My contact has been extended into the new year at "The Job I Really Love" (tm).
I am told this is good news.

I am working all kinds of crazy overtime hours.
If you don't hear from me, you're NOT alone. Nobody hears from me. I'm at work
more then I'm at home. In fact, I just got home from working all weekend.

SF people - I'm running sessions online - sign up.

Driving home tonight I stopped at a convenience store, bought a $2 scratch ticket
on a whim and won $50. Maybe the luck of the Irish isn't a total myth.

All's good in my world. Well, now that my car's back on the road and no longer in
an impound yard because my insurance company was STUPID and didn't change
over to my new credit card when I told them to and got my registration suspended.
and then got my car pulled over, towed and impounded. But, this is fixed
(thank you roaming for letting me use your car for a week, wow!) and now
I am insured with the Gecko. Very quick, very easy, and very online and user friendly.
It's good to be employed, whew!

But, other then that, no news really IS good news.

shadowflyer - get in touch. REmember, I don't actually twitter.

I wrote this last night, or more accurately, yesterday morning ...Now it's 2 AM the next morning and I'm too tired to sleep - isn't that fun?
Anyway .... here's what I MEANT to say yesterday.

It's 5:00 in the morning and there is NO good reason to be awake, but here I sit, doing the long long long overdue journal update and watching Cruel Intentions, and some of you out there know WHY, just like you know why, when it's over, I'm trying to decide between Blood Diamond and Requiem for a Dream ...  but that's not the point of this morning, just the side effect.

I've been asked several times now why I'm not dancing in the streets and shouting off the rooftops at everything that's going right.  The truth is I am, on the inside.  But it's balanced against a bone numbing terror that if I shout off the rooftops about everything that is going right, it will suddenly and dramatically go wrong again and everything will just fall apart - and I'm fairly sure that I'm not up to handling that.

So what is going so right?

Let's start with the boy.  Over the past few months, he was nominated to the People to People Student Ambassador program, an organization that offers kids in grades 5 through 12 unique and life-changing opportunities to learn, travel and experience world culture.  In order to participate, you must be nominated to the program and receive an invitation to attend a meeting.  Then you have to go through an application process that involves getting three letters of recommendation from teachers or coaches or other adults in positions of responsibility in your life, then you have to schedule an interview with the selection committee that chooses a limited number of students each year to join the program based off their applications, interviews and recommendation letters.  We are so VERY proud that D's been accepted into the program and will be traveling next summer to Rome, Paris, Switzerland and Austria! 
Today, People to People Ambassador Programs travels to every continent on the globe and offers programs for students, educators, and professionals.  Our delegates gain unparalleled access to extraordinary people and places with People to People Ambassador Programs.  The People to People movement dates back more than half a century to its founding by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Eisenhower was acting on his firm belief that direct interaction between ordinary citizens around the world can promote cultural understanding and world peace. That proud legacy of hope lives on in People to People Ambassador Programs on seven continents.
You can even watch numerous videos of the kids and the trips and about the program on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/group/people2people#p/a
This is just such a fantastic opportunity, and we're so proud that he passed the application process and was accepted! 

Now we move on to me.  I can has job.  In fact, although the current status is temp with a good possibility of perm, everyone tells me that tons of people there started as temps and that's a fairly typical way to get in and lots of temps get kept, so I can be hopeful.  What am I doing?  Well, basically, working at what is pretty much my ideal job, in my ideal environment with ideal people and I love it, and I'm happy, and frankly I'd rather be at work then anywhere else except *maybe* a larp or gaming weekend, but it would depend on the weather!  No, really, I LOVE it.  Pretty much everything up to and possibly including homicide would be on the table for what I would be willing to do to stay there, cause nobody should have that much fun at a job, it should be illegal or something.  I'm still trying to believe that I'm getting paid for it, cause its pretty much what I'd choose to be doing if I WASN'T working.
OMG Jet, what's the gorram job already?  QA testing for online games, specifically mmorpgs.  If I were to write an editorial on my ideal job, it wouldn't have been as cool as what I'm doing, which I'm just really enjoying.  And there's about a dozen of you out there I get to see every day - which is certainly not hurting.  Oh, and tressum ?  I LUVS you!!!!!  Thanks you so very much!

(by the way, Requiem for a Dream won the lottery .. what a fucked up movie)

I've finally gotten most of the house organized and cleaned up, I've only one bastion of disaster left - going through the rest of the excess clothes in my room that no longer fit, weeding them out and getting rid of them.  Then I'll finally feel like I have my life in order.

This coming weekend I'm running the Star Wars game - getting started up again for real.  Nearly 1 year since she's been gone, and I think she would have been very sad if w did otherwise.  I'm excited, but have some real trepidations about doing this justice.   Also, in the middle of the busy wind down of the larp season, it makes things a little frenetic - not to mention I'm joining at least one other tabletop this month too.  Busy busy gaming time and I love it.

So ... Requiem for a Dream.  Then back to work.  How cool is that, huh?  End. Of. Radio. Silence.

sometimes you find just the right moment
late at night, driving on the highway
you suddenly find yourself in silence
there are no cars in front of you
no cars are behind you, only darkness
none pass on the other side of the road
from horizon to horizon, as far as you see
there is only the night, the black road
no one stirs in the buildings
there is no sign of life anywhere
for just a few moments, for a few breaths
you are the only living thing in your world
nothing moves but you, no one sees you
you are, for an endless moment, entirely alone

and then, perhaps behind, perhaps from ahead
comes the garish glare of sudden light
an intruder into your private moment
light and noise and invasion, breaking the spell

and you return to the world of the living
a survivor who has passed through the underworld
and come back to the light to live again

<input ... ><input ... >

Memoria in aeterna

It never stops falling.
The endless smell of fire and ash .
The screaming never ends.
Chemical and flesh fused.
The burned in image we can't forget.

