TUE 3.30.04 @ 8:53pm
More weird weather this week. Yesterday, it was 71 at about 11 am. Eric said he saw it go up to 75. But when we got home after the movie last night, it was windy, and there was a thin layer of fog blurring the view of the moon. Today: rain and cold. Weird.
I'm excited about work for the first time in NOB knows when. Last week my boss asked me to take over our website! He had one of our consultants design the new format, but he asked me to implement changing the content over and taking over maintenance. Yesterday, I sat down with the designer and we went over the code. He was so pleased that I knew HTML and we wouldn't have to use GoLive. I was so pleased to learn so much about CSS I didn't know before.
Hopefully I don't break anything when I start implementing. For the most part, every page will be almost identical in code. But there is some opportunity to screw some of it up and not even realize it. He had a bunch of places with redundant looking code because he had tested it for Safari, Mac & PC IE, Opera, & Mozilla. I was cringing inside as he was explaining some of the redundancy, because it was very similar to the code I stole for mysie.com's big layout change, before I decided it didn't make any sense and I started deleting shit. Argh. My site generally looks ok on Eric's PC, so hopefully I didn't break anything to badly - I don't feel like taking root in front of Eric's computer clicking on every page to check them all.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited. Yesterday and today, as it seemed my regular work was dwindling down, I got kind of giddy thinking I was about to find time to mess with pages. Alas, that never happened. The closest I've come was last night waiting for Eric to pick me up for the movie and playing with the fonts after I clocked out. I'm not thrilled with the new layout, but if Michael & Steve have agreed to this, then that's their business. But I can at least mess with some of the fonts. :p
One thing I'm not thrilled about is the PowerBook they've put the bare minimum on for me to do this project. Because my normal machine is still running... *GASP* Mac OS 8.6. Which means I can't even run Safari on it. They're going to give me a better machine and OS X (Panther?!), but until they free up a machine to give me, it's me and this crap PB. I'm sure it's a lovely little guy once I get to know him, but his keyboard and screen leave much to be desired.
MON 3.29.04 @ 11:00pm
We went to a free screening of Hellboy tonight. I was pleasantly surprised that it was done so well. From the previews, it looked like it could really suck, but Eric & I both enjoyed it. The CGI was impressive and generally not obvious, the plot was engaging, and most of the characters were interesting. Ron Perlman kicked ass. The ending was fairly wrapped up, but they definitely left it open to become a franchise, which might be fun. I think I enjoyed this movie even more than Dawn of The Dead, despite having to sit in the front row and contort myself in ways leading to both a sore neck and a sore tail bone.
Dawn of The Dead was another movie that could have gone either way, and I'm glad they only made it slightly campy. You'd think by the responses of the people sitting directly behind us that the movie was over-the-top camp, what with their inability to refrain from talking to the screen and anyone else who could hear them. Finally, they shut up, possibly because it just wasn't as campy as zombie movies can be. There was definite horror, I think. And I cared about most of the characters and whether or not they survived. Ving Rhames kicked ass. Maybe a sequel?
Taking Lives was interesting, and I thought the plot twists were done well, but Eric said he anticipated all of them. Even the final one. Am I that blind? Hmph. I'll admit, it could have been better. But I have a hard on for both Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, so any movie where they fuck like horny beasts is A-OK in my book. Yes, there is one scene of gratuitious AJ boobies. Quick, while it's still on the big screen so you can get the most bang for your buck.
THU 3.25.04 @ 8:16pm
fuck. i swear i tested what would happen if i just deleted the file for the right-side content without removing the code asking for it on each of the pages, and it was fine. now all the pages are showing an error on the bottom of them. argh. there are 321 items in my main directory. the majority of those are pages. i have no desire to search and remove code from each and every one of those. fuck.
i think the code can just bite me. it doesn't seem to affect the loading of the site in any way, even on Eric's pc. someone let me know if anything looks broken.
and here i thought i was all cool for finally figuring out why the font looked enormous on the pc side and fixing it. fark.
