Telepathic Trees

emilyap @ 2008-06-07T20:53:00

2008-06-08T00:56:27Z

I keep falling further and further behind on bills and dipping more and more into savings until I'm finally out of savings and am being threatened with legal action. I've spent the day looking for a second part time job with no success. The senior citizens who lost everything in the stock market and the teenagers looking for summer jobs have scooped up the lot.

Stupid housing market, stupid me. Stupid stupid stupid.

emilyap @ 2008-04-27T12:30:00

2008-04-27T16:33:43Z

Today, life is good. I have coffee. I have apple bread baking in the oven.

Dave Kellet, author of the webcomic Sheldon, is going to the Emerald City Comicon. I'm re-reading the Sheldon archives, searching for a particular strip. Jamie Bamber is also going to the Emerald City Comicon. I'm getting to admire his photos as they display on the banner ad.

Life is good.

Not bad

2008-04-15T15:00:16Z

Which Battlestar Galactica Character Are You?

More on Battlestar Galactica. Created by BuddyTV

I wanted to be Lee Adama. Or maybe I just wanted Lee Adama. Mmmm.

The cat learns to type, needs to work on spelling

2008-02-06T03:59:31Z

My mom, my mom she gots a new spensive digtal camra for Crhistmas and shes ben taking the fotos of me nonstop. Shes got pixtures of me sleepings, and pixtures of me playings, and pixtures of me drinkings out of the toilet, and pixures of me stalkings my toy. Lots and lots of fotos. I says to her, I says she cant take the fotos of me eatings, cause thats my sacred time.

Sumday I spose she mite axually put sum of the pixures up onna interwebbie, but probly not til shes bak from vacashun end of this month.

O, and my mom, my mom she's goin to go on vacashun without me and she's going to the carib bean. I dont knows fur shure whats a carib bean or why its a vacashun place or why shes not takens me with her. But shes not takens me withs her! Outrageus. I have ben thinkings bout poopin in her shoos, but she wears sandals allatime and puts them in teh closset wheres I cant gets them. Outrageus!

Kaiser Roll

A Message from the Cat

2007-12-22T04:13:29Z

So's my mom, my mom she putted up the Crhistmas tree like days and days and days ago. Is good cause I likes to sleep under the tree thingie when the lights be on and bask. Its like sunshine onlies not so hot. I wish were more hot but mom she says, she says we in Florda and she won't turns on the heat. I'm not being sure we even has heat! Is freezing cold so I knows is winter, but mom she says, she says it's only the mid sevendies and not freezing cold but I tells her to turn on the heat anways. She doesn't.

Oh! But now I has a tree to sleep under with all the liddle lights like small sunshine. Sometimes wen I snooze under the little small sunshiney lights I likes to reach up and bat the little orniements thingies but mom, she puts the orniements thingies up highers so's takes more effort to bat, wich is disgruntlin. But now the Crhistmas tree thing looks funny wit the bear branches on teh bottom and the orniements thingies overcrowded on teh top. Is exelent.

Mery Christmas
Kaiser Roll

History

2007-11-08T03:46:08Z

So much awesome.

Five dollars and a dream

2007-09-09T02:10:19Z

My toilet started leaking a few days ago. I'd forget about it while at work, come home eventually to eat dinner and play on the computer, then go to bed, where I would listen to the slow drip while trying to fall asleep.

Drip Drip Drip

Days passed. I would mentally kick myself while brushing my teeth each night.

Drip Drip Drip

I would fiddle with the lever occassionly, but that was clearly not the problem. I'd lift up the lid to peer into the tank and at the mysterious innards, but no obvious cause would present itself, so I'd put the lid back, then stuff my head under the pillow to get some sleep.

Drip Drip Dripdrip

Finally, I could take it no longer. Friday at bedtime I stood in bathroom, staring at the toilet, feeling both righteous and indignant. How dare it leak? Did I not clean it occassionally? Did I not pay for its water in a timely manner? Did I not refrain from singing while using its for its intended purpose?

Bugger. I took off the lid and stared at the icky insides.