They never stop dying.
Acrid clouds of cloying smoke.
The nightmares go on.
Heroes rushing to death.
Grieving families, waiting, torn apart.

In their heads.
In your mind.
Where it's never quite gone.
Where a million hearts of a nation in shock
were broken in just a few terrible minutes.
We survive.  We rebuild.  We go on.
But one thing we should never do.

Never forget.

It has been a really good two weeks,  from the week at the beach house, to all the activities of the last few days.   Today we have very few plans other then a really good breakfast, a few errands, going through things in the house and packing the car to get going after a late lunch / early supper.  I may have to head out a little earlier then planned to make schedules work best - dunno, we'll see how today goes, but ....

Tonight I took a trip in a time machine, but I get ahead of myself....

Since we got back from the shore, we've gone to Lehigh Valley Pride, as I told you, and visited with family in between other things, as well as done some shopping and run some errands - hard to complain when I get to come home with a good chunk of an entirely new wardrobe from my mom.  

Anyway, I as I mentioned, there was a group trip heading out to Dorney Park - my cousin, two of her girls, my kid and ... they talked me into going with them   (yes I went with the group but only to float in a pool and guard the stuff and WATCH the kids on the rides ... no rides for me, thanks, I like walking in that continuing to be able to do it kind of way, even though its sad to be grounded from all my long-ago favorites) - I have to say, I like Dorney Park.  I was always a Great Adventure (Six Flags) or Hershey Park kinda kid, but Dorney Park is really nice.  They have a truly great water park with some very gentle and good for the lame person rides LOL.  One of these is so nothing it's rated safe for infants and grandparents - when did I turn into a wimp?  oh, right, my back, god that sucks - essentially you sit on a big inner tube and float around a long winding waterway at slow speeds.  My cousin calls it the Lazy River, though I can't remember it's real name, but it is about the most relaxing thing ever, and on a 90+ degree day, so perfect.  There is also a very cute play area called the Water Works, where there are tons of water toys attached to a giant scaffold-like funhouse, such as mirrors and hoses and hidden nozzles and turning gears and a bunch of powered water cannons to hit targets, fill buckets and drench the people on the other tower - great fun.  Of course there are also tons of shoot the tube high-speed water rides - not for me, mind you, but the kids had a blast.  Eventually we got dry and wandered off to the dry rides part - where I got to watch the bags and play games, but that was ok, and it was fun watching the kids (and my cousin LOL) have so much fun on all the cool rides. We had a thunderstorm, briefly, which shut things down for maybe an hour and a half (except for the low, small rides), but things came back on in time for all of them to go nuts on the coasters, so it was all good.  Ok, lying thru my teeth, SOOO jealous I can't get on the Hydra coaster!!!!  OMG, you should SEE this thing - it looks WICKED.   I would so get on this thing in a heartbeat - what's better then a killer coaster?  C'mon, I had to WATCH - just LOOK at this thing, it has SEVEN inversions!:


The other coasters there: Steel Force (the one they went on several times in a row), Possessed, Talon (which was closed for some reason), Laser, Thunderhawk, and the unescapable Wild Mouse, the Jersey staple LOL.    - and NONE of them would go ride the Hydra cause, and I quote, "The line is too long".  OMG, can you imagine a line you wouldn't wait in for that thing?  Ok, well, yes, so could I, but it would have to be pretty long, and much longer then the lines that were there!  So ... yeah!  Anyway, it was a great day, really, and the kids all had a great time, and so did my cousin and I, and all in all, definitely worth it for a nice day.  But I do wish I could get on those coasters ... 

Today we also took a trip to the U.S. Constitution Center and Independence Hall (omg that place is so cool, they've really come a long way from the miserable little building with a bell in it...)   There is a really impressive show that traces a brief history and the work that goes into the cost of freedom.  The musuem itself is really incredible.  There is so much infomaiton in the main display of the Constitution center that you would need more then one day simply to have a chance to read or hear even most of it.  Its really fascinating and brilliantly presented - don't know if you've had the opportunity to visit but its definitely worth the entry fee, and there are so many hands on things to do that kids won't get bored - good to know, eh?  Now, most of the museum is photography, video and cell phone free, so be prepared, but there IS a great room at the end with tons of great photo ops - but I won't spoil it for you.  The new Constitution Center is in the Old City, down the plaze from the Liberty Bell Pavillion and Independence Hall - easy walking distance to at least see all three on the same day, and there is an underground parking garage for the area less then a block from the Constitution Center doors, so it's very accessible.  Don't listen to them about the one on Race between 5th and 6th, go to the garage in front of the center - turn down 5th street off of Arch - much better parking.  If you want to do something educational or patriotic without going to DC, this is really a cool trip and well worth the entry fee, not to mention great for kids.

Then, we come to tonight's dinner at a restaurant that is nearly legendary.

If you leave Philadelphia via the Ben Franklin bridge, and go all the way over, staying to the left past the toll booths in order to get onto Route 130, and drive another maybe 10 minutes staying to the right (probably not much more then 5 minutes), you will see a big sign appear ahead on the right, red letters on square white backgrounds, saying PUB.  That's it, just PUB.    That's the only name this place has ever had, The Pub.  It doesn't look like much from the outside,  a slightly run down building with doors and decor that suggest it once wanted to be a castle in its youth, but the rest of the building had VFW halls in it's family tree - but it is a LARGE building.  Don't let appearances deceive you.  This place has more awards then you can read, with best of Philly's and a Zagat rating, so don't let the tired exterior fool you.
Inside, you can easily see the echos of its former greatness, when it was waiting room only to get in, though the food is still just as good now ...

