Thursday grog

I'm fuzzy today. Had diffuculty waking up this morning, and I think that was due, in large part, to the wacko dreams I had last night. There were two primaries, and they were entwined in such a way that, while I knew I was dealing with two hugely separate issues, I had to treat it as one big problem.

As most dreams go, I can't really describe what was happening--it's mostly gone at this point. One of the big themes, though, was that I was doing a triathlon and had forgotten my bike. And all of my gear. And sportsbras and socks and shoes... I finished up the swim part in fine shape, but when I got out of the water I realised I was completely screwed. This realisation was followed by much running around and scrambling for gear--including going back to my family's house in Siloam Springs, Arkansas (we haven't lived there for over 10 years!) where I discovered a broken/rotted garage door.

The other part of the dream was that this triathlon was happening as something of an aside in a big camp/getaway thing. We had been setting up camp just before the seemingly spontaneous start of the tri, and I remember seeing various couples go off to their little white tents together. And a LOT of laundry.

Anyway, when I have dreams like that--rather detailed (at least at the time) and particularly stressful--I just never feel rested upon awaking.

As a not-altogether-unrelated-aside, I got a lot done yesterday, including some yard work and taking the lawnmower to a repair shop. (Sorry, David, but I would rather let someone else take it apart and make it better--at least until I get my own air-conditioned shop with all tools at the ready and no need to clean it up at the end of the day!) I think all the sunshine and heat must've wilted my brain cells a bit, causing the restless night.

The B&S, For NoviDavid

Okay, here it is...The Lawnmower.


I will be impressed if you can tell from a few crappy photos and a description what I need to do!
I have cleaned out the fuel filter and changed the spark plug, but it appears that I'm getting no spark. The mower was left outside all of last fall, and it rained quite a bit. The fuel could be contaminated, but the lack of spark is--I think--the primary issue. I'm a bit wary to take it apart myself, although I have found some nice online instruction on DIY mower maintenance.
What's your verdict, Mister Fixit? :D

Farewell, Crowley

Crowley is free. After a week of wondering if he would ever eat, whether his cage was the right temperature, etc. etc., we decided to return him to the "wild". He was released a few days ago under a big bush in the front yard. Shortly thereafter it stormed madly for 1/2 hour or so, blowing up dust and torrentially raining for about 5 minutes. I hope he's okay. We just figured he'd be better off out there where he belongs--we can always get a captive born snake that is past the fiddly bit of having the first meal/first shedding... Miss him, though.

Hold for Heat

Seems like everything in my world is on hold due to the heat.

I need to do some yard work: It's too hot to work outside.

I need to change the tire on my mountain bike: It's too hot to work in the garage, and besides, if I'm not riding at 3am, it's too hot to ride.

I need to clean out the spare room and bring some things in from storage: The boxes need to be broken down for recycling, which involves going outside where it is--you know the story--too hot.

I have done the ironing and hooked my speakers up to my stereo finally. I called the AZ Herpetological Society and not gotten much helpful information about Caring for Crowley. I called the lawmmower repair shop down the street and was told it's about a $20 charge to walk in the door and have them look at the machine, and $54/hour for repairs. The exorbitantly expensive lawn care guy I "interviewed" last week suggested another place a ways from here, but they only charge $16/hour labour and he claims they do good work. Convenience, or far less expense? The lady at the shop I called today suggested that I check a particular cable, so I'll start there...but you know what? It's just too damn hot to mess with right now!

as requested

This is our little wee one, aka Crowley.

This photo was taken about 10 minutes ago, when I finally turned off his light and he decided to make an appearance. I think he's about 7" or 8" long, and his head is about as big as my pinky fingernail. He hasn't eaten his crickets yet, but I put some actual water in his bowl this morning (in lieu of the gel stuff), and he drank and drank. It was *very* cool to watch. I'm thinking we may have to take the crickets out and put fresh ones in--after we cut them down to size a bit. Apparently these little guys can take up to one and a half times their girth in food size, but even so these crickets might be too big.

It's late and I have to work in the morning, so enjoy the snake...oh, and this precious photo of Bucket. It's one I like to call "Barfight!"


Precious, ain't he?

New Addition!

