Buy my books!

So, I went to Wonder Book and Video to sell the 206 books I wanted to get rid of. The buyer guy wanted to give me $10 for the lot! Grrr. Considering I had done my research to find out the lowest used book price for each title, this irked me.

I had gone to Amazon and looked at the used book listings for each title--for each one, I checked the lowest price (not including the ones selling for only $0.01) for the condition my book was in. I added all of those prices up, and got a little over $360, which was only about $51 more than my original estimate for all 206 books.

Since Wonder Book was only going to give me 1/36 of the money my books were worth, I decided to sell my books online at iOffer. So, if you want to see what books I'm selling (and maybe even buy some), just go to the top link at the right of my blog.

Amazon Kindle

One of my bosses bought an Amazon Kindle. I had never even heard of them until last week, and even then I didn't know what it was until Gabe (the guy I share my office with) was setting up the one my boss bought. Turns out, they're back-ordered until like, February right now.

I got to hold Willem's (my boss) Kindle for a little bit, check out the features and stuff. It's pretty nice, and the screen doesn't strain your eyes. But the cost! Oh, my goodness, the cost!

Just the reader itself is $400! Then, you have to pay about $10 for every book you put on the Kindle from the Kindle store. You'd think, if they were making you pay so much just for the technology, they'd at least let you pick out 20 (better 100) books from the Kindle store for free! Not to mention, regular e-books usually don't cost more than 1/5th of that!

Some people have figured out how to put other e-books and PDF files onto their Kindles, and you can e-mail text files to the Kindle too, but still.

I do like the fact that you can get magazine and newspaper subscriptions on the Kindle though--not that I actually subscribe to anything except the TVGuide. I don't subscribe, because that means I have to take time out of reading books and fanfic to read the magazine/newspaper/whatever. And some months/days/weeks, I just don't want to put the book down, or I just want to get through the fanfic, y'know? But if I had a Kindle, they'd all be on the same thing, and I could just switch between them if one couldn't hold my interest for long.

Overall, the Kindle is awesome, but I will have to wait until the price--both for the reader itself, and for the content--comes down to my price range.

First Snow of the Season

For the first time in years, it's actually snowing before Christmas. I can't remember the last time that happened. Yesterday, they said that the meteorologist called for 2-4 inches today.

When I left for work this morning, it was coming down, sort of flurry-like, but there was a lot of it in the air. It had just barely begun to stick. I checked on it again before lunch, and there was at least 3/4 of an inch on the ground outside the basement office.

Just checked again--there are about two inches.

I'm going to have to shovel the walks when I get home today, or else I won't be able to move the car when I have to go to work. I can't afford to take snow days off right now, since I was just out sick for two days last week, and I didn't even have enough paid time off saved for that.

Last weekend, Anna and Jason came over and helped us decorate for Christmas. We got the tree set up, plus a few things we put in the cubby over the fireplace. Anna also set up the stockings, I think.

Blech.

Tuesday was kind of a bad day. My nose was all stuffy and such.

Wednesday was worse; I had to blow my nose every ten minutes or so, and I was so knock-down-drag-out tired, I ended up staying home from work. Went to the doctor, and found out that, not only do I have a viral infection which is causing all this congestion, but I also have an ear infection. That last part is kind of odd, because my ear doesn't really hurt like the last time I remember having one--just itches a bit and feels kind of full-ish.

So the PA I saw gave me two prescriptions: Amoxicillin, for the ear infection, and Phenylhistine DH Liquid Qua . . . which is basically a really nice (purple) cough syrup with a decongestant mixed in, and--wonder of wonders--codiene! I can only take the cough syrup before bed though. Which is mostly when I need it, because Tuesday night, I had lots of trouble sleeping, since I kept having to blow my nose and get some water the whole night, and that was with the huge mound of pillows (plus my TV cushion and the large green blanket from downstairs) propping me up.

The PA said to stay home from work until I'd been on the Amox for at least 24 hours, so I stayed home yesterday too--got caught up on all but one episode of Numb3rs. Holy heck, that show boggles the mind in such a great way! (Not to mention, David Krumholz is really starting to grow on me, with his floppy, curlie-cue hair and such.)

Today, I went back to work, still pretty miserable, but unable to afford more time off. Truthfully, I can't really afford yesterday and Wednesday (don't have that much sick time saved), but oh well.

I still have to blow my nose a lot, but thankfully not as much as I had to two days ago. My nose was raw long before lunchtime Wednesday, and it doesn't look like it'll be back to normal anytime soon. The odd thing is, I'm coughing more now than I was two days ago.

Four Bikes in a Cabrio

Yes, you read that right. We stuffed four bicycles into Anna's Volkswagon Cabrio.

Why?

Because Dad's truck is in the shop, and Anna and Jen wanted to go biking. Not to mention, the bikes wouldn't have fit into the Bug.

When we got back, I took seven pictures. Here's one of them.

Boredness

Went to Mom & Dad's last night, but Dad wasn't home. He went to Grandma's house. So Mom made tuna fish so we could have sandwiches for dinner.

I ate my sandwich, then decided I wanted to do a cross stitch project, 'cause I was bored. I picked out a pattern with two quail on it, and started working on it last night. I haven't gotten very much finished, but that's all right. I don't have all the floss I need anyway, so I should probably stretch the floss I do have as long as I can so that I more time to get the other colors.

I also started watching season 1 of Psych last night. Kayla borrowed it, plus the first three seasons of Numb3rs from Kimba. We decided that I would watch Psych while Kayla watches the first season or two of Numb3rs, then I'll start on Numb3rs when I'm ready.

I only got to watch the first episode of Psych before it was one o'clock in the morning, and I had to go to sleep. But that's okay. It was funny.

I keep hitting Ctrl+P while I'm typing this, when I usually mean to hit Ctrl+I, and it's getting a little frustrating that it keeps posting my blog entry before I'm done typing it, so I'm going to stop now.

Completely lost track of time last night.

Last night after work, I decided it would probably be a good idea if I at least tried to sign up for some scholarships. Anna was here, and after a while she, Kayla, and Jen went upstairs to hang out, but my computer was downstairs so I told her I'd be up in a bit to hang out with them.

I didn't get upstairs until after 12:30 this morning--and that was after Anna had already left. I had been looking at scholarships for more than six hours!

Well, scholarships and other things too. I just completely lost track of time.

But I did find this nifty site, http://helium.com/, where you can write stuff, and then people rate you on how well your article fits the title you were given. You can also find publishers looking for free-lancers to write articles with certain titles, and get paid for them.

I looked at all the titles last night that publishers were looking for, but I don't know anything about any of those topics. I did end up posting one essay on Helium that I wrote for one of the scholarships, and I also wrote another article about the rules to Ultimate Frisbee.

Scheduling Fun

I'm a big follower of the belief that "you can't schedule fun," but I've got so many hobbies and things I can never decide which ones I want to do when. So I usually end up just reading all the time. I've been toying around for a while with the idea of scheduling time for hobbies, exercise, laundry, cleaning, and other things, but didn't actually get around to making up said schedule until this evening. I did it in two-week intervals, because some things only need to be done once every two weeks.

Here's what I have for the time before school starts (this coming Sunday until the week of January 28, 2008). Sorry about the small print--it wouldn't fit on the blog screen otherwise. If you click on the images, you will be taken to the full-size versions, which have larger text.

Time Sheet Week

Pay Day Week

Those schedules will have to change slightly if I actually get a part-time holiday job at Barnes & Noble, like I want to. Here's my scheduling plan for after school starts.

Time Sheet Week

Pay Day Week

So, what do you think? Am I crazy?

Drawings

So, I've been drawing this weekend, for the first time in ages. I had to go to Wal-Mart to get more chalk pastels, but that's okay. I also bought an easel. Since I don't have a scanner, I went a little lower-tech, and took pictures of my drawings with my cell phone. I probably could've done better if I'd used my digital camera, but I didn't feel like going upstairs to get the camera and the downloading cord. So, I picture messaged the drawings to my e-mail, downloaded the pictures to my harddrive, and then uploaded them to PhotoBucket.

The first one I drew this weekend was on Thursday. It's a guy with some facial hair who looks like he could possibly be a Weasley, if his hair was redder.

The next one, which I finished on Friday, is of a blonde girl with a celtic knot choker. This was the first one I drew on the easel, and I think it's the best one of the three I did this weekend.

The third one I finished this morning, and is of a blue-eyed red head. I was out of ideas for drawing, so I just asked Kayla what I should draw: guy or girl, hair color, eye color, type of shirt, etc.

Overall, I think I tend to do better if I'm drawing people who don't actually exist. Don't believe me? The three pictures below are my sister Kimba, Anya (from Buffy--a.k.a. Emma Caulfield), and Buffy Summers (a.k.a. Sarah Michelle Gellar) respectively--or at least they're supposed to be. The pixellation doesn't count as messing up, just the actual drawings.

The Bourne Ultimatum

. . . is an awesome movie!