Drip Dripdrip Dripdripdrip Dripdripdrip

Oh, the taunting bastard. Two could play at this game, I thought to myself insanely. Fine, I'd get a plumber and pay weekend rates. Fine, just fine. But I'd call in the morning, not at midnight. So, since I needed my sleep, I turned off the water to stop the leak.

Which didn't stop. Right right right, must empty the tank of water. Flushed, waited for the tank to empty out, and...

Dripdripdripdripdri-dri-dri-dri-drip tri-i-i-i-ickle.

What the-?! It's worse! There's just an inch of water at the bottom of the tank, how could the leak be WORSE? Angrily, I started to poke bits and pieces of plumbing. The tube seemed whole, the chain seemed together, the plastic box thing attached to the tube seemed mysterious but solid, the flappy rubber thing at the bottom seemed slimy and...

Hey, pressing onto the flappy rubber thing stopped the trickle! Obviously, when the tank was full of water there was enough water weight pressing onto the flappy thing to keep the leak at a drip, but when most of the water was drained, the weight was lifted off, and the rest of the water could merrily trickle out.

So clearly all the plumber would need to do is replace the flappy rubber thing at the bottom of the tank!

Awesome!

But wait. Surely someone of my incompetence could replace a flappy rubber thing. Quickly, I sprang into action and went to bed.

Morning came, then late morning, and I clambered out of bed to get some coffee and information. Clearly, I would need to know what the flappy rubber thing was called before I humbled myself at the Home Depot.

It's called a flapper valve, for those of you who are following along at home. Seriously. I'm just relieved I didn't need to ask for a replacement ballcock. Who came up with these names?

After much dithering at Home Depot, I came home with purchases, dithered some more, then replaced the flapper. It was, astonishingly, easy. It also worked!

I beamed happily at my toilet, flushed it, used it, flushed it again. It still worked!

Totally awesome.

emilyap @ 2007-09-02T00:50:00

2007-09-02T04:50:54Z

Stardust is a completely awesome movie.

Not my usual style of writing

2007-07-15T06:17:22Z

So, I'm minding my own business, chilling at home, ready to check the email one last time before bed when I notice the plants are looking a bit dry.

I'm taking the African Violet to the kitchen sink to fill up its pot after watering the other containers and notice an ant. Ants, two or three. I've had a slight ant problem in the office and I'm getting kinda ticked that they aren't disappearing, but at least now it's only two or three.

I place the violet pot in the sink and take the plant holder portion out and stifle a shriek when I see the three or four dozen ants in the water portion of the pot. They're swimming in synchronized clumps and climbing the walls and one is now ON MY ARM all UNINVITED, didn't even take me out to dinner and maybe a drink before being so presumptuous as to CRAWL on my SKIN.

Gratifyingly, the ants die immediately once they are covered in poison, which is conveniently kept right under the kitchen sink where I am currently dancing about trying to look at every inch of my own skin to make sure I'm not crawling with ants because all of the sudden I'm terribly terribly itchy and am sure I must be covered in ants but at this point there isn't a one left alive in the kitchen sink. And while I'm batting at invisible ants on my arms and legs, the cat is skillfully dodging my feet complaining that I'm in the kitchen but not feeding him or going anywhere near the cabinet his food is in.

I might have over done it with the poison, I concede to myself as I wave a paper towel through the slightly fogged up air and cough. Seriously though, cat, I can see that your food bowl is almost completely full of food. Stop it.

I wash the African violet pot clean of ants, fill the pot back up with clean water, and put the plant back. And now I'm left with a kitchen sink covered in dead ants and poison. Awesome-sauce.

Scrubbing the sink with the sponge I use on my dishes is right out, and I briefly consider using the cat, who is now no longer skillfully dodging my feet but skillfully climbing on top of my feet so that I trip, preferably in the direction of the cabinet his food is in.

Paper towels will have to do.

Paper towels don't scrub as well as the ads claim on TV.

Cats are stupid animals in that they can be fooled by waving a bag of food over a food bowl, even though the bag isn't open and no food is transferred from bag to bowl. He's quiet though, so I stop ranting about ridding the house of all animals save one, that one being myself.

