Defying Gravity, Trust my instincts and leap!
First I want to wish my hubby2be a most happy Birthday.
This Wicked girl (there’s a name not all of you know me by… ) did a little defying of gravity today.
How did I do that?
Well I woke up with a migraine. No, thats not how. It’s just a fact. But while I was trying to recoup from the brain shattering pain, I decided to do some emailing.
Normally I would wait till the headache went away to do this so that I could be more coherent in my intentions.
Something urged me to go ahead and email a certain person anyway.
So I popped on Facebook (as I don’t have their personal email right now), went to their profile page. And typed up a private message to them.
Within 5 minutes they had responded back.
Most importantly, they responded back with a “yes!” (I’m paraphrasing there)
I had been putting off sending this email for a while, as I didn’t quite know how to word it, I didn’t want them to laugh at me. I didn’t want the rejection. So I delayed in asking.
Since I’ve only started the project (Super Sekret Projeckt mind you) a short while ago, and the physical aspect of it only a few days ago, asking the question now was not a high priority.
I can’t even take care of the entire thing until after I move to England. And gods know when that will be.
But I wanted to put the thought in their head in case they needed time to think about it. I wanted to get my duckies in a row. I’m a planner. I’m a worrier. And sometimes it appears I’m flying by the seat of my pants.
But the awesome thing is they said yes. Which means I can cross one more thing off my Universal to do list.
And by the way…. it’s going to be epic.
Now I need to get off my bum and get to dyeing for the day. I’m also working on ideas for my steampunk costume for Anomaly Con.
2011 With a new look!
Well.. it’s taken some tinkering, but I think I’ve finally decided on a look for the blog that I like.
Let me know what you all think? Anything I need to change and what not.
I’ve got many ideas and plans for 2011, and now that I’m not cranky and depressed I’m starting to focus on those.
I can’t tell you about all the plans, simply because there are some meanie heads (yes, that was being polite when I really want to call those people (and I’m using a plural to be polite) a certain 4 letter “C” word that I never never never use and generally want to punch a person in the face when they use it. But these “people” deserve the label.) will attempt to steal the ideas.
But yes, I’ve got very big plans for this year. And I’m not talking about the move or supposed wedding!
In regards to the wedding and move, I’m not making any plans. To make plans would be to tempt fate once again.
It’s been a tense couple of days between me and My Guy. Moving brings out the worst in people, finding suitable housing always makes me cranky. I hate searching for places. The UK also makes it very difficult for apartment searches. They don’t believe in renting over there, the mind set is “to own”. Well, that is all fine and dandy if you are one who not just wants to own, but can own. So you are lucky if you get a crappy image of the outside of the building when it comes to rental properties. Oh, and that is the only image. No floor plan, no measurements. Nothing. Just a crappy outside image.
So it gets frustrating. And My Guy is wonderful, but the worst when it comes to searching for housing. He’s picky to say the least.
As I was typing this up though, I checked my email and found that a deposit has been put down on a place.
My Guy sent me the link yesterday, with photos from his viewing. And after the big upset that had happened over the last “promising place”, I was certainly nervous opening the email. (The argument had not been pretty.) I will say I let out the breath I had been holding. There was light.
One of my big things was fear of living in a dark cramped little closet. I get depressed. I suffer a bit from Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D). Also moving to a new country, with weird customs, and no friends close by… All while not being able to work for the first 6 months… in my mind is a recipe for severe depression.
This little place has light. It has a galley style kitchen (only it doesn’t go through to anything other a Juliet Balcony).
It has a black stovetop which is good if I ever dye. Woodgrain countertops, and though the sink is smaller than I’d like (and only a 1 basin sink) I’ll manage somehow.
The bathroom is downstairs, with a window. Which makes me happy so that I can get the steam out and not have a mildew covered bathroom.
The bedroom is upstairs. That is the only problem that I really see (other than just general size of the little place.. but can’t do much about that on our budget right now). I can just see me with my bad knees having to go pee at 2am and going down those stairs. Oh well, if there is a problem, it might mean I finally get the second knee surgery I need lol.