The first room is a lounge, with a few old video games and a real old fashioned cloak check room.  To the left is the bathrooms, which always amused me, since the bathroom has a pre-room lounge with those across from each other infinity mirrors and overall being rooms with a footprint bigger then some apartments I've seen ... but ..    To your right is a huge bar and lounge, with suits of armor against the walls and an antique popcorn machine.  Of course, now it also features a huge flat sreen TV with the current sporting events, a new addition, but the charm of the old bar is still there.  Hard to describe the feel of the place, but it almost feels as though you're in the vestibule of a medieval castle, it's such a unique place.

Then, the dining room, which is cavernous, with dozens and dozens of well spaced out tables.  The big rounds hold 8-10 and there are at least half a dozen of those, the small rounds hold up to 7ish, and there are a bunch of those, besides smaller tables and a handful of booths - its like a small parking lot in there.  On one wall is the Wine Closet, opposite the famous salad bar that comes complimentary with every entree and is huge, and between them is a huge wall of stained glass arched windows.  The ceiling, way way over your head, is all the rough beams you'd see in a castle manor house, and here and there on the walls the decor supports the theme, from shields and bits of armor to a mounted moose.  On the far wall from the entry point are the roasting ovens - half a dozen huge archways in the brick wall leading to gigantic open-flame ovens.  My mom says that ages ago they used to call them 'smiling lucifers' but doubts that it's ok to call them that anymore though I'm not sure why.  (Is there some seriously un-pc meaning to that?  Tell me if you know, please!)

The menu is reasonable diverse and I'd place the average cost per person in the $25 to $30 range, for entree and beverage, not counting dessert or bar tab, so it's not bad, but not cheap.  The food is spectacular though if you're looking for art or avant garde creativity and unusual presentation, go elsewhere.  The Pub's signature elements are the twice baked potatoes, the giant seasoned onion rings served on every cut of meat, the gorgeous cuts of meat cooked exactly how you ask for them and the famous salad bar with some of the best zuccini bread anywhere.

Anyway, I digress, the REALLY amazing thing about this place is:  it hasn't really changed in over 60-70 years.  Not the food, not the menu, not the decor, not the little oversized Christmas bulbs in the unusual light fixtures, not the bottles in the Wine Closet, not the peanuts on the bar .... nothing has changed in this place.  In the States, that's not just neat, that's IMPRESSIVE.  My parents went on dates at this place, I remember Sunday dinners here when I was little - this place just doesn't change - and the food and the business are still the same.
They make the same house dressings, the same onion ring garnish, the same zuccini bread on the salad bar - they haven't changed or updated or anything and they're still a top-rated restaurant.  Going there for dinner was like stepping into a time machine - it was so eerie and still a lot of fun.

Do you have a favorite restaurant from your childhood, or from your parent's courtship, that is still there and still the same as you remember it?  Tell me about it, I'd love you to hear about yours too.

Yesterday, (well, Sunday) in god-awful 90+ degree heat, we ventured out to Allentown to go to Lehigh Valley Pride in the Park.   So my mom got to attend  her first pride event, chatted with a whole bunch of folks, signed up with PFLAG, and even met a Dem. Senate candidate looking to replace Arlen Specter and emphatically promised to vote for him!

Just wow!  So, how cool is my mom? Don'cha wish you were there for this one, Tali?  

Lehigh Valley has a really nice pride organization, very well run, lots of vendors and OMG are they super friendly!  It was a GREAT place to go for a first pride - its funny cause I didn't know anything about them, but if I had it would have been my first and best choice for an event for her to attend so it worked out really well.

PA also has a group called SilentWitnessPA, which are a group of volunteers all carrying huge rainbow umbrellas that escort pride attendees into and out of the events past the religious psycho protesters to ensure peaceful and no-conflict pride events - its a really great group, but they're only in PA right now.  The "you'll burn in hell" typical pride protesters REALLY offended my mom - she was very angry that they do that - go mom.

Today (meaning Tuesday), the kid's going off to Dorney Park with some of his cousins, he's very excited about this.  I think mom and I may have a quiet day at the movies or something while he's running around the water and amusement park with the rest of the kids.  He's so very very happy to get to hang out with and play with his cousins, though he's very sad that our vacation's nearly over (we'll be home on Thurs).  He really likes getting to do things with cousins and family, poor kid, he hates that we live so far away from all of them.  Every time someone says something like "well, we'll see you at Christmas", he all but cries.  :-(  Still, tomorrow should be a lot of fun for him.  They wanted me to go with, but I don't think I'm quite up to that, you think?

PS  -  for those of  you who haven't been able to reach me - my phone's been missing for about a month and JUST finally recovered!

Got some free time today between 5p and 7 or 8?
Friend needs help unloading a moving truck
in Newton.  Help would be greatly appreciated.

( If you can help, look here )

Dear Tali,

I've been up all night. Sitting vigil, I suppose, or something.
Like I did this time last year. When I'd just sent you to the
hospital and we thought things would be ok ...

It's a year now, a year since the first stroke, a year since the
day you left home for good, a year since I began to lose you.

I took a long long drive, past places we used to live, places we
used to go. Both of your places in Medford, our twin places in
Malden, my old place in Malden ... I even went by Jodi's old
apartment, remember that place? And a few others, just to go
there.

I wandered around, just driving by all the places we used to go
driving to when we went on our late night drives. Everywhere
except our beach, I don't think I can go there yet. But I still
love to read your sparklie story.

I can't believe its a whole year gone since that day. I guess
I just couldn't sleep tonight, its hard not to remember what this
day was last year. Hard not to think things like if I knew then...
what could I have done different? Hard not to feel sad, guilty.
I still miss you, still think about you all the time. I think
Raithe still misses you sometimes too.

