Archive for Random Babble
Why it’s best to delete all Craigslist-related emails with poor grammar
So I found a lot of sushi plates on Craigslist for $35. Twenty single serving roll plates in three different styles, plus a bunch of bowls for soup, salad, and sauces. For $35! I’ve been wanting to have something more appropriate for serving sushi, so I emailed the person. I get a one sentence response. Or rather, a one line response, containing 2-3 sentences, nothing punctuated or capitalized. The post in Craigslist was written just fine, strangely enough. I’m generally wary of dealing with people that can’t write a decent email, but I really wanted the sushi set. So I wrote back, suggesting we meet at 10:30 today, and she writes back giving me her phone number and the intersection to meet her at. I still wasn’t sure *who*, given the only thing besides the intersection and the phone number in the email was this chunk of text: “should be fine, i’ll have somer meet you”. Somer? Is that a person? Is that “someone” typed incorrectly?
So I get there just before 10:30. Glad to make it on time as it’s a 45 minute drive from where I live up to Boulder, where this person is. I park semi-illegally at the intersection – poor parking options as the intersection is just on the edge of a campus, and there are students everywhere. I don’t see a person obviously standing around with a box of dishes, and she never gave me a description of her car (I did give her a description of mine, though), so I call her number at 10:35. No answer, no indication of who the phone number even belongs to in the voicemail (which is a default voicemail that just repeats the phone number). I say I’m at the intersection, leave my number, tell her to call me. After 10 more minutes of sitting there, I give up and go home. It’s been several hours since that point, and still no word from her. So much for my sushi plates.
Apparently I need to remember the lesson of “Never deal with illiterate people on Craigslist.” I can handle semi-literate – a few misspellings happen (myself included here), and some people really do type like they talk – but in general, I have the best luck with people that type like me. I was once getting rid of some aloe plants, got a bunch of responses, and picked the one who wrote her email pretty much how I write emails. She was prompt, nice, and I ended up having a several minute conversation about plants with her. Also useful is people with emails that are job related. If they use a work email, it means they’re capable of showing up on time for a job, meaning they’re capable of showing up on time for you. Maybe the fact that my sushi person was using an AOL email address should have also clued me in, oh well.
My search for cheap and fabulous sushi plates continues on, I suppose.
Just a quick update, mostly about work
I have no time for anything (except this brief post, apparently). Went on a 1.5 week trip, a vacation & funeral combo, to FL and VA and NC, got to see lots of people, make/eat lots of sushi, splish around in lots of water, and a good time was had by all.
My recruiter had an interview lined up for me when I got back, and it turned out that it was less of an interview and more of the guy having already decided he was interested in me based on my website, and just wanted to see if I was interested in the project. This still confirms in my head that I am bad at interviewing, since I didn’t really have an interview for this position. Also, there are other people working there who do both design and dev, so I was saved from the hated question of “which I like doing more”, which I think is only given by people who only do one or the other. Anyhow, it lasts a few weeks, since it’s just for a project, but assuming all goes well, it will make me more employable and give me money and all that good stuff.
I’m also in the middle of the DMS website (and by “in the middle” I mean, “busy hacking up Drupal and making a big ole mess”). Sometimes I’m uninspired for design, and I have that problem right now. So this is what I work on when I get home from the other job, since they want it done soon as well. I could also have a census job, the next round of followups, with training starting this Thursday, but I’m gonna have to call and cancel because I have no time. It’s like I went from famine to feast here. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, work is a good thing, it’s just exhausting when that’s all you do.
Also, this weekend I went to Drupalcamp Colorado, which was neat. I’ve got some fun ideas for new projects, once I have to time to get around to them, that is.
The Census, Bras, Too Much TV, and Insane Colorado Weather
The Census hasn’t changed much as the last time I wrote. Or rather, things change constantly, but in minor ways and at a pretty constant rate. Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to two people who a.) refused to answer some information and were b.) polite and respectful. I was getting afraid that either people would be polite and respectful, or would refuse information and be rather cranky about it, as that has more or less been my experience up to recently. I guess it makes me feel a little happier with humanity knowing that there are people who don’t agree with everything the Census is doing, but don’t feel like they need to take out their negative emotions about it on me.
