Bored Again

My VCR/DVD player was kind of on the fritz--whenever I taped something on the VCR, it would always have places where the sound cut out, the picture was fuzzy, the video sped up for no reason, etc. So, I bought a new one. Only this time, I got a VCR/DVD-Recorder.

I decided to start over with the Phil of the Future taping, so that I'd get a better quality. It's a good thing that imdb.com lists all of the episodes, plus two weeks' worth of future air dates, or I'd be screwed until my TVGuide subscription got processed.

Eventually, I'm going to have to re-tape Kim Possible: So the Drama, A Valentine Carol, and Zenon: The Zequel too . . . but none of them are playing anytime in the next two weeks. I'll also have to get The Lizzie McGuire Movie. I found out today though that I can buy Kim Possible: So the Drama AND the other KP movie: Kim Possible: A Stitch in Time from Amazon, but I can't buy the others. Bummer. *shrug* It's not like I'm actually going to buy them anyway.

I also want a copy of Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and the third Zenon movie (I'm pretty sure there is a third one), even though I haven't seen that one yet.

I need to check my DVD of Hook to make sure I got all of it. I'm pretty sure I did, but I want to be sure because the DVD says it holds 2 hours worth of video at standard speed, but when the movie (and the two "making of" things afterward) were finished, it said that the time was 2 hours and 40-some minutes. I'm not sure what speed it was recorded at though. If I didn't get all of it, I'll just fast-forward (on the tape) to the place where it stopped recording (on the DVD), put a 2nd DVD into my new recorder, and let it roll.

Gabe at work sent me an invitation to this one file-sharing program/group which sounds like it's a lot better than LimeWire. I'll have to check it out later.

While I was at Wal*Mart last night, I also bought butter (I was out), a 16-piece set of dishes, and a 20-piece flatware set. I got sick of washing one each of my two bowls and two spoons every time I had to eat breakfast.

Sheesh! It's only 3:30, and I've been out of stuff to do since noon!

Snowed in, Again

It snowed on Sunday, so Monday I was snowed in again. I did shovel the back way on Sunday though, so I could get out really easily today. Everything melted pretty fast this time--hopefully, we won't have any big March snow storms.

I think the whole Girls' Camp trip is pretty much off now, since I've had to take another day's worth of paid vacation yesterday. Ah well, at least I'll still be able to afford SEFF (or LAFF).

Saturday, I copied Sister Act and Hook to DVD--I had my dad's old copied-from-TV VHSs of those two movies. It took three tries to get Hook. The first time, Kayla and Cassie and Jason O. stopped it shortly after I started, and I didn't get RW discs, only recordables, so I had to throw that disc out. The second time, I forgot to rewind the tape back to the beginning before I started recording, but the third time, I got everything just right.

Since it snowed on Sunday, I didn't go to my parents' house for dinner. I think I had a bologna and cheese sandwich with grapes on the side instead--but it's been two days, so I can't remember if that was Sunday's dinner, or Saturday's lunch.

Also due to not going to dinner on Sunday, Anna hasn't had a chance to look at the car yet.

She did come over Saturday night just to say "Hi," and to give me a few "non-chocolate-chip" cookies, but it was dark by the time she got to my place. Non-chocolate-chip cookies are not to be confused with sugar cookies--they're two completely different recipes.

Saturday Plans

Tomorrow, I plan to transfer a few movies I taped from my tapes to DVDs--using my roommate's VCR/DVD-R machine. Sunday, after church and stuff, is the usual dinner at my parents' house.

This week, I'll probably be able to take another bin or two to my new place to un-pack, since the snow has melted enough not to be hard and slippery ice. And even if it is slippery, I can now stomp a hole in it to get my footing.

Another twist is that I'll have to have Anna (my younger-younger sister) look at my car before it gets dark on Sunday.

It seems that, in all the commotion trying to get it out of my driveway during the last week or so, I must've scraped it on the ice-hardened snow, so now there's a huge (i.e. about 3 inches tall X 7 inches wide X 1/8 inch deep) gash in the paint on the part underneath the passenger-side door. I discovered it this morning as I was leaving for work.