WED 3.24.04 @ 11:14am
So I was in the middle of writing an entry bemoaning the weather for only giving me light rain, when first the rain starts to pick up really good, then the power goes out, and we got a big hit of thunder. Spring has been really wacky here so far. Over the last few days, we've had dark clouds, rain, then bright sunshine, all within minutes of each other. And lots of wind.
It's cherry blossom season. Did you know that in Japan this is an annual event? I think I read it in a manga, that during the weeks of blossoming, families make annual pilgrimages to have big picnics and parties under the spreading branches. It's considered good luck for a couple to be caught in a rain of cherry blossom petals.
About a week ago we had a little wind storm, and these little things were floating around, looking kind of like snow. Finally, I saw some accumulation by the sliding glass door and saw they were cherry blossom petals. It was a bit magical. They looked more like lazy faeries floating around than snow.
You can't go a block without seeing a couple of cherry blossom trees in the Seattle area. That suits me fine, because I think they're lovely. We almost planted one or two last year after we moved in, but I couldn't decide on which kind I wanted. There are so many! Plus, they can be expensive.
No more thunder. No rain. Just some wind and dark clouds. Weird.
TUE 3.23.04 @ 10:37pm
ok, the new Spring-y layout is up. It's a little more streamlined. The whole right column was bugging me, so I finally did away with it. Most of the items were moved over to the left. The scooter girl comes from a much larger image, and shrinking it to this size ruins alot of the clarity, but it works better like this I think.
I had some sugar today, and ever since I've had so much more energy. I've been on this diet since January, but not working out in ages. Today I had no healthy snacks left and I had a sugar-crash, so I had some root beer and half a bag of milky way poppables. I just couldn't stop eating them! I had *so* much energy after that, that when I came home I almost went to the gym. Instead, I hung out at the house and waited for Eric to come home because he didn't have his keys.
Maybe I just need more sugar in my diet?
Workers come at 8am. I'm going to bed.
MON 3.22.04 @ 10:11pm
No updates because life just hasn't been very fun lately, and even I get tired of listening to myself complain about it.
Last Monday's trip to the dentist has triggered another period of obsessive fear of pain. Probably because I've had headaches nearly 24/7 ever since. I'm too afraid to go back in to have them work on me again. What would they do anyway?
The guys showed up to work on the wall this morning. They had a problem last week that put them a week behind schedule. Today, they only removed the siding. Tomorrow, they will start demolishing the walls.
It seems we might be lucky, and both of the cats are terrified of the sounds going on down there. They stayed upstairs the entire time. However, within 10 minutes of them going to lunch, both of them were snooping down there trying to figure out what was going on in the other room they were blocked from. Tomorrow will be the real test of this screen door we've set up in the kitchen, since Eric is gone all day tomorrow, I work in the afternoon, and there will be a hole in our wall and no workmen to scare the cats away sometime before I get back home.
I'm pretty confident in the screen door, but cats are very industrious, and Kyra is a born explorer.
We are not going to Las Vegas. There was a mix-up when a certain someone plugged in the original numbers in Turbo Tax, and we owe the IRS a "buttload" of cash. We're discussing the feasability of driving to Lake Tahoe for Heather's wedding. Two full days of driving are not my idea of a good time, however. Sciatica makes even hour-long car rides fairly uncomfortable.
I'm working on a new Spring-y layout. The image I want to use is being a bitch. Anyway, it's vaguely distracting me from the ringing in my ears.
WED 3.10.04 @ 11:21pm
I just watched the CBS news show 48 Hours Investigates, and tonight's show was titled "Searching for Angela Shelton." When I saw the commercial advertising it, I about fell out of my chair. A woman searching out other women who share her name, and she comes to find out that many of them share a similar past of abuse. My name isn't Angela Shelton, but for an hour I thought it was.
It was eerie and moving. If you want to know more, Angela's making a movie about the experience. In fact, she set out meeting these women in order to make a movie, and was in the process before she realized just how bizarre her subject matter should be. Have you seen the statistics that 1 in 3 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Out of 17 Angela Sheltons, it was over 50%.
You can find Angela's site here, although I think all the traffic generated from tonight's show may have crashed the site, since I can't reach it.
FRI 3.5.04 @ 10:54am
I am so bloody impatient. I want to go buy a new wallet, but I'm waiting for my new debit card to show up, and it hasn't yet. The amount of physical energy I am using to keep from whining about that is astounding.