So a little more then a month ago, I got back on the Pill. I just have some severe pain issues I’m dealing with, and as it’s been about 8 years since I’ve taken hormones, I’ve been hoping that some of the problems I had with it then would not be a problem now. Seems OK so far, and has helped with pain a bit, though not as much as I’ve been hoping admittedly, but in time hopefully that will improve. The only side effect I’ve really been noticing this time around is that whole “breast size increasing” thing. It got pretty drastic just before my period, then calmed down a bit, but I’m still at a point where I can’t wear some of my smaller bras, and I think it’s just going to stay like this. Losing weight isn’t an option – if I were meant to be any smaller, it would have happened back when I was dancing outside for 12-16 hours a week at Liberty. In any case, my BMI is quite normal and I eat my veggies and all that, so weight loss just to get into some bras seems a bit dumb. Thus, time to buy some new bras. Which is a pain, as I’m lucky to get bras as cheap as $40-$50 apiece because your standard American bra manufacturers don’t feel the need to manufacture bra sizes outside of the median range. British bras are much better with this, but they don’t exactly run cheap. So, time to scour the internet searching for deals.
One reason that I can get through some of the more unfortunate/stressful parts of being an enumerator is because I am currently obsessed with Babylon 5. We just started watching Season 4, and all I can think about all day is what’s gonna happen to all the poor Narns? And is the Captain OK? And why did Vir lose all that weight anyhow? Last Sunday we watched 9 episodes in a row, it was insane. I need to stretch this out more, because my mind is waay too absorbed in this TV show. I remember the crash I experienced after watching Seasons 1-3 of The Office in about a 3 day timespan, and I think the post Babylon 5 crash will be much worse then that. It’s an amazing show, though, and I wish more TV programs were written this thoughtfully.
Oh, and we’re supposed to get up to 4 inches of snow here tonight. In the middle of May. Yup, apparently Colorado springs are completely insane. Rumor has it that Richmond is sweating to death on and off in the 90s these days. I, uh, think I prefer the random snow. I really like how out here, even when it is really hot out, it’s not dripping. If anything, you have to keep drinking lots of water because of the dryness. “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” always seemed like a dumb phrase, but it seems to be true. Well, to an extent, as I’m sure anyone living in Southern Arizona or New Mexico or Texas in July might disagree with me.
Today’s Random Update
Andrew has finally seen The Wedding Singer, which is one of those movies that I like despite not caring for either of the lead people. I am a sucker for the 80′s. There’s also the fact that the only Adam Sandler movies I tend to enjoy are the ones where he doesn’t act like Adam Sandler.
We’ve been watching Babylon 5, which I am totally obsessed with. Interesting plots that totally carry over from episode to episode, hooray!
I finished reading “Characters and Viewpoint” by Orson Scott Card, which is an amazing book to read if you want to write good fiction, as well as get a better understand of human psychology and perspective.
We got on a bike path this weekend and tried to ride all the way out to Golden. Alas, we didn’t make it. I was stubborn about biking and, despite the fact that it was the first day in over a week that called for rain, I insisted we had to go. Meaning that we got drenched and had to turn around at some point. Oops!
I start the Census job in a week. This is good, as despite the fact that I have a gazillion personal projects to work on, I have a hard time getting motivated when faced with an expanse of free time. I am super productive when I have something else important that needs to get done, however! So, hopefully returning to a 40 hour workweek will help me organize my other time more efficiently.
I wish I could figure out what GS level a Census enumerator is. As this is a temporary position, I’ll be looking for a job to take on once I’m done with the Census. Having a govt. job can make it easier to get another govt. job, and if I already knew my GS level, that would be pretty useful. I’ll assume it’s either a.) something I’ll learn once I start the position, or that b.) as this is a temporary position, maybe GS levels don’t apply for it.
Drew’s job is doing well, he’s about to shift from temp status to being a part of the company – no pay raise, unfortunately, but he’ll be eligible for benefits and such.
And, that’s about all that’s been going on lately here. Oh, I did add a new fishie to my collection, as fishies are very important.
TV, wanderings, and worky work
So first off, we finished watching the first season of the Sarah Conner Chronicles. It’s pretty good! Second season will hopefully be waiting at the library for us in the very near future.
We finally got to wander around downtown on Saturday. My google-fu found free parking at a giant REI store, and from there we wandered through a park and along 16th street. Not as many wacky shops as I was hoping for, plus a Chick-fil-a that was astoundingly closed on Saturday, but the area was still interesting. We then wandered over to a park whereupon we were surrounded by pigeons waiting for bread. Not that we had any bread, but then they’re not exactly the brightest of birds.
These guys were super tame. Super cute, too! Anyhow, after that we stared at the Mint and then headed back over to 16th street where I spent entirely too much money on chocolate that should have tasted better based on it’s price. Then we went back to the park by the river, where we ate said chocolate and a few geese decided we were planning on feeding them. Then we returned to our abode.
HONK!
