Easily Amused, Often Annoyed

Tribute to Hobbes, Part 1

2012-01-22T17:50:00.005-05:00

June 28, 2011 - January 17, 2012

My husband and I adopted Hobbes (and his brother Calvin) on October 30, 2011 after losing our buddy Thrasher in September. Little did we know that our time with Hobbes would be so short. About two weeks after we brought the boys home, Hobbes got sick. We went to the vet and were given antibiotics for a respiratory infection. After a week on them, Hobbes was almost back to normal. The next day (the day before Thanksgiving), he took a sudden turn for the worse and ended up at the kitty hospital. He came home from there that Friday with a diagnosis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis, a horrible, fatal disease.

We were lucky to have almost two more months with him before he walked himself across the Rainbow Bridge, leaving us all a whole lot sadder. While there had been many days when I thought the end was near, it became very apparent on his last day that he was leaving. I am very grateful that he chose to sleep with me that whole night instead of getting out of bed at 3am like he had been doing for weeks, but when he got up and could barely walk, I knew it was time to say goodbye.

I had been telling him for weeks that it was okay if he wanted to go, and his buddy Bodhi had just recently taken the same trip, so I told him that Bodhi was waiting for him. I told him that we loved him and that we would miss him, but that we would never forget him. I gave him a kiss and scratched his chin and left him alone for a bit to decide.

When I went back upstairs, he was gone. As much as it pained me, I am so grateful to my brave little boy for leaving on his own and not forcing me to make the decision to end his life. One of the awful things about this disease (one of many) is that it causes extreme anemia as well as neurological problems, both of which resulted in Hobbes not being able to groom himself. I had promised him that I would make sure he was pretty and clean and soft again when he made his trip, so I washed and brushed and dried him.

It was also very important to me that his brother Calvin be a part of this in the hopes that somewhere in his little mind he understands that his brother is gone. They hadn't really been able to be around each other once Hobbes got sick because Calvin plays very roughly and Hobbes just couldn't handle it, so it was important to me that they had this time together now. Amazingly, Calvin seemed to understand and was very gently with his brother.

Calvin tried to 'wake' his brother up. He'd paw his nose and at one point (when I walked away for a minute), he even brought his brother his favorite toy. This absolutely broke my heart.

Once Hobbes was clean, I just sat with him for a while. I cuddled him and stroked him and looked at his beautiful face.

The next day, we took Hobbes to Paws, Whiskers, and Wags to have him cremated. The sun came out that day, and it was so nice to see him in a sunbeam one last time. The staff were surprised to see us back so soon and we assured them that we had not wanted to see them again. Lisa was wonderful and gave us all the time we needed to say our final goodbyes. While we waited to get his remains back, we went and saw his foster mother, Gwen, at Camp Kitty. We shared some laughs and some tears before going back to pick up our precious Hobbes. He is now nestled with Thrasher on our mantle.

Dear, sweet Hobbes, we miss you. We miss you so much. I hope you are having fun with your little pal Bodhi and I'm sure my Thrasher is watching out for you two now.

2012, the stakes are high for you

2012-01-05T20:44:00.003-05:00

So, even if I don't post another post the entire year, I have been pretty good at doing a year-end numbers type post. Not going to happen this year. I figure that any year that would include a statistic about "number of crematory visits" doesn't really deserve a year-by-the-numbers review. And as I am waiting for one more visit, I'm not sure that I'm ready to start 2012. Maybe we'll start at Chinese New Year. I'll get back to everyone after I know.

Someone owes me a pair of socks now.

2011-09-04T21:12:00.005-04:00

And she knows who she is:)

But anyway. (Please excuse the blurriness of tho photos--I was taking them in bad light and I have no idea what settings the camera might be on right now.)

I declared today, September 4th, the first official day of Halloween sock season. Yes, it may seem early to some. For me, not so much. I didn't actually make it through my entire collection last year, and I don't want to see that happen again. By starting today, I should have a little wiggle room, as long as I don't buy too many new pairs and as long as I don't consider all of the solid-colored (yet predominantly orange, purple, or green) socks that came in Halloween multi-packs as actual Halloween socks. (They are in general rotation, so I consider those one every day socks.)

So far, I've worn one pair. (For those who need to know, I wore the white ones with the black cats in the bottom row of the second photo.) The knee socks are a particular challenge as I need the rest of my ensemble to show them off sufficiently. And if anyone is curious, I am open for new donations.

Random statistics for 2010

2011-01-01T18:53:00.002-05:00

And posted on January 1, 2011, no less:)

And for continuity's sake, I decided to copy the basic format, if not the exact same content, as the 2008 report. I apparently felt no need to do this last year.

Books read: 92 (sad)

Letterboxes found: 201 (quite the opposite of sad)

Summits of Stone Mountain: Many

Slip and falls coming off the summit of Stone Mountain: 1

Late night, fully clothed, not especially legal swims at Stone Mountain Park: 0 (Ok, I admit I'm only leaving this one in because it's funny to think back to 2008.)

National Parks visited: 4 (Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia (2 districts), Shenandoah (again, 2 districts))

National Battlefields visited: 2 (Antietam and Kennesaw Mountain)

National Historical Sites visited: 1 (Portage Railroad)

National Forests visited: 1 (also Sequoia. I think we actually went through another near Yosemite, but I don't recall seeing any big signs.)

