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.