Kayla and I went to see it last night at the $2.99 theater. I only had $1.10, but Tuesday nights are 2-for-1 nights, so Kayla only had to cover me for $0.40. At least I finally got to see it. :)

I don't have much more to say about the movie itself--just that it's mind-blowing, and that I could follow this movie easier than the first two in the trilogy. I think that seeing the first two movies more than once helped, in that my mind was used to keeping up with a plot that moved as fast as the Bourne plots did.

I forgot to mention . . .

Back in either July or August, there was this church dance at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. There was a huge tent where the DJ and all the snacks were setup, and those of us there could walk along the water. It was on Pier 5, I think, and there was a submarine/museum in the harbor, but we couldn't go in because it was after visiting hours. I wasn't all that interested in going, but Anna dragged me there anyway. I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while, and Anna threatened to throw my new-used book in the harbor, and then just put it in her purse--nothing new for Anna.

It's about time I got a new one.

So, I've had this "new every two" plan from Verizon for years now, and I've actually traded up once. The phone I got from that trade-up was ruined in August of 2006 when I took it on a water ride at Hershey Park (I'd forgotten to bring plastic bags for my stuff, and just took my backpack).

After that, I got my current phone (see pics at left), and from what I remember, they told me I'd have to wait two more years from the date of that purchase before I could get a new phone on the "new every two" plan. But I got a call a couple months ago, and they told me that I could get a new phone anyway. I didn't do anything about it then, because my current phone seemed to be working okay, and I didn't want to deal with the possibility that I'd have to pay the difference for the phone (you only get a $100 credit toward a new phone).

But yesterday, I just got sick of it. My current phone is nice, yes, but it's also bulky, heavy, and doesn't get good service on the first floor of my house, or in the basement at work.

So, I looked up new phones at the Verizon website, and found out I could get the phone I've had my eye on for months completely for FREE. All I had to do was redeem my "new every two" credit ONLINE, which gave me another credit for about $30 more. So, I got a $129 phone for $0.

I was expecting it to take a week or two to get the phone through the mail, but at the end of the order I saw that it said 1-2 business days, so I figured on Monday or Tuesday. But no, I got an e-mail a few hours later saying that the phone had shipped and giving me a FedEx tracking number. I checked out the tracking information. Lo and behold, the phone is due to arrive today by 3:00 p.m! As of 8:38 this morning, it's already on the truck for delivery in Hagerstown. This is too cool!

I'm getting the Samsung SCH-u740 (see pic at right), which opens in both directions: the same direction as a regular flip phone, as well as in the direction that my current phone opens (I have The V by LG). One of my co-workers has one, and I've had my eye on getting one of my own since he showed it to me.

Apparently, the delivery requires a signature, but that's okay, since Jen S. and Kayla are usually both home all day anyway. I so cannot wait to go home this evening! Of course, that's not really anything new--I just have a good reason to be excited to leave work today.

Anybody want my old phone? If not, I'm going to give it to this one organization I heard of that provides emergency cell phones to people who can't afford to have a regular cell phone plan--once I've got all of the data transferred, that is.

Renn Fest . . . And Other Exciting Things

So, Anna, Kayla, Jen S, Jason and I went to Renn Fest a few weeks ago. I bought outfits for Jason and Jen. I also rode an elephant with Anna and Jen! It was pretty fun, except for the fact that sitting on the elephant kind of threw my hip out of joint--that was a little uncomfortable. I've been meaning to post pictures from the Festival, but Anna hasn't downloaded any from her camera yet. As soon as she does though, she's promised to e-mail them to me, and then I'll post them.

Things have sort of settled down on the roommate front now. Jen C. kept calling and e-mailing me (can you say "harrassment?") about Amit's part of the security deposit. Finally, Amit called TC (the landlord), and he said he'd take care of it and that Amit can pay TC back. Whew.

Amit and Jen S. are pretty fun, and Amit cooks for us every now and then. Yummy. I don't see much of Stacie, but so far, she's loaned her DVDs for the first and second season of Bones to both Anna and Kayla. Bones is pretty interesting; I think I might just be the next one to borrow the DVDs.

Anna TiVo'd the first two episodes of this new show called Pushing Daisies. It's about this guy who brings people back from the dead, asks who killed them, and then makes them dead again. (If he doesn't, then someone else dies, and he can never touch the first person again, or they'll die too.) It's narrated by Jim Dale, the guy who narrates the (I think) American version of the Harry Potter audio books, as well as the video games. Kayla and I watched the first two episodes last night, and it is hilarious! I'm definitely going to be watching every Wednesday at 8pm.

I took my car in for an oil change and a tune-up on Saturday. Didn't get it back until today though, because it was 1pm when I dropped it off, and they couldn't get to look at it until today. Turns out, the car needed a lot more done than that, especially since I hadn't had any regular maintenance done on it at all, and I've had it for more than a year and a half. I just sunk $677 and change into it today (good thing I had some savings), and it still needs about $1,300-worth of further repairs. Although the two most expensive repairs can wait as long as I'm careful and pay attention to the level of coolant in the reservoir.

I'd been thinking for the last few weeks that I'd go see if the bookstore across the street from my work is hiring part-time holiday help. So, I went over there today at lunch time, but they're only open from 10am-4pm Monday through Saturday. Considering I was looking for a 5:30 or 6pm until about 10pm job for two to three nights a week, plus a Saturday or two per month, that would not have worked.

So, I looked up bookstores in town. There are a lot more than I thought--three on Market Street alone. Then this evening, Kayla came with me to the new Barnes & Noble in the mall so that I could fill out an application. Kayla's friend Madison works there, so I put her name down as a referral. Just waiting to hear from them now.

Fresca tastes terrible when you have a temperature of 100.4.

I had a mostly-nice three-day weekend. Saturday was grocery day, and Anna helped this time, so it was a little more fun than usual. I got a Sprite at the cash register (shopping is thirsty work, so I usually grab one of those 20oz. bottles), and Anna got Green Tea with Citrus. I'd never had it before, so I asked if I could try some, and it was very yummy. I had another one either before or after dinner on Sunday, since Anna had a twelve-pack.

Sunday, we had tacos for dinner, and I got "volunteered" to cut up the meat (we had beef, chicken and pork, and the last two weren't ground at all). I'm terrible at cutting meat, especially when it's not frozen, so I had the knife held all awkwardly in my hand and got a blister about the size of a dime on my right index finger, just above where it meets my hand. It's mostly better now, but it gets a little sore if it rubs something.

Yesterday was Labor Day, so I didn't have to go to work, and I'll still get paid. Anna wanted to stop off at Hobbytown USA and check out prices for possible Christmas gifts, so she got to my house around 3:30-ish. I still had to start my laundry, so we didn't leave until about 4:30.

Anna got her prices, and I bought a wooden yo-yo, a set of marbles, and a jump rope to alleviate some of the boredom--and because I like yo-yos, marbles, and jumping rope, of course.

After that, we went to Wal-Mart (both of the local ones) to get some stuff for the barbecue at Mom & Dad's for the holiday. We went to Mom & Dad's, and then we had to clear the weeds and stuff from the left side (from the back) of the house so that Cali (Kimba's dog) could run around inside the new fence they'd put up. I was pretty tired at that point, and didn't really do much clearing out, but my nose was still itching all night long.

After dinner, Anna lit a bonfire, and she, Kayla, Amit and Jen S. all stayed out and talked while I went inside to the air conditioning. Around 9:30 or 10, everybody went home, including me. By that time, my nose was completely stuffed-up, and no amount of tissues would help. So I tried some nasal spray--which worked for about five minutes--and then gave up.

This morning when I woke up, my nose was even more stuffed. But I went to work, despite my misery. I didn't feel up to packing a lunch, so I figured I'd just go to Beans & Bagels for lunch and treat myself to a ruben just to cheer myself up a bit. That helped (rubens are my favorite type of sandwich, after all), and I still have some macaroni salad in the mini-fridge at the office that I can eat tomorrow if I get the munchies and don't feel like eating any of the cashews I bought on Saturday.

Anyway, I was feeling extra miserable by 5:00, and I was starting to think I might have a temperature, but I didn't have any way to be sure. So, I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and bought an ear thermometer.

Just my luck. I have a temperature of 100.4. I had thought it was just allergies (it is ragweed season, after all), but no dice. I'm actually sick. Blech. I knew it was a possibility that I'd get sick, what with all the stress of finding two new roommates in such a short time period, but I was kind of hoping to avoid this.

I decided that I would just take it easy tonight, and then if the temperature hasn't gone down (and I'm still feeling oogy) by the time I have to get up for work in the morning, I'll call out and then go to the doctor. I took some Advil around 6, since the bottle says it's a "pain reliever/fever reducer," and I've actually got a little bit of a headache to go along with the fever anyway.

A little while ago, I had three pieces of toast and some of the Fresca I'd bought on Saturday. The toast was fine, but the Fresca tasted like Alka Seltzer--yuck! I love Fresca, usually, but my taste buds are so out of whack now, it's ridiculous. And I dare not cook anything, 'cause I don't want to leave too many germs in the kitchen, since Jen S's niece and nephews are over a lot during the days when Kaety has to work.