National Scenic Trails visited: 1 (Appalachian)

National Monuments seen from a distance but not really visited: 1 (Fort Pulaski)

Times lost in forests of giant trees: 2 (Ok, perhaps not totally lost, but definitely not really sure about where we actually were other than "still inside the park, we think.")

Giant Sequoias seen: Let's just say a whole bunch of 'em.

Pairs of sunglasses lost: 0

Total miles biked: 1595.55

Miles biked outside: 1446.4

Miles biked inside on very boring trainer while watching mindless television or reading: 149.15

Best biking month: September with 278.4 miles (all outside)

Pairs of fancy socks purchased: Many, once again. There was supposed to be another blog post about this shortly after Halloween, and it could still occur. I did take the pictures.

New Halloween decorations purchased: Quite a few. It's best if I don't count these things.

Number of kittens adopted: 0 (But there were temptations)

Promotions: 1

Postcrossing cards received: 50

And once again I have reached the point where I'm just going to start making up really weird stuff. (And yes, some of you are thinking, "You mean some of this other stuff wasn't weird?") For now, we're off to start a new year!

As another year ends...

2010-12-31T17:40:00.003-05:00

Once again, we find ourselves at the end of a year--all of us saying how fast it went and that we can't believe it's over. You would think we'd get used to this. It does happen every year, after all.

As usual, I didn't get a tiny portion of the things done that I wanted to get done. So I spent some time thinking about that on my last bike ride of the year. (Side note--I want to thank Mother Nature for making the last day of December the nicest day we've had in weeks!) People are always saying that they don't have enough time to get all of the things done that they want to get done. Or they don't have enough money. Or they don't have enough talent. Well, while pondering this on my ride, I realized that none of that is really true. No, I don't have as much "me" time as I would like, but I do have a lot of time. And I may not be making as much money as, say, Donald Trump, but my husband and I are living pretty comfortably right now. As for talent, I know I have it, I just don't trust myself.

Now, I'm not going to make a resolution because I think that setting aside one certain day a year to decide to try to change your life is stupid. And I'm not even going to set a whole bunch of goals like I've done (and failed to accomplish) in past years. What I have decided is that I need to start making more conscious decisions about my life and about those things I chose, or chose not, to do. I need to make those things I want or desire to do a priority. I need to quit allowing myself to say, "I'll do that (whatever -that- is) in a minute," and start doing those things right when I think of them. Perhaps I'm deluding myself and just rephrasing what I've told myself in past years in a slightly different way, but I really hope I'm not.

So if any of you catch me lounging around saying, "I'll do it in a minute," please give me a kick in the butt. I won't mind. Much.

To end, I thought I'd share one of my favorite pictures from the trip my husband and I took to California this year. (Yes, a trip that almost nobody has seen pictures of except for the paltry few shots that I managed to get on Facebook. See, this is one of those things.)

Thanks, Janice!

2010-08-15T09:28:00.002-04:00

Ok, this is probably not going to completely satisfy my friend Ernie who has been on my case to blog more, but this is too good not to share. My friend Janice sent me a link to a blog post that she described as, "This is so you." And it is. So without further ado, I share with you the elusive 'alot' from Hyperbole and a Half. Well, actually, he's not that elusive.

And Ernie, since I just had to get up and remind myself how to turn text into a link, consider your point made. Not that it will change my behavior, but the point is made.

The Annual Biking Update

2010-01-22T15:44:00.001-05:00

And I'm even managing to do it before the first month of the new year is over!

The 2009 biking year started good, then got very strong, then fell off of a cliff. Some time in April or May, I started biking before work several days a week, gradually working up to biking 5-6 days a week. Shortly after that, I broke through the mental block about biking to Stone Mountain Park (pushed by a fellow biker I would often see), so my weekend rides started getting even better.

And then the rains of September came. And then I started climbing Stone Mountain with a friend several times a week. And then I started climbing the mountain on my own a couple more days a week. And biking basically stopped. But even with that, I had a decent year.

Total miles for the year were 1599.94 (and had I been totaling as I went, I would have gotten that last 0.06 miles just to make a nice, even number) with 1212.5 of those being actual road miles and only 387.44 being trainer miles.

This year, I've managed two outside rides so far and have been on the trainer a number of times. I'm trying to do a little better job of balancing the biking and the mountain climbing/hiking. We'll see how it goes!

Watch out Florida, here we come!

2009-09-01T18:03:00.003-04:00

I would like to take some time to apologize to the state of Florida. Now, you may be wondering why, especially since I’ve never even been to Florida. However, after several weeks of debate, my husband and I decided to vacation if Florida this year and therein lies the problem (those of you in the western states should thank me now). See, whenever we travel places together, bad things seem to happen. Usually after we’ve been there, sometimes while we’re there, and at least once (maybe twice, depending on how you want to look at it) shortly before we arrived.

Here’s a list of the incidents I can remember (if anyone remembers any others, please let me know--they've gotten hard to track):

We went to Death Valley/Las Vegas in the spring of 2004, and Death Valley experienced severe flooding that August.

Another trip we took to Las Vegas, the Bellagio caught fire, literally the night after we left.

We went to Pennsylvania for my sister’s college graduation, and most of the east coast got hit by a nasty ice storm (which we drove through to get there) and then it was bitterly cold the entire time we were in PA.

