From Portland

I flew into Portland, OR last night. I hopped into my Buick Rendevous SUV only feeling a teeny bit guilty for renting a gas hog. It's a great car, if you need an SUV, drives wonderfully and it's very comforable. This is a good thing, because I spent about an hour in it from airport to hotel. The drive is only maybe 10 minutes, but when you miss one teeny exit it sort of screws you permanently. On the upside, I got a nighttime tour of the Portland area just outside of downtown.

My hotel, once I found it, was absolutely lovely; an old art deco building that has been restored. The hotel has done very well capitalizing on the beautiful architecture, decorating to blend period art with a dash of modern.

I have decided rather than staying in the major chain hotels, I should seek out these sort of places more often. The only downside is that sometimes they don't have high-speed internet available. *gasp* I know, in this day and age, what is THAT about?

Thankfully, this particular hotel does not suffer from such a tragic misguidance. Along with a very stable internet connection, I have valet parking for a price that is less than half the fee my last hotel charged for me to park my car myself! And....AND....at 5p.m. every afternoon, they offer free wine in the lobby. And really, don't get me started on how every member of the staff seems to be a male underwear model or that there is an Aveda Salon in the lobby. This is vital, because I forgot ALL my hair products: shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, smoothing lotion, etc. I use Aveda products (what a coincidence!) and they sell teeny tiny samples of everything I need (perfect!).

Oh, alright, the hotel gushing is getting annoying, I know. I am about to call down and order my car (heh) and head out exploring. I don't have anything scheduled for today, so I am taking my full tank of gas and heading west, knowing the Pacific Ocean is somewhere out there and I will run into it eventually.

My only vaguly tragic feeling about the trip so far is that I did not bring a camera. As my daughter would say "Phooey!"

To study or not to study for $4K per semester...

So, this spring, grad school got put on hold. I am taking the summer of and find myself really not all that inspired to return. I like the program, the flexibility of doing it online. The downside is its pricey and well...i don't like marketing. After a year of study, I'm just not feeling it.

Could i use it, probably. Would it help me in positions with more responsibility than i have now, absolutely. Do i want that kind of job if this is the sort of thing it entails? I don't think so. I like what i do now - and i wonder if i really need an advanced degree for it.

I think ultimately, id rather be studying something else. But what? I want to go to school, its some sort of compultion I guess - to learn. But then I don't need to go to school to learn things.

I would like an advanced degree in communication or public relations. I could get one here at the local U. But they suck...really suck. Is it worth the trouble?

I seem to be talking in circles. Heh.

An Update

Im a bad blogger. lol
But, in my defense I've been very busy. Like crazy busy .
Art Fest has come and gone for another year.
It went great, fabulous, fantastically well.
It helps that I knew what was going to happen and was just that much more relaxed about it.
The Percocet helped.
Speaking of that, I'm off that now. Had to go through some sleep deprivation and anxiety ridden withdrawl, but it didn't last long and I will do whatever it takes to not have to take it again.

It stresses me out knowing I'm physically dependant on something like that. I only took it for 3 months, I can't image what it would have been like to take it for a year or more. Don't need that - don't want it. I'm done.

And in keeping with whatever it takes to keep me off painkillers I am having surgery July 12. Should be minor, should help with a host of issues.

Oh yeah, I am single again. And disappointed that he pretended to be something that he wasn't.
I suppose everyone does this in the beginning, to one degree or another. Everyone is on their best behavior. But, the real him, the reality was so much more messy and pathetic than I could deal with.

My new addiciton is one of those online massive multi-player games. This is something I said I would never do. It is such a massive souce of time suckage, you have no idea. Ryan made me do it. I get to be a villain, be part of a super villain group, blow stuff up and wreak havoc and mayhem on the innocent and corrupt alike...and do it all from a secret lair. lol Yes, yes, lets all say it together shall we : "God, you are such a GEEK!" To which i say Ryan is a far greater geek than me - im only a level 16 geek, he is a level 32. So there. :P

Working on my website, which is so not intersting right now, I will NOT be posting a link.
But maybe, eventually.

Ok that's it. That's all you get. :*

This is cool...

So, i found this firefox plug-in called Stumble!. It takes me to random websites, based on my interests. It's kinda fun -- just close your eyes and jump and see where you land.

http://gprime.net/images/sidewalkchalkguy/

This is the first site I found. It's a gallery of photos taken by the most amazing sidewalk chalk artist. I've never seen anything like it. Check it out.

