I did absolutely nothing useful all day. I should've mowed the lawn (but it rained). I should've done the dishes. I should've done my laundry, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned my room, done any number of useful things.

And yet...nothing.

Instead I alternately read an actual book (a rarity for me these days) and watched Criminal Minds. So addicted, you guys. Not even funny. Shemar Moore doesn't hurt either. Mmm, Shemar Moore.

Sorry, where was I?

Right. I'm thinking about filling out the FAFSA again. Debating the paralegal thing, the CSU records-management thing, or the online library school thing. For the last two I'm pretty sure I have to take the GRE, which I haven't done. Can I fill out the FAFSA just for curiosity purposes, or do I actually have to have someplace to send it? 'Cause I'd kinda like to know how much would be out of pocket and how much would be covered, but I don't want to commit to anything yet, because I am indecisive and I dither like mad.

Oh, and I don't work for unpleasant boss-lady anymore. Friday was my last three hours with her. I said something like, "I'm sorry it didn't work out." Her reply was something like, "Yeah, it really didn't. It was bad." (And of course, I'm just thinking, "Then why the hell did you keep me so long you useless bag of inertia?" But I am well rid of her and the job, except what the hell do I put on my resume now? Personal Assistant to a passive-aggressive woman with no personaily and fewer social skills?)

But I might have a line on a retail job, but it essentially means I'll be working right next to my sister (different stores but same owners and right next door). This...does not make me happy. In fact, the possibility makes me damn cranky, because those people love her (why is she only unpleasant to her family?) and so...yeah, no venting outlet at that work any more.

In weather related news, it's bloody fucking hot around here and I'm cranky about it. It's ridiculously humid, too, and we've been getting rain nearly every day. Muggy heat is not my happy climate. Maybe I should move to the Northwest Territories...

Oh, and I'm finishing up a course of anti-biotics, because the new doctor I went to see thinks my three weeks of sore throat was a combination of allergies and infected throat glands. So I'm taking a Zyrtek(sp?) knock-off a day and three anit-biotic pills a day. And I felt better after the first day, which is much improved over the last doctor's orders I got. Ear infection my ass.

Happy birthday, de_nial!

We've known each other for around, what, seven years now? And I still can't predict what you will or won't like. You're a constant surprise, hon!

I hope you have a great b-day!

Until Sirens, that is. Three and a half, give or take a few days, anyway.

I'm registered, Erin's registered, and I just really want to go and have a good time. I haven't been to Vail in a long-ass time, and never on my own. Oh! Indy's first road trip!

That's the other bit of news, too. I can't go to Hiawatha 'cause Erin backed out and I can't afford expenses by myself. But it's a hand-off, because I get to go to the Colorado Ren Fest that weekend, which is the music and dance weekend, and maybe I can pick up some more bellydance music. I'm totally addicted to it. Bellydance and Blackmore's Night is my kick for now. It was metal and country a while ago, don't ask me why...

Anyway, Sirens! It is going to be so much fun! They've put up the list of presentations, roundtables and workshops, and I'm excited for several of them. But they haven't posted the schedule yet, so I don't know if they're going to overlap each other or what.

( The ones below are the ones I'm excited to go to with the descriptions from the website. )

Whee! I'm really excited about this! My first conference!

Okay. So. I have no excuse. I've just been distracted like whoa.

I have a new car. His name is Indy, for a variety of reasons. I am about to start decorating him, because he's my car and I can. I'm also going to make the first payment this week, so that's going to be fun. Another monthly expense away from being able to move out.

Speaking of, I think I'm going to find another job and quit the job with unpleasant boss-lady. I'm not what she wants, but I think she's keeping me around out of laziness, and I'm not making enough money to justify the hassel. As my friend pointed out, working a job you hate for decent pay is one thing, but a sucky job and sucky pay is just a losing formula. So there you go. Now the trick is finding another job that will work around my library job because I am not giving that up.

( A quick meme, put your player on random and write down given number. (I think it was 15, but whatever.) No skipping embarrassing songs. )

....Can't say I have a predictable iTunes, now can you? The all-caps one drives me crazy but it is WAY too much trouble to fix it.

So had family come, had family leave, was sick while family was here which sucked.