I need her to either a) tell me what to do about it (Anna's an aspiring mechanic/auto-body worker), or b) fix it for me--just not on Sunday. If she can't do either one, I'll ask Dad.

He may not be a mechanic (aspiring or otherwise), but he HAS worked on his own cars to make sure they can pass inspection and stuff before.

If Dad doesn't know, then I guess I'll have to take it to the shop. GAH.

Hectic Week

Lately, I've decided that I want all of the episodes of Phil of the Future, so I've been coordinating and figuring. I have an Excel spreadsheet of all the episodes, when they're showing next, what tape I'm keeping them on, and what timestamp I should look for on the tape.

Once I've got 4-5 episodes that are supposed to be all in a row, I'm going to use Kayla's (one of my roommates) VCR/DVD-R machine (with her permission, of course) to copy them in the right order onto one of the blank DVDs I bought last weekend. Once that's done, I'm going to copy the episodes onto my 160GB harddrive so that I can share them.

Smallville is a re-run this week, so I can also tape Zenon: The Zequel and put that on a DVD too, along with Kim Possible: So the Drama, and A Valentine Carol (with Emma Caulfield from Buffy the Vampire Slayer--if it's not as messed-up as I think it is on the tape). The Lizzie Maguire Movie is showing tomorrow, so I'm going to tape that too.

I went to the Earth Space and Science lab on Tuesday with the Relief Society. We saw the planetarium show called The Cowboy Astronomer. It was pretty fun.

FINALLY!

Well, I got to watch the Smallville episode.

I had to go to my parents' house before it finished downloading (it had about half an hour left), but after dinner, Anna drove me back to my place so we could pick up the hard drive.

Then, she got an S-cable to hook up her computer to her 27-inch TV which she got from Scott. But the silly girl thought that her mouse port was her S-cable connection (she and I have the same type of laptop).

So, she went downstairs and got the laptop Aunt Tammy got rid of, which Dad was going to give to Anna anyway. Only thing was, the screen on that one wasn't working.

So, we hooked up the hard drive to Anna's original laptop again and saved a copy of the episode on the network. Then, Anna got Dad's laptop and hooked up the S-cable. The problem with that was, we couldn't get Dad's laptop to read the network drive that we'd saved the episode onto!

We finally discovered that Anna's laptop (and, by extension, my laptop as well) has a TV video jack in the side! D'oh! We hooked up the video, then Anna hooked up the audio through the speaker jack with this cable she has that can connect to it as well as to the audio plugs on a TV.

A couple Ctrl+F4's, and we were good to go--television on the computer on the television!

When I got home later and looked in my desk, I realized that, with my camcorder, I'd gotten the exact same cables I'd need to do the same thing at my place with my laptop!

So Patrick J. is coming over after work today to watch the episode, since he didn't get to see it either.

Sunday

I tried to watch the Smallville episode from this week, but two things prevented me from doing so:

1. The cable company was having trouble (due to the weather) with their sattelite feed from the CW.
2. The tape I'd taped it on was old--as in, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series first run OLD.

So, the sound was really bad, and the picture was all fuzzy, and the whole thing would just cut in and out for no apparent reason.

In order to see the episode, I have to download it from Limewire--the download is running now. I got a 160GB external hard drive yesterday (after I ran my errands for the next two weeks) with season 1 of M*A*S*H, and seasons 2 & 3 of MacGyver (they didn't have seasons 1, 4, or 5 at Best Buy, and those are the only ones I need now).

Went to church today. While I was sitting in sacrament meeting, I decided that every Sunday, I'm going to write down all of the scriptures we look up on all three hours of church, and put the references in this blog, plus actually quote my favorite for the day.

So, here are this week's scriptures:

• Doctrine & Covenants 107:23
• St. John chapters 3 & 4
• Mosiah 5:2 & 7
• Moses 6:59-60
• Matthew 25:40
• Alma 7:11-12

AND, this one was actually quoted first, but I liked it the best:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with
promise;)

That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord.

(Ephesians 6:1-4)

Stuck Home Again

Well, Kimba did help me shovel the back walk and the driveway in the back yesterday. But someone plowed the road back there, and now there's a mound of ice-hardened snow where there used to be a perfectly clean end of the driveway. My little VW Bug won't get over that.

