comics, pregnant co-workers, party planning, dead squirel, zombies

Yeah, kind of a broad range of topics today. First up, no comics this week. My local comic retailer was sold out of the Flash - again. He suggested coming back next week - which I may do since a subscription won't kick in right away anyway. I'm going to sbuscribe to one or two comics and stop messing with the monthly trips to the comic shop for the regular doses of disappointment.

I'm on a committee to help plan a holiday party for the division and we had a meeting yesterday. During the disucssion, I found out that three of my co-workers were pregnant. One of which sits right across the cube aisle - and whose husband I've worked with for about 7 years. She's due in December and I just found out yesterday. Not that I'm anybody special for them, but it seemed odd that they wouldn't have made some kind of announcement.

In non-happy news, I found a dead squirrel on my back porch yesterday. The poor thing was facedown in a pool of his own congealed blood - and stiff as a board. So, I got out my shovel and a plastic bag and disposed of the body. I suspect he got zapped by the power transformer behind my place, but I haven't had one of those in a while since the tree back there was cut down.

Finding the squirrel must have affected me more than I realized - I had a steady stream of horrible nightmares last night. Zombies, of course, but this time my family was there as well. One problem was that we couldn't tell the zombies from the "shell-shocked" normal humans. I spent what felt like days and day of trying to keep myself and my family safe.

This morning, when the sun finally started to come up, I crawled out of bed and got myself to work. It's looking like a rough day for yours truely.

Well, time to get back to work...

The dead squ

noticed and unnoticed

On the way to get lunch I noticed a student organization performing a tribal dance piece in the student union. Or rather, I couldn't help but notice. They were very loud and taking up the entire hallway. I'm sure they were very talented, but I frankly just wanted to get past them.

I saw a girl wearing purple satin pajamas and fuzzy bunny slippers - at quarter after 12:00.

I saw a guy in full hippie gear - getting into a really expensive car. Might be ironic on that one.

And finally, things I didn't notice. Instead of a bottle of pepsi - I was given a bottle of diet pepsi at lunch. Didn't notice until I was back at my desk. I suspect it will be horrible.

later...

weekend improvement, further car issues

On Saturday, I met up with some friends for a block party. Not my block, someone else's block. Apparently it's a yearly event and I got to be an honary resident. The food was pretty good and the music was fun. They also had some games going - and I won at one of them! Blind folded, no hands, spun around - try and bite a doughnut on a string. I used some Zen techniques and "let the doughnut come to me". I got two bites without much trouble - even though one of my friends was messing with by tapping the side of my head with an extra doughnut. There's a firestation on the corner and the firemen got invited over as well. A few played the games with us - they were a little stoic, but I think they had fun too. One game has a team of four in a relay running to a distant point with a suitcase of random clothes - then quickly putting on all the clothes over top of their garments and running back. Then the clothes are put back in the suitcase for the person. The firemen cleaned up on that one and explained that getting dressed quickly was their forte. Which made sense.

On Sunday, I made yet another trip to the not so soft side of sears and bought another wrench. Got it home, let the car cool off and tried it. Based on the new O2 sensor - it would have fit perfectly. But, due to a vicious design flaw, there's a pointless flange in the way. I think I might be able to reach it better from under the car, but I'm not sure I want to buy the ramps and go that route. And ironically, the Check Engine light on my car has gone out again.

I hate cars. Wonder how much a bus pass is...?

Well, that's it for now. Time to get back to work...

not a good week

This past week has, in a nutshell, sucked. Seemed like whole armies of people were working together to make things vastly more difficult than they needed to be - and then dumping their problems in my lap.

I spent all day Friday angry. And I nearly slugged a lady standing far too close to me in line to get lunch simply because she had a British accent. Which I normally like or at least don't mind -but on Friday it was a high offense. I am aware that this is wrong and I didn't even let on how annoyed I was.

Thoughout the day I tried to calm down and get though things. Everytime I took what I hoped would be a cleansing breath, the phone would ring and I'd get a spike of pain in my head.

Not sure how much longer I can keep doing this. Maybe it's time to start looking...

The week hasn't been a total loss. I did pick up the new Star Wars lego game and that's been fun. Princess Leia has a melee combat move where she walks up to a bad guy (or really anyone, for that matter) and hauls off and slaps them. And Chewbacca rips peoples little lego arms off. Which is all good.

Still no luck on the car - don't have the right tools. And my landlord still hasn't gotten back to me about fixing the carpet on the stairs.