S-T-R-E-S-S

So, a couple of weeks ago, two of my roommates decided they would try to throw out the third one . . . without any sort of civilized discussion. They only thought to "inform" me after they'd given her a letter telling her to be out of the house by a certain date in the middle of September.

I'd been hearing about the issue the whole time though, and they really weren't being fair at all. They said that they "didn't want to get me involved" because they knew I didn't really have much of a problem with her, but what it really amounts to is that they were picking on her behind my back the whole time and didn't want me to object.

They raised a few points about this one roommate, and I admit that she does have a few habits that are irksome, but the other two--instead of sitting her down and explaining their reasons calmly--were constantly snapping at her. And while she does admit that she isn't blameless, this is a case where the delivery overpowered the message.

In the hopes of maintaining peace in the house, I suggested a meeting between the four of us where I intended to be a moderator-type person. The meeting got rescheduled twice, and then the other two just decided that they were going to leave. And then they had the nerve to say that we had to find their replacements if we wanted to stay in the house!

Luckily, Anna knew someone who was looking for a place to live. Kaety's sister Jen S. (how ironic is that, one Jen replacing another?) and her husband Amit (plus his daughter Neha) moved into Jen C's room a couple nights ago. I had to ask Amit to write the big rent check, because it was too close to the end of the month for the smaller checks to clear if I'd deposited them into my new account and written it myself.

At one point, the situation got so stressful, I spent a whole week not checking my e-mail, just vegging out with fanfic so I wouldn't have to think of anything. But eventually, I had to crack down because Kayla doesn't really know how to go about this sort of thing (truthfully, neither do I, but I seem to be handling it a little better now), and I really don't want to move again--not that I have anywhere to go. I mean, my old room is going to be Anna's as soon as she's able to get to re-working some of it again, and her room is much too small. Not to mention, I like being able to spread out like this--cramming a bedroom, a library, and a personal home office into one single space just isn't conducive to flowing, healthy thought patterns.

Jen R's room is still empty. I had to use my whole savings (all two months' worth--$400) to cover the room's rent before Amit could write the big check. However, I also looked up a couple of roommate-finding sites online. I've contacted a few people from each site, and one of them has been quite interested. She's coming to look at the room/house tomorrow night, and if she likes the room then she'll move in on the 7th, and I'll be getting my $400 by the end of September, and then I'll be back on track to getting my late-winter vacation to Arizona. I hope she does take it. I can't take much more of this stress.

Maybe I'm Not So Burned Out After All . . . *SPOILERS*

Not much happened from the 18th to the 20th.

Saturday, however, started with a bang--or rather, the ringing of a doorbell.

It was Jason and Nathan O, come to pick up Kayla for a YSA tubing activity at around 8:15. I had opted not to go--it was friggin' Harry Potter day! I opened the door for them, told Kayla they were here, and then went back to bed.

Not more than 20 minutes later, however, the doorbell rang again. I was a little annoyed (I REALLY wanted to sleep some more), but since it turned out to be my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the door, I didn't stay annoyed very long.

I took the boxed-up book to my room, and promptly read the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince before tearing open the box. As I was shucking the dust cover off of the book, I happened to glance at the clock: it was 9:11 a.m.

SPOILERY PARAGRAPHS AHEAD! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I read the book straight through, not even stopping for decent meals. I did, however, munch on the last of my Mini Nilla Wafers (I've still got an unopened box of the regular-size kind), and water. It was SO AWESOME! For books five and six (which now tie for my second-favorite, with the other books in the same order they were before, just one down), I admit, I cried the last few chapters of each. But for book seven! Book seven had me in tears from the time Hedwig caught a stray Killing Curse, past Fred's death, and on to just before the epilogue! WOWZA!

I was also somewhat surprised by how many of the possible plot speculation theories I'd seen in fanfiction turned out to be correct. Especially, since many of the theories I'd seen had already turned into fanfiction clichés before even Half-Blood Prince came out! For instance, I guess having Professor Snape harboring an unrequited love for Harry's mum really was the only way to redeem him in Harry's eyes.

END OF SPOILERY PARAGRAPHS! IT'S SAFE TO READ AGAIN!

Now, for those of you who do not wish to be spoiled further (not to mention those who didn't want to be spoiled in the first place), I shall move on. I finished the book at precisely 11:34 p.m. that same night. For those of you who are clock-mathematically challenged, that's 14 hours and 23 minutes (863 minutes). So, my reading speed is roughly 9/10 of a page every minute (there are 759 pages in the book). I don't know even an estimated word count for the book, so I can't really calculate the words per minute.

Sunday, I found myself re-awakened to reading books. I spent most of the day re-reading Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey. I'd read my dad's copy within the last year or two, and I actually bought the whole quartet (Freedom's Landing, Freedom's Choice, Freedom's Challenge, and Freedom's Ransom) after I moved, but hadn't had a chance to read it yet.

I went to dinner on Sunday, as usual, and since it was the day before my birthday, we had Nasi Goreng--my favorite! Kayla liked it too, and Anna brought me leftovers yesterday, which I totally forgot about until I typed that just now.

Monday, I had the day off, and read some more of the Catteni Cycle (that's what the series is called) after running the errands I hadn't done while I was reading on Saturday.

Tuesday, it was back to work, and so were yesterday and today. Tomorrow will be too. Only, I've finished all four books, so I don't have any new books to read. But I have downloaded quite a few e-books (I've put them on my Palm, since it has an Adobe Acrobat Reader program on it), which should occupy me for a while, starting with How to Write Sci-Fi and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card.

I think I wanted to say more, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was, so I'll go to bed now.

Harry Potter and Other Manias *SPOILERS*

The rest of last week went pretty boringly. I had Friday off, and went to the doctor's office for an in-grown toenail (ouch!). It wasn't too bad, so she just told me to soak it with Epsom Salts and let it grow to normal length. We both agreed that surgery would be a last resort.

I spent most of Friday and Saturday at Mom & Dad's house. Friday, I was planning on seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with the rest of the family if Dad would take us, but Jason was still at Scout Camp and it wouldn't have been fair to him. So I just hung out and helped Anna with her homework for her computer and English classes.

Saturday morning, Mom called me around 10:15 out of a sound sleep (I'd stayed up until four that morning, reading--hey! It was a three-day weekend!), begging me to drive Jason home from the Stake Center. So, I did that, then went back home and slept until about 1:30.

A little while later, I went back to Mom & Dad's and waited for Dad to get home. It took until about 6:30 for them to decide that they weren't going to see the movie that day--they were going to see it on Monday instead. I couldn't see the movie on Monday, because I had an appointment at my allergist's office as well as my shots after work and I didn't know when that would be finished. So, I took Jason to the movie on Saturday.

The movie was okay, I guess. It's possible I was just too drained from waiting almost two extra days, plus having to do all that thinking to help Anna with her homework and such, but the movie left me more amused than awed. There were a few exciting scenes (the ministry battle was not one of them!), but overall, the movie kind of fell flat to me.

Not only did they shorten and convolute the ministry battle, but they also left out a great huge portion of Harry's end-of-year chat with Dumbledore. I was so looking forward to seeing Harry trash Dumbledore's office too! That, coupled with the fact that they left out a great many things in the battle (the brains, the time turners, etc.) which I would have left in for excitement's sake, made the ending kind of "ho-hum."

Ginny, as a character, was also jipped--again. Her only lines were "Reducto!" and "Expecto Patronum!"

Dumbledore's battle with Voldemort was kind of stupid as well. All they showed was lightning flashing between the two wands and connecting--no transfiguration of anything (although a few things did get shattered into dust shortly before Voldemort possessed Harry), no pieces of the fountain protecting Harry.

I'll have to see it again, just in case my energy levels at the time could have effected my enjoyment of the flick.

Sunday I went over for dinner, as usual.

Yesterday I had my appointment, and it was nearly 7:30 before I got home, so I stopped at Roy Roger's on the way and got a grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad and a vanilla shake--YUM!

The hymnal I'd ordered from DeseretBook over the weekend arrived last night as well, but it was late before I was finished beta-reading a Lois & Clark fanfic for a friend. So, I went to Wal-Mart to get a headphone adapter jack so that I could still practice on the keyboard without waking up the girls.

I practiced until 10:45, then took a shower and went to sleep.

Hot Diggity Dog!

So, last weekend was pretty boring. I managed to record Monsters, Inc. I also tried to record The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but it looks like it either got preempted, or I had set the timer for the wrong channel, because I only got three hours of shows like The Family Guy or The Simpsons. No matter. It's supposed to be showing again this coming Sunday, so I'll get it then.

Sunday, we had coldcut sandwiches for dinner at Mom & Dad's. Yum! Kayla actually had two sandwiches, which is an accomplishment, considering she doesn't eat much besides candy.

Yesterday was pretty normal. After work, it was so hot outside, and I knew I had to fill up the car soon, but it was just too hot. I didn't even go to Dr. M's office for my allergy shots.