Also, work is working. As I may have already mentioned, I picked up the Census job, which I start in a month. Also, I’m finally getting paid for the project I’m just finishing up, and am going to an hourly rate for further work. I also continue to stand around outside holding a sign. I suppose I’ve technically been fulfilling what I for awhile considered the ideal job situation: a part-time white-collar job and a part-time blue-collar job. I get physical AND mental exertion, the best of both worlds!
It is good to not be paranoid about monetary situations anymore. Albeit, I’ve been almost on the verge of finishing the redo on my professional website for almost 2 weeks now. One of these days, when I’m not staring at geese or writing these blasted blog entries, one day I shall finish it.
Happy Late Pi Day and Early St. Patrick’s Day!
So Thursday we’re having highs in the 60s, then Friday it’s snowing. Makes no sense! Then again, I prefer that to the alternative of “grey and drizzly”.
So I have a job. Or rather, in a month, I will have a temporary job. I got hired as an enumerator for the Census. It’s full-time, and the position lasts up to two months. Which is unfortunate in that I’d like a less temporary position, but is good in that it pays rather well considering the work, and will help me gain charisma levels as I will be working with the public and all. That plagues me – that I might look great on paper, but get me into an interview and I’m awful at reading people, or knowing what they’re looking for, or I’ve read too many conflicting articles on how to act in interviews and I can’t combine all the info into a perfect demeanor depending on who I’m interviewing with. Anyhow, work is good.
I’m redoing my professional site, which is almost but not quite done. Had another website that I’d built disappear altogether from the internet, which is unfortunate as I really needed a decent screenshot of it. It’s all built in OsCommerce too, meaning I can’t just open my saved version of the site. So I cheated and used a screenshot from the PDF file where I designed the site in the first place.
On a completely unrelated note, I can’t decide if I should go ahead and stop watching The Office. See, it’s been on a downhill slide since Season 5, and it makes me sad. There is that trope of “TV show goes downhill when the romantic tension is resolved” thing, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case here, which makes it all the sadder. The first episode I ever watched was an early Season 4 one, so I knew from the start that Pam and Jim got together anyway.
Here’s the problems as I see them: First of all, the actress who played Holly left the show unexpectedly to pursue other things, and I’m pretty sure they’d planned out a bunch of episodes with her in them. Meaning the writers didn’t have much time to hash together a new plot direction. However, I still don’t understand why they brought Toby back. I mean, when Toby left, he was pretty clear about not coming back. But they brought him back anyway, and just didn’t give a strong reasoning for having his happen. Same thing with Ryan, in fact. It just made no sense that he would come back happily as a temp again. If I could, I would just erase the whole first chunk of Season 5, and start with the Charles Major arc.
The Charles Major arc was pretty much the best thing about Season 5. There’s a new interesting character, with all the new dynamics that go with such things. Plus, Michael left and started his own company. The show is more interesting when everyone isn’t in the same position they’ve been in for the past several years – office environments naturally evolve, people get promoted or move around, part of why it was so interesting in Season 3 to have Jim in a new office, or why Season 4 was fun with Ryan promoted above Michael’s head. Anyhow, Michael’s new company brought Ryan back into the story in a much more realistic fashion then the beginning of the season’s attempt to do so: I don’t think Ryan would happily return to being a temp from his previous status as a higher-up in management, but working as a salesman in Michael’s company is pretty appealing compared to working at a bowling alley. I was also happy to see Vicram again, as he was a fun character.
Incidentally I’m not too happy with Ryan’s character in Season 6. Apparently he went all indie/arty with no good explanation. I like the Sabre storyline, but I can’t help but feel like it’s too little too late. Also – I hate all the schmaltz surrounding everything Jim and Pam do. Like the wedding episode, completely unnecessary sentimentality! Made me greatly miss Phyllis’s wedding. Also, the recent baby episodes, too mushy. Not overtly mushy, but the mushiness was definitely still there.
I’ll probably still keep watching, just because I’ve been watching for so long. Now that Darryl is upstairs, maybe there will be some interesting interactions there. I’ve felt the lack of warehouse interactions ever since Roy disappeared, and especially since Kelly stopped dating Darryl. I’d like to see more episodes where Kelly and Kevin have stronger roles, as they are both ridiculous and fabulous. This seems to be the problem with TV shows in general, though, there are the lead actors and there are the supporting actors. Too bad that sometimes the supporting actors are more interesting then the lead actors!
Work, Dollars, Anime, Etc.
Work:
Teleconference yesterday, for the ultimate goal of getting this website launched in a week. Not fully finished, mind you, but finished enough to function. I’m currently working on making php generate a PDF form based on products selected + other stuff, what once seemed impossible is now at the “persnickety” level. This means that I for the most part understand what’s going on, there’s a bunch of fiddly things for me to do, and there’s the occasional out of left field error to work through.