No, not *the* child band of the 80s. Not construction on our home. A new mouth to feed!
I came home laaaate the other night (it's a long story involving a trip to the store, leaving my purse, and stopping for fuel sans money) and found a tiny little baby version of a Night Snake--larger version seen here--


in the garage just by the back door. He's sooo tiny--his eyes aren't even open, and we're not entirely sure what to feed him at this point, but he's curled up cozily in his rock pile in the terrarium I picked up yesterday. I'm headed to the petstore in a bit to pick up some itty bitty worms or insects for him. Apparently hatchlings don't normally eat until after the first shedding, but we have no idea if he as or not. I think not--he's too little. He will grow to be about 18-24" long, and is non-poisonous to humans (his saliva is apparently bad news for lizards and smaller amphibians).

I'm thinking of calling the Arizona Herpetological Society to see if they have any suggestions about feeding, but there is a plumber in the garage at the moment, and I can only be available to so many people at one time!

2 Things

I will never understand:

1) Why people let their dogs run off leash. It is dangerous to the dogs, it is dangerous to other critters, and it is dangerous to other people. Mostly is it dangerous to the dogs. And did I mention that it was dangerous to the dogs? This morning while walking Bucket, we ran into not one, but two dogs that were running off leash. Of course one of them ran up to Bucket and got in his face, and of course he freaked out and started acting like an overexcited heathen. With two hands on the leash and a prong collar around his neck I had a difficult time pulling him away. Psycho hounds notwithstanding, what if the unleashed dogs spotted a rabbit or lizard (this place is lousy with both) and ran out in front of a car? What if they cornered a scorpion or snake? It boggles my mind why people allow their dogs to run loose.

2) Why are all genius rock gods tiny little men? Prince. Ben Folds. Beck.
I rest my case. But why?

Gah!

TAG!!!

I got tagged by Shannon.

What was I doing 10 years ago:
I was 25 years old, living in Lawrence, Kansas and I had a colouring book page of a baby chicken up on my front door that said "I am a chick." My next door neighbour used to wake me up at 3:30am by beating on my front door and demanding that I make him a sandwich. I slept with a kilt pin under my pillow, because it was the closest thing I had to a weapon. I worked at an indie record store and went to free concerts all the time, and was up to my eyeballs in cool new music.
5 years ago:
I had just moved back to Lawrence from Omaha, where I'd lived for about three years with my then honey. I was working at Science City at Union Station, where I stage managed an amazing Jazz Show called "After Hours" starring the McFadden Brothers.
1 year ago:
I was trying to sell our new house in Oklahoma City so that I could move to Arizona to be with Russell.
Yesterday:
I worked at the store and then came home and played World of Warcraft until bedtime.

Snacks I enjoy:
1.anything chocolate
2.wasabi peas
3.ginger chews
4.cheese (mmm, cheese...good call, Shanny)
5.more chocolate

5 songs I know all the words to:
1.Fuck You--Ani Difranco (
2.Any David Garza tune
3.Kilkelly Ireland
....oh, who am I kidding, I have an uncanny way of learning the words to just about any tunes I'm currently listening to. Now, whether or not those are the *correct* words is another question entirely.

5 Things I would do with a $100 million:
1.pay off all our bills
2.buy two new mt. bikes, a road bike, and a tri-bike
3.invest well
4.take a trip to the British Isles
5.buy a pony

5 Locations I would like to run away to:
1.UK
2.New Zealand
3.someplace with lots of green and not a lot of heat
4.Kansas City to visit Kimbra and her new baby
5.Africa

5 Bad habits I have:
1.picking at scars
2.thinking, planning, or playing WoW every moment of the day
3.eating far too much refined sugar
4.knowing it all
5.using "..." waaaay too much (me too, Shanny, me too!)

5 Things I like doing:
1.mt. biking (although I don't do it nearly enough these days)
2.being outdoorsy
3.learning new stuff (how do you think I became such a know it all?)
4.making lists and crossing things off them
5.playin' with the hounds

5 TV shows I like:
err...I don't really watch much tv as I'm nearly always on the 'puter, but I *used* to love these shows (most are now off the air)
1.Keen Eddie
2.John Doe
3.Firefly (soon to be a movie! Woot!)
4.Scrubs
5.anything--and I mean anything--on HGTV, TLC, Discovery, or BBCA

5 Biggest joys of the moment:
1.Russell cleaned the HELL out of the house because we are possibly being inspected in the next few days/week, and it looks AMAZING!
2.I don't have to work tomorrow, so we have the day off together.
3.there is ice cream waiting for me downstairs
4.it's chocolate ice cream
5.Russell and I are going to eat that ice cream and curl up and watch a movie tonight...a date!