Our first trip to Kure Beach, the area got hit by a tropical storm (Barry, I believe). (Note: This one may actually be my sister’s fault-she claims that bad weather seems to follow her.) (Additional note: I don’t ever want to be in the beach house during a tropical storm again.)

We drove through Sedona which experienced forest fires within the week.

We went to Reno which then experienced a week of record high temperatures. (We were there for the first part of this and enjoyed it immensely. Bring on the dry heat!) (Note: If you are not a good flyer, do NOT go to Reno by plane. The turbulence flying in and out of there is unreal!)

We went to San Francisco/Sunnyvale/Berkeley and an earthquake hit (3.6 or 3.7) just outside Oakland. (I slept through it.) (Note: Again, this may not be our fault--we were in California and earthquakes happen all the time.)

We took a trip to New Orleans in July of 2005, and we were actually scheduled to go back for Labor Day weekend. Well, we all know what happened there. Needless to say, the return trip was canceled. (I’m not sure if it was the trip made or the trip planned that was the tipping factor for this one. Maybe the combination punch.)

And last year, just a month to the day before our trip to Utah to visit the National Parks out there, including Arches National Park, Wall Arch collapsed.

Now, in all fairness to us, we have taken trips to places that have suffered no ill effects. Our trip to Mammoth Caverns resulted in no cave collapses or sink holes. We went to Laughlin, NV which suffered no ill effects (although some might contend that Laughlin is already suffering enough so our bad luck makes no difference). We have gone back to Kure Beach a couple of times, and also went to Hilton Head. They haven’t been washed out to sea yet. We’ve been to Ohio a couple of time with no bad mojo (see Laughlin comment, though). Okefenokee Swamp is still fine (the fires that happened there were way too long after out visit for those to be our fault).

So, Florida, I’m sorry. Within days of making the decision to go to Florida, the previously dead silent tropical season suddenly became very active. The only consolation may be that there is a very high chance that we will get to experience whatever happens to your fine state firsthand—either while we’re there or when it hits us too after we get back.

Resolved

2009-01-15T15:05:00.002-05:00

(Post originally meant to be written over a week ago)

Ok, I don't usually make resolutions, especially not of the New Year variety. At one point in my life I did. And like all normal people, I failed miserably. So then I started "setting goals" for the year. Let's face it, that's just resolutions by a different name. So I stopped. And I had no intention of making any resolutions this year. A decision reinforced while I was watching the "same as last year with a slightly different set of faces" New Year's Eve countdown shows. I've also always believed that waiting for the "New Year" to make a change is ridiculous since 1) the fact that January 1 is the "New Year" is fairly arbitrary and 2) you shouldn't have to wait until one magic day to make new goals.

And then I heard from a variety of quasi-news sources that the most popular resolution this year was to not make resolutions. And you guys know me well enough. I'm not going to be just like everyone else. Uh-uh. No way. So somewhere relatively close to January 1, I made a resolution. Only one, but one with far-reaching repercussions. I have resolved to use my time more wisely. There are so many things I want to do, and I really have no good reason to not make them all happen. So with this one resolution I can cover all sorts of things like finishing projects, reading certain books, learning new languages, etc.

And now everyone wants to know, how am I doing so far? Overall, I'd say decently. Yes, I still spend way too much time wasting time on Facebook. Yes, I occasionally enter these fugue states where I stare blindly at the TV. But overall, I've seen some changes. I've finished a couple of craft projects, including one I started in the (early) 90s. (Picture coming soon on my craft blog. Really. I'll get it there.) I've done some organizing to get me set to do some other things. So I feel okay with it right now. The real challenge (I feel) is going to come when (if ever) I get put back in my regular position at work. The one that means I'll be going in the office far more often. Looking back, I waste a lot of time at work. Time I could use in many better ways. Sadly, part of my job entails sitting around waiting for things to explode, and I can use that time, I'm sure, in better ways. But we'll all just have to wait and see how this really happens, when it really happens. For now, just wish me luck. And if you see me on Facebook, ask me what I've done productive so far that day!

Feeling torn

2009-01-08T14:58:00.002-05:00

Well, I made my weekly (roughly) trip to the library yesterday, where I discovered that they finally had the self-checkout totally up and running. Now, I knew this was coming, but you all know my feeling about U-scans (see post quite some time ago). It's going to be really hard for me to embrace this. Seriously.

Part of the fun, for me, of going to the library is chatting to the librarians when I'm checking out my items. I like knowing what they are up to, as well as listening to the comments they sometimes make on items I'm checking out and random suggestions they sometimes make about other things I might like. But now, it appears, I'm going to be getting a lot less of that. I also, having worked at libraries myself, have some concerns on how the self check-out is going to impact the inventory, shall we say. Maybe it's just me, but this somehow defeats the whole purpose of what a library is all about. Oh well, I must adjust and move on. And I'm sure I'll find a way to still chat up the librarians.

Random Statistics for 2008

2009-01-02T16:10:00.003-05:00

For anyone who felt they needed this information, here are some random statistics from my life for last year. Please keep in mind that some of them do have small margins of error.

