little survivor on the prairie
Frontier House - the only realiteevee I've ever been able to stomach.

Except for that rich mother and her two little twits screaming about leaving behind their makeup. I suppose shows of this stripe can't compete without featuring someone you just want to smack.
4/30/2002 06:07:49 AM  



beware the vampires
I've avoided giving blood for years. Not because I don't want to give, or because I'm too lazy, or terribly needle-phobic. I was a Med Tech student for a year, so the sight of contained blood doesn't really gross me out, either.

It's because I have notoriously horrible veins. Any trip to the doctor which involves blood testing inevitably leaves me with a giant purple bruise in the crux of my arm. From the jabbing, and re-jabbing. The veins are so tiny, that only the most skilled phlebotomist, armed with an infant-gauge needle, can successfully tap one.

But, I reasoned, they'd only have the most skilled blood-letters at a blood drive, right? They do this every day, on all types of people. They're pros, with professional equipment.

So when I sat down in that canvas recliner in the middle of the high school library, amongst a half-dozen teenagers, I wasn't particularly worried. Besides, nothing bad could happen to me in a library, right?

Right?

Tech #1: "We're just going to take your blood pressure, and I want you to squeeze this three times and then hold."
Me: "Okay."
Tech #1: (feeling arm for what seemed like an eternity) "Hmm. I can't seem to find a good vein in this arm. Let's try the other one"

Uh-oh.

Tech #1: (after exploring right arm for some time) "I don't think I want to do this. Phil, could you come over here?"
Tech #2: "Hello there. What's wrong?"
Me: "I have problem veins."
Tech #1: "I can't find any good ones in there, and I think I'd rather have you do it."
Me: "Yeah, I almost always have a little trouble. They usually resort to baby needles."
Tech #2: "We don't have that option here, I'm afraid. Well, let's see what we can find." (thouroughly explores both arms). "Well. I think I've got a teeny-tiny one right there. But I'm not sure I'll be able to get it..."

Well. That's certainly reassuring.

Me: "Since I'm here, I guess you might as well give it a shot (no pun intended). If you think there's a decent chance of getting something."
Tech #2: "Okay, let me get my marker. Just don't move."

I actually popped little capillaries in my hand, squeezing that rubber thing.

Tech #2: "Let me know if I'm hurting you."

At which point five minutes of prodding began. I didn't watch. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt as much as it normally does. Hardly a pinch, really.

Tech #2: "I think I've got something. You can stop squeezing now. How do you feel?"
Me: "I... uh... think I was holding my breath. Because I feel like I'm going to pass out."

So that's why I didn't feel any pain!

Tech #2: "Oh, don't do that! Here, let's tilt this thing back and get you a wet cloth."

Okay. This is good. I'm clear-headed, my arm doesn't hurt, and there's blood coming out of it.

Tech #2: (peering at the line a couple of minutes later) "Uh-oh."

Uh. Oh?

Tech #2: "It stopped."

Oh. S**t.

More poking. With feeling. And that's when it really started to hurt. I guess somewhere between the tender steak and the hamburger stages.

Tech #2: "So what do you do over at the Middle School?"

What? A little late for diversionary tactics, methinks.

Me: "I'm a librarian. Ow. That hurts."

Tech #2: "But it's as good as it's going to get with a large needle in your arm, right?"

I would have to disagree. Vehemently.

After five more minutes of moving the needle around, we conceded defeat. I don't even think they got enough to use for anything. Which made me feel kind of guilty drinking apple juice and eating Lorna Doones and walking away with my oh-so-patriotic Blood Donor tee.

On the upside, it's the best kind of compliment you can get when you're mistaken for one of the students. And you're 30.

:-)
4/29/2002 05:35:00 PM  



hobbies?
for the friday five.

Yes. I know it's Sunday.

1. What are your hobbies? Reading, above all else. Movies, knitting, sewing, general crafting. Oh, yeah, and, um, that [whisper] SuperLotto thing.