I know my taste in music is pretty bad...but come on!

So, I am wandering through iTunes, waiting for my offspring to finish tooth brushing so I can get into the bathroom this morning. I spot something interesting entitled Just For You (beta version, thankfully) and I think " oh, iTunes is going to see if they can get into my head and tell me what music I like." I take a peak. Image my horror when I find they are recommending the SPICE GIRLS! What...I...just...what kind of musical retard do they think I am???

Inspecting further, I find they are basing this recommendation on the fact that I purchased some songs off No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom. Now, I feel a little better. Clearly this is a flaw in their new system and not a proper judgement of my musical tastes. There is even a place to let them know that A) I own it or B) I hate it. Hopefully this will help them get to know me a little better and not insult me quite as often with god knows what else.

All the same, I do a quick search through my musical library and breath a sigh of relief. There are no errant Spice Girls hiding there. I'll grant you, there ARE some seriously embarrassing tunes in my collection, but even I have a floor in the basement of my musical taste. Come on.

Coming up for air...cuz I feel like bitchin'

I've been quite neglectful of the blogging. Been crazy busy with life, work, love etc. What brings me here this morning is a random visit to Yahoo chat. Imagine my surprise to find they have done away with Java chat, therefore leaving me bereft of any way into chat save switching to the PC platform.

Truthfully, I'm not shedding tears or anything. I rarely, if EVER log into chat anymore. It's just an annoyance. It's an irritating reminder of Yahoo's inexplicable neglect of the Mac platform. When I first started using Yahoo services like email, messenger and chat, the features offered on the Mac versions of their software were equal to PC versions. They updated them at about the same time and considering the small percentage of Mac users in existance, things were quite equal.

Flash forward to today, with the Mac OS more popular than ever and yet Yahoo gives it's users a piece of shit, outdated messenger with no support for practically ancient technologies like voice and chat. They continue to add feature upon feature, as fast as their little fingers can type, to Y!Messenger for the PC. Instead of following the rest of the computer world, Yahoo seems to treat the Mac OS with less attention instead of more as its user-base grows.

In the all important quest for more smileys, audibles and dress-your-own-avatars, they have spent years ignoring Mac versions, refusing to integrate the more useful features PC users have been enjoying since the turn of the century!!!

*mutters* And before you decide to respond to this blog. I understand why. It makes perfect business sense to ignore the platform. Or at least, they can expect little in the way of repercussions, other than to have the one or two of us out there pissed off. I get it.

Until now, I happily existed without all those things PC users enjoy. I've even started using 3rd party toys like Adium and much prefer it to my weak, watered-down Y!Messenger.

I don't get voice chat. That's fine. I don't get audibles. THANKFULLY. I don't get an avatar. That's ok too. And I don't get a host of other small, varying in usefullness, features and I've grown accustom to being a 2nd class citizen of Yahoo.

But now they have completely elimated my ability to use one of their major services. If I were a paying customer, you can be sure, I would no longer be today.

Water, Water Everywhere....

This is the park area where my art festival is located. That obelisk sticking out of the water is the marker for levels of the worst floods of the past. The very top is where the water was in 1997. We have already surpassed two of the worst floods in the past 100 years.
Below is a water-free shot of the same location last year during the festival with the current water level marked for comparison.

This is the bridge down the street from where I work. Normally the water is about 25 feet below the bridge.

This is photo of the city shutting down and walling off the bridge.
This is the view from behind my office.

Standing on the banks, watching the water rise.

So, yesterday we got the stuff emptied out of the basement storage area. I sort paid for the things I was lifting. I tried to just let my intern do all the work, but I felt lazy just sitting there pointing and telling him what to do. In alot of pain today and still waiting to know when my appointment will be.

They walled up the bridge yesterday and dumped a bit pile of dirt infront of the holes in the flood wall, so I feel a little more relaxed. Two days until the river crests though, you never really know what's gonna happen. It occurs to me that if I was required to evacuate my home, I wouldn't be prepared at all.

I should be more prepared for such things, have a plan, list of things to bring with me, emergency stuff, that kinda thing. I need to make an effort to be more boyscout-like.