So, I'm going to spend much of the weekend drinking tea and reading. And maybe going for a walk. And try and somehow relax...

That's it for now...

sleeping issues

I went to bed last night around my usual time and despite what I would consider nearly perfect sleeping conditions - I woke up this morning feeling as though I'd:

a). Not gotten any sleep at all.

b). Been hit by a tonka truck, in the head.

c). Been crushed under 2.5 tons of pillows. Which, while soft, is still very heavy.

d). All of the above.

It's been suggested to me that my breathing habits while I sleep are less than optimal. I.E. I'm not doing enough of the whole breathing thing while I'm sleeping. It's possible, though I don't have any direct proof yet. And strangly, the notion doesn't bother me as much as I would have guessed. Still, it's something that should be investigated. I also need to get my TMJ looked at again - seems to be getting worse.

It's noisy here in the cube farm, even this early in the morning. I'm trying to decide if a psychotic episode is a good way to start the day - I think maybe a blueberry pop tart may be more appropiate.

okay, back to work...

busy weekend - car, tools, books, tattoo, folding

I had a pretty busy weekend - started off with a little more work on the car and when I finally found the oxygen sensor I realized something terrible. I didn't have enough tools! So, I made a trip to home depot to remedy that - but the depot ultimatly let me down. The tools that I thought would work, didn't. So, I put everything back and called it a night. The next morning I tried again, but still no luck in getting the oxygen sensor loose. Instead, I headed up north to the 1/2 priced bookstore. The drive was uneventful, though I think the directions and signage could have been a bit more clear. I dropped off my big pile of books and did some browsing. I found three books then got called up to get a receipt for my trade. It was a little disappointing, but I did a little more looking around, realizing that I'd have to pay out anyway to get the few items I had. Then I found the comic books section.

Instead of a neatly organizied rack with the comics bagged and boarded - the comics were stacked on a shelf in piles above eye level. No place to look through them, no order, torn covers, etc. It was terrible. A cursory glance turned a couple potentials, but the sheer chaos turned me away. I made my purchase with a heavy heart and headed home.

I stopped off at the depot again, holding out hope that my eye would stumble on the perfect tool. No luck. A mild brainstorm and I headed for the mall and the not-so-soft side of sears.

Ah, yes, this was the tool place. I located a craftsman wrench that should do the job. There is, of course, a problem. To use this wrench, it's going to have to go over top of the current O2 sensor. And to do that, I'll need to cut some wires. Not a big deal in this case - if I've got the right tool and can remove the sensor. If I have to put it back, then I'll need to reconnect the wires. Which I can do, but I'd really rather not. So, that is on hold for a bit until I work up the courage.

And speaking of courage - I decided to get a tattoo on Saturday as well. I headed over to Pain Hate Pain on Market street and met with a nice guy with lots of facial piercings. He called the tattooer in and after a brief dicusssion about the tattoo I wanted, Shad got his equipment set up and got to work. It hurt about as much as the other ones I've had done, but cursiously, didn't bleed at all. I mean no bleeding whatsoever. Not during nor afterward. It was kinda weird.

He did a good job and the price was reasonable - then I went to the drug store to buy some lotion ("It puts the lotion in the basket or it gets the hose again") to help with the aftercare. You can see a picture here:

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/tattoo.html

Finally, got some more paper for another project I want to work on. I may not have picures for a while - the indivdual units aren't complicated, but the assembly may be rough. I also got some transparent report covers for a series of water-proof origami.

Oh, and I made some more progress in Star Ocean. I wailed on what I thought was the final boss and when all was said and done, he was gone in a burst of light while I did a small victory dance. Except he wasn't the final boss - and there are clones of him everywhere. I've got some better weapons now, but it's like a mini-boss battle every 20 feet. And I'm not sure how to advance the story anymore. So, I stopped playing for a bit and went back to God of War.

Back to work...

car care

Yesterday, I filled up my gas tank and then headed over to Auto Zone to get the pesky check engine light investigated. I also bought a replacement light bulb for the stop light in the back of my car.

During the diagnostic we learned that:

1) I had a blown fuse for the diagnositc system as well as the lighter - which I've never used. We got the fuse replaced so that a connection could be made and it came back with 2 codes that meant the same thing -

2) Faulty oxygen sensor

So, I bought an oxygen sensor and took it home. The replacement light bulb was tricky and I'm still not sure if I got it in correctly - can't very well step on the brake and stand behind my car at the same time. (well, I could. But it would violate the laws of physics and motion - and I'd damage the fabric of the universe. Which seems excessive.)

