Clare

* bump *

new entry here:

http://findingsabbath.blogspot.com/

after threatening and talking, I finally did it.

New blog here: http://findingsabbath.blogspot.com/

I may post here still occasionally with bits of trivia, but I suspect that the more meaty stuff will go on blogspot!

Rod and I are heading up to Vancouver to visit some of his friends from college this weekend. The other option was south to Portland to see his sister (and it turns out, some other folks we know are there this weekend too) but Vancouver won. Foreign money!

I helped out a poor man who was complete discombobulated by the task of finding organic vanilla yogurt and mango granola in Trader Joes. He'd never been in one before and was quite lost.

I broke a ring a couple weeks back. Original price: $5 Canadian. Price to solder, clean and polish: $12 US. Not horrible; but more than double the price of the original!

Cyclones in Australia devastated towns near one of our destinations on the great barrier reef. Curious to see how that will affect our trip...

I just turned in my last assignment of the quarter. Now all that's left is a conference call tomorrow, and I am free of school for three weeks!

My LAST CLASS starts the first week of April. It's with a prof I like, and should be good. Now I have to start thinking about things like graduation ceremonies, and buying stuff for them.

What will it be like to have more free time?

Rod and I just bought our plane tickets to Australia. July 1-22.

hooboy it's going to be an expensive trip!

But, you know, Australia! (and New Zeland too)

The secret to non-moldy cheese - don't use airtight plastic coverings.

No Zip lock baggies

No rubber bands

Just a little bit of saran wrap over end. Enough air flow to keep the moisture out, enough plastic so that the cheese doesn't get too dry and cracked.

Cheese gotta breathe!

Last night Rod and I went to a fancy restaurant. The service was polite, prompt and attentive. We never had to ask for water, and the wait staff checked in at ever point in the meal.

Tonight, though. Tonight was a different story. We went to an pool hall that also serves dinner, and boy was the waiter ditzed out.

1. Took our order, got it wrong when repeating it back to us.
2. Walked away with only one of the menus, leaving the other on the table.
3. Brought us one set of silverware.
4. When we asked for a second set, brought two.
5. When the food came, it was wrong.
a. my side salad with ranch had turned into a side of ranch
b. Rod's grilled chicken breast had turned into a chicken sandwich.
6. Had to flag him down for water.
7. Had to flag him down for the bill. Which we did while he was wandering around, lost, with a different patron's bill in hand. (now where did that table go?)

Not a good night for waiter boy.

Today is the third day of one of those all-too-rare three day weekends. Yay for not going to work! Super yay because I didn't sleep well last night and so was quite happy to be able to stay in bed till noon. (haven't done that for a long time).

Today, with my extra day of weekendy goodness, I think I'll....

do taxes.

I may or may not have the oomph to go shopping at the mall.

some random strangeness today:

1. a motorcycle on my block was covered in flour. With the open bag on the street next to it. All over the seat, the gears... a mess.

2. A headless pigeon impaled on top of a long (7 feet?) piece of rebar, lying on the grass.

3. Shopping at PCC, mid-day, downtown Fremont - and the power goes out. And stays out. I couldn't buy my stuff. We are SO helpless without electricity.

And a little bit of McGyver-ism:
Courtesy of my new niece (and her generous parents) I have a new stereo! I got it all set up, and... no FM. I determined there should have been an indoor FM antenna. So I looked at my old stereo. It had one, but it was attached internally. So I cut it, stripped the wire, and stuck it on my new stereo. FM!

I feel like my life is just full of trivia. No time to have meaningful reflection - it's all about getting stuff done and dashing from one event to the next.

I mean, do you really want to know what I did with my weekend?
* Homework
* Underworld / Evolution
* Brunch
* Took photos
* Super Bowl
* Hanging out with friends

Trivia, I tell you.

I'm totally wiped out. I'm supposed to be doing my homework, but I can't bring myself to care.

***********************

Last night we had a guest speaker for class who works at Boeing. He knew my Dad, worked for him at one point.

It made me sad to talk to him and know I couldn't go home and call my Dad up and say "hey, guess who I just met?"

I bought a new battery for my phone, brand new. Because the other one was running out of juice in just a day or two.

After one charge, the new battery is displaying the same behaviour!

I think it must be either the charger or the phone or both.

So I'm about to say "fuck it" and just get a new phone. The Nokia 6102 is what I have my eye on. My first phone was a Nokia, and I liked it. Motorola not making me happy.

eye shadow.

I don't know, maybe I've been un-makeuped for too long, but I found myself looking around at lunch today and the eye shadow that other people were wearing really seemed to stand out, draw attention, and say look! I'm wearing eyeshadow! And it's purple! (blue, brown)

I think makeup works best if you see the face, not the makeup.

I need a massage.

Many massages.

There are three or four distinct places between my neck and waist that are currently complaining. Constant low-grade muscle unhappiness.

I think I'm sleeping tense.

It's like I'm stressed or something...

I am angry.

Angry at incompetence, and inefficiency. Angry that I can't help effectively. Angry because I can't do everyone's work for them, and they are not doing it, so stuff is going bad.

Angry that I don't have time to accomplish everything I need to do well.

I am worried.

Worried that society is going to collapse. Worried that I won't be able to find work I love to do. Worried that my standard of living is going to significantly decrease. Worried that I haven't made the connections, forged the relationships I need to. Worried that I'm spending my time and money on things that don't matter.

I am sad.
Sad that my Dad died, and isn't around any more. Sad that I can't talk to my Mom about what's really going on in my life because it will distress her too much. Sad that I don't know how to be sad.

I am stressed, and busy, and it's hard to carry all this stuff around.

I got a Harry and David gift certificate for Christmas, and spent some time deciding how I would use it. I settled on this gift basket containing lovely things like chocolate and salmon, and ordered it a couple weeks ago.

Today, the package came. However, it was not the basket I ordered! It was a different basket.

So, apparently they ran out of the one I wanted, and substituted this other one, which although twice as expensive doesn’t have salmon or chocolate, OR the decorative metal basket.

So, I’m not sure how to feel about this – it’s a more expensive basket, but it doesn’t have the stuff I actually cared about.

I went swing dancing last night! My friend Irene was in town briefly and called to see if I wanted to come, and I did.

Dancing really is quite fun.

I danced with someone who I recognized from before (when I was dancing regularly). He didn't recognize me, and later told me that he thought it was because before, I didn't smile.

Hmmm.

It also might be that my hair is longer and I've gained weight - but it was an interesting comment nonetheless!

It is amazing what a difference a little shoe polish will make.

Now I can cross "shine shoes" and "treat leather jacket" of my vacation list...

So, apparently, the phone model I have is no longer being carried by Cingular, despite the fact that I bought it last year.

Which means they no longer carry batteries for it either.

And I need a new battery! The 1-year warranty is up, and the battery has significantly degraded. I need to charge it every day, just about.

However! With the power of the internet at my disposal... I can get the battery I need at less than half the cost Cingular would have charged.

Lesson here? Buy phone accessories online, not from the dealer. And - I might be needing to get a new phone in the next year or so. Maybe I should do that online too?

When I have to get up at 7 to go to work, and I wake up at 3am I:
stay in bed
toss and turn
try to sleep
end up falling asleep around 6
am groggy and slow when it's finally time to get up.


When it's vacation time and I wake up at 3am I:
get up
make tea
surf the internet
read until I'm tired
go back to bed and sleep until I want to get up!

Yay for vacations.

However, today's 7-10:30 morning nap meant I missed the phone call of my friend in England. :(