| And the final results: 18" |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|11:43 pm] |
At least, it was up to my knee, and the tape measure tells me that's 18". Fortunately, it was light and fluffy. As it is, I'm sore all over from shoveling.
Some kids who live in the same building as my work helped me clear off my car this morning. They didn't ask for anything in return, so I swung by Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate and donuts, which I gave to their mother for them. (Thank goodness Dunkin takes plastic.)
When I got home, the plow had done a straight line through our parking lot but hadn't touched the parking spots. The plow hadn't even been there when Patsfan got home from work, so he'd shoveled a spot for each of us on the street and put a barrel in mine. Er, nice thought, but a) the barrel thing is all Boston, nobody cares if you do that here, they'll just move it if they need the spot and b) it was still snowing and blowing, so the spot filled right back up anyway, meaning his effort was totally wasted. Also, there is a parking ban, and at some point, his car was going to get ticketed and/or towed. So I settled in to shovel our spots in the lot/driveway/whatever you want to call it. Was about half done when the people the landlord pays to dig out the stairs and walkways showed up and used the snowblower on the rest of it, thank goodness. Can't imagine the shape I'd be in if I'd done it all.
Skelaxin is currently my bestest buddy ever. And while I was always planning to hit Curves tomorrow, I think I'll probably only do the stretching circuit. Muscles definitely need recovering time.
Some time around 9 this morning, Priest Dude rescheduled Winter Festival and Dendraia for next Sunday. Via Facebook. We've finally dragged him into the 21st century! LOL
Never did finish the cards last night. Should probably work on them a bit now, as the first batch got mailed Saturday morning. Have more classic Who to watch. Got a bit more than halfway through The War Machines, which at first I thought was going to be the introduction to the Cybermen. Not. But some of the concepts and devices seem to have been laying the groundwork for them, and the next disc in my queue is definitely Cybermen. Tomb of the Cybermen actually. It's very weird, though, as I've reached the point where there are all these forever lost eps due to a fire, and probably others that either just never got put on DVD or else Netflix doesn't carry them in a manner I can locate, so suddenly there's this new companion (Dodo? Really? This is what they named her?) and references to events that I have no idea of. Hmmm. And I just caught a snippet of a dream I must've had today, because I'm reasonably sure Barbara and Ian did not actually suddenly show up in this arc, and why the hell would I dream they did?
Tonight's third shift person called out at 5am. At 4:30pm, I got called because the person they'd found to cover it got frozen in at her other job, and would I come do it? I'm very proud of myself for actually saying NO! The fact that I'd just woken up and felt stiff as a board probably helped my resolve. Just saw (via Facebook) that tonight's 2nd shifter is now pulling a double. Feel vaguely guilty, but then again, no I don't. I'm still sore, also a bit sniffly, and it wouldn't actually have any impact on my paycheck if I did take it. It'd just mean less pool time being used for taking Friday and Saturday nights off. It's never quite worth picking up extra shifts on a week where you've requested days off. Or, for that matter, when there's a holiday. Because pool time and holiday pay can't put you over your scheduled hours for the week, so if you help out by picking up a shift, you can actually end up losing your paid holiday altogether. Stupid.
Babblebabble.
Going to pop War Machines in and see about getting the rest of these cards done. If I don't just fall back to sleep, which feels like a very real possibili...zzzzzzzz... |
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| This just in |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|12:41 am] |
INTENSE LOW PRESSURE TRACKING SOUTHEAST OF LONG ISLAND OVERNIGHT WILL RESULT IN A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE AREA. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 18 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS AS HIGH AS 24 INCHES...ARE EXPECTED. HIGHEST ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER NEW YORK CITY AND COASTAL CONNECTICUT...WITH LOWER AMOUNTS NORTH AND WEST OF THE CITY. SNOWFALL RATES OF 2 TO 4 INCHES PER HOUR...ACCOMPANIED BY THUNDER AND LIGHTNING...ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM INTO THE OVERNIGHT. GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED... WHICH ALONG WITH THE HEAVY SNOW WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO UNDER A QUARTER MILE AT TIMES...AND CAUSE SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW.
Under a quarter mile at times? Seriously? How about ten inches past the end of my hood for most of the 8 mile drive in? *eyeroll*
And ooh, thundersnow. Can't wait for that.