I called Kimba (she has a Toyota Rav4, with 4-wheel drive, which is how she was able to get here yesterday), but I'd woken her up. Her back was hurting, and I felt bad enough that she'd shoveled my driveway with her heart condition yesterday, so I told her to go back to sleep.

I called work again and told them that I couldn't get there, so I'm home for another day. Good thing I have enough vacation time for three snow days if I need them. I just hope I don't, because I've got plans for the rest of it--plus the week's worth I should be earning over the rest of the year.

I'm hoping to go to girls' camp this year with the young women in the stake--I miss girls' camp, and I still have yet to go on the fourth-year hike, so if I do go this summer, I'd want to be with the fourth years as a leader-type person.

Plus, I'm hoping to go to SEFF (the Southeastern FoLC Festival) to meet a few of my friends from the Lois & Clark Fanfic Message Boards. Although, it's kind of iffy whether or not there will even be a SEFF this year, since Genine (the person who's organizing the event) is currently having some doubts about her ability to be there.

If there's no SEFF, I hope to be able to go to LAFF, but that's not very likely. SEFF would be in Tennessee, which is get-to-able, but LAFF is in Los Angeles (I almost typed "Lois Angeles!"), and no matter which one I went to, I'd still have to buy a plane ticket, since driving there would take too much time, and I don't have that much paid vacation time!

Not to mention, saving up money for food and souvenirs and the hotel room and such is going to be difficult with my current financial situation. I just hope my income tax returns get deposited soon.

My New Place

Here's my bedroom. It looks a little different, now that Kimba helped me put the drapes up today. I don't have a new picture, since I took this batch of pictures this morning.








This is the "book nook," as I like to call it, right a cross the hall from my bedroom. Not very many books in there yet, but all of the knick-knacks there are mine.








This is the 3rd floor bathroom, which I only have to share with one other person . . . yay!








Down one floor, we come to the back deck (this picture was taken from inside the kitchen door--it's frickin' cold outside!














This is our lovely, yet somewhat empty, kitchen.














On the same floor is our "living room," I guess you'd call it. In the corner closest to the kitchen are two couches, then moving to the right is Jen R's corner. Kayla has the wall opposite the kitchen, and everything from the electronic keyboard to the stairs is mine. I think Jen C. keeps all her stuff in her room (she has the master suite, complete with cathedral ceiling).














This is our TV room. There's not much in it, but Kayla bought a TV big enough to watch in that huge entertainment center. The treadmill at the back is Jen R's, and the small case of DVDs/videos is mine, as well as the white book case with the "suspended animation" clock on top.



The fireplace was really NICE to come home to yesterday after a short day at work and a drive in the snow. When I got home, Jen C. was watching Memoirs of a Geisha (my movie), and I decided to join her, so I grabbed my pillow and a blanket from upstairs, and laid down with my back to the fire. There's a rumor that the Jens are working on getting a couch for the TV room, but I haven't seen one yet.








Jen R's room is on the first floor, just before you come to the TV room. Both Kimba and I thought at first that there was only curtains, and no door, but there really is a door there. I'm still not sure if Jen R. has a bathroom in her room or not, but I think she does.








And THIS is the entry! I didn't take a picture of how the house looks from the outside, because it's so cold, but this is what it looks like from JUST inside the front door.



The doorknobs in this house are kind of weird to me. If you lock the door, you can still turn the handle to get out, but if you're trying to get in, you'd better have your key with you, because it won't budge if it's locked. I've never lived anywhere else where you could get OUT if the door was locked.



Anyway, that's my place. Hope you like! And even if you don't, that's okay, 'cause you don't have to live here. :)

Ok, no need to panic . . .

This morning, I had trouble staying asleep. I woke up around 6am, looked at the clock, and then tried to go back to sleep.

I had a nice sleep, then I realized that it had probably been too long to wait for my alarm. I looked at the clock, and and it was completely blank! So I went downstairs and looked at my cell phone--it was 7:49! We had had a power outage sometime between 6 & 7 this morning.