Books read: 143

Letterboxes found: 70

Summits of Stone Mountain: @6

Late night, fully clothed, not especially legal swims at Stone Mountain Park: 1

Late night, marathon hikes: 1

National Parks visited: 6 (OK, technically 5, but 2 separate districts in one of them)

National Monuments visited: 2

National Forests visited: 1

Insane, pointless, annoying fishing trips from Hades: 1

Sharks touched: 2

Sharks seen: more than 2

Weeks of vacation: 5+ (a number that is sadly going to go WAY down very soon)

Pairs of sunglasses lost: 0

Total miles biked: 1589.09 (compared to 1516.98 in 207)

Miles biked outside: 1013.68 (compared to 1105.88 in 2007)

Miles biked inside on very boring trainer while watching mindless television or reading: 575.41 (compared to 411.10 in 2007)

These bike statistics are actually very surprising to me as I thought this year was going to be a down year due to some medical can't-do-much-of-anything or pick-anything-up time. However, I still managed to come out slightly ahead, but not on the outside miles which are the ones that really count. But hey, the grand total is better!

Cross Stitch projects finished: 5

Other projects finished: Um, think I'll have to go with 0 here. Oh, wait, I did sew a couple things and do some crochet. Let's say 4ish, heavy on the ish.

(I'm really stretching to come up with things at this point)

Pairs of fancy socks purchased: I just don't keep track of this, but there were many:)

Stitches: I'm guessing it was about 8. They were all sub-cutaneous, so who knows!

Bones broken: 0

New Halloween decorations purchased: 0 (really, none!)

At which point I will stop, because I am really grasping at straws. Just consider this a little picture in the life of Myra:)

Brief wrap-up of the Utah trip

2008-10-11T14:48:00.005-04:00

Also known as 1935.4 miles in under 10 days.

My husband and I took a beautiful trip to Utah at the beginning of September. And for all of my friends who aren't on Facebook and haven't seen any of the pictures, here's a sampling. Amusing stories to come later (and given how often I update this, it could be a lot later).

Zion National Park

The view from the Angel's Landing Trail.

The horrifying Angel's Landing trail.

Bryce Canyon National Park

More hoodoos

Hoodoos seen from below.

Grosvenor Arch in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (Can you find the person?)

Capitol Reef National Park

Natural Bridges National Monument

Monument Valley

Needles district of Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park

Delicate Arch at Arches

Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park

Why I love Georgia, part 5

2008-10-11T14:40:00.002-04:00

Subtitled: Your educational system at work

So, I'm sitting at a traffic light two days ago and happen to glance over at the used car dealership on my right. (It's a LONG light, I have to find something to do.) Most of the cars sitting there have the usual model year and price written on the windshield. But sitting right in the middle of the row, facing the main street, is a minivan with something a little different. On its window, and this is as exact replica--at least as far as blogger will allow me, it says "7 pasanier." Now, if you closed one eye, squinted the other, and tilted your head at a 34 degree angle, you could barely make out where someone had tried to write the letter "g" over the "i." But it still came off looking like and "i." I've looked it up, and it does not appear to be the word "passenger" in any currently spoken language. Apparently the ability to spell fairly easy words is not a requirement to work at a used car lot (or in many other professions, from what I've seen). Yes, this is just one sign of how great a Georgia education is.

Domesticity

2008-07-07T16:47:00.005-04:00

So, I go through these phases from time to time where I get all domestic. I'm not even sure what brings them on, and eventually they tend to go away. But I've been on one since about April. It all started while I was checking out some of my old links and ran across a recipe for "No-Knead" bread on the Vegan Feast Kitchen blog. Now, I love bread. Especially homemade bread. But I hate kneading. So this was right up my alley. Of course, being me, I decided to modify the recipe the first time I tried it. It came out fine, but not great. For my second attempt, I thought I'd follow the exact recipe, and this is what I ended up with. Very yummy.

My next attempt, I added some whole wheat flour. Still good, but not quite as pretty.

For my fourth attempt (not pictured due to tragedy), I tried a slightly different recipe with a secret ingredient. Ok, it's not so secret. It's beer. This loaf turned out the best, but there were some technical issues. The recipes suggested baking it on parchment paper. So I did as directed. BAD idea. We had to hack off the bottom crust to eat it. But it was still yummylicious.

But then it got hot. And having the oven on at 450 for any length of time just lost its charm. So I moved on to ice cream. (I can actually partially blame this on the library. I had been considering buying an ice cream maker, but hadn't actually done it. Until the day I was browsing the library and ran across the homemade ice cream book.) Darling hubbie thought plum would be a good first flavor, and there just happened to be a recipe for that.

Yes, it really is that shade of pink. And it is unbelievable! Over the weekend, I made Super Lemon ice cream. Also very good. Sorry, no picture. It's just the palest yellow.

And once we eat the rather large collection of ice cream in our freezer, I'll be making more (thank you Kroger for the sale on Ben & Jerry's).

I have also started sewing again, but that can be a subject for another day.

Irony in Action

2008-06-26T19:19:00.002-04:00

So, I was driving in a pretty nice area of Lawrenceville today and saw this marvelous sign. One of those small ones on the metal posts that you stick in the ground. It was obviously hand made. The background was some sort of white board, with lettering on it. But let me describe the letters. They were black, and appeared to be stenciled. And I say appeared, because I'm not sure how you can stencil something and make it look so bad. The letters' edges were all blurry and drippy. And, of course, the letters in each word weren't exactly what you would call lined up.