So once this project is done, I can get dollars. And add this to my resume, and talk about all the Drupal modules I’ve built. In theory, this might make someone else want to hire me? We’ll see about that.
I’ve got a fabulous idea for a new website. It will involve cute food, it should be relatively easy to execute, and it will give me something to design as well as something to build with Drupal. I think I’ll have a better shot with getting development jobs if I hunker down and focus on a specific area, and at this point I’m liking how Drupal works and would like to get as proficient in it as possible.
Dollars!
Oh wait, that’s related to work, hah! Liberty does not give me many dollars. However, I am currently wearing a bra I can usually only wear in the summer, which is good. For those who are not me and/or don’t gain weight like me, this means that Liberty is saving me from the winter weight gain I always get. I really like working there, too. Some people get really excited seeing me out there with my sign. And surprisingly, it’s really rare to get obscene gestures. Usually every other time I’m out there, someone will flick me off. Once in every 8 hour timespan is acceptable, I suppose.
I blame Liberty for my cold. My never-ending cold, which remains at a low-grade “headache plus weird nose” status. See, it’s those free cookies. I cannot resist eating the cookies, and neither can all those disease-ridden children that come in attached to their parents. Liberty has an excellent set-up for people with kids: a little table with coloring books, other books, etc. plus those darn cookies.. And I’m sure I ate a cookie which was already touched by some germy kid. Le sigh.
Anime!
We finished the first season of Bleach. Definitely mixed feelings on it. I really like Chad and wanted to see more episodes where he was the focus. I wanted to see more background development on the characters – like the fact that Rukia is 40+ years old and stuck in this teenager’s body in a strange world. All we got about this was her not being able to stick a straw in a juice box. I really wanted to learn more about her situation. I mean, maybe it comes later, but at this point she’s not even on Earth anymore, so I’m not sure of the likelihood of this. I also don’t like the Hollows. Sometimes they stand around and talk to Ichigo and others in cunning ways, sometimes they stand around and make grunting noises like animals. Also, they like standing and waiting patiently while the main characters have dramatic conversation. Does not make sense. Anyhow, we may come back to Bleach later on, but for now we’ve moved on to other stuff.
Started watching Revolutionary Girl Utena last night, watched the first two episodes. I’m lost for a lot of it, but that’s pretty normal. It’s got some pretty interesting stuff going on so far (not the least is the song in the middle of both episodes singing about trilobytes, the Apocalypse, etc).
In other news, I need a tea vat with a drinking tube that just follows me around everywhere, it would be magical.
Whereupon I talk about being aimless and sick some more
Still sick. It’s weird, it started off like a normal cold – slight headache and scratchy throat growing into full blown cold. I had a few days of that, and then I woke up one morning and realized that I felt better. Not all the way better, though, and this is now day two that I feel that same as I did that morning. I’ve got my full-blown appetite again, no sore throat, but I’m stuck with a light stuffy nose, phlegm, and a headache that just won’t leave me. Not enough to really call it “sick” anymore, but just enough to be annoying. I’ve had this sort of thing last for a week or more in the past, and I’d rather not have that happen this time around. Now that I’ve added a blue-collar job to my repertoire, we’ll see how that effects the sickness. I’ve got a 4 hour shift with Liberty tomorrow, and I’m hoping (quite illogically, I’m sure) that with that long stretch of aerobic activity, the pseudo-sickness will realize that it has no place in my body any longer and will leave it for good.
Incidentally, I’m alone for the weekend. Had some plans for the whole V-day thing with Drew, involving going to some Cajun place whereupon I would gorge on shrimp, along with me making him something chocolatey and delicious. Alas, Drew has flown back to Richmond for Neil’s funeral, and shalnt return until Monday night. Being as I am poor and work Sunday, I stayed here. Estha needs company anyhow, and she entertains me nonstop with her pooping antics. I will spend a romantic Valentine’s day with her, playing with strings and pretending that when she meows, it’s because she’s telling me she loves me, not because her food bowl is almost empty. She doesn’t bother to finish the food first, she must preemptively let me know that she will need more food in the near future, and then she finishes it. Her definition of “empty” is when she can actually see the bottom of the bowl, even if the bowl’s edges are still crowded with food.
I’ve got entirely too many things to do but still managed to waste away my Saturday. I finally beat Airport Mania, and spent some time on i-sketch.net. Pictionary is a magical thing. Tomorrow will also be spent romantically wrangling some data into an attractive PDF layout. I found a class that lets me do it in PHP, it just looks to be a bit of a pain from my current standpoint. But, it must be done.