It’s over a shop, which is weird to me. I’ve never lived over a shop. I might go mad during those first 6 months. Or it means I’ll spend my days at the pub next door, with my laptop working on the novel. The pub is literally down the stairs next door. It’s called The Seven Red Roses. I rather like that name for what will be “my local”. The post office is also literally right next door. As well as a Curves (which I’ve never gone to curves, but if it’s the closest gym, I might give it a go). There is also a pilates studio, that has the machines. I might give that a go, I know I can’t just do the floor routine for pilates, not with my back the way it is, and I haven’t had the chance to try the pilates machines.
I still do not know if I will be allowed to run my business during the first 6 months of living in the UK. I understand the reason for the “not allowed to work”, as they don’t want people just marrying for the Green Card. Wait, to they call it a Green Card in the UK? You know what I mean though. I think there should be an exception for owning your own business though. *shrugs* we’ll find out, and if I’m not allowed to run the business, I won’t. (Hear that government people? I won’t work during those 6 months. If I dye, it’ll be for my own personal use, and that is all.)
I started a diet at the end of last year. And since the 2nd of January, I have lost 14.4lbs. To put it in British terms, I have lost just over a “stone“.
I don’t know if it’s simply because of the diet, or if it’s just the universe telling me something I should be doing with my life (beyond dyeing yarn)… but I have been dreaming and fantasizing about owning a bakery for the past few weeks now.
Colorado has far too strict laws in regards to food sales, so sadly all my plotting and planning will have to wait till after I move to the UK. I have someone researching the laws in the UK, but I believe they are slightly more relaxed.
But just because I cannot sell my wares right now (once my diet is over of course, I’m not going to tempt myself like that) doesn’t mean I can’t bake them and perfect them. I’ve already got a menu of items to perfect. I can also test an idea I have in regards to keeping things fresh and shipping them, not just across the country but across the pond.
This little baking dream I’ve been having has actually done a wonderful thing. My big brother Merlin and I have reconnected over it. Baking and cooking was a very magical thing in our house growing up. All of us kids did it, and we enjoyed doing it. Whether it was grilling a piece of fish on a tiny grill hanging off the back of the boat, or if it was a Chocolate cake with Peppermint Frosting (pink even!) for a sleepover. We are a family of foodies.
In my comments about this dream on Facebook, he encouraged me. Since I haven’t actually seen Merlin since… Wow, I want to say 10 years ago now… this is a big deal to me that we’ve reconnected. I didn’t get to see him at the engagement party, that he and his now fiancée flew out for. (They got engaged the night before the engagement party, but didn’t tell anyone until afterwards because they didn’t want to take away from my “thunder” well, considering I wasn’t even at the engagement party, I would have been pleased as punch for them to announce it then as then it would have been a REAL engagement party. lol)
Stories I am working on this year:
Aether Horizons
Nope, haven’t dropped this one. Still working on it. While I was in England I did a little artwork to get myself inspired.
That is an idea for Vesper Ravenwood. I enjoyed playing with it.
And here is a logo for the HMAES Valerian, the ship that takes them oh so far amongst the clouds.
Then there of course is still the Unnamed Blitz Novella. I don’t think it’ll get a name till it’s done, and I cannot finish it till I get into England and can take a walk or two. I am not giving this one up at all, because I really like it.
Mind you, the image for the Blitz Novella isn’t pretty. It was thrown together without the aid of photoshop. Someday I’ll clean it up when I have photoshop again (meaning after the move as the main computer of the house has it)
And then of course there is the new little short story project that I am working on. I announced it in the last blog.
Can’t really give you the title at this time, but you’ll know it has to do with the mysterious person named “Bliss Leigh Happy”. I cannot wait till this one is ready for public consumption. It shall be quite fun!