Ah well. With any luck, the roads will be mostly plowed by the time I get out of here at 10am. Meanwhile, I've got the second half of our Christmas cards to write, some classic Doctor Who to watch while doing it, and an otherwise nice and quiet office. *knocks wood*
Meanwhile, second shift person was much more personable than usual, most likely because I got in even before 11 to get her out of here. She's only been here about a month and has been almost systematically alienating everybody here. Considering I only see her at change of shift Saturday nights, it's rather impressive that she's managed to include me in that. That said, I suggested that if a similar situation arises in the future, she just freaking call me earlier. I don't mind getting someone out of here early for a storm. On the other hand, I pointed out that if I'm not the one relieving her, she'd best be prepared to potentially get frozen in for a double. Gods know I have several times back when I was the four to midnight person. |
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| Administrivia: Holiday cards |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|12:41 am] |
If you've not gotten a card from me in the past, or have moved in the last year and aren't sure if I have your address, please feel free to reply to this mail with your address or email me.
I'll mail the cards out on Monday.
Replies are screened. |
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| The eerie calm before the storm |
[Dec. 19th, 2009|06:29 pm] |
So, I'm slightly weirded out that, six hours after the Snowpocalypse was expected to start a.) there's not a flake to be seen and b.) the projected snowfall totals just keep going up. So, um, apparently it hasn't changed track, just slowed down to dump even more on every place it passes.
Lovely.
Bright side? If I can get back to sleep, I can probably get up at 10 instead of 8:30 for work, as there isn't likely to be as much to shovel then. However, the odds of getting frozen in at the end of my shift just skyrocketed. Fortunately, the person due in at noon is walking distance from the office, and we've already worked out that if my 8am relief person calls out, the noon person will come in at 10. She originally offered to come in for 8, but she's had an even more draining semester than me, so I suggested we split the difference, both working 10hr shifts and neither working for 12.
ETA: And now the newbie wants me in early for tonight. Honey, count your blessings that you won't be getting out late. More than once, I've been stuck there overnight when the third shift person called out due to snow. Happens more often than first shift calling out, actually. However, I'm a pushover, so I've agreed to try for 11. Very much a pushover, because I don't even particularly like her.
The odds of making it to HTAZP just dropped through the floor also. *sigh* Ah well. I've been singularly un-devout over the past few weeks, so doing something on my own isn't the worst idea ever, though I was really looking forward to seeing folks. |
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| Oh joy |
[Dec. 18th, 2009|05:20 pm] |
Just got this from The Weather Channel:
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON SATURDAY TO 11 AM EST SUNDAY.
DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE ATLANTIC SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT WILL RESULT IN THE A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW ENDS SUNDAY MORNING.
ANY MINOR DEVIATION IN THE TRACK OF THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON SNOW AMOUNTS AND WIND STRENGTH. AT THIS TIME...THE BEST ESTIMATION IS FOR THE STORM TO TAKE A FAVORABLE TRACK TO PRODUCE THIS MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. STAY TUNED.
May be doing Dendraia and Winter Festival at home rather than HTAZP after all, if we actually get that much snow, depending on how well and quickly they clear the roads Sunday. *sigh* Oh well.
Trying not to think of the fun that is likely to ensue with shoveling before and after work in the meantime. |
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| Yay! |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|06:37 pm] |
Got the signed copy of the "course substitution" in the mail today. They took Practical Criticism in lieu of English 102. W00t!
Also, they're running Wintersession courses in January, so I've got tutoring hours for the month. The only class running that I could conceivably tutor is the Pharm course I just finished. I honestly wouldn't know how to tutor it other than to show someone how to use a freaking index, but okay. Meanwhile, there's a ton of data entry that needs doing, so that'll be me. Extra money, double yay!
And after tonight, I have just two more shifts of regular work for the year, then I'm off until literally New Year's, when I'll be in for midnight. Looking forward to pretty much just collapsing into a heap for a few days somewhere in there. |
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| In other news |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|03:01 pm] |
Okay, this apparently didn't post yesterday, so now it gets edited.
The semester is finally DONE!!!! Final was yesterday morning, followed by ATI maternity/newborn test (which was full of stuff we never covered, which is worrisome in terms of NCLEX preparedness), followed by lunch and drinks at Margaritaville. I am now a fan of Bama Breezes. Taste like creamsicles. Mmmmm. Also possibly stronger than they taste, or I was tireder than I realized, because I proceeded to come home and lie down for a nap at 3pm from which I woke at 1am. Up for a few hours, then slept until almost 10, did very little all day, barely scraped through a Curves workout with my muscles fatiguing like crazy very early on, and then slept 10 hours last night. And I could easily fall asleep where I sit here in the tutoring center today. Yeah, a little wiped, apparently.
No grades yet. Classmates are freaking. Grades are now up. B+. *kisses 4.0 goodbye* Ah well, had to happen sooner or later. I'm unsurprised by the delay, despite my classmates' frenzy. I wouldn't have expected them until this evening at the soonest, especially considering they said they'd withhold them until we did the instructor evals, which were not even up on Blackboard until late this morning. (That's right up there with the lead instructor saying, "Some of your classmates seem to think that the reason we're holding the exam on Monday instead of Thursday is that the faculty have somewhere to be." Er, no. That's what we all think, because you told us so and polled the class to be sure everyone could make it on Monday so you could all go do your big faculty meeting thing. But yeah, that's just an irresponsible rumor. Gods, am I glad to be done with her.)