Today I had my 2-year review at work. I totally got an awesome raise! Once I make the switch to my new bank, I'm going to have the direct deposit do $100 to my new savings account, and the rest to my checking account. I figure I should be able to visit Heather in Arizona, at least, by next Valentine's Day.

I was pretty bored this evening, after I finished figuring out my new estimated budget (I'll probably have even more than I figured on--it's a pretty conservative estimate). So, I decided to check out the neighborhood pool. I put on my favorite swimsuit, which is technically too small, but my other swimsuit has shoulder straps and could've fallen off easier. Then, I went swimming for about half an hour. After that, I walked back to my place, carrying my shoes, jeans and shirt and with a towel over my shoulders. I wasn't about the put my clothes back on over the bathing suit--I'd've been sweating like a pig before I'd walked a block!

When I got back, I was bored, so I thought I might play some piano. The angle was all wrong, because I had to stand up to play, so I got frustrated from the forced slowness of my playing. Then I realized, "Hey! I just got a raise! I think I'll buy myself a bench to celebrate!" So, I looked up some benches online, called the Music & Arts Center to make sure they had some, and went. I got a bench, a sustain pedal ('cause it doesn't sound like a real piano without one), and a music light. The light needs three triple-A batteries though, and I only have two. Maybe I'll go to Wal-Mart and get some.

I made it!

Sunday marked exactly five months since I moved into the townhouse in Dearbought. Yesterday marked exactly two years since I started working at PublishAmerica. I've survived!

Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal days.

Wednesday, the fourth, I woke up around eleven, left an IM for Ryan saying "Happy Fourth!" even though by that time it was already the fifth for him, and then got ready to go to Mom & Dad's house.

Got to Mom & Dad's around 3 or 3:30-ish, and then me, Dad and Jason drove down to Grandma's house for dinner. Dad was going to be grilling, but it rained, so he just cooked hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwurst on Grandma's stove. Other than the family members who live in Grandma's house (Grandma, Aunt Tammy, Aunt Peggy, Uncle Dan, Katrina and Michael), Aunt Barbara was the only other person there. Uncle Andy's now in Utah, and CJ and Danielle were out visiting him. Tim was elsewhere. We were going to watch Independence Day when we got home, but Kimba was watching Project Runway, and Dad had a headache, so we didn't watch the movie.

As I said, yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of my hiring at PublishAmerica. I asked one of my bosses how they were going to go about scheduling my review (since I've been working in the other building for the better part of the last three weeks). She said that they have a list of people who still have to have their own reviews, so they hadn't forgotten me, and they'd contact me when they were ready to schedule my review. It's all good.

I decided to change banks. I've now got a checking and a savings account at Wachovia. I have yet to transfer more than the minimum starting deposit to either account though. I'm waiting until after July 21 to tell the HR people at work that I'm changing accounts (for my direct deposit), because that's when Amazon will take the money out of my old account for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After that, I'll just have to fill out a new direct deposit form (I'm going to have it deposit somewhere from $50-100 every paycheck directly into savings), then change my records at Progressive so that they withdraw from the correct account. The rest, I usually pay myself, either by phone or by mail, so I won't have to worry about changing their records, just making sure I use the right checks and the right check card.

I'm on chapter twenty (out of thirty) of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I'm trying to draw it out so that I'm not tempted to read something else between books six and seven. I figure, since I'm taking off of work on the 13th (to run some errands as well as to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), that leaves nine work days. I can usually read one chapter per lunch break at work, so that's nine chapters. I'll just read the last chapter of book six on Saturday the 21st before book seven comes. That just means I'll have to find other things to read and/or do at home before then.

Holy, Frickin' Heck, It's Been a While . . .

Let's see if I can remember even just a fraction of what's happened since June 12. I reckon I can probably pick out the highlights, at least.

The day after my last entry, I was asked to help out in the mailroom/printshop at work. Larry (one of my bosses) asked me (with promise of a nice raise come review time) to see how they do things, and see if I could help them be more efficient. So far, the only thing I can think of that will help them to even stay afloat, much less be caught up and stay that way, is if there are two more people hired. One more for the print shop, and the other new person would sort of float between the print shop and the mailroom, sorting out the orders, boxing up the larger ones to go UPS, and then putting the smaller ones on the table to go via USPS Media Mail.

I have to say though, that working in the mailroom has been kind of fun. There's always something to do, so it's not boring, and I actually like doing Judy's job (the Media Mail stuff). Heck, I might ask to be put over there permanently, if they can find someone else (or more than one someone else) to do my current job(s).

Yesterday, I went to the Red Cross to make a blood donation, but I didn't have enough iron in my blood (low by one percent) to donate yesterday, so they had to differ me. That's okay, I'll just drink lots of orange juice (there's iron in there) and wait until the next time I get a call from them.

After the Red Cross, I went to the pool house and finally got my pool pass. One of the Jens has the Guest Pass though. I don't really want to go swimming alone, so I was thinking of getting Anna in with the Guest Pass every now and then, so before I can do that, I have to figure out which Jen has the pass. I'll probably ask them sometime in the next week or two, or after my birthday (I've asked for a gift card so that I can buy a bathing suit that fits).

Despite not being allowed to give blood yesterday, I did manage to accomplish something besides just getting my pool pass. I managed to wash, fold, and put away all of my laundry (including my set of black sheets) in the same afternoon. While I waited for the machines, I watched three movies: Yours, Mine and Ours, Two Weeks' Notice, and The Wedding Planner. I also started a fourth movie while I put away my jeans, but most of that movie I only watched--it didn't take that long to put the jeans away. The fourth movie was Zoom Academy for Super Heroes. I also watched that movie again this afternoon (it was still in the player when I went to sleep, so when I got up I decided to watch it while I ate my breakfast/lunch).

Today, Kayla and I went to Mom & Dad's for dinner (as usual for me). We had sauté with green beans, rice, and peanut sauce. YUM!

After dinner, we sat around for a while, then Anna left to go hang out with some guy, and Dad, Kayla, Jason and I watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves on the projector screen. Kayla and I just got back about a half an hour ago.

Wednesday, I have off of work for the 4th of July, and then Thursday is my 2-year review at work. I hope I get a really good raise. I've managed to survive five months here on my own--now I want to start really living here.

I'm also taking paid vacation on Friday the 13th so that I can see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don't know whether or not Dad is going to take us all (minus Kimba) to see the movie, like he's done for the last four, but it would be pretty cool to follow that tradition. If he doesn't though, then Kayla, Jason O. and his brother Nathan are planning on going to a midnight showing, and I might just join them. I still haven't gotten to see the two movies I wanted to see last month yet: Ocean's 13 and Nancy Drew. Maybe I'll be able to catch them on TV-Links.

My birthday this year falls on a Monday, so I figured I could use another three-day weekend this month and asked for that day off as well. So that'll be three out of almost five weeks this month that I will only have to work for four days instead of five. Sweet!

I haven't figured out what I want to do for my birthday yet though. I put on the list that I gave to my family that I wanted them to come here to my place for dinner on the 29th instead of me going there, and I was originally thinking about making lasagna . . . but it's been so hot lately, I don't think that would be a good idea--tasty, but not a good idea.

There aren't any good movies coming out on the weekend before or after my birthday, but The Bourne Ultimatum gets released to theaters on August 4.

Advice

A word to the wise: if you're going to be biking more than a few blocks to the grocery store, then eat breakfast first!

Seriously. I was out of milk, so I couldn't eat cereal on Saturday morning, and I didn't want any fruit--I still have half of a grapefruit and a whole bunch of honeydew in the refridgerator. So, I grabbed my waterbottle, and started on my way to Wal*Mart (to get some sunblock and a couple other things) before heading to Church Street so that I could find out how long the trip would take me.

Cumulatively (I made a couple of stops along the way) it took me about 40-45 minutes to get to the building where I work from my house. And by that time, I was--literally--about to pass out. I'm going to have to get into a little better shape before I even think about biking to work on a regular basis. That's kind of a bummer, because that was my main plan for getting into shape in the first place. Ah well. I guess I'll just have to try and go swimming (and bike to the pool) more often than I usually do.

When I got there, I called my parents' house, and asked Mom if her truck was working. It wasn't. So, I asked if Dad or Uncle Andy were there, but it was only Mom and Jason at home. I decided, belatedly, to get something to eat, so I told her that I was going to get some lunch at one of the restaurants nearby. She said she'd have Dad or Uncle Andy call me when they got home.

I walked the bike to Beans, Bagels and More, this little coffee/sandwich shop about a block from my work, and got a bowl of fruit and another bottle of water. Of course, I didn't actually manage to order right away, because there were people in line ahead of me and I had to sit down because I was starting to pass out again. I felt better after I ate though.

I sat outside at one of their little bistro-type tables to eat my fruit (a combination of cateloupe, strawberries and grapes), and sat there for a few minutes after I was done.