I’ve been working my ass off the past couple of days dyeing yarn. I’m exhausted. Today I’m going to edit some photos and put listings up in the shop, and I might do a bit more dyeing, but I’m certainly not going to do as much as I did the other day.
The Sherlock Holmes Yarn Club has been a hit! People are expressing that they enjoy the yarns and the swag they’ve received, which makes me quite happy. I was nervous about my yarn babies going off into the world.
Books I’m currently reading:
Tekwar by William Shatner (haven’t actually touched this one in a while)
Two for the Dough by Janet Evonovich
and I just got from the library (haven’t opened them up yet but I will later today):
Death Masks by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #5)
The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson (#2)
I guess I’m done yammering. I should go make some lunch and then get to work on what I was going to work on.
Bugs and Hisses everyone.
High Flying Burlesque
Okay in truth it was Low flying Burlesque, but High flying sounds better and doesn’t confuse people as much.
Yesterday I drove up to Boulder to have some trap time with Frequent Flyers, much to the annoyance of Saki as she was not allowed to go with me, and this was the first day that I’ve had to actually leave her for more than an hour or two since everyone else left for England.
Doesn’t she look absolutely disgruntled? No, this image isn’t from yesterday. It’s just one I had on my phone, and I love how disgruntled she looks.
Yup, still gotta say it… I miss Boulder.
I arrived quite early (you never really know if it’s going to take an hour, or if it’s going to take 2 hours). So what did I do? I found the studio (the last time I was there, they were at a different location), then I headed down the street to McGuckins Hardware. Oh how I missed that place. I know, it’s just a hardware store… But truth is, it’s more than one. And everyone is so nice, and they have the most cool random stuff.
I then went next door to Sunflower Market and picked up a few things for dinner. I had left the house at 4, so since it was now close to 6, I figured I should eat. (Why didn’t I eat before I left the house? Well who eats at 4??? Oh.. that’s right.. I used to when I was a slave to the tech desks. I’ve moved on. Now sometimes I don’t eat dinner till 8pm)
I picked up some bread like object, a little Jarlsberg cheese, and a tomato. (Oh, and some two bite brownies just because I wanted them.)
Few bites of each I then headed over to the studio.
There were only a few of us in the class, other than Darla I was the only non Aerial person there. (I consider myself non aerial for this since it’s been so many years since I got on a bar that I was fresh meat again)
I immediately gouged my finger on the edge of one of my nails. Apparently when I broke my nails earlier in the day I apparently didn’t file down one corner enough. Lovely.
I’ve also realized that oh my god I haven’t worked out in nearly a month. And though weight lifting 60lbs might be good for a girl who hasn’t worked out for a while… lifting myself up is a lot harder. My god it’s been years since I had to do that. And yes, my upper body strength sucks. Due to how my body frame is, most of my awkward weight is up top. Yup, I’m top heavy. Most of my strength though is in my legs, which doesn’t help all horribly much when you are lifting yourself up.
I must say, I felt awesome hanging upside down. Just hanging for about a minute, my spine immediately decompressed and I was feeling good.
This led to problems later though. When I felt things release in my spine, it must have shifted or tweaked one or two of the nerve clusters. Because about 20 minutes later I got immediately nauseous. (So that puts it at about 45 minutes into the class) I mustered on for a little while, but realized I wasn’t going to be able to get on the trap again without risking blowing chunks.
It had nothing to do with spinning, or being upside down. It just was the nerve cluster situation. This wasn’t the first time this has happened, so I know it wasn’t me not being able to handle being upside down etc.
So for the rest of the class I did the routine just on the floor (which was fine since there were 6 of us, and only 4 traps).
Part of me is disappointed that I couldn’t continue, but that’s alright. I know my limits, and I also know that I’m absolutely broken. I’ve been broken for years.
Everyone was very friendly, and the instructor whose name I cannot remember was awesome. I do remember that her burlesque name is Midnight Martini. She was quite fun.
I know what muscles I need to work on so that I can get back on the trap without being unable to move the next day.
