It’s Here Already

Lunchtime with the handheld. Time to blog about my pet peeve–writing about the economy.

I read a lot of financial news. It’s not as if I have any investments. But I’ve found a number of patterns emerge in the thirty-plus years of study. A main pattern I’ve found is the inability to call a financial spade a spade, especially when the evidence is right there in your face.

For example, the recession. It’s here. Been here for a while. But all news about the economy is couched in terms that state it may or may not be here. I guess they are afraid of scaring investors.

I think investors need to know the truth. The economy stnks. And it’s only going to get worse. I’m waiting for all the second mortgage foreclosures to kick in. That’s next, after the subprime stuff tails off. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that when your loan balances vs. your home value gets to 100 percent, and the values are still dropping, that spells potential trouble.

Start coming up with your plan now. It’s not going to get better.

Who Installed Spring?

I walked out of work just now, and was hit by a blast of warm air. It must be 50 out. Yesterday, I was wearing winter gloves. Gotta love Minnesota: the weather is always changing.

I am writing this while I am being chauffeured home by Metro Transit’s finest. Yes, this is another technology experiment. Plus I’m getting pretty good with this keyboard. I may wind up with carpal thumb, or whatever it’s called. I’m typing better with my thumbs than I do with all 10 fingers.

Weird.

That’s all I have to say for now, but I leave you with this question: what do you do with a man that defends Elliot Spitzer?

Trying Something New

I have a new toy. It’s a Palm Centro. I have almost all the bells and whistles on it. This is my test to see if I can blog on it.

It’s something else to use a microscopic key pad. I also wish it had a shift key on both sides.
If I wasn’t so nervous, I’d bet my wrist wouldn’t be so stiff. I’m on my lunch break, but I’m still paranoid.

On other personal technology fronts, the monitor on my main computer died Sunday. I had an old CRT style monitor in the basement from other technology battles. It works, but my God, the thing is HUGE.

Guess I’ll have to save up for a new LCD screen.

Enough from tech land. Back to work, me.

More Cowbell

That pretty much sums up my life lately. The only cure is more cowbell.

At least the laundry is caught up, we have three gallons of milk in the fridge, and I made a batch of killer dark chocolate brownies tonight.\

Must grade papers. Have fun, people.

See Ya, Kitchen God!

The girls and I had a mini Chinese New Year celebration last night. It was many hours early, but the way we looked at it (and the clock) it was already the new year back in China.

A couple weeks ago, Rachel and Sarah colored a picture of the Kitchen God, signed it, and posted it on the refrigerator. According to legend, the Kitchen God hangs out and makes note of all the goings on of the family throughout the year. A few days before the new year, the Kitchen God ascends to heaven in smoke and informs the ancestors of your behavior throughout the year.

We were late in releasing the Kitchen God to heaven, but he got there before midnight. Around 8 pm, the girls and I gathered with the Kitchen God, and burned him in the laundry room sink. I’m sure the ancestors will hear a bad report, because we didn’t do incense, offer fruit, or burn joss money either. (Although I have some of that around here somewhere.) Frankly, I was more concerned with not setting the house on fire or setting off the smoke alarms.

After we helped the Kitchen God ascend, the girls and I took some poppers left over from the 4th of July and made firecrackery noises in the driveway. In the dark. In 19 degree weather. Without our coats on. Two little Chinese kids and one big German woman yelling “Gong Si! Gong Si!” in the alley driveway and setting off fireworks.

We are SO lucky we have tolerant neighbors.

It was fun. The kids were so excited to have their own family new year celebration. I think we’ll have to keep building on those traditions. It’s fun for me too — a holiday with no strings (or history) attached.

Roll Over, Beethoven

Got a kick out of this meme posted by Dr. Brazen Hussy.

Here’s my new band and my debut album cover:


Here’s how I got it:

Make Your Own Album Cover
1. Click on this link. The title of the page is the name of your band.
2. Click on this link. The last four words of the final quotation on the page are the title of your album.
3. Click on this link. The third picture is your album cover.
4. Add your band name and title to the picture.

