling against the
lethargy that was trying to set in: "NO!!! I WILL NOT GO BACK!! I
WILL MAKE IT UP THIS HILL!!! I WILL CRAWL IF I MUST!!!" I knew that
if I permitted myself the easy task of turning back, that I'd end up
in that computer chair once more, defeated, and no better for the
little expenditure I did succeed with. Besides, I was really enjoying
the music. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would simply walk
up the hill and down the other side to the pond. From there, I told
myself, I would find a catchy tune and dance where it's flat. And by
then, I surmised, my breath would have returned and I'd be primed for
the display of arms and legs once more so it would seem easier. How I
love to make a fool of myself in public!! But then, my intention was
to hide at the unpopulated end of the pond. Perhaps privacy was more
my concern this day?

At any rate, the assumptions I'd made about my air intake were
correct. My breath returned just as the perfect walking song came
on. I wasn't "there" yet and I knew it; the spiritual aspect of the
music was completely lost on me and all I could hear was some distant
emotion being sung to the clomp-clomp of carefully controlled,
syncrhonized footsteps. So I didn't bother dancing just yet.
Instead, I walked flat-footed all the way to the ducks and stood there
singing my heart out where [hopefully] no one could hear me. My
breath was significantly stronger than I'd expected. It felt good. I
tried to focus my energy upward, to feel the music, to hold in some
energy so it could be suddenly released, but it took so long to get
myself in that zone. I'm out of practice, I told myself glumly. I
should never have permitted myself to let it go so long. But... where
did those old feelings go? Where did the zest for music go? Where
was my heart and soul? How does one dance with nothing to drive it?

An inkling came moments later during "Making Love Out Of Nothing At
All" by Air Supply. "The beating of my heart is a drum, and it's
lost, and it's looking for a rhythm like you." I heard my heart
thumping along its assent. "You can take the darkness from the pit of
the night, and turn it to a beacon burning endlessly bright." My eyes
swooped upward, memories cascading through my love-encrusted brain.
Suddenly, I remembered what the music was about again. Hope. Love.
Will. "I've gotta follow it, 'cause everything I know, well it's
nothing 'til I give it to you." My heart leapt and I felt a small
twinge run down my spine. It was a tiny spark of life, but I felt
it. I was still capable of reaching that feeling again. I could
still reach down inside myself and pull out my spirituality by its
burrowing little tail. So I pulled harder and restarted the song. I
began to walk back and forth at that unpopulated end, willing myself
to become one with the Creator once again, to remember my roots, to
remember the promises only He can keep, and the promises I'd intended
to keep and then neglected. To remember who I am inside. To remember.

This time I had a conversation with myself and God. It was in that
special version of "English" - that language where, in one's mind, one
speaks in a sort of broken English laced with raw thought. As if some
part of the brain is trying to convert the thought to language for use
with other human beings and is failing miserably because it realizes
there really isn't any reason for it since there are no other humans
around. The music was drowned out by my own thoughts as I climbed
higher into my other awareness. Then I realized I'd achieved my goal
and got all excited and of course that ruined the moment so the music
pulled me back down to earth again. I restarted the song again and
began to walk back, hoping the movement would entice the feeling
back. I became aware of the auras on the trees. I saw a couple of
crows flying against the mild-mannered breeze over the pond. One
looked like it was struggling. I felt myself think, "Fight for it,
little bird. It's worth the struggle." The music continued to make
its offerings of concentration, wisdom, and emotion, fueling my own
energies and convincing them to strive for the same. I saw a few
beaver-felled trees, just young saplings, deprived of their lives. I
knew this to be necessary and figured perhaps the trees were OK with
that, since the beavers would likely return for their new housing
materials. I saw tracks in the melting snow that suggested they'd
been around recently. "Hi, little industrious beavers, wherever you
are," I thought silently, noticing another tooth-scarred tree across
the pond.

I climbed the hill and this time I did not restart the song. I didn't
quite reach the peak I'd been hoping for, but I found within myself a
stillness that I did not know existed. I felt at peace. I thanked
God for everything I have and confided that I didn't know why I feel
out of sorts at times, but it had to be because I'd been neglecting to
take this time to reflect, to truly delve into my soul and examine
everything residing there.

A new song played: "Alone," by the Bee Gees. I felt renewed and my
feet began to move faster, faster, overjoyed that they were unimpeded
by a lack of respiration. I twirled and jumped and cursed inwardly at
passing vehicles. How busy could this tiny street BE? I tried to
restrain myself: "Just a little bit, don't over do it that much or
you'll get winded again!" My body, however, knew better than I on
such matters. It knows that the reason I began dancing in the first
place was not out of concern for my health and fitness. It didn't
care that typically, people exercise upwards - not push themselves
beyond their limits right away. Years ago, it merely felt the urge
out of sheer necessity to express the overwhelmingly indefatigable
emotions that kept spilling like lava onto the exposed earth of my
mind. And now, it told me, the urge is out of sheer necessity to find
the spirituality I have hidden within myself during the everyday
motions of life. Slowly toning yourself be damned, it screamed gently
at me. Just do it! With this newfound understanding, it was with
some regret that I approached the house door. But, I knew that it was
getting colder, the sun was already going down, and the writing bug
would soon overcome my control. So I kicked off my shoes and
excitedly told Dale of my tiny, but meaningful, voyage. "I'm so
happy," I explained... happily.