Speaking of not being able to move the next day… yup… I’m there. I can barely move my arms… seriously even typing this hurts. I can barely walk because of my right leg.
Surprisingly.. my back is fine. Yup.. the drive home was not painful. I honestly thought my back would be absolutely tweaking.. it’s not. It’s only starting to hurt now, but not because of the trap. It’s because of the normal “ugh there is no chair or couch in the house that doesn’t cause me pain”.
Here is bruise on my leg. Isn’t it sexy? I mean ohhh yeah.. sooo sexy. It’s going to be a nice mottled green color by the time I make it to the UK. Might have a little yellow in it too. Oh yeah… so sexy. The arms have small bruises as well, but I couldn’t get good photos of that.
Sorry the photos suck, it’s my cellphone camera, and well do you know how difficult it is to photograph the back of your own leg when you can barely move to begin with? To be honest I had huge difficulty putting on pants, I debated going with out the rest of the day, but to be honest.. it’s a bit cold lol. I call that there my $30 Bruise. Sure it actually cost me more than $30 because of factoring in the cost of gas up there, but that doesn’t sound as good. Do I regret it? Nope. I had lots of fun, even with not being able to participate in the second half of the workshop, and had nausea for the evening.
I need to clean the house and do the dishes.. But frankly.. it’s going to be a couple of hours before that’s happening.
And you might be asking yourself if I’m sad that Colorado Springs has no aerial studio at all? Yes. Of course. I cannot justify driving to Boulder, or Denver to do classes once a week. Oh, and that’s annoying… I lived in the Hampden and I-25 area for the bulk of my time in Colorado, not once but twice I lived in that area, and now it’s only NOW that they have an aerial studio. Damn them.
Which means as soon as I actually move to the UK, there will be a aerial studio set up in the Springs. Just you watch it.. it’ll happen.
Does this mean that someday when I buy my orchard, I’ll be converting a portion of the barn to a low trap studio? Yes… yes I will.
Does it mean that until I actually can buy the orchard, I’ll have to find a studio in England, even if it means taking a train for an hour each way once a week? Yes. (After I move to the UK, I will be striving to become less broken, and will have the ability to do so… which means I can then justify getting back on a trap)
Alright.. I think I’ve sufficiantly written about last night.
Oh, and I’ve been a good girl, even though it was nearly midnight and I couldn’t see straight, I wrote a bit on the novel.
I’ve been taking part in NaNoWriMo. Not to the degree that others are, but I’ve been using it as an excuse to get back into writing every day. So even if I only write a sentence, I’m happy.
Alright, I should really go make some toast or something for brekkie… Otherwise I’ll end up eating most of these two bite brownies.
Bugs and Hisses!
Oh.. and yeah… I dyed 30 skeins of yarn in 2.5 hours. Fear me bitchez.
Oh and one last note, I’ll be reorganizing my tag categories on here, so if you see some weird stuff going on… just ignore it.
Making Compost For My Garden…
Today I read my Rissa’s blog. She spoke of when life gives you lemons, you have a few options. For the most part you should know the usual options…
She suggested though using those rotten lemons to make compost for your garden so that something beautiful can grow.
Well, like her I do not have a garden right now. But mentally… I’m making compost.
She also spoke of having put her life on hold for many things recently.
Well, again like her I have put many things on hold. I didn’t even unpack my suitcases from the not so great trip to the UK.
I didn’t get any writing done since… At all.
So today, even though I was very sleepy.. I drove my new car (Oh yes! I had to buy a car. I’ll explain later) to get the O2 sensor replaced, and while I was waiting… I had had the foresight to bring my writing notebook (I decided to bring it after Rissa’s blog), and I wrote a good damn number of pages, and more importantly the stuff I wrote was good. It also finished off nicely a current bit of a chapter. This made me happy.
Alright, on to other news. New Car.