I didn't spend the whole night alone - I went to dinner and a
movie with two of my very best friends - it was nice not to be
alone with my thoughts the whole night. That would have been a
bit depressing. But it was good to see all those places too.
I must have been out driving for 3 or 4 hours. It was good to
keep moving, I think.

Almost time for that annual family vacation, the one you missed,
the one we missed, last year. I'm going this year, maybe the
beach will be cathartic. I plan on doing lots of writing and
working on projects and things ... things to keep thinking I
suppose.

Working on getting the game back together too. And I figured
out what to do with the remnants of Parallel Worlds. I think
you'll be amused ... and Shade and Khy would be pleased.

Dami's doing better. I'm doing ok. I think that's where things
are, I think we're going to be ok. But we still miss you.

Love you, honey.

TBad Wolf Bay Revisited
This is my first attempt at DW fanfic. In fact, it's my first attempt at ANY fanfic, but
the Doctor and Rose really just inspired me, so ... :-) Hope you like it. - Jet

Story picks up sometime after Doomsday, as an epilogue.
Characters are Rose, Jackie, Pete, Mickey and The Doctor


( Read more... )

Oh my god, it was somewhere between hysterical relief and just hysteria.
I was just going through a box early this morning and I found them!

I hadn't even told anyone that I'd lost (or misplaced) them during the move.
They've been missing all this time and its been just killing me.
I didn't what anyone to get upset or feel bad for me or rush over here to
search or anything. But it was just making me sick at heart and so sad and
depressed to think they were lost - but I found them! The whole set!

What was lost? Our wedding pictures!
I was so happy to find them I just sat there and cried in relief.

Ok, I feel a LOT better now.

And I'm finally back online.

If you've been trying to reach me online here or on email, sorry!
I haven't been ignoring you, I've been nearly completely offline since
the end of May - but all is solved and I'm back online again

Drop me a new line if you need to get in touch and sorry for the
no news blackout. 

In other news, the unpacking is still in the nightmarish cardboard
jungle stage - which is to say that we're still tripping over boxes
and stumbling through piles and the sofa is far more accessible
then the bedroom - but there is hope in sight.

Should be back in the loop and getting back to social things
rsn.   Hopefully, we'll be dug out enough by mid-July to have a
come see the new place cookout or some such ... but no bets.

On the job front, still working on training for the new career - so
still not ready to make a public announcement but I WILL say
that it promises to be most exciting and for some folks might
be very good news ;-) should be announcing it also rsn.

Ok, that's it for now, catching up to a month of unanswered
email - YIKES - but I should get new messages now.

And so, I repeat my cry for help - ONE LAST TIME - I need a small army on Saturday to help me finish emptying this house out mostly onto the curb, as I'm pretty much trashing anything I can't justify trying to fit into my little, as my friend puts it, "hobbit house in the woods".

Got a few hours on Saturday?  Friday?  Sunday?  I will feed you.  I will buy drinks.  I will let you break things. It's all good.  Drop a line if you can show up or, better, call me since my computer time may suddenly go away for a few days.   News for Saturday:

I'm planning on getting started circa 8 am.  I'm not expecting much in the way of help before 11 or noon, though my cleaners are coming at around 1030 and all the areas they need to clean have to be cleared out by then, so if you CAN come early, cool beans, that'll be a big help.  I'm boxing up everything in the fridge early in the am and taking to Hudson, so if you're planning to be REAL early, let me know so I can leave a key and a list of instructions somewhere for you in case you get there before I get back from Hudson. Drop me a line if you have any comments or questions, and THANK YOU!

So, I'm getting started circa 8 am. 

You are welcome to show up any time after 8 am.

Around 1 in the afternoon, I will buy a mess of pizza and soda ( and beer if requested ) and feed the masses.

I have this strong hope that we can be finished by 7 or 8 pm.  Ok, I'm on crack, but I can HOPE>

Let me know if you can make it and your approximate eta.

Thanks!  - Jet

Some people say, 'if it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all'.  They really don't want to meet me, cause if they did, they'd never be able to say that again with a straight face or without worrying that saying it might make it REALLY true for them, like it is for me. 

Let me explain.  No, that would take too long.  Let me sum up...


A few days ago, the kid calls me, tells me he missed the bus and needs a ride home.  This is not uncommon, ok.
Go out, jump in car, drive to ... no, drive 2 feet ... oh.  Flat tire.

Stop car, look at tire, curse.  Attempt to call child back, only to discover his cell phone is going directly to voice mail.
I check the last call - oh, from the school office, I see.  So I call the school office, who promptly tells me that nobody
from the office called me and Damien isn't in the office.  I know this, he's on the curb waiting for a ride, but trying to
get this across is futile.

I'm expecting a friend to come over, so I call the friend and find out that in the 15 minutes she has to devote to her
own life inbetween helping me sort out mine, she's had to run an errand.  Ok, that's not unreasonable.  I tell her about
the tire, and the kid, but FAIL to explain that the kid is now waiting for a ride, so she finishes the errands before coming.
Again - totally my lack of communication there - and in the meanwhile the kid is waiting at the school.

Arrive on the scene - another friend - who has come to take many of Tali's clothes to a charity - v nice.
In sympathy at watching me fighting with the flat tire, she loans me her car to get the kid - huzzah!  I go and get him, and
get back about 3 minutes before the first friend arrives - this is amusing.

Kid and I try and try and try to change tire, and continue to fail.  Friend two - the one with the clothes - calls AAA and gets
help.  Triple A guy comes and ... cannot change the tire.  Apparently, the bolts are stripped and the tire cannot be removed.
Really, I thought to myself at that point, really, what are the changes of getting a flat tire that cannot be changed by
roadside assistance.  What are the odds?  While it DID cross my mind, I dared not voice it out loud for fear one of the
people with me might try to answer and I'd have to kill them.   So, back to this less then believable story...