Haven't sorted the English 102 thing yet. It's not showing as accepted on my unofficial transcript, but I'm not clear on how I'd find out if it were rejected. Or what I'd be supposed to do next in that case. Thus I'm not yet registered for the spring. Really want that fixed by the end of this week. I am now registered for spring, though English 102 is still not resolved. May end up taking the CLEP or something if the course substitution doesn't go through. Really, really not wanting to actually take the class if at all humanly possible to avoid.
Have written almost 1900 words on TFTWSD today yesterday and almost 600 so far today. There's definitely some back-of-the-mind pressure to get as much as possible written before the DW Christmas & New Years Specials, even while realizing that there's no way this monstrosity could ever be other than AU. Sort of like the way I kept trying to finish off TKWIA before DH came out, and I think I actually did push myself to get at least the chapter with the final battle stuff in it up before then. So that I couldn't go back and change it or some such. Of course, I could always wait until the things are legally available over here and Netflix them, which would give plenty of more time, but there's no way that I wouldn't end up spoiled in the meantime. So, uh, no.
Speaking of Christmas, it'll be interesting to see if having the semester done so early does anything to improve my holiday spirit, which has been downright Grinch-like this year. This is probably due more to family drama than anything else, because having Christmas Eve at my mother's house is likely to be, well, interesting, if Thanksgiving is anything to go by. May make an attempt to decorate and/or start on the cards this evening. That could either help or make matters worse.
Actually, I really like the idea of the Advent Conspiracy, a Christian group trying to actually focus on their "reason for the season" rather than haranguing retailers for saying "Happy Holidays." (Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) erl_queen for the link.)
I think maybe that's part of why I'm getting weirder than usual about Christmas this year: there are other times in the year that make more sense to me, spiritually, as times for charitable giving. Not that there have to be specific times, as there is always need, but it does resonate in a certain way when there is some connection like that. And this season does make sense to tie in that way for Christians. But it really isn't my holiday anymore. It's become something that I observe, and only superficially, because my family does. And without the spiritual resonance it used to have, my tolerance for the family drama that ensues has apparently dropped to a very low point, and that seems to be coloring my perception of the whole season. Which is all very jumbled together, but that's about where my head is right now. I'm having a hard time even getting particularly geared up for Dendraia and Winter Festival on Sunday, which is actually kind of odd.
Babblebabble.
Wow, had two whole tutees today. Most folks are done with finals, so it's been quiet thus far. I'm actually hoping for more to come in to keep me awake. Otherwise, I'm pretty much going to turn into a zombie, I think. |
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| Seriously, LJ? |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|08:40 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | lj | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
So, for reasons that I can only imagine are advertiser-driven, LJ is apparently going to make gender a mandatory field with only "male" and "female" as options. If the mess of code at that link makes your eyes cross, synecdochic has a breakdown of it here on DW.
WTF??
Here's the thing: some people don't identify as just one or the other or even either at all. And that aside? Plenty of people prefer not to identify their gender, period.
I spent quite a few of my first years on the 'net going by a very deliberately gender-neutral handle: Dax. And when asked (by those who recognized the Trekkie origin) whether I was a Jadzia or a Curzon, my answer was "neither." Why? Because in my very earliest time online, I managed to acquire a cyber-stalker, and thus for quite awhile I did not feel safe identifying as female.
Way to alienate your customers even more, LJ. It'd been awhile since the last round of stupid.
ETA: And it seems concerns have been heard and noted. They're saying it was a first draft of code and that particular change a) was never implemented and b) has since been rejected. So that's good. Text of the reply one user received is here. Thanks to sylvanawood for the link.
ETA2: jenett has put up a post that discusses why even this response is fairly problematic, including some background on how the changelog and code pushes work. |
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| Finished procrastinating Pharm exam |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|06:03 pm] |
Iz dun.
I didn't even bother tabbing the book up this time, as it wasn't all that helpful the last time. Basically, this entire course has been an exercise in using an index properly and putting your hands on information quickly. The most useful in terms of actually learning about the meds has been doing the med sheets. Of course, I procrastinated those until the last minute. *eyeroll* I think next semester, whether that's part of the course or not, I'll do them for each class of drugs we cover, because that way, I may actually learn stuff.