Bryon decided to act up last week when we were driving Mim up to the airport. After needing to rent a car to get her all the way to the airport, I decided that enough was enough. We had gotten the car running again, and drove it straight to the Springs not stopping at all. Dropped it off at our mechanic, and I frankly haven’t heard a word of it since. That was a few days ago. And well, my mechanic is going through lots of family stuff right now so he’s backed up.
Which is fine with me. I plan on getting Byron up and running (cheaply) so that I can turn around and sell him on craigslist (or have my mechanic sell it.)
But the situation still left us without wheels. And that would not do. A few days later I was going to have to be driving up to Denver to drop my mother off at the airport. I myself am still waiting on my visa, so that I can get to Denver and fly to the UK.
So the day that Byron breaks down, I start a car search just to see what was out there. I find one that looks intriguing. I talk with the cousin, who was on her layover in Minnesota. She thinks the one I found sounds intriguing. So I call to schedule an appointment to see it for the next morning.
Thankfully friends pick me up, they will be watching the puppy and the cat while we are all gone, so we were introducing the dog to their cat, to make sure that there would be no blood.
I borrow the Y Chromosome from my friend, and he and I check out the car.
My first thought: It’s blue! I’ve never had a blue car!
It’s a 1999 Saturn SW1. So yes, it’s a wagon. Which is good because now we’ll have a vehicle to actually haul the stuff we need to constantly move.
Here is the amusing part. It’s a right hand drive. No, it wasn’t actually used for postal work. But it’s freaking amusing.
I mean honestly, how likely is it that we’d find a right hand drive vehicle in Colorado Springs, for under the budget I had set, when st least one if not everyone in the household needs to learn to drive in the UK? (Budget being like my entire life savings and move to the UK fund) Apparently those odds are better than I would have thought.
So I drive it. Being on the right side is weird. I have mum drive it, she agree’s it’s weird.
The Y Chromosome poked about the engine (he is a mechanically inclined y chromosome which was helpful and another reason I had brought him) and deemed it looking good.
For the first time in my life, I was buying a car from a dealer. It felt strange. I don’t know if it was desperation or providence, but I decided to buy it.
Of course, why is it that it’s only after you drive away that odd noises happen?
Really, it’s just me getting used to a new car… but oh boy she makes such different noises than Byron.
Then the check engine light went on. I of course freaked. Thankfully the dealer had said that if there were any problems for 60 days he’d fix it. So I called him.
I got his voicemail. Of course I start freaking. I’m wondering if this was a bad decision blah blah blah. One of my first thoughts was that it was an 02 sensor. divination skillz. I haz dem.
Well, he called me back 10 minutes later. I drove over to his garage, he ran the codes. It was the 02 sensor. Yup. I haz de skillz.
He fixes the first sensor, but he can’t fix the second one right then because well, he’s 70 and can’t go crawling under the car. His younger mechanic wouldn’t be available till Tuesday, and just to bring it back then. I had no problem with this. I wanted to do the big test on the car before coming back anyway just in case there was anything I needed to let him know about further.
I am exhausted today because I had to wake up at 3:45am to drive mother of mine to the airport. But the car passed it’s test. The check engine light came on again, but I knew it would. That light was referencing the other sensor that hadn’t been changed yet.
And after we raised the drivers seat up, it was nice to drive. Normally while driving Byron my back would go numb within 10 minutes. This time, there was only a slight twinge when I was nearly home, but nothing near the pain I am normally in after a 2+hour drive to Denver and back.
By the way, the car’s name is Ginny. I decided that it needed a good British name due to her righthandedness.
I’m in the process of knitting a Golden Snitch to put on the dashboard.
Yes. I’m a dork.
So mind you during all of this for the past few days, I’m freaking out because Pan my kitty who had a cat fight weeks ago… came running to me with a bloody ear. There was a nickel sized gaping hole at the base of his ear.
We clean it out, doctor him up. The next day we realize it didn’t get cleaned out like it needed… but now it’s healing properly and he’s not in pain at all.
But thanks to him doing that, and all the other stress I’ve had going on in the last month, I’ve not gotten much sleep. Last night was no bueno as well.