After that, I really was feeling a lot better, but I knew I wouldn't be able to make the ride back--it's mostly up-hill, and just that little bit of fruit didn't give me that much energy. Not to mention, my bike only shifts up, it's stuck in 6th gear (there are 7), and I can't figure out how to get it to down-shift--believe me, I've tried. So, I decided to walk the bike back home.

Around 6th street or so, I called Mom again to let her know not to worry about having Dad or Uncle Andy call. I made it to the pool house in my neighborhood (had to find out what to do about my pool pass--they said go to dearbought.com and e-mail the pool committee) an hour and twenty minutes after I left the restaurant.

When I got home, I was so beat that all I did was lay down and read for the rest of the day. I took a nap around 5pm, and then woke up at 9pm. Then I continued reading for another few hours before going back to sleep. I needed to buy a few groceries, but I just didn't have the energy to go to the store.

Sunday was Mom's birthday dinner (her actual birthday was on Saturday). We had Hawaiian Haystacks--yum! That was the first time, in the whole decade that any of us had lived there, that we'd had that particular meal at my parents' house. We'd had it before at Grandma's, but never at Mom & Dad's.

I took three containers' worth of leftovers, and then Kimba (who had come over to my place earlier that afternoon and was dismayed when I told her how far in the hole I am and that I still needed groceries) told me to talk to her before I left.

Anna, Jason and I watched Stranger than Fiction on Anna's computer/TV through a site that Patrick J. showed me a week or two ago. It was actually a lot better than I anticipated, and I was anticipating that it would at least be really good.

So anyway, I talked to Kimba as I was going to leave, and she, Dad and Anna gave me a whole bunch of food that was just sitting in the pantry, not getting eaten. They even gave me a gallon of milk. I probably won't have to go shopping for anything except butter and ground beef (they gave me Manwich and boxed mac 'n' cheese, but I forgot that you need butter for the mac 'n' cheese--the last three sticks I had from the banana bread got all moldy a couple weeks ago, so I had to get rid of them--and meat for the Manwich) for at least three weeks to a month or more.

When I got home from work/allergy shots yesterday, there was a whole bunch of stuff on the kitchen table. Jen C. was getting rid of some candles and a whole bunch of great movies. I took quite a few of the movies that were on the table, including VHS copies of The Day After Tomorrow and The Best Two Years. Now, I don't have to worry about recording the first one, and I have a copies of two of my favorite movies!

Slow Burn, Revisited

Slow Burn

After years
seeking new sanctuary
from the frost,
in a familiar refuge unfurls
an ever-brightening flame.

The fire,
in a slow burn through havens
for which no forecast is read,
seeks life-giving air.

Shall evolved shelter
shun cold in earnest defense,
or in a final blaze
consume all who enter in?

Movies and Stuff

I managed to get all of my movies transfered (or transfered back) to DVD. However, it turns out that I'd set the timer on the DVD-Recorder for too short a time when I recorded The Day After Tomorrow, because it cut off right as Dennis Quaid was dragging the other guy into the fast food restaurant. Bummer. That's one of my favorite movies too. I guess I'll just have to wait until it's on again though.

On Sunday, Ocean's Eleven was showing again, between two showings of Mission: Impossible II. I got both movies, so now the only empty DVD cover on my floor with a title on it already is for The Day After Tomorrow.

I have found cover images for all the movies I didn't have images for now, but I haven't printed them out, because my laptop is still up in my bedroom. I can't print unless it's in the dock on my desk, so I'm finishing up a few more projects upstairs before I finish with the movies.

I had finished recording all ten Dutch units last week, so I tried to disconnect the harddrive and take it (with an empty CD) to my parents' house on Sunday so that Dad could burn it for me. For some reason, the computer couldn't stop the USB drive, so I just got fed up and un-plugged it.

Imagine my surprise when Dad couldn't find ANY of the MP3 files I'd saved onto that harddrive from the Dutch tapes! I had saved them in a specific folder, and they were all named things like Unit One - Reading Exercises, or Unit One - Greetings (there were two files for each unit).

They were there before I disconnected the hard drive--I know, because I'd tried to record them on the DVD-R, but couldn't, since apparently my DVD-R can only play CDs, not record them. Go figure.

But anyway, now I have to record the tapes to the harddrive again. I just hope I can get them to stay on there this time, especially since I have no idea why they wouldn't have stayed the first time!

I'm hoping it won't rain on Saturday, so that I can try to time the bicycle ride to work in the morning, and then maybe go to the pool (even just to get my pool pass) after I go grocery shopping. I'm pretty sure there's no movie that I want to see this week, but I'll have to look at my calendar at home.

I'm planning on making another post either tonight or later this week, if I've had a chance to talk to Heather on AIM again.

Making Progress

"That's a rather grim beginning for a Disney movie."

That's what Jason O. said when we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End last Saturday, and I totally agree.

That doesn't mean the beginning wasn't as awesome as the rest of the movie--far from it! The whole movie was an action-packed three hours full of total, mind-boggling thrills. I'd've just never expected that particular type of beginning to come out of that particular producer.

And now, in order to avoid the temptation to spoil you all any further, I shall continue recounting my week so far.

Sunday was dinner at Mom & Dad's again--of course. Dad gave me his old Palm Tungsten T3, because he'd gotten a BlackJack.

Then, on Monday was Memorial Day. I had to do my grocery shopping then too, because I'd skipped it on Saturday and I was running out of food. I thought about going swimming at my neighborhood pool, but there wasn't enough time afterward, and I didn't feel like trying to get my hot and sweaty body into a clean and getting-too-small bathing suit.

Not to mention, the people running the pool were supposed to have put my pool pass into my mailbox (they'd run out of ribbon for their card printer when I got my picture taken for it), but it still hasn't shown up. I'm hoping that, when I do actually end up going, they'll have it there for me.

So, instead of going to the pool, after I went shopping, I went back to Mom & Dad's so that Dad could help me configure the Wi-Fi card that he'd given me with the PDA. That didn't take very long, but I stayed anyway because they were all going to another movie. We went to see Meet the Robinsons in the $2.99 theater. That was a cute movie. But I want to know what his mother looked like too!

Tuesday meant back to work for Darcy. The same old boring thing, day in and day out. After work, I managed to finish recording the Dutch tapes to my computer, but when I tried to use the DVD-Recorder to copy the files to CD, it didn't work. Apparently, the DVD-R only works for playing audio CDs, not recording them. Darn. I'll just have to get Dad to burn the CD for me next time I go over there or something.

I also managed to get Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone over to the VHS, and I got Spiderman onto the DVD. Now, I just have to get Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone back to DVD, then I can get The Day After Tomorrow to go both ways and I'll be finished with those.

Tonight I'm going to be recording Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl though, so the re-recording will have to wait until that's done, at least. On Sunday (I think, but it might be Saturday) I'll have another chance to record Ocean's Eleven, which is good, because I've had the cover sitting on my bedroom floor for at least two months now. I'm debating on whether or not I want to record Mission: Impossible 2. It'll be on both before and after Ocean's Eleven. I'll have to wait and see.

The Art of the Marathon Nap

Other than having Dad's pizza on Sunday for Anna's birthday dinner, the last week has been pretty boring. I haven't done anymore recording or re-recording of anything, audio or video.

I managed to get up the motivation to make scrambled eggs with toast (with grape jelly) last night for dinner though--that was yummy, and a far cry more interesting to eat than cereal for the second time that day. I'm out of ketchup though, so I had to eat the eggs plain.

I was online talking to Heather on AIM 6.0 for about an hour, then she signed off--I think her computer died again, or she got kicked off or something, 'cause she didn't say 'bye or anything.

Anyway, around 6:30, I was really tired. I seriously could not keep my eyes open. So, I closed the laptop (didn't close any programs or turn it off though), put my glasses away, and turned over in the bed with the bedroom light still on.

I was out like a light for about five hours.

At about 11:30, I woke up, got my pajamas on (yes, I'd been sleeping in my jeans and t-shirt), used the facilities, put my dirty dishes in the sink, turned out the bedroom light, and went back to sleep.

I woke up again at 7:30 this morning, when my alarm went off.

It looks like the only thing I really needed was one of my Marathon Naps, but it couldn't be forced--I had to take it at a time when my body would let, or rather force, me to take it.

I feel so much better than I have the last few weeks! I mean, sure, I'd been sleeping in on Saturdays and Sundays, and I'd even gone to bed an hour or two earlier than usual more than a few nights a week, but it just wasn't working. I think it was a combination of sleeping too much when I didn't need it and my allergies starting to get worse (but not nearly as bad as they were around the same time last year, thank goodness) as the grass pollen season wore on.

GAH!

Thursday night, there was a movie on that I wanted to record. It was actually on twice that night, but I didn't catch the first showing because I was watching the Smallville season finale (which was awesome, by the way--even though I hate it when Patrick J. is right about spoiler-y things).

The movie was Bulletproof Monk, and I'd seen it before, so I knew it was awesome. So, at 10:30, I started to record the second showing of the movie, all the while pausing the recording during commercials.

While I watched/recorded the movie, I got through Unit 8 of my Dutch tapes (recording them to my computer, that is, not really listening to them and learning anything). Actually, I managed to get that far before then--while I was watching Smallville.