Main thing is, by noon tomorrow, this semester will be DONE!!! Thank all Gods for small favors. |
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| My life according to Torchwood |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|03:23 pm] |
I'm procrastinating my Pharm exam for no good reason, so here's a meme stolen from bluedolfyn: Using only EPISODE names from ONE TV SHOW, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat an episode title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "My life according to (show)." (Okay, I cheated and grabbed a radio play or two, but it's the same show.)
Describe yourself: Cyberwoman (What? I'm online way too much to pick anything else!)
How do you feel: on good days, Small Worlds Not so good days, Combat
Describe where you currently live: Out of Time
If you could go anywhere where would you go: Asylum
Your favorite form of transportation: Adrift
Your best friend is: Lost Souls
What's the weather like: From Out of the Rain
Favorite time of day: End of Days
If your life was a TV show, it would be called: Reset
What is life to you: Something Borrowed
Your fear: A Day in the Death
What is the best advice you have to give: Everything Changes
Thought for the Day: Random Shoes
How I would like to die: Ghost Machine
My soul's present condition: Fragments
My motto: To the Last Man |
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| *facepalm* |
[Dec. 12th, 2009|02:21 am] |
Dear whomever put together the flier for the big agency interfaith thingy,
I realize that times are tough, people are stretched thin, and it may be a bit hard to find someone with the time to proofread your flier before you go to print. And I also am entirely aware that we all make goofy mistakes and generally don't pick up on them ourselves.
Given that, may I humbly suggest that, while it's not the be-all and end-all of proper writing, turning on spell check might avoid the problem of having your flier announce that the event will be on "FIDAY" in big, bold, 32-point font?
Just a thought,
me |
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| Well, that won't be part of next year's trip then |
[Dec. 11th, 2009|09:50 am] |
Tickets are already on sale for Barrowman in panto next year (2010/11), but it'll be in Glasgow, not Cardiff. About the only thing that'd get us back to Glasgow, I think, would be if Gary Moore were playing there again, and if it were the same venue as last time, well, Patsfan's on his own. (Which might not be a bad idea anyway, considering that dragging someone who is not overfond of musicals in the first place to a bloody panto is probably not the sanest plan ever.)
Ah well, it would've been a nice bonus, but c'est la vie. Maybe GDL will be doing panto again next year, and in a location closer to either Cardiff or someplace Moore is playing. Moore's tour schedule stops at last week on his website, so no idea where he'll be at that time yet. (Slightly nervous-making, as if we're trying to book stuff around this time next year, and he doesn't have his January schedule up yet, that could get interesting.) Patsfan seems to be getting behind the idea of the trip not necessarily having to revolve around Gary Moore this time, but if he's playing anywhere in the UK at all, Patsfan's going to want to go. He is, clearly, a much more dedicated fanboy than I am a fangirl.
I wish I could even remember what it was about Glasgow (other than the lousy concert venue, and that's not enough to sour me on a city) that left such a bad taste in my mouth. It may actually be as simple as having been on the edge of a fibro flare that (thankfully) never quite took hold, but at that point I was terrified it was going to ruin the whole trip. There's this vague memory of some kind of hand-lettered fliers around that creeped me out, but I don't even remember what they were for. *shrugs*
On the school front, and finishing up is actually a prerequisite to having a graduation trip after all, this semester's finally winding down. Got a B on yesterday's exam. None of the four questions I got wrong would've benefited in the least by more studying, which is good considering how little I did. Have the last Pharm exam to do this weekend and then the final on Monday. Now, if I could just get next semester nailed down, that'd help. I kind of procrastinated some of the paperwork to be able to register for the spring, and it is now, so far as I know, sitting on the English Dept Chair's desk, waiting for a signature. That I didn't take care of this last spring is probably a sign of the ongoing ambivalence that has been cropping up again over why the hell I'm doing this in the first place. If I end up either having to sit out a semester or else take English 102 at this late date (or both, there's some confusion over whether it's a prereq or coreq for Nursing 201), I'll have no one but myself to blame. On the other hand, if Practical Criticism isn't close enough-if a bit more intense-to what they describe 102 as here, which is basically "learning to write about literature," then I just don't get it.
Babble.
Tuesday can't get here fast enough. That, at least, I'm not remotely ambivalent about. |
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| First snow delay of the year |
[Dec. 9th, 2009|08:20 am] |
Not the first snow. Even last weekend wasn't the first snow, though nobody seems to remember that. But the first school delay. What impact does a 2-hr delay even have when you're due in at 10? Color me clueless. I'm guessing the campus is opening at 10:30, as the first classes are, for the most part, at 8:30. *shrugs*
Fun, fun. Not looking forward to shoveling. My back is already bugging me this week.
Part of me wishes they'd just closed, but while I do get paid if my tutees don't show, I don't if I'm not at least there, so I guess that's not what I wish after all. Now to find the motivation to get this day started. |
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