Now that I am the only one in the house and there is no time obligation for me at all… tonight I’m going to take a sleeping pill and zonk the hell out.
With all the compost I’ve been making the last month with these damn lemons.. I’m going to have one freaking beautiful garden.
My life is a country song…
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Don’t worry, it’ll be back up later. 🙂
Gelato of yummy evilness
I must yell at Jes for introducing me to a little gelato shop in Colorado Springs.
I love gelato. I have for a long time. Last time I was in Vegas, I walked the entire length of the strip to get to the Venetian so that I could have some gelato at the little place there.
Well, there is a place not too far from where I live. It’s exactly directly across from where I live… As the crow flies. Unfortunately the crow does not have to deal with a bluff… namely Austin Bluffs, which the road is named for. So it takes me much longer to get to the little gelato shop than it should.
It only opened up last month, and I cannot remember it’s name at the moment, but oh my god is it good.
For the last 2 months I’ve been making some ice cream.
I’ve nearly gotten it right. But the last batch turned out a lot naturally lighter than normal ice cream and I was sitting there going “it reminds me of gelato” and then I go and have gelato again and BOOM.. I was right. Mine just wasn’t as creamy because I didn’t strain it through cheesecloth.
Well I have cheesecloth on hand, I’ve got my cream, I’ve got my milk.. And I am even going to attempt to make my own caramel sauce to make a caramel gelato.
Life has been busy. I’ve been doing a lot of orders, and I’ve even just reopened the shop. Yay! I’ve also started working on some major happenings in the Asylum, which I’ll be filling everyone in on later.
I’ve been filling out important documents… like my visa paperwork.
I also got back into writing on Aether Horizons. I had an interesting little twist in the story that I wasn’t expecting. A new character even.
I’ve been doing a lot of things for the wedding, including buying the centerpieces etc.
Lots of knitting, even in the hot weather. Working on a few projects, “Sneaky attack elf”, “Falling through time and space”, and “Royal Brew”
Of course there shall be photos soon of everything I just mentioned.
I guess that’s all for now. I’ll go start making some gelato now. Success or fail story tomorrow.
And for those who don’t know, gelato is Italian ice cream, but not nearly as fatty, yet maintaining major creaminess. It is yummy.
Seaweed goodness, And the chance to win a Wicked handmade
Alright, so I realize I’ve been a little quite.
I’ve been.. busy, and then yesterday I was avoiding getting on any site I actually care about. Why risk the nastys that are floating around the intarwebs. (considering we’ve been dealing with a nasty virus at work, and it’s not that conficker thing, I just again don’t want it on my comp at home.)
Knitting:
I’ve been working on a “Seaweed Shrug” as I’ve been calling it..
Not a good photo, but you can at least see why I’ve been calling it the sea weed shrug.
This photo is from a few days ago, and it’s at least 3 feet longer by now. Okay, mayhaps not that much.. but darn near close. I will of course have photos of the finished product.
Also on the knitting front, I am opening up a little give away.
I originally posted it on my facebook, but I’ve gotten no one to actually follow the rules. I might give them something anyways, if I can’t get 5 people to pay it forward on their own.
I’m feeling crafty…..so I think this one will work out fine
The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me. (You do not have to have been tagged.) This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully: HECK I MAY JUST SEND TO ALL THAT POST A COMMENT 🙂
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. It may be baked goods.
5.I reserve the right to do something extremely strange, if inspired to do so.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make something for me and the first 5 to respond to your note.
7. Send me your mailing address if you don’t live close to me!IMPORTANT: This offer is at your discretion but I would like to think null and void if I do not see you post your own note to pay this forward
Moving on..
I am rather tired this morning as it started snowing yesterday. What was supposed to be flurries was as ferocious as the blizzard we had.
So this morning something woke me up before my alarm.. might have been my internal alarm that i set last night, and also my cat helped wake me up. That meant I was out of bed when I my first alarm went off at 4:30.
