Voices In My Head

Work was something of a bitch this past week.  I'm still not done with the IVR coding despite working my butt off.  Which means I will be plugged in at some point this weekend to try to get the remaining code done and unit tested before tossing it over the wall to my tester.  I was hoping to get it done yesterday but I ran into an object that isn't working (corrupt) and some needed transaction tweaks to make shit actually post on the system and, well, then it was time to go to the gym.  Where I torqued my knee a bit so I was limping girl all last night and part of today.  I kneeled a lot today while working on the flower beds and that seems to have helped - whatever was out of place slipped back to where it belongs so I'm now limp free again. 

Earlier I managed to drag myself out of bed at a decent hour so I could start working on the yard.  Weeding was accomplished as was cutting back the ornamental grasses in front of the house.  My arms are now scratched all to hell but the job is done.  I did another coat of stain on the deck (horizontal surfaces only this time), showered, went grocery shopping and ate a late lunch.  I'm now beyond pooped so I'm doing a little surfing while the laundry is in the wash.  A nap may be in order and while work is beckoning I know better than to attempt IVR code when sleepy.  Makes for very strange results. 

I'll be working from home on Monday as I need to be here when the heating & air conditioning guy comes to do the tune-up on my system.  I don't really like using a whole day for something that will take 30-45 minutes but they wouldn't do a Saturday appointment.  They'll be here between noon and five - quite the appointment window!  Oh well, I tend to get more done in less time when I work from home so maybe things will be OK. 

Italy is scheduled - Dad and I have our flight overseas and I have my flight to Dallas to meet up with him.  There is a couch in Santa Lucia di Piave reserved for me for 7 days this September.  I'm so excited, you just don't know.  I won't get to Pompeii this trip (maybe in 2011?) as we're going to concentrate on Northern Italy due to time constraints.  Venice, Verona, maybe Milan and Lake Como.  I'm reading up on places and making my wish list of where I'd like to go.  I've been to Venice before but I want to see it again when a) I'll appreciate it and b) I'll be sober (long story). 

And in other news I hit 203 this past Monday but was back up a few pounds by the end of the week.  A combination of eating several meals out instead of bringing my lunch and some bloating possibly attributed to ovulation.  I'll work out tomorrow, being careful not to overdue it with my knee, and weigh in again on Monday.  Hopefully everything will be back under control then.

Now I need to put the laundry in the dryer and read some comics online.  Later!

The three-day holiday weekend was gorgeous!  I did nothing special and loved every minute of it.  I didn't clean, I didn't balance my checkbook, I didn't get a new camera....basically I didn't do any of the things I told myself I was going to do this past weekend.  Instead I read, watched movies, played games on the computer and slept.  And ate X-Mas goodies, which meant I also had to work out some.  And I got to shovel snow last night so that counted as my workout for Sunday.   

Now I am back at work. As the subject line of this entry indicates I'm having major issues concentrating today.  Even so I've managed to get some more code done on my C# program and fixed a problem I was having with sorting and searching.  Now I'm on to the next screen to get it working as well.  My teacher/co-worker comes back next Monday and I'd like to be able to show him that I figured a lot of this shit out myself. 

This evening is the gym and then more of The Player Of Games by Ian M Banks.  I'm liking this book much better than Consider Phlebas and I thought that one was a decent book!  I'm about half-way through and had a hell of a time putting it down last night.  Too bad we didn't have today off as well! 

OK, enough blabbering!  Back to work!

Yes, I know it has been forever.  I didn't have much to say and I've been busy.  But today?  I am back, baby!

I noticed the other day that there was water on the floor behind the toilet in the small bath.  At first I was thinking someone might have splashed water there as the 'rents had just left after staying with me for a few days.  So I cleaned it up and went on my merry way.  Then it came back but I thought maybe it was condensation from the tank as I tend to take long steamy showers on cold mornings.  Cleaned it up again.  Fast forward to Friday night and there is more water.  Not much but enough for me to decide that maybe something is wrong here.  I put down a towel and then took baths in the other bathroom for the weekend.  Today?  Towel was wet and there is definitely a leak meaning it is plumber time.  Luckily I'm working from home today and they were able to fit me in this afternoon.  The toilet is now leak free (for the moment) and I'm a little poorer but at least I didn't have to figure out how to fix it myself. 