"I am a spiritual being," my soul reminded me as I took a breath.
"That's who I am."

~nv

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the
courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the
difference." ~Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer

Math skills

I do believe we need less in the way of business classes so we can
focus more on basic math skills. Regardless of whether this situation
is indeed real (and given the stink George has made about it, it's
hard to doubt it's not real), the subsequent conversations about it
later prove my point.

$0.002 vs .002 cents is most definitely different. Yes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ3Oz5JVKs&eurl=http://failblog.org/page/13/&feature=player_embedded
http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-dollars-from-cents.html

And at least one person here didn't get it right off:
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=41861

O... M... G... !!!

Stop the world! I wanna get off...

~nv

self-levitation

Not sure if this will work or not, but if it doesn't, here's the
direct link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p10zndfB1Dw&eurl=http://failblog.org/page/9/&feature=player_embedded

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p10zndfB1Dw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1
"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed
src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p10zndfB1Dw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1
" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"
width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

These are boots?!

http://www.dimoutshoes.com/7--spiked-heel-ballet-1025.html

I can't even IMAGINE wearing something like that. Ouch!! Might as
well walk on a pogo stick. It would be far more comfortable!

~nv

how to break up a cat fight

OMG OMG OMG!!! This is THE funniest cat video EVER...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLDbGqJ2KYk&NR=1

You gotta watch through to the end!!

~nv
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rat loves cat

Rat loves cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ikm3o5hDks&feature=related

I had a mouse named Davey once. Our rabbit, Echo, didn't care for him
much but one day she had babies and there in the middle was Davey. He
was old, and often cold, so we figured she knew this and let him stay
warm in her brood. We saw him in there a few times before he finally
died.

Echo wouldn't let US get that close to her babies. Not even Mum, whom
she trusted. Hormones and instincts are funny things... but she was
the bestest bunny mum we ever encountered. Talk about strict! Her
buns weren't allowed to leave the nest, she kept going after them,
grunting, threatening, and dragging them back. So anywho, I think
it's funny that a CAT of all creatues would permit a rat to play all
over it and wash it and it would wash the rat. Then again, I did have
a cat that was afraid of my mouse/rat once, though. I put Naomi on
his head and he just froze, terrified. This is the same cat that was
humped by our rabbit. The poor guy... as ornery as he was, I suppose
he didn't deserve the bunny molestations and the rat playpen treatment.

Anywho, once again my morning has been ruled by icanhazcheezburger and
youtube.

~nv

various critters

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/Malaysia/Wildlife/index.html

The above is quite interesting!! I found this page shortly after I
ran across a picture in my "other people's pictures" collection in
iPhoto. It looked like a trilobyte, but was so realistic that my eye
caught it and I thought, "What the... that looked like a realy
picture!" So I looked more closely and it was named
"firefly_thai_2.jpg." I thought, "Firefly larvae perhaps?" Sure
enough... anywho, in looking for it, I saw all sorts of cool
creatures, including the moth with the fungus on it. (http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/Nature/Fungus/MalayMothEater.jpg
is the picture I mean.)

Just thought I'd share!!

~nv

Man vs Woman

Once again I am both outraged and bewildered that the battle of the
sexes ensues.

I was reading this wordpress.com column, "One French Woman's Opinion,"
and realized that yes, these things are still being talked about and
it's all still quite mixed up.

http://whatisyourownopinion.wordpress.com/category/love/ is the
website in case anyone here is interested.

Anywho, this is how I chose to marry, and how I choose to stay married:

1. Preconceived notions. I had serious doubts that I'd ever marry.
I was raised fiercely independent of men. I grew up without a
father. I was very dependent on Mother and she was dependent on me.
We had each other for support in the cold harsh reality we called
life. So I saw marriage as something only "delusional" people had.
They weren't being truthful with themselves and simply following
society's rules. To me, marriage was completely unnecessary. If you
actually met someone you really liked and got along with, you chose to
be with someone forever, and you simply did it. You didn't have to
marry to prove that to everyone.

2. Engagement. In walked Dale. It's funny, how suddenly my opinions
about the matter changed once I found out how capable of love I was
(am). Suddenly I wanted to shout it out to the whole world. One day
I told him that if he ever asked me "that question" I'd probably say
yes, but I didn't expect him to or anything, I just wanted to make
sure he wasn't too scared to ask if he was so inclined. Months later
that day came. I was stunned but I did say yes! He knew me well
enough, too, than to go about it story-book style: Instead of a
diamond ring, I received a blue plastic one made on a machine I was
most interested in hearing more about. He thought he needed to give
me a gift, too, though, so he gave me a computer that I'd been lusting
after and saving for.