After Smallville was over, I had decided to play the Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom game online. So, I got into that, and eventually the movie started, so I started recording that.

Shortly after the movie started, I noticed that it was taking a loooooong time to load one of the parts of the game, so I thought I might try defragmenting my hard drive. I knew defragging would take a while, so I just let it go while I watched the movie.

About 20 minutes before the movie ended (around 12:40 Friday morning), the defrag was complete. So, I went back to the game.

Problem is, I still had the movie paused, because the defrag ended during a commercial break. I completely forgot to press record again until I realized that the movie had been on again for at least two minutes, and I'd missed my cue!

And it wasn't just a couple seconds' worth of movie, so it wasn't worth pressing record again and just filling in what they would have said in my head--no. So, I pressed stop, and since I didn't know when the movie would be on TV again, I just deleted the whole thing off of the disc.

I had been recording on Long Play, so I have almost half of a disc to record another movie on. And depending on which speed I record it on, that could be almost four hours of movie there.

I figure, I'll just buy the movie when I can afford to splurge on a DVD again--it's just not worth sitting through another two-and-a-half hours to record something I should've already had.

Friday was boring, but okay.

Saturday, I went to see Shrek the Third with Anna, Kayla and the crowd. Anna and Kayla had to sit in a different row, because Anna's had surgery on her ankle and that was the only place her wheelchair would fit. The rest of us were stuck sitting in the very front row of the theater.

The movie was pretty cool though.

I went to Mom & Dad's house for Anna's birthday dinner yesterday. It was Dad's home-made pizza. Yum!

Fifteen minutes' more sleep = good!

Yesterday evening, before I left work, I got an e-mail saying that I could have one of the grass parking spots if I wanted it. There are only about 20 spots in the company lot, and they're given out by seniority.

There were two spaces available in the grass, and all the people ahead of me (except for Jade, who is currently on maternity leave) wanted to wait for concret spots. Me, I don't care what the spot is made of, as long as I can get my car in and out of it. So, I took the spot.

This morning, I woke up at 7:30 (as opposed to 7:15), and didn't have to leave the house until 8:10. I got into the door at work at 8:28. I love not being uber-early!

Last night, I did a bit of movie copying. I had recorded The Bourne Identity and Spiderman 2 on VHS during the last couple weeks, so the only thing that I needed to do was dub it over to DVD, minus the commercials. I did that last night. I've also got the first Spiderman movie on DVD, so I've got to dub it over to VHS and then back. But I'm putting both of those movies onto the same disc.

Tonight, I'm probably going to do Shrek from disc to tape and back. I don't have anymore that only need to go the one way, but I do have the two I've mentioned, plus three more (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The Day After Tomorrow) that still have to go both ways.

Adventures in Sandwich Eating

I meant to get a lot more done on Saturday than I actually did get done.

Friday night, I checked Weather Bug, and it said there was a 40% chance of rain the next day, so I didn't set my alarm clock at all for Saturday morning. I wasn't about to try riding my bike downtown, only to get stuck in the rain. Thing is, it didn't rain until Saturday evening. Argh.

When I did wake up, Jason called and reminded me that we still had to go to the library before next Saturday, so that he could return his books in time. Problem is, he forgot one of them, so he couldn't check any out. I wanted to get one of the nifty new library cards, that have a copy you can put on your key ring, but I didn't have any cash with me and replacement cards cost $1.

So, Jason pretty much just dropped of his books, and then I took him with me on my errands.

We went to Lowes first. I had to get a new cover for the light in the upstairs hallway. The old one had fallen and shattered a couple nights after I moved in, and Jen C. kept bugging everyone about it. Kayla and I were perfectly content to leave the light as it was, since replacing the shade part was not an absolute necessity, and we have more important things to worry about/spend our money on. But no, Jen C. just would not leave it alone.

Anyway, after Lowes, we went to Costco. I got gas, then we actually went inside the store, where I got a large bag of Doritos (for lunches), a honeydew melon (my fruit for this paycheck), and some Apple & Eve juices (also for lunches). Once that was done, we went to Wal*Mart for the rest of my groceries before I took Jason home.

I put the groceries and stuff away, then did a little bit of reading until aroun 6:30, when Anna came to get Kayla and me. Anna's birthday is this Wednesday, but she's getting surgery on her ankle today and won't be able to go anywhere without a wheelchair for at least three weeks after that. So, as an "it's the last free night you'll have before your birthday" thing, we went with her and Cashaw to Pittsburgh to get sandwiches from Primanti Bros.

Primanti Bros. sandwiches are pretty interesting. You choose what meat you want, and whether or not you want cheese (it's always provolone). The bread is always the same, and it's about an inch thick. Then, they put slaw and french fries right on the sandwich. I had a roast beef sandwich with cheese. It was good, but I think next time I'll have it without the slaw.

The drive there and back was fun. Cashaw is really interesting, and we had conversations about everything from banking to religion. He even said he might teach me to do photo editing once he gets his photography business up and running the way he wants it to be. We didn't get back to mine and Kayla's house until around 5:45 in the morning on Sunday. (We didn't get to the restaurant until around 11:30 or midnight.)

I didn't wake up until 3pm on Sunday, then I looked through this week's TVGuide before I left for Mom & Dad's house. Anna and I watched Smallville and it was over just as dinner--Indonesian Chicken, at Mom's request for Mother's Day--was ready.

After dinner, we all did various other things for a while, then Dad and I ended up watching Testaments in the living room while Jason played on his computer. Jason had to go to bed before the movie was over, and I left after the movie.

I am such a geek.

So, I have these tapes, right? They're foreign language tapes. Pimsleur Language Programs' Speak and Read Essential Dutch. I've had them for at least a year and a half, and got them before I even thought of registering for that class down at the Belgian Embassy.

But my tape player is old, and sometimes doesn't work right. So I don't like to use it.

The other day, I was thinking, "If only I could get that onto CD--or my ipod--then that would be awesome, 'cause then I'd feel like listening to it more often." (You're supposed to listen to no more than one new unit per day, but if you didn't feel comfortable with the previous unit, you just repeat it the next day.)

And then I realized: I can do BOTH!

I got a cord a couple weeks back that connects headphone-jack-to-headphone-jack. Well, in this case, it's really headphone-jack-to-microphone-jack. And I've got a hard drive that will hold 160 GIGABYTES, so I have plenty of space for that kind of thing.

Today, I plugged the cord into the headphone jack of my tape player, with the other end plugged into the microphone jack of my laptop. Then, I plugged in my headphones to the laptop (so I wouldn't bug my roommates), and opened my Audacity program.

Holy Toledo, IT WORKS! It came through loud and clear, and I was able to record it and then export the recording to MP3! I also managed to get rid of the static (there was a lot of it) using Audacity's "Noise Removal" effect.

I've decided I'm going to record each of the ten units, plus each of the ten reading exercises, into twenty different "tracks."

And--this is the REALLY GEEKY part--I'm going to get some blank CDs, hook up my laptop to my VCR/DVD-R, and make my own CDs! I'd forgotten until this evening that my VCR/DVD-R could do that.

Once I've finished the Dutch course, I've got quite a few other cassettes (French, Finnish, and actual music tapes) which I can transfer to CD!

So, totally a geek.

How could I forget . . . ?

I forgot to mention that on Saturday I went to see Spiderman 3 with Anna, Kayla, and Jason O. It was awesome, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

After that, Anna had to go to work, and Kayla, Jason and I went to my place to hang out. We did some stuff upstairs, and then went downstairs to watch last week's episode of Smallville. It cut off just as Jimmy was plugging in the ipod though--apparently, the clock on my DVD-Recorder is a couple minutes fast, even though I set it to record for an hour and two minutes. I'll have to fix that, once I figure out just HOW fast it is compared to the TV stations.

Strange . . .

I think that I might actually get finished with Order of the Phoenix faster than I did Goblet of Fire.

What makes me think that? Well, it took me a few weeks to a month to read Goblet, right? I've only been reading Phoenix for two or three days, but I'm already on chapter nine (The Woes of Mrs. Weasley)! I think the reason it took me so long to read Goblet of Fire was because, out of the six current books, Goblet of Fire is my sixth favorite. It just doesn't really do all that much for me, so reading it takes longer because I don't really want to, I guess. In order of favorite to least, I'd rank the Harry Potter books thus:

1. Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
2. Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
3. Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3 -- This is actually kind of strange, 'cause before OotP, PoA was my favorite!)
4. Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)
5. Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)
6. Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

It was kind of difficult to decide between books 1, 2 and 3, so I just listed them. They're pretty much tied for third though, not 3, 4 and 5.

Also, Goblet of Fire, besides bringing Voldemort back to life, doesn't really do much except set up Order of the Phoenix. There isn't even any Quidditch, and while the Triwizard Tournament is pretty cool, it just seems like filler to me. Even Rita's articles don't do much except setup the whole media "Mock Harry" media-fest in Order of the Phoenix.

