I'm getting ready to start my search for a home. And it's quite a daunting task ahead. Met with the real estate agent last night....so here goes....
As for work, I've found myself becoming a complete bitch lately. I'm not sure what it is. Whether the Zyrtec I had been taking had been making me exceptionally irritable, seasonal depression is rearing its ugly head, or I'm just sick of my job, I'm just not sure. All I know is I don't like how I've been acting. And even being aware that I've been this way lately, hasn't kept it from happening again and again. It really bothers me that I continue to lose my temper far easier than I ever have in the past. What the hell?
Is it a 2003 thing? God I hope not.
I'm feeling better now, with my cold diminishing....and my everyday problems now seem so miniscule in comparison with a girl I once worked with. Tragically, at the age of 25 she is now a widow, her husband having died suddenly at the age of 33. I can't imagine being 25, and losing a husband in his youth and having the daunting task of continuing on as the sole care giver to a 1 year old child. How do you pick up the pieces without being paralyzed by fear and grief? I feel fortunate to not be faced with such a future. I only have to deal with trivial shit. But I pray that God grants her the strength to come out on top in this difficult situation. It just doesn't seem right that something like this should happen to anyone.
It has me feeling philosophical and introspective....yet lacking any concrete answers.
Seems like everyone is sick these days. Symphonies of hacking coughs and blowing noses can be heard echoing amidst the cube villages at work. And when I call home I hear my whole extended family has some version of the same cold. Then there is my Dad who takes it one step further and picks up pneumonia. He's under doctor's orders to keep from working for two weeks. Which sucks for him since he is self-employed and that is equivalent to leave without pay. And things have been slow around the holidays, so that makes the picture a little grimmer. Thankfully Mom works as well and when she is sick, she does have paid sick leave. And in this case she is dealing with a cold, too.
So where I had originally planned to visit home for the weekend since it is my Dad's birthday, now I may have to cancel those plans since everyone in the house, including my brother and SIL and the kids are sick as well.
And of course I have had a nagging cough since Friday. *sigh*
Get out the Lysol. It's time to disinfect the keyboard. ;)
Getting away from politics, here's an interesting find--a 4-winged dinosaur. Well, it's fossils to be exact. Definitely something that will keep the Paleontologists buzzing over where this beast fits into the bigger picture of evolution.
Hopefully it hold more veracity than the story I saw on Yahoo News about bananas set to become extinct in coming years. That one had me for a second before I was like "give me a break--what as crock of shit!" All that story was based on was one man's theory and it's intent was to shock...either that or drive up the consumption of bananas...hehehehe.....
You just can't believe anything at face value these days.....
Yet another example of Bush supporting the rich under the guise of helping the economy recover: Bush plan gives huge tax break to buyers of big SUVs
What a crock! A person buys an SUV as a 'business vehicle', writes off the whole sticker price on his/her taxes as a deduction, and could potentially pay no federal tax for the year. Yeah, that's sound economic advice. *rolls eyes* Only helps the interests of the automakers and the oil moguls like Bush and Cheney. Fills their pockets while stealing money away from future generations by ballooning the deficit.
Boy, do we need a change in 2004! But Al Sharpton? I don't think so. Yet I haven't seen a stand out candidate on the Democratic side. It's quite frightening to think there is yet to be a viable opponent to Bush. I sure hope that changes soon.
I'm starting to feel like I'm back in Rochester with the frequency of snow we've been having here. Another unforecast snow fell this morning....just a dusting. But considering we had no snow at all last year, it's a drastic difference.
FTC nabs some more spammers. Hoorah! Granted spam itself is not illegal, but offering fake international drivers licences is, LOL. Death to Spam.
Gee is back to normal, being the cute kitty I adore. How long will it last? I honestly don't know.
I did a good bit of cleaning in my room this morning, such that it looks half way decent. Once my laundry finishes drying on the rack and I put it away and when I straighten up my vanity a bit more, It should be in good shape.
I did clean out my underwear drawer and tossed out a few pairs of old panty hose. I mean who wears bright red hose? I think that pair were from the '80s, LOL. The others were getting dry-rotted down at the bottom of the drawer. I have far better black hose that I'd wear first. Also, tossed out the last few 34B bras, since after 3 years I've not gone back down in size. No point in keeping them, unless I was planning to donate them to the Smithsonian. ;)
Dusting? Cleaning out drawers? Sounds like I've begun my spring cleaning in January. Or that I'm looking forward to moving this year. Now I just need to start searching for a house. Heck, I need to just call the real estate guy.