Here's the irony. The sign said "We write professional business plans" with a phone number. Well, I don't really have any intention of starting my own business soon, but if I ever do, they will not be writing my plan. Your sign looks like an 8-year-old did it with a can of spray paint. Who's going to write the plan? Your goldfish? No thank you.

On an only vaguely related note (that being signs), I do have a favorite sign that I see (far too often) in my neighborhood. And these people at least put up the cash to get them professionally printed. The sign is for "Who's the Daddy? DNA testing." Cracks me up every time I see it.

Why I love Georgia, part 4

2008-06-18T11:19:00.003-04:00

Anyone who works in Georgia knows that the child welfare system is seriously messed up. Words can't even describe it. But now we're hearing that, in at least one major county, there appear to be quotas on how many children can be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. Exceed your quota, and your job could be at risk. The state's former Child Advocate has come forward in the local paper (after the death of a toddler who was left in her biological home), talking about the unbelievable mismanagement of the very system that is supposed to keep our children safe.

It's only the tip of the iceberg, folks.

Too Many Books, continued

2008-06-14T15:16:00.002-04:00

I went to the library today and am happy to report that I took back a bunch of paperbacks that I'm just not going to read any time soon, and I only checked out 8 items. The two items I had on hold (one a DVD), 3 other movies, a book on CD for in the car, and two non-fiction books. I probably would have ended up with far more, but I had to park illegally due to some random festival in downtown Stone Mountain today. I figure that I'm at the library often enough to count as an unofficial library staff member as far as parking goes:)

My cat is a bigger freak than your cat, Part III

2008-06-14T15:14:00.001-04:00

I suppose that technically this is a continuation of Part I, but oh well.

Thrasher will, apparently, drink chocolate soy milk if he is thirsty enough. Enough said.

Too Many Books?

2008-05-09T16:11:00.003-04:00

Does anyone know if there is a 12-step program for libraries? More specifically, library use? Because I think I might need one of those. Now, in all fairness to me, being addicted to books is probably a lot better for me than being addicted to a lot of other things. Alcohol, gambling, chocolate (really, I'm NOT addicted), collecting troll dolls, etc. But I do seem to have a serious problem.

I needed to go to the library yesterday to pick up some items on hold for me. Three items, to be precise, and only two of them were books (the other being a "Learn Chinese in Your Car" CD set). My original plan was to go to the library, approach front desk, return the items that needed returned, pick up the items being held, and leave. And I had every intention of doing just that. I often have every intention of just picking up items on hold and leaving. It never happens. Never. I mean, maybe once, but probably never.

Shortly before I left for the library, I decided I'd let myself look at the new book shelf and then pick up my held items. Nothing else. How much damage can I do in the new book section?

A lot.

Now, everyone should keep in mind that I have hundreds of books at home that I own, any number of which haven't been read. I also have this shelf known as the "read me and get rid of me shelf," mostly made up of books people have loaned to me or from the paperback exchange at the library (another REALLY bad thing for my little problem). And I still had four other books checked out. But I'm a mature, fairly rational person. I can handle the new book section.

Um, not so much. Seven books later (not including those on hold for me), I'm starting to doubt the realism of my plan. Now, I did manage to find two books on the shelf that are on my To-Be-Read list (another issue in itself). One of which I could not believe was on the shelf (The World Without Us). At this point, I literally have to drag myself away from the new book shelf without looking at everything there.

But as I'm walking out, I go by the books on tape. And I remember talking to one of the foster parents that I visit that I really should have picked up a book on tape the last time I was at the library since I can spend 15 hours or more a week in my car, driving all over the place. So I grab a book on tape. And then I go to the desk and check everything out, including my three items on hold. Luckily for me, I had put my stuff to return in a bag, so I have some way to carry all of this stuff out of the library. And yes, not being able to sanely carry all of my books out of the library is a frequent, common problem with me.

So I sit here now with 14 books checked out (not including those paperbacks mentioned before), one book on tape, one Learn Chinese CD set, and a movie. And not nearly enough hours in my days.

Why I love Georgia, part 3

2008-05-02T13:50:00.002-04:00

Every year, I get the thrill of taking my car to a service station or stand-alone "Emissions Inspection Station" to get my emissions tested (so I then get the joy or renewing my registration and paying annual tax on my ten-year-old car). I don't have any problem with doing the test. The air here sucks. I'll do what I can to not contribute more to the problem. Anyway, I drive in and they connect fancy computer equipment up to various parts of my car. And the computer does it's magic and talks to the computer in my car and figures out how much nasty stuff my car is spewing into the air. And then I hand over $25 and get my certificate, printed on form-feed paper by a dot matrix printer! Where on earth do they even find paper for these things any more? It just doesn't make sense to me. A fancy computerized system to do the test, and they can't even manage a cheap ink jet? I have no doubt there is some big warehouse in central Georgia or somewhere just full to the brim with the planet's last boxes of form-feed paper.

Providence Canyon

2008-04-05T09:09:00.006-04:00

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I decided to take a day off from work and get out of the city. An urge brought on in part by him having a rental car that he had no problem putting miles on. So we decided to head south to a little place called Providence Canyon. Providence Canyon is located southwest of Columbus near a little town called Lumpkin. (Tip for travelers--eat in Columbus because the choices in Lumpkin are very limited.) This park has been on my "must-see" list for a long time, so I couldn't wait.