I was dressed and downstairs 10 minutes later brushing off my car. Thankfully the snow stopped, but it was nothing but ice on the streets.
Had to stop and get gas, because I was not going to deal with trecherous driving on a nearly empty tank. Nope.. thats just asking to get stuck somewhere and not being able to run your car every 10 minutes for warmth because you ran out of a gas after the second “gotta keep warm” segment.
I got to work by 5:30, but I took it slow and steady the entire time. Yeah, a few red lights happened while I was still going through the intersection, but any cop would see that there was no way I could have stopped and I was already half way through the intersection before it went red.
Today is going to be a long day no matter what the call volume is like. Just because I’m so very tired.
Yesterday was odd… it was the first time in a long time where I didn’t talk to Guy at all (when I wasn’t upset with him.)
I wasn’t on any real chatting sites or anything that could snag my info, and he was also at a Rugby match (right? I can’t recall if it was Football or rugby) in Bath.
Which accordingly to the email I got this morning, Bath is now on one of the lists of “It’d be nice to move here.” From what I’ve seen in photos and such like that, yes I would enjoy Bath a lot. So I’m not opposed to the idea. It’s very Roman in the archtecture and just.. beautiful. I can’t wait to someday visit.
Had some unpleasentness at work the past few days, but it’s been resolved, and in the end I was doing my job as I was told to do it. So.. *shrugs* it’s all good and my manager backed me up on it.
I guess I’m done rambling for now..
Books:
Bed book: Mirror, Mirror by Gregory McGuire
Couch book: Unusual Suspects – (Sookie Stackhouse short story is in it)
Purse book: the unchanging – Peshawar Lancers
Seriously shocking
I am still in shock.
I just had a … wait for it…
Pleasant experience calling Customer Service!
Brian at Overstock.com… whoever you are, you were a peach.
All it took was me giving my order number. Confirming my phone number and address. Giving him a brief run down of what the heck was going on with my Zen, and voila!
Within 24 hours, I will have my printable mailing label in my email box.
I already have my Zen and all the little bits of hardware that came with it (i’m missing just the silly little bag/pouch that came with it, and one of the software cd’s. the tiny lanyard, I’m just gonna not worry about as it works very well attached to my mothers camera, and I doubt they will notice thats not in the box) back into it’s box, and snugged inside a box fit for mailing. All I have to do, is tape the box up, slap the label on it and drop it in the mail.
The entire phone call took less than 10 minutes, honestly it took me longer to gather all the bits and pieces and do a half assed search for the software cd.
It sucks that my Zen died, but I’m glad that I had spent the 10$ for the 2 year warranty on it. Of course, that warranty will expire this up coming Nov, but I think I can renew it. I’ll have to look into that. I just need my zen to last me 18 months. Yes, I say 18 months, because if it dies in 17 months, and I’m stuck on the plane to the UK (18 hour flight minimum) with no music, or having to deal with the old school of CD’s. I’ll most likely kill someone. So, in 18 months, after I’ve had a chance to settle into the UK, it can die. I’ll get a new one. Because at that time, I should be able to afford the nice like… oh 40 gig one instead of the puny little 4 gig one I have now.
I don’t care if they just fix mine, or replace it or give me credit for a new one. I honestly don’t care, either way I’ll have a new zen soon. If they just give me credit for a new one, I don’t think they even have the 4gig ones on the website anymore, so I’d just spend a bit more and get one of the newer models. With more space on it.
But all in all, within the next 2 weeks, I’ll have my music back. Woohoo.
I don’t think there was any music on my music player that I can’t replace.. I think I was smart and either have it all on cd or I’ve still got it zipped on my computer. It’ll just require me to unzip the files again. I think I’ve even got my playlist for the “A Hard Day’s Bite” Inspiration list.
Though, I don’t think the version of the playlist I have on my laptop is up to date. Either way, thats no biggie.