But Mom voiced her concern about the possible upcoming war and what that will mean. Good ole Mom and Dad want me to play it safe and continue to rent. I tried to explain if I waited for everything to be ideal before I dared buy a house or do anything else substantial in my life, I'd never do anything. There is always the possibility for disaster. Heck look at my decision to adopt a second cat. Who knew a seemingly healthy 3 yr old cat would have so many problems?
Somewhere down the line I have to take a chance. At 30, I feel I'm at the right age to be grown up enough to own a house. I've managed my finances pretty well for the most part. There's no reason to believe I can't handle the responsibility. And the way things are going for myself and my brother, our jobs seem fairly secure. I could be wrong, but I'm ready to take the chance. And Brian seems to be game for buying a house. It'll be an investment for both of us.
I don't want to have to wait for Prince Charming to whisk me away to a castle. I want to earn that castle on my own. Later he (whoever 'he' is) can move in. ;)
Snow is coming down tonight. Unfortunately it is unlikely to be enough to cancel work, LOL. Today I finally managed to have a very productive day at work. I think my week from Hell has finally ended. It just sucks when it falls within 2 work weeks, LOL.
Tabitha is doing much better and practically back to normal. Gee has improved, but I can't say for certain that he's finished his bout. So for now he remains with us, but his future remains uncertain. :(
I wish I was inspired enough to write something thoughtful or witty or insightful, but I'm drawing a blank. Then again, this time of year tends to sap away my energy. Anyone got any spare energy to throw my way?
Oh, yeah. GO EAGLES!
Nuff said.
Finally got past the board the other night. Just needed to keep the gods happy and the Etruscans never showed up, LOL.
I made the mistake of trying the computer game Caesar 3. In the process I wasted so much time on one stinking board that I can't seem to get past. I almost had it the last time, but the Etruscans attacked and whooped my butt. I'd like to know how the frig I'm supposed to beat their army. Arghh! I now wish I hadn't bothered with the stupid game. There were far better things I could have been doing yesterday.
Can I trade lives with someone else? Between pissing kitties and strange occurances, I'm tired of how things have been going of late, and could use a break from my life, LOL. Today, a refrigerator at work alarmed for some unknown reason. It was at temperature. But for some reason the alarm system called my phone every 5 minutes for 4 hours or so. Because my brother was using the internet, my voice mail took all the messages, totalling over 130 messages. At that point my mailbox was full and wouldn't accept any more.
When I went to check the fridge, it of course was fine, and the chart recorder that records the temp over time showed it within specs throughout the previous hours. Why the fuck the alarm system called me, I'm not quite sure?! On Sunday of all days!
And tonight, the storyboard I administrate decided to go kaput, so I had to see to that as well. I just hope my week from Hell isn't continuing into a second week. Oy.
The one good thing this weekend is my Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons....woohoo!
I wish the person who thinks my Ebay ID is his/hers would get a clue. After getting in the neighborhood of 10 emails from ebay.de in German asking if I forgot my password, I'm getting a bit annoyed. It's getting real old. Obviously if you do not get the email with your password, It's NOT your userID! Duh!
It's official...my first full week of 2003 was the week from Hell. Anything that could go wrong at work, did go wrong. Arghhhh....
I did something stupid tonight. When I came back into the locker room after Pilates, I couldn't find my lock. Eventually I deduced that my stuff was locked up with someone else's lock. And it was in one of 2 lockers. By the time I brought a gym employee back, one of the 2 lockers was opened by another member. Thus my stuff was in the other locker. The girl that opened the locker said she saw a lock left behind on the bench at 5:20 pm. I figured that I picked up the wrong lock because I wasn't paying attention, and that my lock was still in my gym bag. At the time I had been talking to Amy.
So the gym employee brought the lock cutters, and as it turns out, my stuff was in the locker. And in fact my lock was in my bag. On one hand I feel bad someone's lock got cut. On the other hand the person left it for beyond 40 minutes before I picked it up mistakenly.
All I know is I felt pretty stupid, LOL.
I'm not much into blogging much right about now. Things with Gee haven't improved. And last night he peed on my bed. I can't live much longer like this. Since no one will take a sick cat, my choices are leave him on a farm or euthanize him. In the past three months he's peed blood the whole month of October, several 5-7 day stretches in November, and the last 2 weeks in December up unitl now. And he pees as much in the box as he does out of it. Nothing that I own is very safe. He even sprayed a sweater I had hanging on my drying rack. Fortunately I was able to wash it and get the stain out. But with comforters and furniture it is not so easy.