A little history about the park. Providence Canyon became a state park in 1971 to preserve what has become known at Georgia's Little Grand Canyon. The canyons are very young from a geological perspective. The canyons were formed by erosion due to poor farming practices started in the 1800s. By 1850, there were ditches 3- to 5-feet deep across the land. Now, some of the canyons are up to 150 feet deep. Several times over the years, attempts were made to slow or stop the erosion (including the planting of Kudzu). Most of these have been pretty unsuccessful. Recent plantings have slowed the erosion, but the ranger told us that the park still loses 3 to 5 feet from the canyon tops each year (which can be easily seen by changes in the fencing at the top of the canyon).

Some other factoids. Today's park covers 1,108 acres with 16 canyons (more outside the park are visible on the drive in). There are at least 43 different shades of soil visible in the canyons. And the park has the largest natural collection of the rare Plumleaf Azaelea, which blooms from July to September (not the one pictured here).

And a few more pictures.

(Totally unrelated, but for anybody who is keeping track. Yes, I have purchased several more pairs of socks. Don't ask me how many, because I don't know for sure.)

Normal? You decide

2008-02-07T18:13:00.000-05:00

I like socks. But not just any socks. The stranger, the better. I seek them out. And yes, it does make dressing a challenge. What really goes with Elmo socks? Or neon striped socks? Or polka dots? And it's even more of a challenge when you realize that many of my pants and skirts are also strange colors, if not strange patterns. (Yes, I have more than one pair of purple pants. I can't help it.) And please keep in mind when looking at my collection that I took these pictures in November, so there are several more pairs of socks now. And when I say several, that probably means at least 6. No more than 8. Or maybe 12. Here are the "light" ones.

And then there are the "dark" ones. The polka dots are some of my favorites, even though I'm not a huge fan of knee socks.

And here is the Christmas collection, plus the super fuzzy, roam around the house socks. Plus one pair I nearly missed when taking the pictures.

And then my favorites. The Halloween collection. (Technically the purple argyle-ish knee socks in the "dark" collection came in a Halloween set, but those get every day wear.)

It keeps my coworkers and my acupuncturist amused. Well, and me. What more can I say?

So if you're ever out and see that great pair of socks, you know where to send them!

Feels like winter

2008-01-19T21:08:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while, it does snow in Atlanta. The cat was not amused.

The Office Guest

2007-12-10T21:55:00.001-05:00

You know it's Monday when you walk into your office to suddenly discover you now have a roommate. A furry, winged one. People thought I was crazy to just be sitting in there with it, carrying on with my day. But what else was I supposed to do? Scream like a little girl? Go into hysterics? Better a bat than wasps, which are also frequent guests to my office. If life gives you bats, take pictures--my philosophy of the day.

If a Tree Falls

2007-11-20T21:13:00.000-05:00

The philosophical question for the month is, "If a tree falls in your side yard and nobody is home, does anyone notice?" Or perhaps more accurately, "If a tree falls in your side yard and nobody is home, how long does it take anyone to notice?"

Several weeks ago, I came home from work and thought that this tree in front of our house looked a little different. I stood and looked at it for a while, but couldn't really figure out what was different and gave up. How I knew anything at all was different, I can't say (see first picture). I just figured a branch had fallen or knocked down another one or something.

So a good week later (possibly longer), I actually looked into our side yard and noticed that an entire tree had fallen and hit the branches of the tree in front, thus making it look "different." This is a twenty or thirty foot tall tree. (See second pic with big, yellow arrow. I can't estimate height, or as the case would be now--length, with any accuracy.) Must have happened during the day while we were at work is all I can say, and luckily it went in the best direction possible! Just one of many examples of the truly odd, strange, and even bizarre stuff that happens at our house. (And yes, I know, the ivy is bad. I do what I can, but there is far too much of it for one person to deal with. Feel free to come help me try to contain it while cursing the neighbor who originally planted it.)

Isn't It Ironic

2007-09-07T14:19:00.001-04:00

I recently read a book about the carving of the memorial on Stone Mountain by David B. Freeman called Carved In Stone: The History of Stone Mountain. Despite one of the worst editing jobs I've ever seen, it was a really interesting book about the 'discovery' of Stone Mountain and then the decades long struggle/debate about the Confederate Memorial on the mountain. However, I couldn't help but be struck by the irony in it. It seems like there has always been controversy on how the mountain and the land around it should be used. But here are a couple of comments that really struck me (see previous post about another book to get an idea on what I think of the way the park has gone).

During a debate in the 1920s on which sculptor should be given the task of finishing the carving, the members of the association tried to get Gutzon Borglum dismissed stating that he "allegedly tried to organize a stock company to operate road houses, drink stands, and other money-making schemes which "would have converted the whole mountain and its environs into a carnival of cheap amusements."" (Check out the park's current website to see how that eventually turned out.--Stone Mountain Park)

Then the Association got upset about another guy, R. J. Spiller who wanted to lease the top of the mountain. They were concerned "that Spiller would build "a regular hunky dunky which will be an ever-lasting-disgrace to the Stone Mountain memorial."" Again, see my previous post for my feelings on said memorial, as well as the link to the park for how we honor this memorial. Can you say lasers?