Today I am home from work. Stupid Presidents day. Most likely there won’t be any posts from me later this week, simply because I’ll be working 10 hour days. Yup. Even friday. (Though, since I never do take lunch, I’ll most likely still be able to leave after 8 hours instead of 10 hours on Friday…)
Reading update:
Just finished reading “Wolfsbane and Mistletoe” Which was a collection of werewolf novels, obviously set at Christmas. I only read it for the Charlaine Harris story of “Gift Wrap” (Sookie Stackhouse). None of the other stories grabbed my interest at all to even bother reading them, and I was more interested in getting back to my knitting. So eventually I’ll own the book and go back and read all the other stories.
I also finished reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I can’t recall if I spoke about at all or not. I loved the book.
I also finished reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. Which I have to say, I enjoyed this one so much more than i’ve enjoyed any of the others in the series that are set in the “Americas”. I am actually looking forward to the next one.
Couch book: How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubrin (haven’t actually started it yet)
Bed book: Tale of Desperaux
Purse book: as always, it is still The Peshawar Lancers
Knitting update:
I am about halfway done with my project of Entrelac. It looks rather pretty.. I love it. Due to the colors, it is becoming a project for Guy, which I’m sure he will use. After all, the UK has been rather cold right now.
And on a completely random note… I just watched Labyrinth for the first time in a long time. Sigh. I love that movie. I giggle at all the goblins.
Throwing the hat in..
So, last night a decision was made. What was that decision?
Well, a local MP in Guy’s area has decided to retire. He has decided that he doesn’t want to be in office when he turns 60. So he is stepping down. I understand his decision whole heartily… I mean, the political life can be rough, especially when your in your “I should be retired” years.
Guy has decided to throw his hat in the political arena. This is not a surprise as his eventual goal is to become Prime Minister, and one has to start somewhere.
The surprise is the timing. We weren’t even going to start this kind of endeavour until he graduated, and I was over there with him.
At this stage, it is just submitting his name for even the option to run. But, if he gets selected, then he’ll start campaigning etc. He’d also be the youngest MP.
I am sad, as I want to be there to help him campaign etc. I had braced myself for the Political Wifely duty, but this is … Early!
I cannot tell him not to do it, because the opportunity is unlikely to present it’s self again any time soon and he’d be a fool not to submit his name.
This is what we have been hoping for. 3 years now, we have been working towards this. It’s just.. again… early!
If Guy were to get selected. And actually WIN the campaign… He would become a MP, and he would have a salary around £57,000 (I think thats the number he told me last night) a year, and also accommodation in London. (Well, up to £20,000 for accommodation) which.. hell. We could do nicely with that.
The money aside, this would be the perfect start to Guy’s political career and eventual run for Prime Minister.
We want this!
It would also mean, that if he won the campaign, I would be hot footing it out there sooner rather than later. (After I get my tax refund, I’ll be only like 5 months away from having the full amount I’m trying to save for the move. But with Guy’s salary, we wouldn’t have to wait those 5 months)
Methinks I’m going to start lighting candles and doing my witchy stuff.
I ask for prayers (doesn’t matter who you pray to), and thoughts and wishes to help in this matter as it would drastically change both mine and Guy’s life for the better.
Now, I’m being sensible, and I’m not getting my hopes up. I’ve known too many Murphey’s to be that silly. But I am letting that little hope in side of me actually think about how great it would be.
Yeah, moving to England sooner rather than later would be sweet, but it’s not even that that I’m thinking of. It’s the fact that if he did get this, he’d be one step closer to his dream, and for me that means a lot.
I can suffer through 16.5 more months of a job that makes me want to cry and pull my hair out.
I can horde my finances away each month for another 16.5 months. I’ve been doing it for over a year already.
I can live as I’ve been living for the last year and a half (I say that because, I wasn’t happy with my living setup prior to that coughDot/Amanda/Cherylcough
So when it comes down to it, I can and will live how I’ve been living for the last 2 years. But to have him get closer to his dream, sooner rather than later, would make everything much better for the both of us.
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