Sure would be quieter though.

Having battled ants and won, and having battled cat to a draw (can't claim it as a win since I was waving a bag of food over a bowl at 2am and talking out loud to myself), I check the email one last time before going to bed - victorious but still itchy.

I missed one

2007-05-02T16:27:50Z

Dang.

emilyap @ 2007-04-30T15:53:00

2007-04-30T19:54:55Z

There's going to be a new TV channel next year that will tempt me into paying for cable.

The Ski Channel

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070430/tv_nm/ski_dc_1

"The network will focus on sports including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, camping, climbing, cross-country skiing, rock climbing, backpacking, orienteering, kayaking and caving as well as numerous off-slope activities. The majority of the content is original and will consist of entertainment, reality, news, destination, travel, real estate, equipment, instruction and magazine shows as well as professional mountain sport events."

...

I am delighted.

my job

2007-04-13T19:09:39Z

I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love ....

Hahahahaha

2006-12-24T18:06:01Z

I love gardening and I love comics. I even like puns. Thus, Get Fuzzy was the bestest comic ever today.

http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20061224.html

emilyap @ 2006-09-19T11:23:00

2006-09-19T15:33:11Z

My poor computer is down (unmountable boot volume) and I'm too busy to try to fix it right now. Argh, stress. Especially annoying as I wasn't there when the problem occurred. I read my comics online, went to work, came home fourteen hours later to a dead pc.

Stress stress stress stress stress.

emilyap @ 2006-09-11T18:39:00

2006-09-11T22:41:45Z

I'm not including the states I just drove through.

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Democrats are easy to slam

2006-09-06T15:00:02Z

Disclaimer: I'm as liberal as a liberal thing. I'm fed up with politicians though.
I was incredibly amused by the following bits from last night's Anderson Cooper 360 (news show on CNN) (copied from transcripts).

COOPER: Joe, what about the Democrats? I mean, can they -- do they benefit from this? I mean, you know, you look at those poll numbers. It's not as if people are, you know, in love with the Democrats either.

KLEIN: Well, you know, the Democrats never fail to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. ...

...

COOPER: Do you agree with that, Candy?

CROWLEY: Well, yes, there was a great line from a Republican strategist who said, you know, the good news for Republicans is, Democrats don't have a plan. The bad news is, they may not need one. It's good enough to just not be a Republican at this point.

COOPER: Bill, you look at the numbers, you think that holds true?

SCHNEIDER: Well, yes. I mean, look, there's an old saying, you can't beat something with nothing. Well, you know what? You can beat something with nothing.

Okay, I love the first bit about missing an opportunity. I'm going to quote that a lot. I also like calling Dems nothing, because Christ, they suck. Anyway, that was my titter for the morning.

emilyap @ 2006-08-30T13:47:00

2006-08-30T17:59:42Z

Hurricane season is a fun time. After 2004, every one is on edge at the beginning of summer, watching the Weather Channel obsessively. By the end of the season (November 30th) no one even considers evacuating or boarding up the windows.

The director of the National Hurricane Center admitted that while they're pretty good at anticipating the path of the storm, they need to work on the accuracy of the intensity.

Ernesto was quite a disappointment, by which I mean a relief. Monday we thought it'd be a category one hurricane (and I'd get the day off from work). Tuesday we were expecting it to be a tropical storm (and I'd get the day off from work). This morning I wake up to... a slight breeze and no rain. Not even drizzle. Sheesh!

So here I am, at work...

emilyap @ 2006-08-28T14:23:00

2006-08-28T18:25:46Z

Aaaand, because I am a bit bored, I've uploaded the Hristo lookalike picture. I'm okay with being weird.

Woot! 'Nother Tropical Storm!

2006-08-28T17:05:13Z

So, for those who are curious about where in Florida I live, I'm on the east coast, covered in pink (hurricane watch).

See the bump at the top of the pink? That's Cape Canaveral, where NASA launches the space shuttles. I'm just to the south of the bump. Currently looks like my area will get hit by the hurricane (as a category one), but we probably won't get the eye. Very likely to change, of course.