In other news, I like dance music. Good, high quality wiggly-waggly dance music. I must find more to help the days ooze by like buttah.
My life as a statue
I’ve found employment. Not the employment I was really expecting to find, mind you, but employment nonetheless. Indeed, I am now one of those people that dresses up as the Statue of Liberty and dances around at the side of the road, trying to convince you to go get your taxes done at Liberty Tax. Part time, $8 an hour. But it works for now.
Here’s the thing: it’s pretty freaking disillusioning to spend large quantities of your time applying (and failing to get) jobs. Eventually you start wondering what the point is in the first place. My veeery sllooowly moooving job building the router site is, well, slow. Doesn’t take up a huge amount of time. And, I need money. Even if I’m earning a rather paltry sum, at least I’m earning something. There’s also the fact that winters are infamous for making me lazy and get no exercise. So, it’s like I’m getting paid to go to a gym/club. In theory, I’m also boosting my confidence, by waving at complete strangers and having them wave back. There’s the occasional middle finger, but for the most part (when people respond, at least), people are friendly and some downright bizarrely happy to see me. It’s also pretty fun to wear a costume. I would take on a job as a Chick-Fil-A cow in a heartbeat, incidentally.
I also find it easier to organize my time when it’s broken up into chunks. Now that Drew is at work all day, my day stretches before me like a vast plain, all to be spent in front of the computer doing *something*, in theory, that will propel me to the next job, or give me another thing to slap on the ole resume. With this part-time job, I *have* to get work done in the alloted time available. Also, dancing around for several hours in a row makes it much easier to sit in front of the computer for long stretches of time. I’m rather restless for the most part, and like to wander around, and the fact that I eat more then my fair share of sugar during the day does nothing to ameliorate this tendency. So, being exhausted helps with this. And, if things go well, I’ll be super-toned by springtime!
And that’s that. Here are other things going on in my life right now, in list form:
- Have more or less gotten the hang of Drupal hooks. Am looking forward to trimming up my new shiny module and maybe getting it published on the Drupal site.
- Have decided that, as we don’t have friends out here in Denver yet, it’s time to start watching more anime. I never saw Evangelion, so we just started watching that last night. And will apparently need to finish watching it very soon as well, as I’ve now got Bleach sitting at the library waiting to be picked up.
- We’ve been eating free Chick-Fil-A for several months now, at least once a week. We thought we’d get sick of it at some point, but no. I still crave it as much as ever.
- Did you know you can stick slices of tofu in the toaster? It’s pretty neat.
- At some point, I need to get a phone with decent web-browsing capabilities. I mean, how am I supposed to make sure websites are designed to look good on mobile browsers if I don’t even have a mobile browser in which to look at them?
- I got all extravagant recently and bought a cactus for $3.50. It’s succulent and adorable. There’s the best shop ever in Manitou Springs with a greenhouse-type room filled with cacti/cactuses/cactodes of all shapes and sizes. When I go in there it’s like I go into a pet shop. Even better, actually, because pet shops make me sad. I feel for the plight of those poor Betas trapped in those teeny little glass bowls.
- Grilled cheese sandwiches are the Fruit of the Gods.
Job stuff, rabid illness, etc.
So here’s the job situation: I have picked up a temporary job working at Liberty Tax to tide me over until I (hopefully) hear back from the Census people (apparently it might be a bit of time, I’m hopeful though as I scored 100% on the test), and that will tide me over until either the freelance web stuff picks up or I can land a more permanent web job. I am moving forward on my current Drupal project, though, went to a meeting last week and checked out some CNC routers. Once that’s done, I’ve got a giant list of side projects to work on portfolio-building until I can land something else.
And, I’m sick. Came down with it yesterday. Might be cold or flu, not really sure. Headache, fever, chills, fatigue, sore throat, occasional cough. And I threw up today. Feels really weird to have things in my stomach. I think that my stomach’s weakening with age. I didn’t use to have stomach queasiness with illness, but lately I’ve gotten that. Also, in the last few years I’ve started experiencing queasy stomach after roller coaster rides. No good at all! Also no good is my period this time around. It’s really awful to have bad cramps while also sick. I’m still playing around with giving myself doses of zinc to help out. I wish zinc didn’t make me nauseas, and I need to drill into my skull that 15 minutes of nausea for a few days is a lot better then days of devastating pain.
Oh, and that avocado contest I entered? I did not win. Well, I did win a cookbook and a t-shirt, both of which should come in the mail at some point, but no dollars. It’s all good, though, I felt like I learned a great deal of Flash, which is something.