I turned off the laptop (the dock had no power, and the screen had frozen, so I had to take out the battery), looked out the window and saw all the snow, so I called work and left a message saying I wouldn't be coming in because the roads were un-driveable. I probably wouldn't have been able to get my car out of the street anyway.

So, I tried to get on the 'net and make this post once the power came back on, but my wireless connection wasn't working. I thought it was the wireless card, because the wireless router seemed to be working fine. Turns out, it was the internet connection itself.

Dad couldn't help over the phone, but Kayla fixed it a little while ago. She fiddled with the connections to the router, and then flipped the light switch for the internet connection on and off. All I had to do was restart my computer after that, and connection was a snap!

Thank goodness. I'd've hated to have to wait until tomorrow for any sort of internet connection (at work) and then have to wait until my dad could get here to fix the connection. He already needs to help me with the drapes in my room.

I took some pictures of my new place while I was waiting for the computer to re-boot, so I'll get those uploaded and then post them later.

Things I forgot to remember

Ok, I usually don't have more than one or two posts per day (if any at all), but while I was waiting to go home earlier, I thought of a few things that I hadn't even written in my journal yet, because I kept forgetting to do so.

A few months ago, we had some friends over for Sunday dinner, plus, I think, the missionaries. Dad had invited one of his friends from the temple, and we had either Gourmet, Indonesian Chicken, home-made pizza, or one of our other favorite Sunday meals.

After dinner, when everyone had gone home, I was laying in bed trying to sleep, when my dad knocks on the door of my room. I told him to come in, and he asked me what I thought about his friend from the temple.

I pretty much shrugged and said he was quiet.

Then, Dad gets into this thing about how his friend from church was looking for someone to date, and I'm thinking to myself, Since when does Dad set us up?!?

I asked him, wasn't his friend a little old for me? Dad said he was in his thirties. I'm only 23, so I told him that his friend's a little old for me.

It's not that I object to people dating other people with such large age differences, it's just not for me. Kimba's boyfriend, Scott, is 35, and they've been dating for almost 2 years now. She seems happy enough with him, so it's all good--but I wouldn't want to date someone Scott's age, and I'm a year older than Kimba is!

Why wouldn't I want to date someone that much older than I am? Well, it's something like this.

The current life expectancy of a reasonably healthy man is about two years less than that of a woman with the same basic amount of vigor, right?

I've always been taught that dating is a preparation for marriage, so I try to only date guys who I'd be interested in marrying (unless it's understood that the date is strictly between friends). Now, if I date, and end up marrying, a guy who is so much older than I am, the likelihood goes up that I'd be a widow before I was fifty. There's no way I want to spend that many of my older years alone. That's what the younger years are for--finding someone to spend the rest of your life with.

Right now (and since I started dating), I've made it a personal policy not to date anyone more than five years younger or older than I am for that very reason. In ten years or so, I might change that to no one more than ten years younger (because then, I won't be accused of robbing the cradle if I date a younger guy), and no one more than five years older. But for now, I'm sticking to my "five years on either side" rule.

But I still can't believe Dad set me up. Of all the people to set me up with anyone, Dad would not have been my guess of who would try first.

Snow Day

It's been snowing off and on today. I hope the roads aren't too bad by quitting time.

I added a recent picture of myself to my profile. Last week, I had Anna take a picture of me with my digital camera (I got it for Christmas) while I was sitting at my desk in my new place.

I've been thinking about writing a fanfic for The Class, and I even have a plan for one, but haven't really gotten around to typing it up. I should though--it's making me unable to continue the Lois & Clark fanfic I've been writing for a while now.

YES! We just got an e-mail from our HR person at work here--we're all leaving at 3pm, instead of 5! WOOHOO!

I'm kinda bored though, and will be for the next 50 minutes. I don't feel like reading any more of Anna Karenina right now (I just finished part III earlier, and I don't want to start on part IV yet), and I've played all the games on my Palm Pilot so often, they're not even addicting anymore. Not to mention, my e-mail inbox for work is completely empty.

Just Started this Blog

Hi, don't have time right now to go into specifics, but this is my blog.

Enjoy.