I'll post an updated list after I've read Deathly Hallows this summer--look for the new list around my birthday!

This is pathetic.

I finallyfinished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today. It took me at least three weeks--I can't remember exactly. And today, I read the most chapters I'd been able to read in that book for one day since I started re-reading it.

I read two or three chapters while I was at work today, then after I got home, I read two while I was out on the deck, and the last two on the couch on the second floor.

Now, I just have to get through Order of the Phoenix, and then Half-Blood Prince will be a breeze.

As for the 50-book challenge?

Six down, forty-four to go.

I told you it was pathetic. And it's all my fault I got burned out on reading three years ago too.

Bravo to Google . . . Finally

Okay, so it's kind of dumb to sign up for Google AdSense when almost no one reads my blog anyway. But I signed up for it when I started this blog, just for the heck of it. Every once in a while, I like to look at the ads at the bottom of the page (but I make sure not to click them--that would violate the agreement between me and Google), just to see what Google has come up with that it thinks is "relevant" to my keywords.

Just a few minutes ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see two full ads that I actually approved of (as opposed to only one, or neither)! The one on the left was for an LDS thing, and the one on the right was for a Harry Potter thing. Bravo to Google for finally getting it right!

Minor Tribulations and Old Teachers

Not much has happened since my last entry. I've got a crick in my neck that prevents me from turning my head all the way to the left when I should be able to. I first noticed it yesterday, and I thought I'd be able to sleep it away, but that didn't quite work.

I'm just too tense--I want to go to the FMH Wellness Center in the FSK mall (I haven't been since November), but I can't afford it right now. Maybe I'll put that on my birthday list for this year--as many hour-long massages as people will give me.

I e-mailed my old AP Literature & Composition teacher from high school today. This one thing I learned in that class kept bugging me, because I'd forgotten part of it, but I'd still want to know the part I'd forgotten every once in a while, and whenever I tried to remember, I could only remember that one little bit. So, I decided to go to the source, and asked Mr. P. what the answer was.

He was pretty ecstatic in his reply, that I'd even remembered taking the class, much less anything I learned from it.

I did a little reading out on the deck this evening. I could only concentrate on the book long enough to get through the chapter of Goblet of Fire where Harry finally hears the clue from the egg, gets stuck in the trick stair, and lends the fake Moody the Marauder's Map. When I was about halfway through the chapter, my neighbors came out to have dinner on the back deck, and they were pretty loud, so I couldn't keep my mind on the book after that.

Now, I'm doing my laundry and trying to find something else to occupy my mind besides dubbing movies (minus commercials) from DVD to VHS and back. I don't think I'd be able to do all that running up and down the stairs from my room to the laundry today--I'm still sore from doing it last week!

Good Times

I went bowling on Thursday with a whole bunch of people. Kimba and Anna had invited me, Kayla and Cassie to go bowling with them at Terrace Lanes. The bowling alley has Dollar Days from Sunday through Thursday, 9:30pm-midnight ($1 for shoe rental, $1 per game/per person), so I figured heck, I wanna go bowling!

I took a whole bunch of pictures, but only ten of them turned out even remotely okay. The rest were either too blurry or too dark to make out.

There were so many people in our group, we took up four lanes. I was on a lane with Anna (for the first three games), Cassie, and this guy Eric who I remembered from high school. Kayla didn't actually bowl whole games, but took over for Eric on a few frames.

I don't know how the scores went on the other three lanes, but I managed to get a printout for the lane I was at. Anna made us all have names that were for our opposite gender. We played four games total, before midnight, and here are the scores:

Game One
George (Anna): 90
LeeAnne (Eric): 103
Phil (Me): 78
Nathan (Cassie): 66

Game Two
George: 79
LeeAnne: 84
Phil: 85
Nathan: 89

Game Three
George: 90 (for a grand total of 259 at our lane)
LeeAnne: 96
Phil: 63
Nathan: 83

(Right before the last frame of game three, I broke my right thumbnail down to the quick, but it was still hanging on at one side, so I tried bowling left-handed. My turn was up, so I didn't have time to pull the nail off the rest of the way until the beginning of the next game. So, for the last frame of game three, I had two gutter balls.)

Game Four
(Anna was playing on two lanes, so she took her name off of ours so we'd have time to finish the game before closing.)
LeeAnne: 140 (Grand Total: 423)
Phil: 90 (Grand Total: 316)
Nathan: 106 (Grand Total: 344)

From Cassie's turn in frame 2 of game 3 until Eric's turn on frame 4, we had a streak of strikes. Cassie got one, then Eric, then me, then Cassie again, then Eric again, but then I only got a spare (but the spare was all ten pins in the second round of the frame, so it would've been a spare if I hadn't have gotten a gutter ball first).

Over all, it was a fun time. I completely missed Smallville though--and forgot to set the DVD-R to record it for me.

Friday was boring. 'Nuff said.

Today, I got up at about 11 (I meant to get up by 10), took a shower, and then paid the bills. Once that was done, I headed out to the Red Cross office on Thomas Johnson Drive to make a donation.

It was like the 6th time I've ever donated, so I knew the drill. But this time, it just kept stopping. The nurse said that it probably clotted, because she kept moving the needle (which was slightly unpleasant, but nothing I couldn't handle with a bit of distraction--such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and it wouldn't just GO. So I didn't get to give a full pint, but it was mostly there.

After the obligatory stay in the cantina, I headed over to Mom & Dad's to pick up Jason for the library. He was at his friend Stephanie's house down the road, so I got his library books and his wallet from his room and picked him up there.

He checked out a few more books, and we went back to Mom & Dad's for lunch. While I ate, I watched Smallville from Thursday on the TiVo. Gotta love those season passes!

Once the show was over, I left to run my errands: Costco for gas, JCPenney for a couple necessities, and Wal*Mart for a few groceries.

Then I came back here to put everything away, and copied my pictures from my digital camera so that I could share them here (since Heather requested that I take them).

Slow Burn

After years
seeking new sanctuary
from the frost,
in a familiar refuge unfurls
an ever-brightening flame.

Something I Forgot

There was something I forgot to mention after that one time I went to Institute a couple weeks ago. Sister C. handed out copies of an April 2004 conference talk by Elder Oaks called, "Preparation for the Second Coming." (See earlier entry about Institute for more information about the lesson and how it might/might not tie into this.) There are a few paragraphs I'd really like to quote, and would've quoted sooner, if the article hadn't been gathering dust on my printer the whole time:

Evil that used to be localized and covered like a boil is now legalized and paraded like a banner. The most fundamental roots and bulwarks of civilization are questioned or attacked. Nations disavow their religious heritage. Marriage and family responsibilities are discarded as impediments to personal indulgence. The movies and magazines and television that shape our attitudes hare filled with stories or images that portray the children of God as predatory beasts or, at best, as trivial creations pursuing little more than personal pleasure. And too many of us accept this as entertainment.

The men and women who made epic sacrifices to combat evil regimes in the past were shaped by values that are disappearing from our public teaching. The good, the true, and the beautiful are being replaced by the no-good, the "whatever," and the valueless fodder of personal whim. Not surprisingly, many of our youth and adults are caught up in pornography, pagan piercing of body parts, self-serving pleasure pursuits, dishonest behavior, revealing attire, foul language, and degrading sexual indulgence.

An increasing number of opinion leaders and followers deny the existence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and revere only the gods of secularism. Many in positions of power and influence deny the right and wrong defined by divine decree. Even among those who profess to believe in right and wrong, there are "them that call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20; 2 Nephi 15:20). Many also deny individual responsibility and practice dependence on others, seeking, like the foolish virgins, to live on borrowed substance and borrowed light.

Yikes!

Oh, wow, it's been a while since I updated. I didn't mean to go so long without posting, but it kind of snuck up on me. The last few weeks have been kinda crazy.

I can't really remember much about it, other than that Ryan was here on leave, so we hung out.

I've gotten a couple more movies off the TV, including the first three Harry Potter movies. I just got Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this evening--though I accidentally had the DVD-Recorder on the wrong speed setting, so I had to use two disks. I'm going to copy it from the disks onto VHS, then re-copy it onto another DVD at the right speed.

I also have to copy Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The Day After Tomorrow to VHS, then re-copy them to DVD without the commercials. I just have to have a day when I feel like watching those three movies twice each--or when I have stuff that will keep my mind occupied while still allowing me to stop the recordings when the movies are done.

Tomorrow, I'm covering Jen R's Beehive class, so it'll be like a blast from the past.

What Be Your Nerd Type?

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd   Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.
Musician
Science/Math Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Social Nerd
Drama Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Whoops! It's been a few days.

Let's see . . . what's happened since I actually posted something that wasn't the FoLC map?

On Thursday, Smallville was a re-run, so I actually *gasp!* went to Institute. It was pretty fun. Sister C. was teaching though, so I didn't see Brother M, who taught Institute when I went before.

Something I need to remember:

I can never remember all of the apostles, so I decided to make a list and put it here so that I can look at it more often.