2. Do you collect anything? If so, what? Currently, I'm not collecting anything. I'm anti-collecting. But I do have teeny collections of antique demitasses, vintage kitchen pyrex, toy movie players/projectors. And Entertainment Weekly mags that I haven't read. That one's actually pretty big.

3. Is there a hobby you're interested in, but just don't have the time/money to do? Travel. I love to travel, but never go anywhere. Now I'm just depressing myself.

4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity? This one time, at band camp... errr, wait. This is a family site.

5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to? None. Working at a school is like socializing on amphetamines, every day. It makes me hate people. Go away ;-)
4/28/2002 08:45:10 AM  



weekend update
A few random shots in the visiblog.
4/27/2002 11:00:33 PM  



saturday fluff
The Powerpuff Girls on the big screen - July 3rd.

We ♥ Bubbles.
4/27/2002 05:40:26 PM  



library lovin'
We know you love your library. But do you love your library?

My friend Marie heads up the Serials Department over at the University of Delaware's Morris Library. Which apparently has one of the best places in Newark for some, um, quality downtime.

When I did editing at Oakland, we had the same extracurricular goings-on there, thanks to a profusion of strategically-placed private study rooms.

Have you ever caught someone in the stacks? Ever been caught?
4/26/2002 09:20:27 AM  



back to the ironing board
My first fun little project is up at Sew Wrong! Yay! I've resolved to make a bit of headway on it this weekend.

And I must say that Moveable Type is a joy to work with, everything good I've heard about it and more.
4/25/2002 06:10:11 PM  



wicked game
Thanks to D., we've got a new hobby around here.

Last week:

D: I've got a surprise...
J: (intrigued, a bit hungry, thinking "ooh, chocolate would be good right now...") What?
D: A lottery ticket!

We've both been talking about buying a ticket for years, but have never gone through with it. I mean, we're logical people. The odds don't even make it worth the trip to the 7-Eleven. Maybe Vegas tripped a switch. Because there we were on Saturday night at 7:59 pm, breathlessly awaiting the Big Draw.

Have you ever watched the draw (intentionally or not)? How did they find this woman? "Hope you've got your lucky ticky-ticky! Get out those numbers for some big dough-re-mi!"

Well, we were winners, as it turns out. One number and the Mega number = $2. Since D. bought two tickets, our losses were covered. Enabling us to spiral down into the dark world of SuperLotto sin.

We forgot to watch last night. I'm home sick today, but the first thing I did when I finally dragged my violently inflamed shnoz off the pillow at 11:30 was to jump online and check our latest ticket. "Ooh, duh nubbuhs! Fuhgot to check duh nubbuhs!"

Only one number. Drat.

I guess there's always Saturday.
4/25/2002 01:12:16 PM  



scrounge
I don't know how I'll ever be able to have kids.

This was my dinner:

Morningstar Veggie Burger, warmed in toaster, on
The last wheat pita
One Vlasic Polish Dill
8 oz. can of V-8

and

A Powerpuff strawberry-flavored pudding cup (made with milk!), a dab of Hershey's syrup on top.

And that's about as organized as it gets around here, excepting the occasional weekend pasta or grill.

Boston Market needs to be closer.
4/24/2002 10:06:04 PM  



danger at my door
Through the little sliver of uncovered window in my door, I can see men stepping along the steel ribs of our soon-to-be amphitheatre. Twenty feet in the air, and it's making me a bit nervous. I think I'll stop looking now.

Too bad I can still hear all that grinding machinery.
4/24/2002 10:21:18 AM  



return
Mena's Sew Wrong is back, with a fresh look, renewed resolve, and new authors - one of whom is me, whee!

Look for my abandoned sewing projects there soon, where they'll arise, phoenix-like, from the stacks of clear plastic bins under my bed.
4/23/2002 06:35:50 AM  



and so it begins again
I've got one hopping mad mother pigeon in "time out" - a box in my storage room, waiting until everyone goes home when she can be safely released. She was brought to me stunned by the rocks that some kids were throwing at her and her nest (now destroyed).