You have GOT to be KIDDING me.  No, no he is quite serious, but while he's there he asks for a tour of the apartment
cause he'd like to rent it.  Why they fuck not, right?  I give him a tour - and warn him that the landlord is insane and does
many illegal things.  He asks for contact info.  I decide he's nuts and give it to him.

So, then he calls a tow truck to come get the car that ... never comes.  It is too late to do anything useful, so we resume
the breakneck packing and cleaning.

Next day - kid misses the bus again, tire is still flat.  Kid has to wait over an hour for a ride until friend one can come out
and help me rescue him (I did mention that friend one was srsly busy and has been out here nearly every day helping me
pack and move - a job I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy - so friend one being late is completely reasonable and its really
pretty amazing that friend one keeps showing up at all, really , but I digress) - by which time kid has started walking home.

The conversation went something like this:

"What are you doing?"
"Walking."
"Why?  Haven't I told you not to walk home?"
"Yeah, but I called you for a ride and you didn't come."
"Where's your cellphone?"
"At dad's, charging"
"So obviously I cannot call you, right?"
"Right"
"And you know not to wander home, right?"
"Right"
"So why didn't you call me back to find out why I wasn't here yet?"
"Um ... "
"Did you call from the office?"
"Yes"
"Why didn't you go back in and call me back to find out what was wrong"
"Um ... I forgot?"
"Get in the car."

So we drive to the mechanics shop where the tow truck was called from - to discover that
they've gone OUT OF BUSINESS - no, I can't make it up.

So we find a new shop, who *can* fix the car, provided I call AAA and get them to tow it there.
This is accomplished, but the towtruck is 45 minutes late cause it got diverted to a high-priority
highway situation, so the mechanic is closed for the day.

Now, I can get the car in the morning when it's fixed - and they open at 730.

The pod guys are coming to move the storage unit at 700am, and they need me to go along.
Great.

So, friend one loans me her car for the morning, thank you thank you.

So we come back to the house, there is much work with kid and dad moving lizard tank to Hudson,
and friend one and I packing the house and doing much much work.

We load the car, drive to Hudson, unload the car, unload some boxes, build a bed, then I drive her
back to Arlington, then come home.

To discover that the dog who was walked 5 times during the day, and who had put herself to bed for
the night, decided to poop all over her kennel - which included her kennel, her bed, herSELF, every one
of her toys in the kennel, her food bowl AND through the bars onto the floor outside the kennel.

So today I have to follow a pod at 7 am, meet with the mover guys at 9 am, get back to Natick to take the
dog to PetSmart cuz I don't have time to bathe her, get the car back to friend one, then get my car from
the mechanic, load both cars up in Natick, then go back to Hudson.
Oh, and somewhere in there pick the kid up from school WHEN he misses the bus and doesn't have his
phone with him again.

So, I say, if it wasn't for bad luck ...

PS:  It's 737 and the pod picking up guy hasn't shown up and hasn't called.
Oh, and with two wet loads of laundry in my basement?  My dryer just stopped working for no apparent
reason.  Cause ... this wasn't pathetic enough, apparently.   See?  Should have never said the if it
wasn't for bad thing.

PPS:  Oh, and I just got an email from the pod people telling me that my pod was scheduled for pickup
at 700 this morning, thank you for using our service.  Um....

PPSS:  I have finally decided that my purpose in life is to make the rest of you feel better about your lives.

Oh hell.  The mouse broke again.  Sigh.

PPPSS:  The pod guy showed up around 8 - because they'd lost my movng request information a SECOND time and he had to be diverted.  OMG.  So, the pod is moved, finally.  Yay.  At Hudson, mover guy one shows up, only 5 minutes late.  Mover guy two doesn't show, doesn't call - no sign of mover guy two.  So mover guy one explains that he has a little brother who can do the job with him, but it will take him about an hour and a half to get there and with two vehicles that's a bit expensive on gas.  I tell him we give mover guy two 10 minutes - during which time he doesn't show - then I tell mover guy one to get the little brother.  Mover guy one starts working on all the things he can do by himself until the little brother arrives.
Finally the little brother arrives, and the two of them do a fantastic job of emptying the pod and putting everything where I want it to go.   While they are working I discover that I left my meds at home and I'm sick, so by the time they're in full swing, I'm half passed out from pain and sick and have to arrange the kid being brought to me at Hudson alowng with the missing meds.  Ouuuuuch.  Now about the mover guys.  They finish in record time, so I pay them very well.  They tell me they are available to work any weekday, and they do all kinds of handyman stuff, including carpentry (licensed but not insured, so they offer cut-rate prices for cash under the table), and plumbing (same deal).  S0, if you need any work done or carpentry, I HIGHLY recommend that you call these guys, they're SUPER and QUICK and they don't break things and they are very reliable.  These guys are worth paying for any job you need done, srsly.

Let me know if you want their contact info.


And so, I repeat my cry for help - ONE LAST TIME - I need a small army on Saturday to help me finish
emptying this house out mostly onto the curb, as I'm pretty much trashing anything I can't justify trying to
fit into my little, as my friend puts it, "hobbit house in the woods".

Got a few hours on Saturday?  Friday?  Sunday?  I will feed you.  I will buy drinks.  I will let you break things.
It's all good.  Drop a line if you can show up or, better, call me since my computer time may suddenly go away
for a few days.
 