1. Boyd K. Packer
2. L. Tom Perry
3. Russel M. Nelson
4. Dalin H. Oaks
5. M. Russel Ballard
6. Joseph B. Wirthlin
7. Richard G. Scott
8. Robert D. Hales
9. Jeffrey R. Holland
10. Henry B. Eyring
11. Dieter F. Uchdorf (spelling?)
12. David A. Bednar

There. Maybe I'll remember them all now.

The lesson in Institute was about Paul, and the first group of letters that he wrote, which was to the Thessalonians. I've got a bunch of notes about the chapters 2, 4 and 5 of 1 Thessalonians, but I don't feel like typing them all out. It's pretty much a lot of encouragement and advice for missionaries and stuff.

I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets while I was at work on Friday. Since I was only a little more than half-way through when I left for work that morning, I hadn't brought another book with me, so I didn't get to read anymore after that.

After work, I called Comcast to figure out why our wireless network had disappeared from the list of available networks, but they didn't have anything to do with it. It was LinkSys. I called LinkSys, and the techie guy helped me to re-establish a network from our wireless router using Kayla's computer. I had to use her on-screen keyboard though, because the one on the desk was broken.

That evening, Anna and I went over to Jason O's house for movie night. Kayla and Cassie came too, but Patrick J. and Kendra (or is it Kendall?) didn't.

We watched a couple of movies while we played Twenty Questions the board game, and then played three different kinds of Scene It! -- Harry Potter, regular, and Disney. It was Me, Jason and Devon against Anna, Kayla and Cassie. Cassie was pretty much their "mascot," and Devon just sat there, so it was really just me and Jason against Anna and Kayla. Anna and Kayla won all three games. Anna won Twenty Questions.

When we first got to Jason O's house, I slipped down the stairs to get into the TV room, and my right foot ended up underneath me, bent with my toes pointing up toward the top of the stairs. It throbbed for a minute or two, then it felt better.

Yesterday when I went to check the mail, I was coming back upstairs after getting it, but then I realized I forgot something. So I started to go back down to the entry way, and must've missed the step, because I slipped off that step too. And my right foot ended up twisted on its side that time. It throbbed for a couple minutes and I limped for a little bit. Other than a twinge every now and then, it's feeling mostly better though. But two twistings in two days is kinda painful.

I went over to Mom & Dad's house yesterday to get Anna so she could help me with my grocery shopping, since Kimba was borrowing her Cabrio and the Fairlane wouldn't start. I got a keyboard from Dad's spares so that Kayla would have a working keyboard on her computer again. I left a note for her on Notepad too. Anna helped me get a lot of stuff while not paying too much--and thank goodness too--as it was, the bill was $111 and change!

Today was the 2nd day of General Conference. I didn't watch though--I was doing other stuff. I got up around 10:30, got something to eat and checked my online places for updates. Then around noon-ish, I went upstairs to start on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I got through Chapter Three before my eyes wouldn't stay open. I had a pretty long nap--about two hours' worth--and then decided to get some sort of snack. I had some toast and a couple sweet pickles, then got ready to go to Mom & Dad's for dinner.

When I got there, Dad asked me whether he should make meat balls or meatloaf. I said meatloaf. Then, Jason and I played Dragonriders (a computer game based on the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey) on his computer, which Dad finally got up and running correctly.

After a bit, Dad asked us to peel and cut potatoes for dinner, so we did that and got back to the game. Then we had dinner and played until 9pm, when it was time for Jason to go to bed. We got pretty far and got quite a few quests done before we had to stop. We've decided to play every week, and Jason said he'll either not play during the week, or create a new game for playing on his own so that he and I can play the game we started today together.

Next Saturday, I have to remember to go to the pool house between 10am and noon so that I can get my picture taken for a pool pass. Then early next month, the neighborhood is having a community yard sale, so I've been going through my catalogue at LibraryThing to see which books I could stand to get rid of. I've tagged them all "to sell," and there are 209 of them.

Sometime this week, I'm going to look at the physical books on that list (I printed it out) and decide which ones are in "read 'em and pitch 'em" condition, which ones are in fair condition, and which ones are in great condition. Then I'll price them $0.25, $0.75, and $1, respectively. If there are any hard-backed books on the list, they'll be $3 each.

After I've gone through the books, I have to go through my other stuff and see what I want to get rid of. There's probably a bunch of clothing that can go, and I have three towels I never use (I have two that are much fluffier, which I just switch when I do my laundry each week) . . . but I'll figure the rest out later.

FoLC Map!

A Great Weekend

Yesterday started out pretty slow, but it got better.

I woke up around 10:10, took a shower, then watched Avatar: The Last Airbender (2 episodes every Saturday morning on Nickelodeon from 11 am-12 noon!). About 10 minutes before the second episode was over, Jason (my brother) called to see if I would be willing to take him to the library. I said sure, I'd be there after the show was over.

We went to the library, and Jason couldn't find the book he was really looking for, but he checked out a different book instead. We tried to get him a new library card (he keeps losing his), but they require either a school ID or a report card to show that he is who he says he is. And Jason's also lost his school ID. He used my library card to check out the book.

After that, Jason and I went to McDonald's for lunch. He still had a gift card from Christmas, so he treated me to lunch yesterday, and considering he's not yet 12, that was pretty cool.

Jason finally got to see my new place yesterday. We ate our lunches here in the kitchen, then I gave him the full tour of the place. He thought it was pretty neat.

A little while later, Anna and I went over to Patrick J.'s house to meet everybody (Kayla, Jason O., Devon, Kendra, Patrick J., & Cassie) to go hang out. Cassie took a wrong turn when she was trying to get to Patrick's house, so we just met her and Kayla in the church parking lot.

We went to the good theater to see Wild Hogs. It was HILARIOUS.

After that, we decided to go to Jason's house, where he'd order pizza--Anna was hungry.

When we got there (Anna, Cassie, Kayla and I all got there before Jason and the others), Brother and Sister O. were watching Monster-in-Law with another lady, so we all decided to watch it with them. That was an awesome movie.

Then we all talked for a while while we decided what to watch next. Finally, we decided on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was actually the first one anyone suggested. It was okay--not good enough to be one of my favorites, but not bad either.

After League, we all decided to go home. There was a pretty thick fog, so Anna drove slowly until we got back to Liberty Rd. She finally dropped me off around 1 am-ish.

After that, I got ready for bed and went to sleep--I didn't even do any reading or turn the TV on sleep like I usually do. I was exhausted.

This morning, Sister G. called me at 7:45 (half an hour before I had to get up!!!) to ask me to let Jen C. know about something that she was doing this morning. I knocked on Jen's door, but it sounded like she was in the shower, so I slipped a note under her bedroom door and then went back to sleep until 8:15 when I had to get up and get ready for church.

My left knee had been bugging me off and on yesterday, so I put on my knee brace this morning too. It started to feel better somewhere between Relief Society and choir practice, but I'm not sure exactly where. Just a few minutes ago, I took the brace off because it was starting to chafe, but then I had to answer the door and go up and down the stairs to see if one of the Jens were here, 'cause that's who the person at the door was asking for.

Yes, I actually went to choir practice today. My allergies and throat were actually cooperating today, so I figured I'd better take the opportunity to do some singing. We practiced "All Glory, Laud and Honor" for the Easter sacrament meeting coming up, and then we started on another hymn--I can't remember the name of it, but it's fun because there are a lot of eighth note-double sixteenth note combinations, so it kind of sounds like mini trills.

Dad was at my ward this morning, and he asked after the third hour if I wanted a ride to his house, but I told him I was staying for choir and I had stuff to do at home (like get lunch) first. He added that if I drove myself, I wouldn't have to get someone there to drive me back home afterward, and I said that yeah, that's probably a good thing too. According to Dad (and he would know, since he's the main cook of the family) we're having lasagna. YUM!

Scriptures/quotes from this week:

3 Nephi - The Savior's visit to the Nephites
Moroni 10
1 Nephi 19:9

In Sunday School, we went over the last half of the Sermon on the Mount, and we found things in Matthew chapters 6 & 7 that true disciples should and shouldn't do.

The Relief Society lesson today was about Elder Bednar's talk from the October 2006 General Conference called "And Nothing Shall Offend Them." Here are some good paraphrases from the lesson:

To be offended is a choice we make. It is not something afflicted on us by others. We can't blame the other person just because we took offense to something they did or said.

Try not only to not be offended, but also try to be careful not to offend others.

If a snake bites you, you have two choices:

1. You can curse the snake, yell at it, abuse it, or any amount of other things done or said in anger at the snake's action.
2. You can go immediately to get help to get the poisonous venom out of you before it kills you.

So it is with being offended. You can choose either to be angry and take offense to something someone says or does to you, or you can take a moment to think on the situation and do your best to get the poisonous feeling of anger out of you as soon as possible.

One of the sisters said that she tries to see the other person the way the savior sees him or her. Often, the other person doesn't realize that what they've said could be taken as offensive, so looking at it from the other person's point of view may help to keep you from taking offense as well.

And now, for my favorite quote of the day:

And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
~ Alma 5:26