Eating leftovers. So much easier with a microwave

I'm the first person to go "Really? $70 to install that for me? I bet we could probably do it..."

Long ago, my father tried ever so hard to teach me that your time is worth something.  So while you might be *able* to do something (like changing the oil in your car). You should assume that your time is worth at least $30/hr and if it takes you any longer than that (plus parts) then it's actually totally worth the $40 - $50 they charge at the drive through oil change places which only take ~15 mins ...also sometimes there are some really cute guys working there ;)

So while my brother and I are both extremely cheap in this regard (we must be related) and will err on the side of "doing it ourselves" I think it's good to have that sober second look.

Someone who points out that the new microwave weighs in at 69lbs, and that the old one is probably heavier.

Someone who says with a dubious look on their face... "Yeah we probably *could* do it... but we would have to move the stove"

And as I sit here watching two big strong men manhandle the old microwave almost literally out of the wall, I'm satisfied that it probably would have taken us much longer, and there would have been a whole lot more heartache involved.

Soooo hot-pockets for dinner?

New to me dresser

It became apparent that I needed a dresser, to try to tame the entropic pile of clean and semi-dirty laundry in my closet... being that it was going inside my closet, I didn't want to pay a whole lot for it.

We looked and looked and looked, scoped out prices at the local thrift stores and finally I settled on one.

It was a little larger than I had envisioned, but I was excited to get it home and see how it was going to transform my life!  That excitement was short-lived when we discovered we couldn't actually get it in the back of the car *sigh*... They were nice, and despite being busy refunded my money, only giving me a mildly hard time about it because they "don't do returns" until I pointed out that I literally could not get it out. of. the. parking. lot.

I was a little bummed... but we resolved to keep looking, as that must not have been the right one anyways ;)

The next one I liked I found at the swap meet, I was happy with the drawers -they slid nicely, it was a decent price, and it wasn't made of particle board like everything else these days.  I ended up tipping the guy $10 after he single-handedly manhandled it up the stairs like a hero, carried it 30' down the sidewalk and deposited it into the back of our car.

When we got home I was even more impressed when we unloaded it, and considered it well worth the extra $10.

I spent the next ~3 hours cleaning, wiping, and pledging the dirt and grime off of it. While removing the drawers to clean them and vacuum the dust out I was rewarded with a clean pair of socks, and guys boxer shorts -also hopefully clean- from where they had fallen behind.

Moving along, this far into a cleaning project I'm in the groove... I'm working away, I've got the shop-vac swishing around inside doing it's thing, pushing out enough white noise to drown out the dogs next door, when suddenly there's something there in the drawer... something that wasn't there before. Not so far from where I was *just* vacuuming. Something black. and shiny. withlegsandfricken' HUUUUUUGE!!!!!!

I levitated backwards at least a foot and half screaming obscenities I'm sure the neighbours 3 doors in either direction heard.  I also scared at least a year and a half off of my roommate who had been working away behind me on something else...

She was yelling at me for scaring her, until I pointed out the *size* of the black widow that had started the whole thing.

We skipped the raid and went straight to the heavy duty bug barrier that's supposed to kill things dead in their tracks. She sprayed it, and dripping it staggered sideways and then just continued along?!? She sprayed it again and it dropped down, but kept walking towards us! I whipped out a trusty flip-flop and *splat* it was all over.  We figured that it had probably eaten everything else in sight, but I very carefully double checked anyways ;)

And now? Here is the dresser that has transformed my life closet, see what a good job it's doing?  I would have taken a before picture, but you'll just have to trust me... it was much too embarrassing to show the world.

What? you like my Granny's buns?

Heh, don't worry... you aren't the first person to say that.

It always takes me a few tries when I move to a new place, but I think I finally "got it"

Here are my Granny Buns:  

There's magic in the air

One of the most wonderful sounds, is that of unbridled glee bubbling up out of someone unbidden.


As I ran alongside in the dark for moral support, at an hour in which most people are in bed, it was a rare treat, listening to my best friend giggle in the nervous pitches of an elementary school-girl...


The look on someone's face when they are simultaneously thrilled and terrified... the expression of loving going faster than you can run, tempered with the knowledge -born of the wisdom of your years- of how much it will hurt if you fall... and throwing all caution to the wind for the wonder of it all.

Bearing witness to it was incredible, thank you. It's only been about 20 years... but I do believe it's true what they say about riding a bike ;)

I am an IBMer

It's always exciting for me when I get business cards, I always have to show them to everyone I know.

Like "Hey look! I really do work for this company!" *glowing*

I think partly, its a sign of trust. Because once my name is associated with the company's name, I'm an extension of their reputation. 

I think being in IT, since you often aren't customer facing... there isn't usually much "need" for business cards, and quite frankly you're replaceable.  So getting business cards is kind of a big deal, like the company thinks you're going to be around long enough to be worth getting them for.

It's so good it makes you cry

This is some goooood horseradish she says to me...

Almost brings a tear to your eye? I ask

She nods, smiling through glassy eyes

It's so good I keep putting more and more on, although I probably shouldn't she said... just before a giant crater opened up where her nose used to be...

Yeap, might've put a little too much on that one ;)

Ladies

When you're angry enough to bite your own ass, bite a Mars bar!

New bite sized Mars bars. Small enough to fit your diet, enough chocolate to take the edge off a jaguar.

Number of lives saved today: 1 and counting

It's the little things

I recently had a one on one chat with my manager's manager, and she opened the call with the most important question.

Are you happy?

The straightforward simplicity of it caught me off guard, it was naked and sincere.

I would say I'm significantly more satisfied in the company I'm working for, and the people I'm working with, given that you just took the time to ask me that.  The fact that you expanded upon it to include life both inside and outside of work touched me immeasurably. 