News for Saturday:

I'm planning on getting started circa 8 am.  I'm not expecting much in the way of help before 11 or noon, though my cleaners are coming at around 1030 and all the areas they need to clean have to be cleared out by then, so if you CAN come early, cool beans, that'll be a big help.  I'm boxing up everything in the fridge early in the am and taking to Hudson, so if you're planning to be REAL early, let me know so I can leave a key and a list of instructions somewhere for you in case you get there before I get back from Hudson. Drop me a line if you have any comments or questions, and THANK YOU!

Beyonce is a lovely black kitty cat with a few special needs which are making it very difficult for our shelter to continue to care for .
Her petfinder page with pictures is here: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12852843

 Beyonce has been at the shelter since january, and we noticed when she first arrived she had a large very painful looking ulcer on her upper lip. Our vet said this was an allergic reaction, gave her a depo shot and it went away... only to return a few weeks later. She requires a special diet - our vet thinks she is allergic to chicken, and will need allergy shots the rest of her life. 


 Our resources for cats are limited - we primarily are a dog rescue shelter. We have an open room with small cages in which we can confine cats, but mostly our cats roam free and its essential they can all get along and share litter pans/food etc. We are struggling to find foods that she can eat to take down this reaction, and share with the other cats.

To add to her predicament, she is a black cat, which nobody seems to like :(  She also had ringworm when she arrived, which made it very difficult as during her 4 weeks of sulfur dips, she was unable to recieve a depo shot. Nobody has shown any interest locally, or on the internet. She's docile, timid around strangers but would make a great lap cat for an owner with the resources to provide her with the diet she needs and regular allergy shots. These are not expensive shots, just a commitment is all..

We normally do very well holding on to animals that seem like they're unadoptable till we find the right home but her illness is affecting the way our whole cat rescue operation runs and we are running out of options.

We are located in wynne, AR. But we will work with anyone, anywhere to get this cat to her forever home! PLEASE let us know if you could help us help Beyonce find her place...or suggest anywhere else we could turn for help, if you can't help us.!

Thanks for reading, please email with questions or suggestions - wynnefoa@yahoo.com, or call 870-238-9663.

Lucy,
Wynne Friends of Animals

We are really getting down to the wire with the moving, and things are looking ... hey, not so bad!

Up in Hudson, I have two rooms nearly finished (painting), and there's great progress on getting the rest
of stuff that needs to be done up there  ... done.

Here in Natick, there are more boxes then stuff laying around - that HAS to be progress.
I've got stuff separated out for donation, and stuff designated to move.  The only iffy thing is that I'm rapidly
running out of pod space.   I believe tomorrow D and I will load my car and head up to Hudson - finish up
at least one of the rooms with the painting, and unload a load of stuff that we can easily transport by car.

Monday I have a couple of guys coming to move the rest of the stuff that's getting moved into the pod -
especially the rest of the furniture. 

Everything I'm not taking is ending up out on the curb - where donations people will be encouraged to
come take it away, or really anyone who comes by and wants stuff.

There is still a ton of stuff to go away, from clothes to kitchen stuff to nickknacks to furniture - and its all
free, so srsly, if there was something you think you might want?  Anytime after lunch tomorrow, anytime
Sunday, anytime Monday, I'll be here.  The rest of the week is going to be back and forth, but most of
the stuff will be outside by then so come and take what you want.

Need a nice, solid wooden dresser?  How about an old style heavy wood men's armoire with three small
drawers and two cubboards on the top behind cabinet doors and several large full-sized drawers on
the bottom?  Shelves, metal or wood?  Bookcases?  A random assortment of pressboard storage
furniture in white?  How about some good wooden endtables that only need a new finish?
Need an entire wardrobe in women's clothes?  How about some holiday decorations, or a heavy double
door metal cabinet?  Need a few wheeled office chairs?  Or decorative half-heigh book shelves?
How about kitchen goods or cookbooks?  Want an old color tv for the kids playroom so you don't have
to let them wreck a good one?  It's all out there and more.

Come and get it, it's FREE FREE FREE.  Grab it before the end of May or it's GONE GONE GONE.

I hate to see so much stuff going to get junked when so much of it is useful...  give us a ring or just stop
by unnannouced and grab what you want - help yourself and give some useful stuff a good home.

And now for your entertainment - the quote of the night.

When discussing possible natural disasters and sinking islands and tidal waves, my son's only response
to the concept of Hawaii being sunk in to the ocean was that ...

"But that will create a tidal wave that could reach Scotland!"  (no, I did not supervise his Geography lessons).

"And that's what your worried about, that it could flood Scotland, not Hawaii sinking into the ocean?"

"Mom.  C'mon.  It's SCOTland ... and David Tennant is Scottish so he lives there!  I don't want ANYthing
to happen to where HE lives."

And there you are.  13 year old lack of logic with an also tremendous lack of geographical knowledge.
If any of YOU can figure out how Hawaii sinking in the ocean could cause a tidal wave in Scotland,
I would SO like to know it!

F836 -- one of just 52 lobos left in the wild was  -- was
killed by a poacher shortly after being released to the wild. Federal officials said that prior to her
death she “was on her way to being a successful animal [in the wild]…”

She was one of the rarest in the world: a southwest wolf (also known as a lobo). 
Scientists gave her the designation F836 to keep track of her.

Raised in South Salem, New York’s Wolf Conservation Center,
she was released with excitement into her native habitat in Arizona late last year.

But just two months later, a poacher killed her then dumped her like garbage along a road near Pinetop, Arizona. Sadly, her few remaining brethren could face a similar fate if we don’t act right now. 

Supporting Defenders of Wildlife can help catch lawless wolf killers like the ones who senselessly killed wolf F836.  They need help to fund their vital action in the courts to end mismanagement of the lobo recovery program and support our effective on-the-ground education, organizing and conservation efforts to save lobos like F836 and other endangered animals. 