Well, I'm feeling kinda drowsy (Percoset kicking in) so either its time to get up and get out and do something or im gonna end up napping away the day.


Peace.

The river rises...anxiety ensues

(This photo is of the bridge near my office in 1997, not today, hopefully.)
Last week wasn't particularly productive, unless you count the progress I made on GTA. I waited, fruitlessly, for notification of my appointment with the neurosurgeon and watched the river rise slowly. This weekend it really came up fast. So much so, that Sunday, when I went to meet Andy to pick up Megan, it took me 2 hours of driving to find a passable road! I finally got through at a spot which was dry when i passed going east and covered with 2 inches of water when i returned not 30 minutes later. That's right folks, it's flood season in the Red River Valley. If I'd tried to get through just 30 minutes later, I wouldn't have made it and Megan would have been stuck in Minnesota until the flood water receeded (She thought this was cool, by the way, cuz she would have been out of school for the better part of week). This morning they are closing the bridge downtown, about 3 blocks from my office. The river is supposed to crest at 47.something feet. My source of anxiety is the flood wall system. In 1997, we had a fuck-all flood that flooded the entire city (among others) and caused a fire that burned several buildings downtown to the ground. Some 60,000 people had to be evacuated (which is nothing compared to New Orleans, but was impressive at the time) and in the end, the Army Corps of Engineers decided we needed a newer, higher flood protection system. Flash forward to 2006, 9 years later. There is still a section, about ..oh...100 feet long, of flood wall that is not completed. It happens to be RIGHT behind MY office. And my feeling is that a flood wall with a hole in it is pretty much useless. So, this morning, when I finish this blog, I will be heading downtown, into the basement of my building, into the damp moldy darkness to get the stuff we have in storage out and up to the 2nd flood. All of our Art Festival junk is down there so it should take me quite awhile. I am taking a stokepile of Coffee, Percoset (for my back) and Benedryll (for my mold allergies) and should be quite miserable by day's end.
(The photo below shows the location of my office, incase you need to send help. :) )

Monday Monday

My weekend wasn't particularly eventful. Saw a movie, went to a birthday dinner. What I didn't do was attend the Aerosmith/Cheap Trick concert for which I had tickets Saturday night. *grumbles*

This is what happens when old men go on tour. Steven Tyler has to have surgery for some undisclosed condition and they have cancelled the rest of the tour. To be fair, I probably would have had to dope up on a couple Percoset to get through the night comfortably.

Twas an interesting weekend for revelations, deep thoughts and personal growth. I won't bore you with the details, but I will say I was unprepared for the idea that, in starting this new relationship, I am also keenly clarifying my relationships with some other key people in my life. It's not comfortable, but I suppose growth and change often aren't.

The truth is, it leaves me feeling mentally healthy and well, much like cleaning out the closets and packing up stuff to move somewhere.

Speaking of cleaning - I was cleaning off my desk this morning and found Glow-In-The-Dark Silly Putty! Yay Silly Putty!

By the way, for those of you who don't think there is anything going on up here in North Dakota - we had the Western Regional NCAA Hockey Finals in town, over the weekend, and our own Fighting Sioux are headed to the Frozen Four. (Yeah, I know, you don't care, but you won't often hear me say much about sports of any kind, cept this and it only happens once a year.)

2 Percoset Kinda Day

Just got back from the physical therapy pool. Took two Percoset this morning and that coupled with the 98-degree heat makes typing this a monumental effort. Talk about relaxed. woooooo. :) My brain is still moving kinda fast, which is odd. My therapist took me off Pilates (which I'd started this week to help strengthen my tummy to support my back and recovery should I end up with surgery.) Both times I've done it this weekend, I've woken up in more pain than the day before. Lots of pain. Take 2 Percoset without passing go kinda pain. And so I am back to the back stretches as my primary form of movement.

I was worried that all this laying around like a lump would be bad for my scale, but I'm actually down 4 pounds. This is the sort of thing that fucks with my head. Work out 4 times a week - nothin'! Stop working out, take narcotics and lie around on the couch moaning occassionally. Lose 4 pounds!

I had a great board meeting yesterday, actually enjoyed it, which is rare. Probably cuz Art Fest prep is going so smoothly. It's such a relief compared to last year. I know what to expect, I know I'm not missing something, I'm a month ahead of where I was last year. The chairman of my board told me they would be lost without me. I'm indispensable. That rocks.