For a larger picture you can check out http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at5+shtml/115600.shtml?3day?large

emilyap @ 2006-08-22T12:49:00

2006-08-22T16:50:42Z

Went to Denver for a long weekend to meet the nephew. Holy crap, he's adorable. And perfect.

I drove around a bit with my brother looking at apartments. My price range is fairly low but I still have some options. Some skanky looking places near my brother's home but a bit further away there are some nice buildings. Twenty minutes away but still close enough to baby sit :)

I have more than a week of LJ and comics to catch up on. Argh.

Four and a half days on the market and my home isn't sold yet!

emilyap @ 2006-08-16T08:42:00

2006-08-16T12:39:44Z

My company does not believe in proofreading company-wide emails.
"Your aciton is required"
"New Memeber Joins Management Team"
"Enrollment Readline Today" (should have been deadline)
"Restrictions on Carry on It ems"
"Soda's and Popcorn"

emilyap @ 2006-08-15T09:09:00

2006-08-15T13:10:14Z

I received the approval to be a remote analyst yesterday which means that when I move to Denver I won't have to search for a job. I was dreading the job search already. Now I'll just have to roll out of bed and wake up enough to start answering the phones at 7:30 (That's 7:30 in the morning - shudder). A big, big plus will be ending the work day at 3:30, in time to take some classes or socialize or whatever. Yay!

I gave the bedroom the first coat of paint last night. Tonight will be the second coat, moving furniture back into the office, laundry, and general cleaning up. I'm yawning and rubbing my sore shoulder muscles just thinking about it.

I stayed up too late watching CNN (Anderson Cooper 360). Boy, do I regret that.

emilyap @ 2006-08-14T11:38:00

2006-08-14T15:39:15Z

Very tired. Body sore.

Things done:
- packed up four boxes of antiques and valuables.
- moved furniture and prepped for painting
- painted two coats in office and bathroom
- moved furniture and prepped bedroom for painting
- painted on the primer in the bedroom
- packed up three boxes of knick knacks plus one box of wall art and photos
- pressure washed the courtyard and wall
- fixed screen
- cleaned out outdoor storage closet

Things to do:
- paint two coats in bedroom
- buy and plants four small flowering plants to spruce up courtyard
- put furniture back
- neaten up house
- clean house
- laundry
- pack for trip to visit new nephew
- make copy of key, give key to realtor, sign papers
- paint new storage door and trim
- wash front door

Time to do it in:
- Monday evening from 6pm
- Tuesday from 5pm
- Wednesday from 6pm

emilyap @ 2006-08-10T19:16:00

2006-08-10T23:17:16Z

It would be a lot easier to get my house ready to sell if only people would just call me back. The painters say sure they can paint but then won't return my calls. The handyman can replace my storage door this weekend, awesome, but doesn't call me back either.

I'll have time to paint the office and the bathroom before I leave for my familial visit. The bedroom won't be painted before the house is officially on the market, and I'm sure this will please my realtor lots.

Oh well. I'm kinda hating the world right now.

emilyap @ 2006-08-08T10:08:00

2006-08-08T14:09:12Z

Selling my home is turning out to be quite expensive. The inside portion of my a/c system was fixed yesterday for not too much money, but the repairman said the outside portion needs to be replaced entirely. It works right now, though, and that's the important thing.

I need to get my two bedrooms painted. I really don't have the time to do it myself, so will be hiring this out. I'm getting the outside storage door replaced. I need to pressure wash the courtyard and sidewalk, but my dad actually has a pressure cleaner, so I won't need to rent one. No, my dad doesn't know why he has a pressure cleaner either; apparently my stepmother insisted they should have one.

I need to get some flowering plants to make the courtyard prettier, then remember to water them. I need to pack up belongings to reduce clutter. I need to rent storage space to hide the packed boxes.

That... should really be it. It's enough. Gah, I hate packing. I keep trying to convince myself that packing up two boxes a day will be enough to slowly get everything squared away, but that's a lie.

I'm taking three days to visit my new nephew, and then I have no vacation time left. I didn't plan this very well.