*jumps up*
"But there's a sale at The Bon today!"
*forces self back into seat*
"I am patient. I am patient. I am patient."
*fidgets*
In other, just as boring news, tomorrow we start kicking it into high gear: our efforts to rearrange the house anyway. Eric's dad will be coming over to help us move furniture. Not exactly a fun time, but afterwards we're all going to go look at Heidi's new house, and then hang together for games and/or a meal. Anything to distract us from the rest of the crap we need to do to get ready for the 15th.
Like figuring out what to do with Dos Gatos.
At least I got a new temporary license today, so I'm legal on the road once again.
WED 3.3.04 @ 11:06am
Oh yes, I forgot to mention the "weekend of doom". OK, maybe that's a bit over-the-top, but what a crappy weekend it was! Friday night I had tickets to see the Suicide Girls Burlesque Show. At 8pm. So said the website and the tickets in my hand. At 7:50 we arrived at the place, and the doors were locked, with a sign saying the first band was on at 10, the second band at 11, and the SG's would be on at MIDNIGHT. I was livid. I'd had those tickets for over a month, and nowhere did anyone mention a Midnight showing. I asked for my money back, and they told me to take it up with the website. Like by the time I got home and tried that, they would believe I wasn't just trying to return the tickets because I had missed the show.
Maybe, maybe, maybe if we hadn't had plans the next day, we would have been up to a midnight show. But I was feeling like crap already from not enough sleep, and Eric had to be in Auburn at 9am the next morning to go skiing. So we spent almost an hour trying to find a bar to chill at, had a drink and a dessert, then ended up at home with... Oh, I think it was Jack In The Box for dinner. Yay.
And then Heidi's world exploded on Saturday.
And then I lost my wallet on Sunday.
Positive: no one tried to use any of my credit or debit cards. Positive: I still have my purse and my checks. Positive: it was such a rare occassion for me to be carrying cash, but it was in my pocket instead of my wallet! Take that thieves! Positive: girls are coming up despite everything. Positive: Las Vegas, here we come!
Yes, Eric determined that for once to IRS will owe *him* money instead of the other way around. Meaning not only can we afford to fix the wall, but also have a mini-vacation sometime soon.
Not sure how to fit in a trip to Las Vegas in April/May and a trip to Lake Tahoe for Heather's wedding in June. But we'll see what can be done after the final bill for the wall arrives.
WED 3.3.04 @ 10:56am
Hiya. Yes, too much time spent on Neopets and The Sims Superstar makes for few updates. And Makin' Magic comes out today! *Squeal!*
*ahem*
Work is a little better, and yet more of the same. Now that my job has been spared, it would be nice if I could stop working under everyone's microscopic eye for a while.
We have finally scheduled some people to come out and work on our house. I believe I've mentioned here late last year that we think the woman who sold us the house hid the fact that there was dry rot and termite damage ruining the entire South wall of our home. There's evidence of a previous and unsuccessful band-aid fix. So we need to replace the entire wall. Many thousands of dollars are about to be spent. We need to move everything out of our living room, and shove them into other rooms. We have the space, but not to have any sort of organized effort. Mostly, it will be frustrating not to have a dining room while this is going on, and for all of our leisure space to be confined to one over-full room right at the front door. After having all these months to get used to having some breathing space to move around in.
Anyway, construction begins Monday the 15th. What we're going to do about the cats, I'm not quite sure of. And how are we supposed to feel comfortable enough to sleep at night, knowing there is an entire wall of our house missing that anyone could just walk into??? Six days. The estimate is six days of work. And I imagine most of those days there will be easy access for burglars. Yay.
Hopefully the work will be completed within the estimated time though, as our nieces are indeed coming up at the end of the month, despite recent events that threatened to keep them from coming. Things aren't perfect. I think things might be strained when they arrive. I hope not, but... We'll just have to see.
After that, it's Christmas 2.0: Eric's mother, brother, sister, and brother-in-law all have birthdays within about 3 weeks of each other. So this year Easter isn't just Easter, but it's also a giant birthday fest as well.