Lobos like F836 are the most endangered wolves in the world. Only 52 lobos -- and only two breeding pairs of these Southwest wolves -- now exist in the wild.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, illegal shooting was the leading cause of documented loss of lobos in 2008.

With your help, we can bring the lawless wolf killers to justice, save our lobos and put them back on the road to recovery.

Your donation will also provide vital support for on-the-ground conservation work to save these magnificent animals, paying for fencing, range riders, fladry and other non-lethal tools we can use to keep lobos and livestock away from each other… and out of harm’s way!

Your contribution is also vital to our court battle to correct the terrible mismanagement that has undermined lobo recovery efforts. In 2007, 19 wolves were removed from the wild under flawed management policies now in place -- more than one-third of the lobos then in the wild.

We know there is a better way to manage wolves in the southwest. With the support of caring people like you, we recently scored an important initial legal victory in our case to return wolf management responsibilities to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and to end the controversial “three-strikes” rule that has led to the unwarranted killing and removal of  lobos from their natural habitat in the wild.

But we need your help save our lobos from extinction. Please give whatever you can afford today to fund these vital efforts and our ongoing programs to save the lives of endangered species.

There are only 52 lobos left in the wild, and the fight to save these magnificent wolves from extinction will be a tough one. But, with your help and rapid action, we can prevail. We owe it to wolves like F836 and other lobos.  

Stuff Left Over from Moving Sale

EVERYTHING MUST GO

Come on out to 13 Harding Road

All offers accepted.   Many things FREE. 

Everything is in the yard - IF YOU WANT IT COME GET IT

A thousand million thank yous to my amazing moving crew today!!! You guys rocked the known universe! I never expected to get as far as we did, thank you all so very much.

For those who weren't here to see the miracle - the cleaned out about 89% of my basement - no I'm NOT kidding, there only Dami's toys and a small section of Tali's stuff left, it's nearly completely empty and I haven't seen that much of the floor since I moved in! - and took care of the tent and yard stuff, and got most of the big furniture off the second floor, not to mention a good 5 or so dozen boxes and bins - the pod is more then half full - my god, you guys were so awesome!!!  Can't thank you enough.

And a VERY special thank you to the extremely brave and intrepid paradoox who completely loaded his car with and hauled away a mound of trash that would have rivaled Alice's Restaurant.  THANK you SIR.

I'm feeling very positive about making the move deadline now!

Saturday the 16th will be the next moving day to get things that are being moved into the 'pod'.
Things that are being sold will be moved into the yard for the yard sale on Sunday the 17th.

I'm hoping to get started around noon, and planning a pizza break for around three.
There will be soda and beer for anyone who shows up to help move things.

There is a significant amount of furniture to be moved from the second floor, and a sadly
heavy sofa to be moved from out of the basement, but this can go out the basement
back door and directly into the yard and then the pod without trying to get it through the house.

Because of the recent back surgery, I cannot lift, so all and any help will be GREATLY
appreciated.

Assistance with the Sunday yard sale would also be very appreciated.  The yard sale will
be started at 8:30 AM and running to about 400 PM.  There will be coffee and doughnuts
in the morning, and tea is easily makable for anyone who doesn't want coffee.  There will
also be soda and lemonade thoughout the day for any volunteers.

The yard sale will be listed on Craig's list by Friday and there will be signs posted all over
town.  Help organizing yard sale stuff would be amazing - and I'm looking to get started
with that by 730 AM.

If you are coming for either or even both days, please drop a note here with your day and
time so I can plan for anyone coming.

THANK YOU

News, news, news...  volunteers heroes who want pizza and beer or soda, read on - several days open for needed help!

Anyone who has claimed stuff from the free stuff list and hasn't yet come to get it  - TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!
If you still want it, pick a day, let me know, and come get it very very soon.

There will be yard sales here May 17 and May 23.
The Saturday's of both of those weekend, May 16 and May 22 - anyone with any free time - help is needed to load
stuff into the storage pod!!  If at least 4 people volunteer to show up each of the Saturdays, the 16th and the 22nd, then
beer or soda and pizza will be provided for anyone who is here to help.

I have a storage pod and anyone who has a little time to spare, come whenever it's good for you and help me get
things into the storage pod.  No big one day truck load and unload, no tons of stuff for a handful of people - but things
need to get into the pod and I need help getting them there.  Anyone who comes and volunteers time, I will try to
have refreshments for any work time, even if it's just lemonade and cookies for folks who stop by for an hour.

Help, and stuff you want to get rid of, is also both needed and welcome at either of the yard sales - come have your
own table or space or donate stuff to the general sale - any option is welcome - the more stuff, the better the turnout.

Anyone available at the end of May / beginning of June who is willing to help unload the storage pod into the new
place -there will be a pizza and soda or beer day for the greatest concentration of unloading crew - and also for
whomever is willing to help me empty out this place once the stuff being kept is gone - everything left goes out
on the curb for pickup and the place MUST be cleaned out by or before May 31 - all and any help is very very welcome
and will appreciated with food and drink!!!!

Pick your volunteer day - sign up now!  Jump on board for this last push for the move, lend a hand, and get fed.

Time is really running short for me.

Move things into the pod days:
Saturday May 16
Saturday May 22
any day or evening you have free time

Yard sale days:
Sunday May 17
Sunday May 23

Clean out the old place days:
May 28th through 31st
(hopefully starting by May 24th)

Empty pod into new place days:
May 31st thru June 6th or 7th


THANKS!!!!

PS - the back is getting better all the time and I'm walking without a cane now, but I still can't lift all this stuff so I'm desperate for help!

You can start cringing now ...