It's Friday, I feel a nap coming on. Since I need to get into the office today by lunch I am going to see if I can't get a nap in now.

Peace.

Progress...or not.

I saw my Dr. on Tuesday. He is sending me to Fargo for a neurosurgical consult. Ok, fine. If it fixes the problem, it's a good thing, right? I cannot live on Percoset forever (well I could...but let's not).

He did give me a temp handicap tag which has made parking an absolute joy. I should get something good out of all this pain.

I found out this morning the Aerosmith/Cheap Trick concert I had tickets to this weekend has been canceled. :((

But, on the upside, planning for this year's art fest is going swimmingly and I am head over heels, neck deep in love. You know, the kind that makes everyone else around you wanna vomit but has you grinning like an idiot at random and inappropriate moments? *grins and wanders off*

Well, Duh.

I've passed my English proficiency exam with flying colors. And really, with a bachelor's degree in journalism, it would be really embarassing if I hadn't.

I am supposed to take my Algebra test today and I am hoping to get out of it somehow (I plan to use the "kid has the flu" card). Maybe I should just accept the inevitable and take the damn class instead of trying to quiz out of it. The thing is, I could probably pass the damn thing, if I brushed up a bit. I started to last August and then they let me enroll in school without it. So I put the book on the shelf and watched it collect dust. Now, they've pretty much told me to schedule it and get it done or no more school. *grumble*

I wonder if there is an algebra class I can take online somewhere.

Yeah, Ok

Your Stripper Song Is

Closer by Nine Inch Nails "You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you Help me I broke apart my insides, help me I�ve got no Soul to tell" When you dance, it's a little scary - and a lot sexy.

What Song Should You Strip To?

im tired.

Been fighting off the flu/food poisoning since Sunday, working long hours and generally suffering this week. lol Yes, you guessed it, another rather depressing and whiney blog.

My MRI results are in, sorta: looks abnormal. This was the message my Dr. left before leaving town till Monday. So I wait till Tuesday to get the details, but something was also mentioned about referring me to a neurosurgeon. I cannot contain my joy.

My elipitcal trainer has finally arrived and for the time being will be decorative. Exercise is painful, hell, tying shoelaces is painful. But, it's not forever right? It better not be.

Jury day was today. We ran through all the artist applications and scored them. Once tabulated, we use the scores to accept or reject artists from the show. I am taking a little mini-vacation, now that this particular hurdle has been cleared. Tonight, I catch up on American Idol and tomorrow I am sleeping until at least 11am. Then back to work tomorrow afternoon.

One last thing, to the person who has recently started reading my blog: I love you. :P

Not a good week

So, SPA day was very nice, fabulous infact, up until the point where I went to stand and could hardly walk. It was worse that night at Megan's skating show. By Monday morning I was going to the ER in the back of the car, on my stomach.

Diagnosis: pinched sciatic nerve and possible herniated disk. This won me an MRI, some x-rays and a script for Percoset. I had the MRI this morning and found out im kinda sorta claustraphobic. Or maybe MRIs just suck. Did they have to make the tube that small? I felt like the cream filling in a donut. 45 minutes of hell. It better tell us something good. Next time I may just ask for the Valium.

Anyway, hope to have the results later today so hopefully I can get off the drugs and start sitting in chairs again.

Oh and to top it all off with yet another tragedy: My pod brewer has died. *sniffles*

3.3.06

My birthday turned out decently, even after spending the morning at the hospital with grandma. She went to the ER tuesday night with chest pain and regurgitating acid like crazy. It seems to only be a major acid reflux attack, thankfully. She is having more tests on Monday, but is home from the hospital and back to work, of course.

Had a nice free lunch and the Blue Moose and free dinner with friends at Paradiso. They made me wear a stupid sombrero (sp?) while the whole damn restaurant sang happy birthday to me. Someone made the smart-assed comment that my face was as red as my hair. But it was a good day overall once we got granny sprung from the hospital.

Spent 7 hours on the phone that night with Chris *grins*. That has to be some kind of record and i paid for it the next day, but it was so worth it. Infatuation is so much fun.

Tomorrow is SPA DAY! WOOOOOOOO! An entire day of pampering for my birthday - pedi/mani, facial, massage and other various kinds of pamering.

Megan's skating show is tomorrow and Sunday, she will be so cute in her little 50's poodle skirt. Much photos will be taken I'm sure.