I actually sucessfully cleaned yesterday. Got most of my clean clothes put away, and realized I have too many clothes that I don't wear, so I'm going to separate those out. There's a store opening soon that buys clothes for cash, so I'll put them in a bag and save them.

And now I'm going to open up Michael Jr., put on Pandora and get somewhere with One Bullet Away. I am under 10 items from the library, and I'm going to cut down on the books I get, because those are harder to get read than it is for me to listen to/rip CDs and watch movies.

Basically, I'm alive, getting through, but coasting as much as I ever have been.

I guess I needed that bitch fest because I feel a lot better now. Weird.

It could also be that my music works again. All it took was two re-boots and unplugging and re-plugging in the external. Whew!

I am putting together a Hermes Memorial playlist/post, hopefully to go up over at LunaTunes if they pick the car theme this week.

I am also hoping to actually write the fannish thing I said I would write and not wuss out at the last second 'cause that would suck.

So, the cars I'm looking at. It's down to an '07 Ford Focus (no Found on Road Dead jokes please) and an '05 Kia Sportage (I think). I like them both equally, and I can find nothing wrong with either of them to make me not want them. They both drive well and have nothing obviously wrong with them (no weird noises, no weird smells, no hitches in the giddy-up). And both are newly-cleaned, so they're kind of shiny inside and out. And they're both blue. I did not do this on purpose, I swear, but I can't speak for my subconscious.

The Focus has MP3 CD capability, but both have CD players and working cigarette lighters so I can use my MP3 radio-adapter again. All good.

So now it'll come down to what I can afford. Well, really I can't afford either, but not having a car isn't an option if I want to continue to make money. If I lived in town I could probably forgo a car, even though it wouldn't be fun. There's buses and my own two feet. But I don't live in town, so se la vie.

Wow, okay. So. Much bitching ahead. You are warned.

Mechanical problems: Michael is not recognizing the drive that has all my music on it. Not. Happy. I don't know if it's just Michael, or the connection, but if I lost all my music I will scream. Probably into a pillow, but I will still scream. Thankfully I still have my punching bag so no one will get hurt. I may bloody my knuckles though...

The car situation. Godsdammit I am going to miss Hermes. That car got me to college, to university and back many times. I've had some good times in that car. Damn transmission. If it wasn't for that fucking hole in the transmission I could've kept my car, taken the insurance money from the accident and done something fun with it. (Or paid down my loans/credit card. Whatever....) Now I have to go and buy a new car when all I want is to keep the one I've got. He's stilla good car, damn it!

So the estimate for the body damage is between 1800-2100 (two different estimates, I don't know if insurance companies average it out or what...). The cost of fixing the transmission would be 2000-2500 dollars. Both of those values are more than my car is monetarily worth. So Hermes is twice totaled. Poor baby.

It's probably a bad thing that I just want to whine, "I want my car!" rather than deal with all this crap.

And that's where I'm stuck. I know I need another car. And I don't hate the cars I've driven or the two cars I've pretty much decided on (I don't car which, it'll come down to what I can pay for and either way Dad has to co-sign for me). But deep down, I just want my car.

Change sucks.

There is a hole in my transmission. Mechanic's best guess is that I hit a rock. You'd think that hitting a rock hard enough to put a hole in my tansmission would've been noticed. And unfortunately, I can't blame it on the drifter. If only.

I'd show you a picture, but apparently my phone sucks even more than I thought it did, and it didn't send the pictures to My Album like they were supposed to. Fail.

So, now it's a wait-and-see thing. According to my dad, who is being obnoxious about this whole thing, I may end up driving my mom's car. I hate driving my mom's car.

I may also end up getting a new car. If I do that, I'm leaning towards one of those certified pre-owned, and there's some nicely priced Kia's available in town.

Fuck it. I'm going to bed. I'll deal with it later.

So, yesterday. The scene is me at the circulation desk. One of the reference librarians comes up to me and asks, "Do you drive a blue Mercury?"

"Yeah," I say, immediately wary. "Why?"

"Someone hit your car."

I immediately facedesk.

So I go to my work locker and I grab my wallet which has all the needed information, grab my cellphone and keys and go out to where I'd parked my car.