And one of my favorite parts. In 1928, the Association was (once again) totally without funds to complete the project. George F. Willis, president of the Association, proposed charging money to view the carving to raise the funds to complete it. Sam Venable (one of the originators of the original idea) "strongly objected. He always maintained that the public should not have to pay to see a memorial."

Even after saying all of this, it really is a great park. I just wish it had been left as a natural area instead of having been slowly transformed into the second most visited theme park in the country behind Disneyworld (according to the book).

My cat is a bigger freak than your cat, Part II

2007-08-28T18:25:00.000-04:00

(aka--The cat toy industry is a big, fat joke.)

The other night, my husband and I were sitting in the computer room, minding our own business. He was playing a game on his computer and I was reading or cross stitching. Thrasher had wandered off somewhere, but suddenly came back in, pouncing on something and batting it around. I sort of glanced over at the cat. I couldn't see what he had, so I figured he was just playing with an imaginary bug (if you own cats, you know this game--they chase things that aren't there). In any case, he definitely did not have anything that he shouldn't have.

Well, Thrasher continued to play with whatever this was for a really long time. At least 20 minutes, which I believe is the human equivalent of 2 1/2 weeks. He'd go out in the hall with it, back into the computer room. Out into the hall, into the bathroom, back to the hall, back to the computer room. He even managed to get the whole way out to the living room and then back to the computer room. At this point, I'm getting really curious about what on earth he has since I don't ever remember him playing with something for this long. So I look down. The big, giant goober has (I swear, I'm not making this up) a 1 centimeter square piece of toilet paper.

I could have saved a lot of money on cat toys and just bought a roll of Charmin.

Why I love Georgia, part 2

2007-08-15T22:53:00.001-04:00

The fact that the cover picture on a book entitled Natural Wonders of Georgia is the image of a perfectly good granite outcropping (mountain, dome, whatever you want to call it) ruined by a carving of Confederate "heroes." 3,000,000 more beautiful images that could have been used, and the publishers chose that one.

Strange urges

2007-07-31T18:24:00.000-04:00

We went out to eat the other night at one of our favorite restaurants. I ate enough of my dish to be full but not in danger of bursting. Then I packed up the rest to bring home for a lunch later in the week. For whatever reason, as we were leaving, I had the strongest urge to grab a spring roll from the plate of some customers we walked by. Strong as in I seriously had to restrain myself. I've had their spring rolls. They're fine, but nothing special. And without the dipping sauce (which I had no desire to grab), they are nothing. But I wanted that lady's food! So, a note to anybody who goes out to eat with me.... You might want to blindfold me before we leave the restaurant as I obviously have little self-control.

Mindless fun thanks to a touch of jet lag

2007-07-23T17:58:00.000-04:00

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Entitlement, Part 1

2007-07-12T15:41:00.001-04:00

(Not originally meant to be a series, but by the time I got home after this experience, I realized that this likely will be a series. Oh well.)

To the guy at the library who got a call on his cell phone and announced to his caller (rather loudly) as he was leaving the library that he "HAD" to leave the library to take his phone call--Get over yourself!!! If you don't like the library's rules and expectations for customers, then maybe you should go to an Internet Cafe and pay for your Internet access rather than complain about having to leave a building to take a call, particularly when that building is providing you a service for free. I highly doubt that you are so much in demand that you couldn't have turned your phone off for the one hour that you are allowed to be on the library computer. I have no doubt that this man went back inside after his call and tried to get the librarians to extend his computer time because he had to step outside for a minute. Computer access at the libraries is a privilege, not a divinely given right.

1,000 Miles

2007-07-11T20:03:00.000-04:00

Early this year, I set a goal to bike 100 miles per month. I am happy to report that I am ahead of schedule and that I hit 1,000 miles while out riding last Saturday. And the more exciting part is that over 700 of these miles have been real, outside riding and not sitting on my bike on my trainer in the living room. Go me!

My cat is a bigger freak than your cat, Part I continued

2007-07-04T20:28:00.000-04:00

Let's add Pop-Tarts to the list of foods Thrasher eats. But raw carrots he's afraid of. Kind of like the reaction I get to pickles. Go figure.

My cat is a bigger freak than your cat, Part I

2007-07-03T19:43:00.000-04:00

(what I'm afraid is going to be the first in a series (a long series) of posts about my cat)

If you know my cat, you know that he eats some really strange things--at least things that are strange for a cat. Ok, some are just strange for any sentient being. These things include, but are not limited to: apples, broccoli, chick peas, cantaloupe, lentils, Doritos (all flavors), yogurt, applesauce (a favorite), green beans (canned only), peas, pop ice (but not usually Popsicles), bread, Rice Chex, dryer sheets (we only use liquid fabric softener now after a near death experience with these), mandarin oranges (see photographic evidence), cheese doodles, ice cream, soap (ok, he just licks that), Pup-Peroni, potato chips, cooked carrots, and some types of poppadoms. Again, this is not by any means an exhaustive list. And somehow, he has an uncanny ability to know when anyone in the house is eating or is about to eat any of these things (except soap, dryer sheets, or Pup-Peroni--we humans don't eat those).

Among the list of things he does not eat or eats only under great duress: fresh meat and my husband's odd dried Chinese seafood products.