5 Favorite toys:
1.Bucket
2.Delilah
3.Russell
4.this computer
5.my outdoorsy girl stuff

5 next victims:
I will not inflict this on anyone else! PFFFFTTTT!

Reality Check

I've been hearing about this on the news, but like every other story, it seems to be somehow separate from my life. The Cave Creek Complex fire has so far burned almost 200,000 acres of desert, and is the second largest wildfire in Arizona history. "Cave Creek Complex" rings a bell, as our neighbourhood is just off of Cave Creek road, but however many times you hear about something like this, it just never seems real. The fire is only 20% contained, so there is much to be concerned about, and I've heard that one of the largest Saguaro cacti in existence has suffered the fire and will probably not survive. Still, like stories of the war in Iraq or refugees in Africa, it seemed like just that--a story. Something that happens to other people.

Last night, as I drove home from work, I could see something that looked very like this photo. I approached the turnoff into our neighbourhood and saw the huge orange glow in the distance. It immediately scared the hell out of me and piqued my curiousity. I got on the phone to call Russell and tell him that I had to drive closer--to see what I could see. I chase storms and tornados too. There is something in my psychology that begs me to get close and learn as much as possible about things that terrify me.
One of the many reasons I adore my honey: he didn't question me or tell me it was silly or try to talk me out of it. He knew it was something I needed to do and trusted me to be safe about it.
I drove north on Cave Creek about 11 or 12 miles, into the litte town of Carefree. I could see that the fire was still some distance away, but getting closer would have meant taking backroads that I was even less familiar with. My Xterra was already at about 1/4 tank, and I was loathe to be stranded in fire territory with no idea how to give directions to Russell, so I turned around and came home.
The fire had seemed so much closer from the intersection by our house, and I nearly broke into tears as I drove towards it. Whether it was fear of it overtaking our little neighbourhood, or just sadness at all of the destruction I do not know. However, the closer I got, the less sad and afraid I was. I found myself wanting to do something to help, and feeling frustrated at knowing there was little--if anything--I could do. I'm going to go read more about it--its origins, its path, and the efforts being made to stop it. Maybe that's enough...educating myself and empowering myself against the unknown. I hope so. If its not, perhaps in my search for information I'll find ways to help--from rebuilding trails to replanting flora, or assisting those who've lost their homes. . .

'spearmenting

er...so blogger has added photo-adding capabilities, but I'm pretending I'm a boy and not reading the directions. It will be exciting to see how--or if--this works. This photo is of my dad in his Big Orange speedboat. I believe it was taken in April of this year. He turned 77 in February. :D

I have to laugh...

...for otherwise I'd cry, as the saying goes.

I was listening to the radio this morning as I cleaned up our fantastically filthy kitchen, and the weather report said that (this is at around 9:30am, mind you) it was 95 degrees and 8% humidity. EIGHT PERCENT! No wonder all the old folks around here look like shriveled prunes. It made me want to go bathe in lotion.

That's all, really.

Mother's Day!

My very very very very Best Friend in the Entire World (Even England*) is a momma!

After about 24 hours of labour, the little one was born at O'God Thirty this morning, weighing in at a healthy 6.5lbs(ish), complete with all 20 girl-appropriate appendages, and reportedly with a head full of hair. I can't wait to see photos!

I'm getting ready for work, so I gotta blaze. Just needed to shout that out to the world!

*it's a long story--try nearly 20 years--grounded in the fact that we are both avid Anglophiles and at one point dreamed of moving to England and hooking up with members of Duran Duran. Not even *they* could be dearer to us than one another. :D

Grumpy Day!

I'm pissed off today, but it's all my fault.

A girl I work with can't close certain nights because her husband works double shifts and they have no one to take care of the kids, so could I close for her next Thursday??? Of course she asks me this as I have my hands full of baskets for a customer who is keeping me at work an HOUR longer than I should be there. I curse my parents for raising me to be too nice. I have no idea how to say "no". As in "No, I can't work for you next Thursday night because I have been closing nearly every night for the past two months and I want to spend time with my honey and mutts." As in "I'm sorry I can't help you with your GINORMOUS request for baskets as it's time for me to leave and I have plans, but let me just call someone who can work with you..."