This week has been insane, with photoshoots and grandma issues and other things, I've gotten nothing done at the office. SO I suppose I should get back to work.

Peace.

3.1.06

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear meeeeee, Happy Birthday to me. :)

A quiet week/weekend

The kid has been out of school since Wednesday and took off for her dad's place on Thursday so it's been VERY quiet around here. Lots of studying being done. Spent Saturday afternoon at the coffee shop studying/listening to a cute college boy sing and play guitar.

I am still working on this godawful paper, or perhaps more accurately, I am still avoiding completion of this godawful paper. I am less than inspired by this class. The subject matter is ok, but the instructor is getting on my fucking nerves. I've never quite come across a professor so into micromanaging her class. If I were not halfway through the class already, I think I'd just drop it. I don't need the class, it's a damn elective. Ugh.

A more pleasant topic: I've been talking to an old friend from way way back in my early chat days. We were just friends the first time around. He returned from the great-chat-beyond a couple weeks ago and has been occupying my thoughts in a strangly familar manner. I dunno about the rest of you, but it's not often I meet people I can talk on the phone to for five hours at a time. :-O
That's all I am gonna say about it, I am dangerously close to gushing and there will be no gushing here.

It's almost time to hop in the Jeep and head out to pick up Meg, I suppose getting dressed should be tackled before then.

Peace.

Long Weekend

Had a visitor from Canada this weekend. My friend Lexi came down and we were out late. Went dancing. Lost some money playing blackjack. Won some money playing blackjack. Not that much, cuz I only ever play with about $20. Never anymore than I can afford to lose (since mostly I lose).

Very little sleep, much activitiy makes for a tired me. Two late nights in a row makes you feel OLLLLLDDDD.

Bought a bookcase on Sunday and just managed to finally get the damn thing together this morning. In my defense, the directions were rather unclear. Although I suppose there is no excuse for screwing the back panels on backwards. Now I have a place for all my books and space to put more! It's a nice lovely oak bookcase made of real wood (as opposed to the particle board bookcases I've owned in the past)and shockingly wasn't that spendy. :)

Ok, well, time to get back to work. I have a paper due this week and I have to figure out how to churn out 8 to 10 pages on online classified ad websites and how they are changing the print classified advertising business. Thrilling topic, no? I cannot begin to express my overflowing enthusiasm concerning this paper. Maybe I'll post it here for you to read when I am done. Hee. Nobody would ever read my blog again....

-51 degrees

Yes, that's what I said - 51 degrees BELOW zero. Wind Chill. But why do they bother with wind chill? If it FEELS like -51, it IS -51. I don't care what the tempature would be if there were no wind. There is wind, therfore I am cold.

The kids had to go to school today, but since I'm the boss, I closed our office for the day. Heh. It's good to be the boss. I stayed home, cleaned my bathroom, made soup.

I ran into an old friend online the other day. Havn't seen him in two years, at least. It was fantastic to hear from him. It made me pine for the old days of chat, when people actually made an attempt at creativity. Before webcams, before voice chat, when the only thing we had was the written word and we made the most of it. When even someone making an entrance into a room was potentially captivating. It was amusing, it was challenging, a social experience and a creative exercise. I miss it. Nobody bothers with that anymore and if they do, someone is always ready to discourage them. I don't bother with chat anymore for that very reason. You can't disagree, you can't fight, you can't display affection in public areas. It's a sterile, barren wastland left in place of the stimulating, creative playland it once was.

From San Francisco to Grand Forks in 18.5 Hours

I don't know why, but Overnight Shipping tickles me pink.
I ordered a book I need for school yesterday at 3:30pm from the bookstore at the school where I am taking grad classes.

10am this morning the UPS guy knocks on my door with my book!

They pulled it off the shelf, wrapped it up, gave it to UPS who spent all night making sure my book got here this morning.

It just impresses me to realize all the stuff that had to happen in such an efficient and organized fashion for that to even be possible.

Yes, I know...you can just keep those thoughts on how big a geek I am to yourself. :P

Yet another blog

So, I shut down my blog thing over on Yahoo 360. In fact, I got rid of the whole page. But, here it is, the next day and I have random stuff to say and no specific place to put it. Not that anyone is truely interested in reading it, but I'm putting it here anyway.