And of course no one will 'fess up or point fingers.

Oh, grant me restraint if I ever catch someone in the act.
4/22/2002 12:55:43 PM  



in summary
Wrote big post. Lost in Blogger ether. In short:

Kmart closing Folsom store. Big bargains, much pain in ass. Found Argus for $30. Cheap purple plastic toy, but takes movie clips, see here. Can let kids use it without worry and carry in purse for impromptu clicks. Darin found drill. Hordes, lines, cashiers from hell. Assuaged with burritos and best iced tea ever.

The end.
4/21/2002 08:49:36 PM  



lessons never learned
Copy all text before posting via Blogger.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.
4/21/2002 08:42:16 PM  



enquiring minds want to know
There's no way I'm going to make it 'til 10 pm without a recharge, so I drove down to Quizno's and had a nice roasted turkey on rosemary parmesan bread and a giant beverage. While I was sitting there, enjoying the otherwise empty room and old show tunes over the PA, I watched the sparrows and starlings hop around the sidewalk and tables outside, picking up Quizno-crumbs.

If a sparrow lives on a steady diet of potato chips, could it suffer the same fate as a human - death by massively clogged arteries? Has anyone studied the effects of junk food on common birds, I wonder?

I want to know.
4/19/2002 03:54:32 PM  



tubism
for the friday five

1. What's your favorite TV show and why? Friends. Because I can watch the reruns and still laugh. Because it's silly and makes me feel better. Because I've sort of grown up with the characters.

2. Who is your favorite television star? I don't have a particular favorite, though I do like Hal Sparks (miss him, don't get premium channels), John Stewart, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Topher Grace. The funny guys :-)

3. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Little House on the Prairie. Cheesy and preachy as all get-out. But it sure was comforting in a time when my life was definitely - not.

4. What show do you think should have been cancelled by now? That '80s Show. Bad idea. Ick.

5. What new show do you hope escapes the axe this season? Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Maybe Watching Ellie, though I haven't really watched it enough to bring the jury back in.
4/19/2002 06:31:44 AM  



work? who, me?
Not that I didn't before. But that was when a few more little "sanity breaks" were available during my day.

So I'm not intentionally neglecting you, or that website you rode in on. I'm just - busy.

Last night I was so beat, I started a loaf of country white in the machine, but couldn't stay awake long enough to enjoy a slice. Pathetic. At least I got a good nine hours of sleep total. Do you know I haven't slept in since late March? I really rely on at least one day a week to recover from the other six.

Remember how I dropped caffeine? It's ba-aaack, and in full force. When dissolving No-Doz in my French roast begins to sound appealing, I think it's time for a long date with Mr. Select Comfort.
4/18/2002 06:40:05 AM  



audio moth
Just got back from a nice stroll around the Galleria. The cold rain is keeping everyone at home, so we often had entire shops to ourselves. Lovely. Ate under a market umbrella on the balcony. Sampled these, now I'm craving them.

Now I want to go fix myself a cup of hot chocolate, but I can't drag my ears away from the CD I finally picked up at Border's for a song (hee). Nice.
4/16/2002 08:10:22 PM  



live long and catch 'em all
Proof that webpage advertising can be amusing, after all. Well. At least to me.
4/15/2002 06:05:45 PM  



coupla things
Pic in the visiblog of our newest upstairs neighbor. She doesn't make much too noise, but watch out if she springs from the balcony over your head.

New link to the left: I'm Racing for the Cure next month for breast cancer. You can pledge, or, heck, even join my team!

Panic Room was pretty good, though I'm never disappointed with a Jodie Foster film. Don't miss the opening credits.

Can anyone tell me what stitch to use to best join knit patchwork pieces together?
4/14/2002 08:38:28 PM  



wining and dining
for the friday five

1. What is your favorite restaurant and why? It all depends on mood. At this very minute, a stack of IHoP pancakes sure sounds tasty.