So, the library shares the land between four side streets. Diagonal parking on all sides. I usually park over near one of the street lights because some shifts I work until after dark and I like it when my car is in the light.

But it is way before sunset yesterday, so I go out and see my car is now vertical instead of diagonal. A driver on that street had drifted, hit the car next to me, ripped off a third of its bumper (which was stuck between the passenger door and the panel), crashed into my car, moved the back end of Hermes three feet to the left and crashed me into the reference librarian's van.

I can only stare for a long minute.

So, an hour later the accident is all written up, insurance information is exchanged, I've moved my car out with help from the cop and thankfully no further damage to my car or the ref librarian's. The cop says that the only insurance info we need is the guy who hit all of us, which is good news, and that we just need to call his place and get our information.

Mostly, my car has body damage. None of the lights broke, but the paint is scraped and the bumper is dented in three different places. And I might need a new license plate, since mine is now all scratched up and twisted...

So, that was fun.

So...yeah. Yesterday was fun. Not.

Actually, I was all set for yesterday to be fun: I got called in for a double shift at the library, whoo! money! And between those double shifts I had a meeting about the project I and two others are going to be in charge of. And all that was great; I was cheerful, even energetic, which as we all know is weird as hell for me.

And then an hour or so into the first shift, I start to get this headache. Okay, I thought. I'm dehydrated. So I drank two glasses of water on my break and kept making runs to the water fountain when I wasn't working like crazy. When it didn't go away by the end of that shift, I thought, I've been having a lot of caffeine lately, maybe it's a lack-of-caffeine headache. So in the hour between shifts I walked down to Starschmuck's and got a coffee and a parfait. All through the meeting my head was pounding like crazy.

Okay, I thought. My hair is tied up pretty tight and I sometimes get headaches from that. So during my second-shift break I took it down and sat with my head back and my eyes closed. Absolutely no improvement.

So an hour before closing I call my mom and ask her to come pick me up at closing. The thought of driving home against the dark and bright headlights with a pounding headache did not appeal at all.

I got through the shift, hopefully didn't slack too much.

Mom picks me up with the puppy in tow and takes me home. I get home and have a piece of leftover Papa John pizza and immediately feel better. So now I'm wondering if it was just that I wanted to be home, or if it was some sort of lack-of-carb headache? But that doesn't make sense because I had a mocha with whipped cream at Starschmuck's and that has carbs like whoa. *shrug* Stupid brain.

Might also have been that I got up an hour and a half earlier than normal because yesterday, Unpleasant boss-lady decided to call my house before 6:30 in the morning. "Did I wake you up?" she asked. Of course you woke me up, bitch! "Yeah, a little," I reply, because I'm still half asleep and trying to be nice. You also woke up my parents and my sister, so thanks for that from my whole damn household. But anyway, she's calling to tell me that she can't afford to pay me so I won't be called in for the rest of this week. Fine and dandy, I think.

And speaking of Unpleasant boss-lady, I had a dream last night where I quit the job and she started crying. I'm like, WTF brain? I've never heard the woman laugh much less cry. And over me quitting? I don't think so.

And then she calls me this morning at eight-ish, which is a more reasonable time. I was mostly awake, just putting off getting out of bed. She says I can now cash the check she gave me last week, and she might want me in tomorrow, depending on how her checking account looks.

I've pretty much had it with this playing-by-ear shit. I like having a mostly-set schedule at the library. It makes me happy because I know what to expect and when.

Oy. Okay. I need to go get breakfast.

Frustration is annoying.

I am sitting at Panera with Michael and Magellan Jr's. And I am content.

I've been deeply cranky for the last few days, partly because of stupid-ass hormones, partly because I don't like my new boss-lady.

But I get to sit in Panera, have a yummy lunch, listen to great music, and play on my new toy.

Am thinking that the juniors need new names. But I love Magellan for an iPod. I came up with it before there was a lame GPS by that name anyway... And Michael is Junior. Oh well. I guess they'll just stay Juniors, unless I can come up with something I like even better.

I've got another hour and a half before I have to go to work at the library, and I already did three hours with unpleasant boss-lady. I capped it off with helping her with her computer problems, though, so I think it's getting a bit better there. We'll see, I guess.