3. The wedding. We did not believe in spending a lot of money on a
wedding because it was only one day and both of us preferred to spend
money on gadgets instead, and save for our trip across the country.
So we walked up a mountain in our new home town with a JP and two
relatives. I dressed myself in purple with a few green accents and a
silver circlet. The whole thing cost me under $120. (Although I will
admit that the dress I purchased originally for the occasion was $400
- it did not show up in time so now I use it for Halloween and
Renfaires. Why waste a good Medieval outfit?)

4. The honeymoon. People are telling me it's not quite over yet. We
did not have a honeymoon per se, but we call our trip out west just
that because it was three months after we were married and the only
major, special thing we really did (aside from getting married). We'd
been talking about it for a while before the question was popped,
though.

5. How do we get along? I think we get along pretty darned well.
Growing up, I heard a lot of neighbours yelling at each other. I
didn't want to be like that, and that's one reason I didn't want to
get married for so long. But Dale respects me, listens, offers good
advice, has good ideas, and is receptive to my needs. Further, he's
excited about life and all it has to offer. His bad moods are hardly
that; he just wanders off by himself and releases it quietly,
occasionally asking if he can vent to me about whatever it is. Then
it's over. I know my own moods shift like waves in the sea and it
amazes me that he doesn't take it personally most of the time. The
key component here, though, is that we listen to each other and
respect one another. I can't stress how important sensitivity,
understanding, and communication are to our relationship. And, not
everything is based on what each of us wants. Typically, if he wants
to go here and I want to go there and we're both going to xyz, we look
at it logically to decide whether we go his way or my way. Which is
closer? Which makes a more complete circuit for our itinerary? What
is the timing of both? Can we do both or only one? Who else might be
involved? I distinctly remember the first time this method of
decision-making became obvious in our relationship. We wanted to go
to about five or six places and it was agreed upon in advance. We
were preparing to leave and Dale says, "I know we said we'd go here,
but... I wondered if we could go here first, then here. The reason
is ... xyz ... it's fine if you don't want to, I know you really
wanted to do THIS first. It's just that if we do /this/ first then I
might miss out on /this/." I said, "Well, yeah, I do want to do my
thing first, but... let's think about this. Your thing is here on the
map, mine is here. The rest are here, here, here, and here. So if we
did my thing, really, it's out of the way, whereas your thing is over
here... Yeah, it makes logical sense anyway. I say we do it your
way." So we try to implement that now. The idea is to set aside your
desires and look at it in black and white. Make it the most efficient
you can, and know that you both want to do this, and accept that you
won't get to do what you want all the time. Now, it's not to say that
it always works this way, but having established this early on, I
think, has helped us stick with it. One day I proposed something that
Dale really didn't want to do, but it logically fit into our plan. By
his tone I knew he was rather peeved about it, but I knew I'd given up
things I wanted to do out of logic, and my thing was, this time,
logical. So I didn't get upset, I simply stated fact and then backed
away, saying that if he really disliked the idea, then we didn't have
to do it, but that it was logical and something I very much wanted to
do. He ventured off for a quarter of an hour and finally came back
saying no, he was OK with it. Other times, we simply went our
separate ways. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the logical
approach is extremely helpful to us, but in the end, our consideration
for each other is what keeps our relationship so awesome.

Perhaps it's the combination of an engineer geek with a computer
geek? I don't know. But instead of bickering, it seems far more
productive to create solutions to potential disagreements before they
turn into unnecessary arguments for the neighbours to hear. We're
just happy we have someone to do these things with, and that we can
afford to do things. Not everyone can say that. Why ruin it?

In summary, I don't get why there's a battle of the sexes. Yes, there
are physical differences, both out in the open and inside. But in
this world of equality concerns, I hope these battles fade - and
fast. That folks still have notions of ownership, manipulation,
revenge, jealousy, and resentment is utterly flabbergasting. To each
their own, man, but egads... how do some of you live like that?

~nv

shazam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dale's iPhone has this program on it now called Shazam where you point
the mic toward the sound of a song playing somewheres and it'll tell
you what the song is. I figured it would only work for really obvious
things that are pretty popular these days, but NO!! First we tried
Barenaked Ladies, then Vienna Teng, then ... yes, you guessed it,
Peter Cetera. Now, this is not to say I think Peter's not popular
these days - in fact, I tried a very low-key version of City Hall by
Vienna Teng to really test it and was floored it got her so easily.
The reason it's amazing that it got Peter is because I tried the most
obscure song I could think of by him. Scheherazade. And! I used the
very BEGINNING of the song, with the schwoooOOOOOO synths at the
beginning (sorry for the sound effects, I honestly can't think of how
else to describe those things). So there was VERY little to go on
there. Apparently it's not as obscure as I thought. It caught it
anyway and even displayed a link to a YouTube video. Which I knew
shouldn't exist because there WAS no video made for this song (should
have been but wasn't done). Turns out someone else likes the song
besides me. Someone put an image of the album cover up and played the
song in the background. I think I'd have gotten more creative and
added actual video, but, hey, whatever.

SHAZAM!!

~nv