So tonight, I feed the cat and am trying to find something for me to eat. I can hear Thrasher crunching his kibbles in the background. I look in the fridge. I find the plastic container with part of a can of chick peas. Still more crunching in the background. As I am opening the plastic container, I hear the cat start running toward me in mid-crunch. The little beast actually left his cat food and followed me around the house until I gave him some chick peas. And you don't even want to know what would have happened if I had opened a container of yogurt. This is what I have to live with. On a daily basis. Why me?

I don't want to scan

2007-06-27T21:11:00.000-04:00

I hate U-scan lanes. I really do. To me, they are just another sign of the depersonalization of society and the on-going death of customer service. Supposedly, they are there to make our lives easier and get us out of the store faster. Most of the time when I've used them, just the opposite has happened. Like, for instance, the morning a Kroger employee basically pushed my into a U-scan lane. So, I had an entire shopping cart full of groceries, including stuff that was on sale and a couple clearance items. And coupons, of course. So first of all, there wasn't enough space for all my bagged stuff on the little shelf, so the machine kept getting mad at me. And then for the clearance items, I had to summon the U-scan helper to key in the price. And then some of my sale items didn't ring up correctly. Another summoning of the U-scan helper to correct it. Except she actually entered the exact wrong price, which I had no knowledge of until after I paid. So then it was a trip to the customer service desk to fix that. Three hours later (ok, it was more like 30 minutes total), I'm finally walking out of the Kroger. Had I stayed in the regular lane that I had chosen, I would have been out in 10 minutes. So, they don't really save us time, unless maybe you're buying two items at regular price and paying with a credit card (don't get me started on feeding cash into those things--or coupons for that matter).

I also hear rumors that they are supposed to 'save money.' Well, they may be saving the stores money, but I sure am not seeing those savings passed on to me. My proposal is, if you voluntarily use a U-scan lane, you should get an immediate discount off of your total. Doesn't have to be much, just a little something. And if you have to use a U-scan lane (and it is becoming more frequent these days that at certain times, the only lanes open are do-it-yourself), then you should get a bigger discount. Until that day comes, I will continue to avoid those U-scan lanes.

As a side note on saving money, what the heck has happened to the price of milk? The soymilk I buy is now cheaper than the store-brand lactose free cow milk. It's jumped like $.60 or more in the past two months! I'm going to have to get a goat or something.

True Colors

2007-06-22T17:15:00.000-04:00

Well, something like 25 years later, I've managed to cross something off of my To-Do list. Last night, I finally got to see Cyndi Lauper in concert. She has organized and is headlining the True Colors tour in support of the Human Rights Campaign. Overall, it was a very good show. I just wish that Erasure and Cyndi had played much longer sets. The Dresden Dolls were quite amusing. Debby Harry was not good--very stiff and boring. But then Erasure came on and played an amazing set. And, of course, Cyndi was wonderful. She is such an entertainer and it was such a thrill for me to finally get to see her live!

Encounters with wildlife

2007-06-18T13:11:00.000-04:00

While riding my bike this past Saturday, I had a very unexpected experience. I live in metro Atlanta, so my rides are on surface streets in the suburbs. No place exotic at all. I had just topped a little hill and was on my way down the back side of it when I saw an animal run across the street onto the grounds of this big church about a quarter of a mile away. It looked like a cat from that distance, and I wouldn't have thought anything else of it. However, a car coming from the opposite direction honked its horn at about the same place which got me paying attention and trying to figure out why they were honking and disturbing the peace on a perfectly good, quiet Saturday morning.

So as I approached where the 'cat' had crossed, I could see it running down the drive into the church. What stood out first was how long and bushy the tail was. "Hmmm," I said to myself, "that doesn't look like a cat's tail." Then I noticed its head and ears. Very small head, very large, pointy ears. And then it dawns on me. I think that's a fox. So I quickly crossed the road and biked into the church. I was actually able to get to within about 10 feet of it on my bike and, sure enough, it was a fox. It actually let me bike by it a couple times so I could get a good look. Sadly, I was on-call that day, so I had the on-call phone and not my cell phone which has a camera. It would have been a perfect photo chance, and I think the little fellow would have stayed still long enough for me to take the picture if I had gotten off my bike. Oh well. At least now I'll be keeping my eyes open on future rides in the hopes of seeing him or her again!

Why I love Georgia, part 1

2007-05-26T15:27:00.000-04:00

(Being the first of what I'm sure will be many sardonic comments about the state of Georgia)

In October of 2006, I spent two fun-filled days in a training session sponsored by an entity of this state. Two days of training that made up over one-third of my required training hours for the calendar year. At the training, we were all asked to self-address an envelope that would be used to mail our training certificates/CEU credits. In order to submit my training hours to my corporate office, I have to have this certificate.

Well, six months to the day of that training, I finally received my certificate. And let me just say what a fine quality certificate it is--plain white (cheap) copy paper with a copied signature and my name printed (I'm guessing by an 8-year-old) in ball point pen.

Yes, this is your state government at its best. I guess I should just be happy I got the thing.

Where I've been

2007-03-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

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I'm actually pretty amazed by how many states I've visited. Of course, there are a couple that I visited when I was really young (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana), so I don't remember much of them. And it's absurd how close I've gotten to Florida, but I've yet to make it over the border. Oh well. Looks like I need to work on the middle part of the country.

2007-02-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

It's one of those days where I really wish I were a dragon.