I have a bit of a pet peeve.  About Twitter.  And people who post their tweets to their blogs.  Instead of actually blogging!  Now I know that a lot of people use Twitter and think it is just the bee's knees.  Personally I don't really see the point but that is because I'm an old lady of 40 and just don't get all this newfangled social networking stuff.  (Actually I'm just too antisocial to want to be that in touch with people even if it is only through cyberspace).  I figure if you really want to spend your day tweeting with friends and strangers, well, that is your business.  But I have found an increasing number of people with blogs that are not really blogging at all but just posting their days tweets via some app (loud twitter I think).  Sometimes this is OK, like when the tweet is 140 characters of "what I'm doing now".  The part that irks me though is the conversations.  People talk back and forth on Twitter like they do in text messages except when posted to the blog I'm only seeing one side of the conversation!  So there is a bunch of random stuff that means pretty much nothing to anyone reading it unless they are also a follower on Twitter and take the time to go find the whole conversation thread.  This to me just seems like way too much work and I have to wonder why people bother?  Plus I go to people's blogs to get content and honestly tweets are not content.  Not even close.  Like I said, its a peeve. 

The reason I'm working from home today?  I had two trees removed from my backyard.  Mulberry trees to be precise.  Now I know Mulberry trees are kind of trash trees - the weeds of the tree world - but I liked them and didn't want to see them go.  But they were leaning big time and I like the back corner of my house more so they had to come out.  There is a power line that runs right along the fence line dividing my property from the people behind me.  Years of power company line clearing left the poor trees with all the growth on one side.  And the previous owner of my house did her usual thing, which was nothing, so the trees never received any TLC to help them grow as straight and tall as possible.  Instead they were leaning something fierce and a good wind or ice storm and those puppies were coming down. 

So I did the adult thing and got estimates, hired a company and scheduled the removal.  I missed the part where the guys climbed the trees because, you know, I'm working!  But I did get to see some of the action and it was kind of neat.  And LOUD!  It went much faster than I thought it would though and I am well pleased with the job.  My wallet is lighter of course - tree removal and plumbing repairs in the same day will do that.  I have before and after pictures but they are on a film camera so I need to get them developed before I can post them.  Yes, I don't have a digital camera yet.  I'm not a huge taker of pictures so I've never felt the need to own one.  Although now that I take trips every year or so with my travel buddy (aka Dad) I'm seriously thinking about getting one.  

And now I need to get back to work.  Until next time....

I have been a very productive puppy this weekend.  The flower beds have been weeded, the car has been washed, and the house cleaned.  I also watched two movies from Netflix, finished The Manual Of Detection by Jedediah Berry, and started Acacia: The War With The Mein by David Anthony Durham.   What I haven't done so far is go to the grocery store but that can wait.  I have enough around here for breakfast and lunch tomorrow so there is no need to run off to Kroger right this instant.   

I currently have the towels in the washer and the dishwasher is almost done.  Now I just need to decide if I'm doing leftovers for dinner or if I'm going to treat myself and go out.  And if I do go out do I go for Tex-Mex or Sushi?  At the moment I can't decide but I'm pretty sure that has something to do with being pooped.  You know, I used to think weekends were restful.  Then I bought a house. 

The new AC Adapter is on it's way.  The site says it was shipped this morning so it should be here in a few days.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it fixes the problem.  I was waiting to get a new laptop until the new operating systems come out in the fall.  Alas, if this doesn't work I may have to get Vista. 

In other news they moved my desk at work.  We're going through this big floor move this week and next, getting everyone with their teams, etc.  I lost my window seat and my new location is louder and directly on one of the main traffic paths.  I am not amused.  I'll have to be sure to keep the iPod charged as I expect to have my headphones on a lot. 

And the container garden is planted!  I got up early yesterday (well, early for me) and decided to get the garden done before it got too hot.  April in Indiana and it was mid-80s yesterday.  More of the same today and them in the mid-60s tomorrow, which is more normal for this time of year.  Now I just have to be patient as I wait for things to sprout.  This is my first time doing a garden so we'll see how well it goes.