I swear, Magellan Jr is trying to cheer me up. Played a whole bunch of Lostprophets and now he's playing "We Still Kill The Old Way" which is one of my absolute favorites of their's. Okay, so all of them are one of my absolute favorites, but still.

I got to play Sid Meier's Pirates! yesterday, which was diverting and fun. I re-watched 6/7th Generation Kill while I played, even if it was backwards because my computer faces away from my TV and I put up a mirror so I could see the TV screen. Which means I can't put on closed captioning. I mean, I can read mirror-printing but it takes me longer than the dialogue is on the screen to do so. But that means that I missed a whole bunch of funny dialogue just because the guy playing Ray can talk so damn fast. You'd think I'd be used to that with Rodney McKay on SGA, but apparently not...

Okay, I'm just babbling now. Off I go to play some more!

Is that I'll probably be updating more, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

My post this morning is going to be one comment with some background for it.

I love watching TLC. I totally love What Not to Wear and it's on in the mornings while I'm eating or doing dishes before work. That being said:

Dear TLC:

PLEASE STOP REWARDING PEOPLE WITH STUPID AMOUNTS OF CHILDREN WITH TV SHOWS AND ATTENTION!

The Jon and Kate Plus 8 was bad enough, but now you're rewarding the people with EIGHTEEN children (and they're going to keep going!). What. The. Fuck.

Stop encouraging the stupid people contributing to the overpopulation in the world! You're giving them money and enabling them to continue being this stupid.

Knock it off.

Also? The fact that there is a show called "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" both disturbs me and amuses me to no end. What the hell...they found enough women with "surprise" pregnancies to make an entire show on it. Wow...

*****

Also? Got a call from almost-boss-lady. She says she wants me to come in and do the filing (since that's what I'm good at) and she's going to look for someone else. Whoo! Off the hook!

I have decided not to do script frenzy this year. Not that I did it last year, but I also decided not to do it this year.

I still need to edit my NaNo (which I should've done in March since it is Nation Novel Editing Month), and I have other ideas I want to work on.

Hopefully now that I've got Michael Jr. I can do that.

And I'm working on getting used to the tiny keyboard. I think the most difficult thing is going to be having the pg up and pg down buttons in a different place.

In the meantime, it's awesome to have Michael Jr. with me. He's awesome and cute! And I used him to watch an episode of the Sentinel this morning while I did the dishes. Whoo! Useful entertainment!

I didn't have to work for new boss-lady today. She's still not sure if she's going to keep me on. I sort of get the feeling she's going to keep me around long enough to get her backlog organized, and then she might let me go. She says she needs me to "love" the job. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I can "love" being a professional middleman. It's just not something I get that excited about, even if the products are pretty as all hell.

Honestly, I wouldn't be hearbroken if she decides to let me go. I think there's a personality clash going on, as well as communication issues. All of which do not make for an easy work relationship.

*sigh* But, at least this is giving me a preview about what it'll be like to have two jobs. And I'm getting paid tomorrow for my first week or so.

Tiny keyboard is tiny!

I have a new toy!

I bought a netbook! And it's cute! And a little bit tiny: I keep hitting the caps lock instead of the shift key...

But I will adjust! In the meantime, I have mobility!

Now we'll just see if I actually use it for anything other than web stuff. I hope to be able to get some writing down without being too distracted, which is why it's good there is a wireless toggle switch, so I can turn it off and on.

Yay! New toy!

So. Stuff has been happening. I might've found another job, as basically an office-bitch for a professional middle-man. I don't know, though; my new possible boss-lady is weird. And given that it's me saying this, you know that's significant. I just don't know. She has very odd mannerisms and she keeps talking about how young I am and how tedious the work is. I'm like, "I know. I signed on for tedious. And I know how old I am, thanks."

I'm not positive it's going to work, but I'll see her on Monday, and if she wants to let me go I wouldn't be heartbroken.

Anyway, aside from all that. I'm feel terribly restless. And I have to get a hold of myself, because I keep looking at travel sites and thinking, "I've got $7,000 worth of credit that I could spend on the trip of a lifetime. I could go anywhere, really... And there are way worse ways to blow all my credit line." I just have to tell myself that I can pay for a couple weekend jaunts, maybe some time in Estes Park or some such, and then for Sirens in October, and that should satisfy me. Right...