I'm running out of patience and/or strength.
It's time to take down the Christmas decorations. I just need to get off my ass and do it, LOL.
Cat Update: Gee was having cystitis issues all throughout Christmas week at my parents. *sigh* Nothing like bringing a cat that's peeing blood throughout the house to one's parents. Including on my parents sofa. This week he's still not quite normal, but improved. But now Tabitha has been in and out of the litterbox repeatedly throughout the last couple days. Two pissing kitties, just what I needed!
I'm convinced it's either viral or something environmental. How else do you explain both cats having cystitis problems over the last year? Tabitha hadn't had any problems since her last bout in April. But apparently when I thought about her being ok throughout the last several months last week, I thought it too loud. So far she's diligent about using the box, but I know that can't last if this persists.
*screams*
Tension breaker. What can you expect from someone dealing with cats with peeing issues? ;)
I did take Gee to see the dermatologist who agreed that he likely has airborne allergies. We decided to give him the steroid anti-inflammatory drug for a month to treat his allergies and potentially help with the cystitis. Otherwise Gee will eventually need allergy shots. Not something I'm ready to jump into doing. I would be required to give him the shots myself. Will have to see if I decide to try that route.
How did all of a sudden owning cats become so expensive? I used to have one cat who went to the vet once a year. Now I have two cats that have battled with cystitis, one of which has allergies as well. Not to mention the deworming we went through a few months ago. What the hell?
I never realized MSNBC had a Weblog Central page, that is a blog itself that points to several other MSNBC blogs as well as other blogs. On the Central page there is a December 22 entry that links two blogs that I read from time to time, Tampatantrum and Snazzykat. I found it amusing that the dude linked to two places I go to read. :)
I'll have to take a peek at this MSNBC blog from time to time now that I know it is there. So many places to read, so little time, LOL.
Ever since Dolly the sheep was created, the topic of cloning has been thrust from science fiction fantasy to emerging science reality. But with each species cloned, abnormalities have been noted. Dolly appears to have DNA the age of her mother. Her chromosomes have shortened telomeres (ends), signifying 'aged' DNA. Diseases of the old have been seen in these young animal clones, including cancer.
Now Clonaid has gone and cloned a human. Or so they claim. However, with no intentions of performing any genetic testing to back up their claims, the whole thing could easily be a hoax. Of course one can't help but be skeptical of a group linked to a religious sect that believes space aliens created life on Earth..
Happy New Year!
We had beautiful weather last night. It was balmy and the rain held off until after 1am. Kristina and John came for a visit, and since Kristina wanted to go out somewhere--anywhere, and I wanted to stay close to home, we went to Bethesda. Our first bit of good fortune came when we arrived at Shady Grove Metro. Some folks exiting the station handed us their all-day passes. Once we reached the station in Bethesda, we went in search of a bar we saw mentioned on the Post's webpage. After finding our chosen destination there, we decided we would prefer to continue walking outside in the nice weather, rather than going in and paying the cover charge. Go figure, LOL. After wandering around, avoiding a couple street people, we made our way back to the Metro station. We did see a father and son, with the young boy tooting his horn, a rather sick sounding horn. They were another in a series of folks that wished us a happy new year, and were friendlier than most folks I encounter on a daily basis around here.
Since we wouldn't be able to make it down to DC before midnight, we spent the last 20 minutes of 2002 wandering around the courtyard in Bethesda, looking at the lit Christmas Tree, other lit trees, the ice skating rink, and some abstract scultures. Just goofing around in a relaxed manner.
Then as midnight approached we weren't sure when the exact moment was, since very little fanfare was made. No honking, very little yelling, rather anti-climactic. A pair of friends popped a champagne bottle. And some folks on the hotel balcony did start tooting their horns after the fact.
So then we went back underground and took the Metro to Federal Triangle with the foolish notion of seeing the national Christmas tree. Unfortunately, as I was afraid of, the tree's lights were turned out for the night. We did see one building illuminated in a strange colorful pattern that was kinda cool. We might have wandered around more, but rain began to fall and we were tired. So home we returned.
But we did encounter a number of happy revelers, some drunk, others not, that yelled out wishes of happy new year. It was the happiest time I can remember on the Metro. I'm more used to the huddled masses herding on and off the trains without making eye contact or muttering a word. Each person trapped amidst the weight of their life. On this night, the world's worries seemed to be forgotten as folks looked forward to a new year.
With any luck, perhaps this year will continue to bring happier times for all.