Domestic Geek

Oh, I forgot to mention once again that school blows. I was hoping that the long weekend would give the Networking teacher time to pull his head out of his ass and figure out what he was going to teach this module. Man, I must be living in a fantasy. We did NOTHING today. He actually told us to play games or whatever it is we do while he figured out what he was going to do. It seems like he spent most of the class with his head on his desk. He promised us on the first day of class that he would never walk out on us. Right now I'm hoping for that. Top all that off with another hard drive that crapped out on me in Unix class today and I'm really getting stuff accomplished this month. Dallas finally helped me get RedHat Linux installed on yet another drive halfway through lunch today. Hopefully I'll finally get to start working on the lab tomorrow that was originally supposed to be due tomorrow morning. That ain't happening. Combined with the SSDD at work and I'm frustrated to the breaking point. I just need to remember: ONLY 10 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL LEFT!

I was watching Dr. Phil on Oprah this afternoon. I love that guy. He said if your life is not turning out the way you want it to, stop whatever it is that you're doing that's making it this way. It sounds so simple. Oh, if only it were so easy. He also had a quote that cracked me up, something to the effect of "Pray to God for help, but in the meantime, keep rowing for shore." That wasn't quite it, but you get the idea.

My father gave me heart failure today.

I emailed him over a week ago asking him if he wanted to come out to celebrate my birthday next Sunday. He usually responds to my emails in a day or two. Well, after a week and nothing, I tried again. That was sometime Sunday, I think. Well, as of the end of class this afternoon, still no response. I'm starting to panic. I speed down Alameda Ave., past the police headquarters, no less, to get to his apartment. His car was parked outside, so I knew he didn't go to Blackhawk to go gambling. I go inside and pound on his door. Nothing. I pound again. Nothing. I went back out to my car and got my cell phone. I called. I could hear the phone ringing inside, I got the answering machine, I call "Dad, Daaaaaaaadddddd!" The machine hangs up on me. I bang on the door again. Still nothing. It's after 2 p.m. While Dad works nights like I do, he's usually up by 1 p.m. or so. He's getting hard of hearing, but I should've rousted him by now. I call again. I plead into the answering machine for Dad to answer. Hung up on again. I beat the door with my fists. I'm sure by now his neighbors can hear this and are going to call the cops. I start hearing my sister lecturing me in my head about not checking up on him sooner. I start imagining the worst possible outcome. I was fumbling for the key to his apartment to let myself in when I finally see an eyeball in his peephole. I was so relieved. The man scared me half to death. He says, "I'm sorry, I haven't checked my email in a couple of days." Try over a week. Oh, well, at least he's fine. I, on the other hand, have a new batch of grey hairs.

Ever tried to shave a dog with an undercoat? It sucks! Especially when that same dog doesn't like to lie still. Argh. As usual, Ursa is only half done. For once, shaving Skippy went really well (except for the time he tried to get away and split his chin open on the shaver-OUCH!) Now, I have to go to bed, except that I slept 17 hours yesterday and am not tired. I have to get up at midnight to go to work. Whee, I can't wait. I'm totally hating making dough right now and am not in the mood to go to school, either. Man, this is going to be one long week.

I'm working on a new cross-stitch project. Here's a picture of what it will look like when (if) I finish it. Isn't it cute? It's called Tech Support. It's a design from a place called Calico Crossroads. I'm going to do the one called Meoow.com next.



I'm watching the Tribe marathon on WAM. The station is part of a free preview weekend on Dish Network. It's an interesting premise for a show. Supposedly some kind of virus kills off the entire adult population and it's the adventures of the kids left trying to make it. Kind of a Stephen King "The Stand" and "Lord of the Flies" type of deal. Interesting. I wish I had seen the show from the very beginning. I guess it's going into its fourth season now.

Well, back to cross-stitching, shaving the dogs and cleaning the house. At least I don't have to go to school today. Whoohooo!

Man, I'm so tired.......

I can't sleep very well anymore. I know it has got to be stress and allergy related. It's too bad a NyQuil hit only last 3 1/2 hours. I can't take a second one and make it to work on time. I heard on the radio today about parents that were arrested for doping their kids up on NyQuil to get them to sleep. I think they said the charges were dropped.

I was so hoping this last official month of school would go well. Who was I kidding? The new networking instructor stinks. He seems to have some knowledge, just no preparation to teach this class. I think he lectured less than a half hour combined for Wednesday/Thursday. If I come out of there learning anything about Win2k Server, it will be a miracle. They've also got this guy teaching a Novell class at night. Oh, boy. I wrote briefly yesterday about the hardware issue screwing up the Unix class. Hard drives are relatively cheap anymore. There is no excuse for what is going on. The unix instructor was surprised the class was so big. He normally gets about five people in a class. I tried telling the higher ups that there was more interest in Unix than ever before. They didn't think there would be enough interest to have a class this month. HA I'm still teetering about whether to stay for Cisco or not. I suppose it depends on the instructor. If they get someone kick ass like before, I'll do it. If it's someone like the Win2k guy, forget it.

Anyway, I need some new bath towels. Exciting, huh? The last towels I bought are 8-9 years old, edges fraying, not soft and snuggly....you get the idea. Marucs' towels are older than that. Anyway, I've put off buying some for so long because the color selection anymore sucks. The stuff that's been on the market for years are dark, yucky colors--olive green, navy blue, etc. I want bright colors. Something like emerald or kelly green for me and a nice royal blue, saphire blue or something for Marcus. I was at WalMart today and found the perfect colors; however, they only came in an oversized bath version. No washcloths, no handtowels, no matching rugs or accessories. Damn, so close. What is up with that? That's what really stinks about "FASHION". It never fails. If I want a nice pair of black jeans, khaki or white is in. Want a nice pastel blouse? All you'll find is neon. It stinks that getting what you want has to be so dang difficult......and people wonder why I really hate to go shopping.

I need a new job. I'm so tired of working with really stupid people. The cooler in one of the walk-ins is leaking and ice builds up on it. I left a note for the manager to find me a new place to store the yeast because all that moisture was making it sticky, hard to use, and gross. He moved it all right, to the opposite side of the shelf, still under the cooler, still next to the moisture. I couldn't believe it.

I know part of my attitude problem at work stems from the fact that the environment is disgusting. I can't believe that one store ever passes it's health inspections. Nobody has ever cleaned the mop sink as far back as I can remember and there is pink mildew and thick mold growing in it. A blob of dough has been stuck on the wall since March. The dough mixer has been wiped off twice since January and there is black mold growing around the base. All the sinks leak and the floors underneath are constantly wet; therefore, mold. They downstack the dough trays before they dry and if they don't get used right away, mildrew grows in the trays. When they don't wash them well, mold grows on the dough stuck inside, too. When I put them back to be washed again, they just quickly rinse them off. No bleach or scrubbing to kill the stuff growing in them. The outside of the trays are black from grease buildup and improper washing. The other store has a wooden floor under the tiles and once again, since they're always wet by the sinks, mold growing in the wood. I can feel my lungs closing off after a few minutes in either store. Great for my allergies. Maybe I'll take my camera one day and document this. If customers had any idea what conditions their food was created.... Sad thing is, the health department has its "surprise" inspection about the same time every year and they'll probably clean it up just in time. Health inspections should be staggered and a major surprise.

Oh, yeah. Marcus and Mike made it to the top of Pikes Peak. Good for them. Marcus took some neat pictures. You should be able to check out the details of their hike HERE sometime soon. There are some small pics on the main page now. I'm sure he'd have it done by now if work didn't get in the way.