2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to? Quiznos! Though I do admit a lesser fondness for Wendy's and KFC.

3. What are your standards and rules for tipping? It depends on the service, but I'm not too picky and generally tip over the standard 15-20%. Because waiting tables sucks.

4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert? Nope. Entrees are so huge now, it'd be overkill. Though when we drove out to SF last month, we stopped at Baker's Square, and they had this special with soup and salad and a half slice of pie. Now that was perfect.

5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant? Iced tea or hot tea, sometimes wine if it's a nice meal.
4/11/2002 10:03:26 PM  



change is bad, m'kay
My hard drive crapped out a couple of weeks back. Hence the lack of refreshing webcam image - I'd have to locate, install, and configure the software. And photos - XP, for whatever reason, won't let me install Photoshop again. Or even download photos from the camera at all, for that matter.

I hate changes to my PC. I get it to the point where everything is comfy and friendly and useable, and then, BAM! time to replace something major. Now nothing is where it was before, who knows if all my files were really recoverable yet? and damn! I'm finding the way XP presents itself annoying. It's not like I'm any kind of whiz at these fixes, either. It forces me to be dependent, and that makes me irritable.

Because then I have to admit that I don't know/can't necessarily BS my way through everything.
4/11/2002 05:57:40 PM  



olé!
I'm going to a tamale party on Sunday! Two grandmothers (who don't speak a lick of English, I'm told) are going to teach us how to make them from scratch. Maybe I'll have some pictures of the process up afterwards.

At my suggestion, we're having margaritas while we learn ;-)

This is only a tiny event to unofficially kick off my busy next couple of months. I've got a blood drive, Race for the Cure (I'll be hitting you up for pledges soon), book fair, regional lip sync chaperoning, and probably moving to cap it all off. And we're implementing a new reading assessment system, which is running me absolutely ragged during the day. Oy.
4/11/2002 03:39:42 PM  



the joys of pseudoparenthood
For all I would make it sound otherwise, I do get rather emotionally attached to some of the kids. I don't think I realized quite how much until yesterday, when I heard that one of my favorites (yes, we all have them - keep that to yourself) did something bad enough to merit a suspension. Which is no small feat around here.

And I felt... so sad, and disappointed. Like a little piece of my heart was going to cave in.

Someday parenthood will play rollercoaster to my emotions, I can tell already.
4/10/2002 03:51:01 PM  



could this be love?
As you may know, we've been threatening to move for over a year now. We play this little mind game with ourselves intermittently, and it goes something like this:

Noisy Hick Neighbors, 3 am: A-heh-heh-heh, hoo-whee! Go gimme another beer, son.
D: We need to move. I hate it here.
J: [sigh] Yes. I know.
D: Let's look for something this weekend.
J: Okay.

Next day:
J: We have a lot of stuff.
D: It's too much work to move.
J and D: [sigh]

We're back at it again. One property has proven particularly magnetic. It reminds us of our place in Michigan. Giant shady willows and lots of green lawn. Water (with birds! and paddleboats!!!). Ten minutes away from my job. With the added bonuses of being on the river and close to downtown.

We may actually go through with it. This is the first time I've felt compelled to save boxes at work.
4/9/2002 06:28:02 AM  



dressing the part
Looking down at my feet, I realized that in the past two years, I've become quite the collector of sensible black shoes.

Spinning-jennie: helping to perpetuate librarian stereotypes since 2000.
4/8/2002 12:50:54 PM  



thank Franklin
Depression-era photos of rural pack horse librarians. A WPA project created to deliver books into the hands of backcountry families (via New Breed Librarian).

Just last week we visited the delightful WPA Rock Gardens at William Land Park. Gazebos, miniature granite waterways, twisty little intimate walkways, benches for contemplation, a profusion of native plants, and pools (drained for repair right now) tucked everywhere. It made us remember just how many wonderful things we probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy today if it hadn't been for the New Deal.
4/7/2002 11:50:49 AM  



nightmare fodder
The California DMV is all the stories I've heard - and more. So much more.