Health News (includes job news or lack thereof): I saw my surgeon today and the results were great and blech.
The great was - the incision is clean and nicely closed - so no more bandages.
More great - I can drive!  And swim!  And shower normally!  And I'm to start walking and working up to at least a mile a day.
(I did tell him that I didn't walk a mile a day BEFORE the injury, but he was not deterred and wants me to walk, so I shall walk)
Now, the blech - not ready for rehab yet, come back in a few weeks when you can do that mile walk without exhaustion.  Ah... well.
So the job acquisition is put off a few weeks - not in rehab, no working, says the doc - and so it goes.
I'm taking far less painkiller stuff then he thought I would be, and he's pleased with the pain and nerve progress - everything I told him got the response of 'that's normal' - so, yay.

Moving News: still apartment hunting, but I went to see one place Thursday evening that has good potential and is only half an hour to Natick, which is also muy good.  Will let folks know how this turns out.  If it doesn't work out, then I'm very definitely needing to get a roommate to get a place somewhere in the greater Natick area - and there is commuter rail here, so if you're thinking about new living arrangement and want to split expenses, let me know.  I come with an incredibly well applianced and stocked set of kitchen stuff, an Xbox, a Wii and a huge DVD library and a huge music library, as well as one small dog, one part-time teenager and one small lizard.  Look at all those fringe benefits!
More Moving News:  Sometime between now and the end of May, I will be desperately recruiting volunteers to help me move.
The Good News - I'm moving only a small percentage of my stuff
The Bad News - the rest of it needs to a) get carted to storage b) find a new home or c)get out of the house and to the curb for trash pickup - I will continue to post stuff up for grabs as I can manage to organize it.  A variety of things have been claimed, such as:

• about 1/3 of the cookbooks
• the dining room table and chairs
• the two metal kitchen storage racks
• the pasta maker
• a handful of kitchen utensil things
• the slow cooker
• the cat
• a punch bowl
• the patio furniture
• the lawnmower (I think)
• some percentage of the holiday decorations

I may also be trying to be having a yardsale in early to mid May.  Ebay is too much trouble and stuff isn't going fast enough, really.  Yardsale stuff organizing volunteers are VERY VERY welcome (and badly needed, I'm still a lightweight for lifting and bending), and if you agree to help with this your very least reward will be coffee or tea and yummy baked treats, and you get to keep stuff for the sale that you need or think is very cool  - can't beat that awesome reward list, huh?  You're tempted, you know you are ... ok, you're not tempted, but you may be struck with a deep and abiding sense of pity ... ok, maybe not, but I'm willing to both beg and feed you...


Art News:  I still have a pile of art pieces due to a pile of very very very patient people - you are not forgotten!  When life calms down a bit, you will be on the top of the to do list again.  Other, older and already done art, has found its way onto two websites where it can be obtained:

Animal News:  Pharaoh has found a new and wonderfully loving home with a friend of

roaming's.  He is adjusting well and is likely to be subject to a whole new round of spoiling.  Raithe is adjusting to the lack of playmate reasonably well, with the slight caveat that she's a little more cuddly and clingy whenever I'm anywhere near her.  On the up side, she's getting a bit better about dealing with new people.  The miniature dragon has declined to comment on the lack of cat in his environment.  Also, we now have a little raccoon that creeps up on the back porch to visit late at night.  The raccoon is rather skittish, though I left him/her some food.  The dog is terrified, brave little thing that she is, of the raccoon.  Life as usual.


Kid News:  Still growing, still taller then me.  The bus and bus pass issues have been resolved and an official bus pass will be issued after the upcoming school break, for those who were 'in the know' regarding this small drama.


Gaming News:  The Star Fantasy Star Wars game will be on indefinite hold until the moving/living situation can be sorted out.
Progress on the Pirate Island larping team goes very well - things are looking up and looking cool, we have a great team.
I should be rejoining the Madrigal plot staff in the immediate near future, now that I can drive again.  Yay!
Guitar Hero still tells me that I Rock!  Validation from a video game - welcome to the new world.
The kid got a new Wii game from the Easter bunny, called Heavenly Guardian, so there is much Wii happiness here.


So  there's the current update and pretty much all that's going on here.  I can't imagine there's anything more to tell - and COULD my life be more dull ? - so I bet that's the last time I get chastised to update my life!

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two pieces of sad news came today.

First, one of my oldest and long-time closest friends called me today to tell me that her mother had finally lost her long battle with cancer and has passed away.  She and her father are in the sad process of making arrangements and sorting out lives.  Spare them a kind thought and a moment of sympathy if you can.

Second, Carrie, one of my acquaintances on my Irish geneaology research list posted this sad news today:

"Late last year my dad was diagnosed with a rare and serious form of Lymphoma, one which the doctors said was resistant to chemotherapy. He went through the chemo anyway, and began a stem-cell transplant at the end of March. (These are stem cells that they harvested from his own blood and grew more to transplant back into him.)   The transplant process was to take a month. (until mid April).
This morning, during a platelet transfusion, his heart stopped, and he is now on life support and we are waiting for more test results to see if he has had any brain damage or other problems. What I'm told is that he is in critical condition. It's a really scary time for us, and we hope he can make it through this with minimal problems. He is only 61 years old.  Anyone's prayers would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou."

If you would be so kind as to add her to your prayers, send good thoughts, healing vibes, whatever her way - her family is going through a very difficult time and could use a little help and fortune.  If you wish to post good wishes or comments for her, I will pass them on, but I am trying to respect the family's privacy and not post personal information.

I hope there is not a third - you know how these things always seems to come in threes - and I hope I didn't miss another piece of sad news posted today.  Sigh.

For those that expressed concerned, Pharaoh has a wonderful prospective adoptive home and will be meeting his new potential human next week.