So, what’s yours look like?

Unplanned Diet – Not for the Squeamish

Been having some pain back where the wisdom tooth was removed two months ago. Went to the dentist Thursday, and came home with slightly less jawbone that I had earlier in the day.

Apparently I had an overgrowth of bone, because of the position of my former wisdom tooth. It cause a small portion of the wisdom tooth cavity to not heal properly. I irritated that area with a corn chip chomp-a-thon the week before.

So the overgrowth was removed and filed smooth (after some novacaine). I have a small hole that we are hoping to heal over on it’s own. Else, I will need a small surgical procedure to build a flap over the hole.

I can’t have alcohol, can’t chew, can’t have anything spicy, can’t have anything that would have small chunks of anything that could get caught in the hole.

I couldn’t even have communion at church this morning — I’m sure I looked totally pathetic, popping pills. I am thankful no one at church made any “jawbones of an ass” jokes. Although it was just hanging there… waiting to be said.

It’s really hard finding food that doesn’t have particles in it. Ice cream, yogurt, milk, coffee/mochas, peanut butter, juice smoothies with protein powder, and cream cheese are my primary foods.

I can also have Advil. Lots and lots of Advil. Dummy me, I should have asked for Vicodin. At least Vicodin doesn’t rot my stomach. I’ll be glad when the pain from the novocaine shots stops, too. That’s almost as bad as the pain from the jaw procedure.

I’ll be on this diet for 2 – 3 weeks. Three days in, and I’m sick of it already. I hope at least the scale will move downward.

Twelve Best

On his year-end episode of Tips from the Top Floor, Chris Marquardt challenged his listeners to find their twelve best photographs of 2007.

I’m presenting my list below. I’ve noticed that they may not all be “best”, but some are favorites. Also, many of them were taken at TFTTF get-togethers or the workshop. I think that tells me something: I need to slow down to take a good picture.

I got interrupted, so here are the first six, in no particular order:

2007’s RBOC Summary

It’s still January, so I still have time for a wrap-up of my 2007.

Overall:

  • Spoke my mind about issues at the day job, even though it may not have been a popular viewpoint. Yes, I’m still employed.
  • Dogs only needed routine vet care.
  • Got better organized, but not perfectly organized. Perfect is a dirty word, per The FlyLady.
  • Improved my Chinese by paying attention in class and listening to ChinesePod
  • Solidified my status as an iPod/internet radio junkie.

January 2007:

  • Said goodbye to the Year of the Dog (me), and hello to the Year of the Pig (John).

February 2007:

  • Got myself and the kids kicked out their gymnastics program because I wouldn’t put up with psycho kid of psycho mother picking on my kid. Of course, we were the problem.

March 2007:

  • Found a better gymnastics program through community ed. The kids have been promoted twice, and are doing better than ever.

April 2007:

  • Got reported to the Dean by a student I wasn’t paying enough attention to. With an explanation, it became no big deal.
  • Attended a live broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show in Minneapolis, was on the air for “Ask Dr. Maddow”, met Rachel and Kent, and got photos and autographs.

May 2007:

  • Attended my first and possibly my last Society for Technical Communication conference. It was in Minneapolis, so I could afford to go.

July 2007:

  • Earned a bonus for all the extra work I did in my writing class, and for the master class overall.
  • Purchased a used laptop with the bonus.

August 2007:

  • Headlice outbreak #1
  • Experimented with open source software (on the laptop). Developed a fondness for Open Office Writer, especially after a miserable conversion at work to Office 2007.

September

  • Headlice outbreak #2

October 2007:

  • Attended a four-day photography workshop (Tips from the Top Floor)
  • Headlice outbreak #3
  • Public declaration: I hate Word 2007.

December 2007:

  • Headlice outbreak #4
  • Actually wrote a Christmas letter and mailed out Christmas cards this year.

Not an overly exciting or earth-shattering year. But I’m glad it’s over.

Time for a nap.