And I think that's all I'm going to say about that.
4/6/2002 11:48:08 PM  



routine
for the friday five

1. What are the first things that you do in the morning to start your day? I can't function without a shower. I stumble around, barely conscious, until I can have one. Alternating hot and cold, please.

2. What are the last things that you do at night before going to bed? Read.

3. What daily routine have you recently added to your day? Not much changes when I'm working - it doesn't have time to.

4. What routine do you wish you could get rid of? Driving to work. It's too far for my car, and it makes me nervous.

5. What's the one thing that makes you feel like something is missing if you don't do it some point within your day? Checking my email. Ah, priorities :-)
4/5/2002 06:16:11 AM  



computer lab on wheels: it's a good thing
I got to see the new mobile wireless lab in action today. Oh, this is one sweet deal. Thirty wireless laptops housed in a motorized cabinet. Works like a dream, and I hear they've got an impressive range. With limited space for a permanent lab, this thing has become indispensable already. Every school should have one. Seriously.
4/4/2002 05:04:15 PM  



communication coma
I can no longer access my email from work. They've made drastic changes to the web interface, but it works just fine at home, and I'm using the same version browser. I'm blaming the firewall.

So if you happen to email me, and you don't get a response for a very long time, you can blame that. And the fact that our server is about to die, and we've got no 'net in the evenings while D. frantically fixes.

I feel so detached.
4/4/2002 10:13:38 AM  



in the dark
Over the break, energy-saving motion sensor light controls were installed in my room. So if I work at the computer for longer than twenty minutes (as I often must), and no one walks past the sensor, I'm lightless.

This is more annoying than it might sound.
4/3/2002 11:50:54 AM  



traffic jam
Someone in our household has been getting lots of site attention lately, generated by notice and praise from a few ultra-prominent bloggers.

In life B.D., I never thought for a second I'd find someone more paranoid and self-deprecating than myself. After countless late hours of work on the site - not to mention too many weekends [ ;-) ] - his response to the sudden acclaim is "I can't say I'm entirely happy with all these hits. It's not good enough for people to be looking at yet."

The Queen of Doubt has been dethroned!
4/3/2002 10:36:01 AM  



spin cleaning
Presenting the newer, cleaner me. Like 2.5, only backwards. Now with harder-to-read but space-saving Smaller Text and slightly-more-boring but easier-on-the-eyes Khaki Background.

I had 3.0 nearly completely laid out - even had the schwag. But, after months of tweaking and hemming and hawing, I decided at the last minute that I didn't like it, after all. And it reminded me far too much of another site that I've just recently become acquainted with.
4/2/2002 08:42:55 PM  



april fools to me
I'm writing this at about 10 a.m. over a slowly-sipped medium diet Coke at McDonalds, out of sheer boredom. Specifically, the McDonald's two blocks from the Smog Check place, where my car will be impounded for another hour (best estimate). I've already browsed the junk at BigLots! (not much fun if you can only buy what you can easily lug around for two hours), had a stroll to the Antique Trove (not open yet), and walked over to the DMV to check out the Line Situation.

Hey - guess what? I'm clearly not up on my National Holidays. The DMV is closed! Cesar E. Chavez Day. Which is great! Don't get me wrong. But why wasn't I consciously aware of it? Am I the only ignorant one?

No, at least I wasn't alone. About a dozen cars drove up just while I was walking to and from the office, all more than surprised to find locked doors and dark windows.

Now I get to drive down to South Sac on Saturday (groovy alliteration there), because that's the only office that'll be open on the weekend.

Update: at least I did get a couple of cheap and interesting books out of it. There's a giant "Book Liquidation" sale that's been going on for a month in a plaza across the street from DMVland, so I thought I'd kill time and check it out again. Normally I find these affairs to be disappointing, but this one has been quite the treasure pile. Too bad it has to end this week.
4/1/2002 12:05:54 PM