Then I took off my dress shirt, got out my tools, grabbed a flashlight, and popped the hood.

I spent a little time poking around in there - then I called my dad for suggestions. He'd never replaced one before but suggested somewhere near the air filter. Seemed like a good idea, so I focused my search there.

For a while, I was feeling pretty cool - most of my "work on a car" in the past has been, "take it someplace to be looked at".

Just by observation, I learned quite a bit about what's going on in there and I cleaned out some dry leaves I found. Ultimately, though, I didn't find the oxygen sensor. It started to get dark and I started to get frustrated - so, I closed things up and called it a night.

The internet seems to have a solution - I think I've located a step-by-step. So, I'll snag a print-out and give it another whirl tonight.

Otherwise, a pretty quiet evening of video games and reading. Our intrepid heroes made it off the moon-base and over to the time gate - where they find that their entire universe is a computer simulation. It's pretty cool when they figure out how to get to the "real" world and kick some ass over there.

I guess that's it for now - we've got a division wide breakfast meeting coming up. Later...

cleaning, video games, kung fu, fruit on the bottom

More whirl-wind cleaning last night - the de-crapification continues. I also worked on a mask I'd been contemplating for several months - it was either start/finish it, or throw out the parts. So, 20 minutes and one glue-gun induced blister later, it was finished. I'll try to get pictures one of these days.

Played a little more Star Ocean last night - now we're at a friggin moon-base and we still have to use swords. Granted the Ice Blade is kinda cool, but it takes forever to charge up and costs too much MP. The only ray gun in the group belongs to the chick with blue hair.

Also watched Kung Fu Hustle last night. Pretty cool movie - the story was a little slow to start off, but once it got going, it was really cool. The effects were excellent and the fighting was way over the top. Shaolin Soccer is next on my list, I think.

I believe I may have mentioned my disdain for yogurt with "Fruit on the bottom" before. I feel that, as a consumer, I should have my yogurt pre-mixed. Normally, I do the extra work that the factory should do by shaking the unopened vat of yogurt vigorously. I recently did this and when I opened the container - it spit yogurt at me. I laid down a thousand curses on the cruelty of fate, then cleaned up my shirt and ate my yogurt. It was pretty good too - blueberry.

That's it for now...back to work...

movies, books, music

"This is some shit, up with which we will not put" - so says Brenda in Scary Movie 4. And though I up with the movie, I didn't really enjoy it. There were some funny bits, but I think they were trying too hard.

I've also recently watched the unrated version of The Hills Have Eyes - and despite the jump out and scare you moments (which I enjoy) the violence was really gratuitius. There wasn't much point/plot to the whole thing.

Silent Hill was watched during the same evening - much better movie and more visually interesting. I thought the ending was a little weak, but still a good flick. I haven't played the game, so I don't know how it compares.

Last evening I did a little cleaning - mostly just tossing out junk and re-organizing. I also set aside 53 books that I'm going to sell to 1/2 Priced books. Selling a book, for me, is a big deal. I'm much more interested in buying new books, but these were ones that I had read and didn't like, or couldn't get into. So, looks like a trip up north is in my future.

I've been listening to Tori Amos in heavier rotation - she's got a song called Goodbye Pisces that's a simple, quiet little song of the destruction of the spirit. Sad, but beautiful.

I've also been thinking about a new web comic. Differnt characters, more photos, same basic humor.

Guess that's it for now...back to work...

student loans, headache, folding, video game

I was paying bills recently and realized I only had three payments left for my student loans. It's going to feel weird - and good - to not be writing that check every month. Next up, working down that credit card.

Although it was nice long weekend - I spent most of the time with a low grade headache. Must be the weather changing.

I also worked on some origami people - you know, for my army of minions. Soon, very soon, we will be ready to conqure. If you've like to begin groveling now, I'll see to it that your death is quick and painless.

I got stuck in a video game last night - the Lava Caves. Low on magic, low on health, lost and alone - it was tramatic, especially since the only door out was freaking locked. I mean, really, if you're going to put a door inside a cave filled with Lava, do you really need to lock it? Apparently, yes, you do. So, I looked online today and discovered that the key is behind the statue of the giant bunny. Of course it is. Bastards.

Anyway, its Tuesday and it's time to get back to work...