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME???

At least the lady spent $1600, and my co-worker owes me a favour. And I'll get to leave an hour early tomorrow. Well, I should say that I've been *approved* to leave an hour early tomorrow. We'll see if it actually happens.

*sigh.* just too damn nice.

11:11

The current time. Something magical about that time, although what it is I couldn't say.

So it's Sunday morning, and I'm currently in flight to Gadgetzan. Don't scratch yer heads too hard--it's a place in WoW. It's a long flight, so I'm taking the time to drop a quick note here. I already walked the dogs and cleaned up the yard as well as myself, so don't even *think* I'm pissing away my day with the game. We're actually just going to play for a bit before we run out to do some shoppin. Whee.

We watched The Village last night, and I have to say it was quite good. Twisty-turny as ever, but with some very philosophical bits that left me wishing I was still in college; we'd have had a field day with it in some of my classes. Anyway, I recommend it to you. Russell also picked up Sideways, so that's on the agenda for later today or this evening.

So, yeah....I'd better go make sure I survived the flight. ciao!

What day is it?

Oh, it's "Write ANOTHER letter to the Better Business Bureau" day! Wheeee.

I've failed to update on the Xterra Saga, as I had hoped that it was nearing completion and I could give you a happy-crappy song and dance of resolution. Alas.

Their Customer Service Manager phoned me about a week and a half ago, purportedly calling to see what they could do to make things right. As it turned out, they didn't really want to hear what I had to say--they just wanted to make an offer. I finally agreed to that offer, and threw in a bone of my own: reimburse me for the AC repairs, fix the rear leaky shocks, and reimburse me for the $100 deductible I paid to have the Exhaust Manifold fixed.

THEN she had the gall to ask me to split the charges with them, referring back to an offer I made TWO MONTHS ago when the car was originally in the shop. Ummm...lemme just think about that....HELL NO!

So she says she'll have to run it by her Service Manager and the GM of the place and will get back to me the following day. So the following day comes and goes and I hear nothing. Then Monday evening I get another email from my angel at the BBB with Bell Honda's most current update. Of course all it says is that they called me and tried to work out a deal and I declined. I have 7 days to respond or they will consider the case closed. Sheesh.

I responded, and how. I told Ms. BBB the entire story--not just the BS one that Mr. Bell Honda spouted. I'm beginning to think this will never be resolved. I wish I had money and resources to hire a lawyer, but hopefully this route will be as effective, if more drawn out. Anyway. That's what I did this morning.

Um, Shanny?

Walking out of the house right now is a little like opening the oven when you've had something baking for an hour or so--there is that gust of extraordinary heat that just envelopes you. Except with an oven you can shut the door or turn it off. This is pretty much an on-going thing. It's 10am and about 105 degrees already. Think I'm making it up?

Intellicast

AZCentra

Weather Central

The Weather Channel

I only point all this out because my dear friend Shannon, who lives in Portland and posts gorgeous photos of green wet stuff on a regular basis, recently bemoaned the coming summer heat in Oregon. What's it get up to? 85? Just kidding, Shanny--I know it gets up there, but try to remember that it could be much worse! :P

I was going to go out and run some errands today, but I think I'm going to sit around in my PJs and enjoy the a/c. I've got plenty to do around the house and I don't really need to spend the money anyway.

So.

. . .

Blogger has a drop-down box in the title field. Every time I start to type in a title for a blog, it shows me other titles I've entered that start with the same letter. It's cool in that it reminds me of some of my past posts, but annoying in that I find out how unoriginal I am. I've even used ellipses before!

So it's Monday, but I awoke this morning feeling discombobulated and wondering what day it was and when I needed to be up for work. More and more recently I've thought how nice it would be to have a regular schedule with regular hours and no more of this disjointedness. Thing is, I will likely have to settle for some mundane desk-jockey job that will eventually rot my brain and enable my already zaftig fat cells to completely take over my body. *sigh* It's a conundrum, really.

So I've been looking--somewhat halfheartedly, because I *do* like my job--at other options. Then I get into a funk again because it shouldn't be that difficult for a rather bright, educated person with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility to find gainful employ...but it is. I don't want to have to go through the temp agency again to prove myself, but that's a real possibility.