The full impact of our chat didn't really hit me until just now, but it resonated deeply and reminded me something about my Granny. No matter what you were involved in, doing, or going through in your life, she used to ask that same question... then sagely nod her head and say "well then, that's all that matters"

Are there things I would like to change in my life personal, professional or otherwise? Sure, but overall, I am happy.

Thank you for asking.

Wrapping up last weekend's project

You know when you put something together, and things fit the way you had envisioned... Does that still scare you, or do you have enough practice now that you know how to do it properly?

Because it still scares me a little. Like when mechanics used to have pieces left over after putting cars back together, and they would still run...

Nevertheless, behold! It could probably use a few more things holding the two trellisesss together, but all in all I think we did pretty well. 

*high five* team

$5 Garage sale jade plant score! (except that it came with spiders!)

New meaning to the term "sun dog"

 Once when she was let out before the sun was actually *on* the deck, she leaned into the patch of sun on the wall... Absolutely pathetic and adorable all at the same time, like she doesn't get enough sun down her in California *rolls eyes* 

Remember me?

I don't know if I was sleeping backwards or what... but its already broken in.

It's memory foam!

Well it doesn't remember me then!

How hungry were you?

(In your best Filipina accent)

If I'd seen a cow, I would have taken a bite out of dat cow!

Wherein "smart" is not a reference to the person using the phone...

I saw something once, that people back in the days of Einstein would be appalled if we told them that we carry something in our pockets that had near-instantaneous access to a vast accumulation of human knowledge... and we used it to talk to each other and take pictures of our food...

It brings a little perspective to the power we literally hold in the palms of our hands

Don't get me wrong, I'm fully guilty of this also... but I've realized that having this literally at my fingertips, means that I don't make the effort to remember things "because I can just look it up again"

In some ways we're a generation of idiots...

"Weekend" DIY projects

We are in the midst of working on a "minor" weekend deck project that went big.  In fact, we're took it into the next weekend.

We decided last weekend that we wanted to put up a trellis, like the one our cool neighbors have, but in wood because it just looks so much warmer.  Of course the fence we want to put it on top of isn't level... and it's a 12' gap where prefab trellis comes in 8' lengths, aaaand then we decided we should put in a shelf for planter boxes... yeah, you know how it goes ;)

Anyways we spent a good couple hours wandering around Home Depot figuring out what we were going to do, comparing prices, sorting through wood all the way down. to. the. bottom. to get pieces that weren't bent and warped and otherwise munched or weird, and gathering random other supplies...

Checked out and realized that at the end of the day the prefab trellis was going to cost pretty much the same as all the parts AND wouldn't require nearly as much monkeying around with. 

We turned around right there in the parking lot, and returned half the stuff we had just purchased, went back to the lumber section and sorted down. to. the. bottom. to get the two prettiest prefab trellisesss.  As an added bonus it also fit in the car better, and was easier to tie down ;)

Once home, we cut, dismantled and otherwise mangled the one prefab section into a beautifully framed shorter trellis... only to discover that we had done it to the wrong half. *facepalm*  Seriously I was so proud of us, it looks like it came like that! (For those of you doing the math in your head and thinking that shouldn't matter because we cut the one trellis in half... I lied. The space is actually 12' at the bottom and ~146" at the top - It's California! Things get shifted and re-settled regularly)  Annnnd of course, the way we did it meant that we couldn't just "undo" it and "do" it to the other one... yeah, we "did" it good.

Two "emergency skype" calls to my Engineer Dad later and we had a few different options... along with various notes of things to watch out for, things to remember, and things to be careful of... and most importantly, how to level the fence. 

Another trip to home depot for paint... a few jugglings of which pieces are going where, an evening of painting the various pieces, and we're just about ready to put it all together! *phew*

Despite my worst efforts

My orchid is blooming again,  I didn't kill it!!

This has been so cool to watch it open over the course of about the last three days :)

Debunked

Straightened misconception from my childhood/highschool years: Fried green tomatoes is not about smoking weed.

You're right,  I'm crazy but the only thing I can think of is:

a) I did not at any point see a preview or trailer and b) the only thing that got talked a lot about at my highschool was weed, and so in the absence of any other logical explanation (because really, who would want to eat fried green tomatoes?!), I assumed it was another euphemism for smoking that I just wasn't cool enough to know anything about...

Hehe, it is a pretty good movie though, I'm glad I finally saw it ;)

ADDDDDDDD

You might have ADD if in the amount of time it takes between one turn and the next... you forget that you've already got *two* hits, but haven't actually sunk the battleship... and then start looking for the next one :p

Sometimes it's better not to wonder...

Last night for instance...

One moment I was wondering what would happen if while gargling Listerine I relaxed my throat just a little bit more... aaaand the next moment I was gagging on the fresh burning sensation on the back side of my nose flap, and drooling profusely.

I've often wondered, where that point is. When something switches from you thinking about it, to the reality of your body following through with it.  Especially when it wasn't something you ever intended to *actually* try...

*sigh*


Sometimes, it really is better just not to know.

Some things never change

Her: Are you all done with that sir?

me: *hehe* yes, I am thanks

Her: *apologizing profusely* I'm so sorry, I wasn't really looking, and I saw your R2D2 hat and I just assumed...

me: It's ok, no worries

The ninja: Dude. You're like a 36-D right now!

me: I know, and it still happens to me from time to time *shakes head*

Wonderful

Some of the best things in life are free.

Like lying on the deck blowing bubbles into the night sky, and watching them sparkle like gems in the reflection of a flashlight... although the surroundings are a little bit different, its still as magical as the first time I saw it at Girl Guide camp.

If you've never blown bubbles at night before you should try it.

Look we found nature!

I am loving the green from all the rain we've been having, and as you can see there's more on the way!

It was a beautiful day for a walk!