But I still haven't bought my perscription sunglasses, although I've pretty much determined that I'm going to also buy this on Cait's recomendation. Pity it doesn't come in purple...

We had Weather! It was awesome, but didn't last long. Schools got a snow day today and a partial one yesterday, though. Work was crazy because everything was backed up because the library closed at 11:30 yesterday because the roads were awful and nothing much got done.

Christopher Titus was awesome! Christina and Heathe got an autograph, and I couldn't afford to buy anything but I did get to shake his hand afterward. He was really cool after the show, too; he actually had conversations with people. It wasn't just the usual, "Hey, thanks, glad you enjoyed the show NEXT!" thing.

*****

OMG, you guys, this song is awesome! I loved the song, but this remix is fabulous! They added a grinding metal-ish beat. It rocks so hard. And I wouldn't've found it except silentrequiem posted a video over at chickswithsword that was set to this song. (I highly recommend going to look at the video. Very fun.)

*****

I'm going to be housesitting tomorrow and Saturday nights, so I won't be online. Which hopefully means I'll attempt to get some writing/research done. *snort* Yeah, right...

*****

I work for the next six days straight, thanks to picking up two shifts. This is going to be nice, but of course it also doesn't mean that much since working is only four hour shifts. Meh. I'll take what I can get.

*****

Speaking of work, something really cool is (hopefully!) happening. We're beginning a trial period for a new project (basically sending books through the mail to families who live really far out of town). I'm one of two people that the bosses thought of to basically run the project while it's in the trial period. So, I'm going to be getting an extra 9-12 hourse per week on my paychecks. I don't know who the other person is yet, and I hope it's someone I actively get along with...

But I feel very flattered and special because I was singled out as someone they would want to handle this brand new project. Whoo!

*****

I've pretty much decided that i want to get perscription sunglasses. I'm wavering on also buying a Netbook, but I'll wait on that. I think I'll wait until I see how the new project starts working out before I bring out the new computer option...

With the new credit card, I get $50 back with my first purchase. I'm torn as to whether I should make a relatively small purchase (something under $50 so I actually come out ahead), or to make a larger purchase of something that I need/really want.

Examples of each:

Small purchases: books, a few CDs, maybe a new pair of work shoes, things like that. Maybe something mundane like groceries...

Large purchases: perscription sunglasses (the sun is killing me lately), a new external hard drive (they have Terabytes! *goggles*), a new graphics card for Michael, or possibly a laptop (probably refurbished, something I can take with me to write on, not that I'm getting much writing done...). Or I could buy an AlphaSmart which are pretty neat little word processors and no internet features to distract me...

I'm contemplating getting the perscription sunglasses anyway, but even that plus a new OR refurbished laptop won't put me over $1,000 on the new card.

*****

OMG, YOU GUYS! *FLAIL*

I get to go see Christopher Titus tomorrow night!

My friend and her husband found out about it, and they invited me. Actually, my friend's husband said something like, "It wouldn't be as much fun without Bonnie!" Hee. I did make them sit down and listen to the first one, though, so I guess it's only fair.

So, they're going to pick me up after work tomorrow, we're going to get dinner, and head to Denver for the show.

Yay!!

And by "points-ish" I mean they are almost points of interest.

• I still love working at the library, if only for the perks of having lots of reasons to be there and get books out. I have ten+ books out on the silk road right now because of fannish stuff. But it's interesting fannish stuff!



• I have brand new tires on Hermes! I was driving out north of town (in the even-more-boondock-than-my-neighborhood areas) with Erin and all of a sudden the front passenger tire just blew. So we changed it and I noticed the tire was practically worn down. No wonder the poor thing blew. But now I have brand spanking new tires (last time I got new tires was before I went to Michigan for my first year at NMU) and they're very fun.



• Buster (the puppy) is adorable and cute, and my parents are still working on paper training him. Which is entertaining as all get out, because he's the one animal I feel no obligation to pick up after. I do get to play with him, though! Yeah, we no longer think he's a Pomeranian mix. We're pretty sure he's a Chow mix of some kind, only hopefully he'll stay a small-ish dog.
  