I shouldn't be allowed to post when I'm in these funks. Sorry--especially to my mother, who reads these things and assumes the worst! It's all good mom, I swear!!!

I'm going to go fix a salad and get ready for work. chow! :D

Better!

I got up (moderately) early this morning--after much cajoling from Russell (thanks hon--sincerely!!)--and got my butt down to the DMV. After so much bitching and moaning and being apprehensive about the whole thing, it went without a hitch. I was in and out inside of 45 minutes, and now I'm officially an Arizonan. The guy that ran the paperwork for me was less than professional, cussing up a storm when a supervisor brought his break schedule by (I'm serious--the word "shit" left his mouth no fewer than 3 times!), and the fella that took the photos made me feel like livestock being prodded down The Chute, but it's done. No more worries about having to get my actual birth certifical or having to pay $60 to get a Passport. No more stress about getting pulled over and trying to convince the officer that I've lived here less than a month. whew.

I even managed to get to the grocery afterwards, so all in all I'm feeling much better about things.

Now I have an hour to blow before work, so forgive me while I go blow off some steam!

items of note

Possibly "items" is the wrong word. Let us say: Thoughts.

According to weather.com, it's 101 degrees here, but feels like a mere 96. All I'm sayin' is that when the dogs refuse to hang out in the yard for more than 15 minutes (even Delilah, our sun-junkie) IT'S TOO DAMN HOT.

Perhaps I'm feeling it a bit more sharply, as I just spent 45 minutes in The Jungle, trimming hedges, chopping errant tree limbs out of my way, and picking up calcified dog doo. One thing about the Hot Dry weather here: there is hardly such a thing as fresh dog poop.

Some other stuff in my head is that there is just too much in my head. I have so much to do and to take care of that I, more often than not, simply do nothing. I feel so overwhelmed with the thought of not being able to get anything done that I do just that. I hadn't planned on doing yardwork today. I wanted to go get my AZ driver's license (a whole 'nother world of WTF?**) and go to the grocery store. And go to the bike shop for a patch kit for my tire. And go to Home Depot for some yard supplies. And unload the boxes that have been in my Xterra since Sunday. And some other things.

What I *did* do:
1) Played WoW for a short while.
2) Oscillated between watching TLC (who needs bonbons when you've got crack piped in via HDTV?) and organizing the CD Towers. Between Russell and I, there are far too many discs to fit on four towers purported to hold 180 cds each--that's 720 cds! I haven't even found them all yet. It's just as well; there is no room. My OC side took the lead in this little skit, so they are all in alphabetical order, with the exception of the compilations. Soundtracks, however...yeah.
3) Talked to my mom on the phone for a while. I don't call her enough, and for that I'm very sorry. They got a new digital camera recently, and she has learned how to use it--even learning to email photos from it! I'm so proud!
4) Cooked some chicken.
5) Did the aforementioned yard chores. Less pressing than getting my Driver's License, but the latter would have involved a lot more preparation and down time. I liked the idea of tossing on a swimsuit and chopping organic stuff up mere feet from the comfort of my A/C. The dogs stayed inside for most of it, by the way. Wimps.

That's it. I'm about to bathe. Woohoo. I don't have another day off until next Wednesday, so I have a suspicion that I will really regret not getting off my ass and getting some stuff done today, but I've got the uber blahs.

**The Arizona DMV will not accept an Oklahoma Driver's license as proof of identity. Something about the fact that OK doesn't require proof of citizenship to get a driver's license. I have to provide a Birth Certificate or Passport in order to get it switched. How messed up is that. I've got a certified copy of my "Birth Record", but I don't know if that passes. The Customer Service girl I talked to this morning said it would be "Up to the discretion of the supervisor at the DMV". Christ. By the time I'd talked to her, and then called my mom to see if my *actual* Birth Certificate existed in our possession (it does), I just didn't want to deal with it. I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow morning and do it--don't have to be at work until 2pm...surely....

So there is this Mexican restaurant we like. They make AMAZING margaritas. If you buy this fella (or his girly counterpart) for a mere $10, you can bring him back anytime for two free refills. What a deal! Of course, now I have to find a home for him. Somewhere on a high shelf. Behind some stuff.