  ( Pic of buster under the cut )
  



• I need to fill out the application for Albertsons, since some of the employees there said they just got out of a hiring freeze. Another job and a discount on groceries? Sounds good to me.



• There is stupidly good weather here. It's 60 flipping degrees outside! It's MARCH! It should not be 60 degrees in MARCH in COLORADO! We better get at least one more good storm, that's all I can say.



• I did register for Sirens. I did it with some of the tax money, which is now way past gone. I don't know if I'm going to get to go or not, because a lot can happen in between then and now. But the hotel it's in would cost $109 for a double (and I'm pretty sure Erin is going to register too... I better call her again...) or $134 for a triple/quad if I can find more.
  
  But, get this! They're going to have weapon and martial arts demonstrations! It's not all going to be networking and academic talk! Probably demonstrations and bookselling out the wazoo! I hope, I hope, I hope I get to go...



• Dude! This is, like, the weirdest thing I've heard, but I'm getting a new credit card with a $7,000 limit! (I know, I know, I'm not going to be irresponsible with it, but it's a huge relief to have that in case I need a new car or an emergency health thing, or whatever. And I get $50 cash back (or 5000 points) with the first purchase. Now I can't decide what to buy with it for a one-time purchase. But being approved for that just improved my credit score by a lot, I'm pretty sure. Because my debt/credit ratio was $536/$900 and now it's $536/$7900.

*sigh* Okay, I have to go get ready for work. I hate shelving...

more animals

I hope you get to do something fun today!

*virtual hugs* 'cause that's all I can do this year!

I'm so glad we've managed to keep (sporadically, maybe) in touch over the last two+ years. I do miss being able to call you up and say, "Come on over!" and you just say, "Okay!" and we hang out for a few hours. Good times.

You're welcome to stop in CO on your way to the UP. Our guest room is open for you.

Easy go. Really, really easy go in the case of money.

So, I got a little over $600 from taxes. I paid down a chunk on my credit card, paid for registration for Sirens (still not sure I'll actually get to go; it depends on if I make/save enough money/have enough credit on my card between now and then.

But, I paid off a chunk, paid a slightly bigger month's payment on the loans, which left me with slightly less than a hundred dollars. I figured I could go out to lunch and enjoy some sushi or something equally luxurious.

Aaand then I got a speeding ticket yesterday. It just figures, really, because that's the only part of my regular commute where I regularly speed more than 4 or 5 above the speed limit. But I'm not actually made, except the ticket seems a little high: $156, but I was going 13mph over. *shrug* You takes your chances with speeding tickets, and it's all about odds anyway. (I just can't mention it to my friend at work because she will rant for ten minutes about how much she hates cops and how corrupt they are and I'll have to really hold myself back from throttling her. Not that all cops are angels, but it's better than total anarchy...)

So, there goes a chunk of my paycheck this week. Which is okay, since, as I mentioned, I'd taken chunks out of my regular monthly expenses.

And I'm still going to get sushi. So there. Just not as much...

So, several years ago, my grandparents moved from their house in Texas to Michigan. And in doing so, they shed many decades worth of stuff, sometimes by force if their children deemed it necessary.

My mom took home a whole bunch of stuff that is even now lingering and cluttering up the house and our storage unit.

And i've decided that, if I want to try being an archivist, I may as well start with my own damn history.

So, to that end, I've started scanning and saving the family slides. We have thousands of them, in probably eight boxes. Or those are just the ones I know about. Decades of letters and correspondence that I also intend to scan, if only for posterity. I have trouble reading the handwriting, which just goes to show that it is really becoming a lost art.

But some of these slides... Dude, these pictures are awesome! My mom thinks that the ones I'm taking now are from my grandmother's family vacations, probably just post-WWII. I've tweaked them slightly in Photoshop, but not much; and there's not much I can do to improve on pictures that suck in the first place, which these don't.

( Some of my favorite pictures behind cut. Image heavy. )

My mom says that my grandmother's family were avid shutterbugs, which is totally backed up with the amount of slides and negatives I've found.

This is going to be fun.