Sick, slack, suck...

So I’m sick. I don’t like being sick, mainly because it tends to affect or inhibit other things I do often, such as walking up flights of stairs or going to work. This particular illness seems to’ve circulated around a few different people thus far, resulting as follows:

1. Nicholas: A rather wretched case of bronchitis, now abating.
   
2. Katie: A few sniffles and such, apparently, but luckily nothing major.
   
3. Joey: 48-hr.Rom curse flu.
   
4. Dave: A few sniffles and the desire for a 5-hr.nap the other day.
   
5. Allison: Pneumonia and a hospital visit.
   
6. Matthew: A reminder to take extra vitamin C.

...and I got Type A flu, which I mistakenly thought was bronchitis as it feels much the same. Good thing I stopped by the iNova on the way back to the apt.last night. The symptoms are much the same except my lungs are just a wee bit clearer than most bronchial infections & it’s a viral strain, not bacterial. On one hand that’s nice because no one wants bronchitis. It’s a terrible piece of business that makes one feel like battered Hell. On the other hand it blows a bit because it means I can’t take antibiotics to knock it out; I just get to sit here & wait while dealing with most of the same kinds of symptoms for bronchitis and the common cold. That latter part’s for choads. While I don’t *like* being sick, I know it’s going to happen, so for the most part I can deal. What I actually don’t like is not knowing when it’s going to be done.

SIDE NOTE: By the way, care to try something terribly uncomfortable? Anyone else had to have a “flu swab” done? I haven’t. I was not aware that this means the nurse takes a 6”-long Q-tip & tries to slide a good part of it up your nose in order to tickle your brain, torturing it into telling her what’s wrong with you. This was...unpleasant. I felt sort of like a dog on a vet’s table. You’ve no idea why the person in the funny-patterned shirt’s speaking in soothing tones while simultaneously scratching your frontal lobe through your nose with a stick. She seems nice, so you don’t want to hurt her, which means you’re left trying to be patient while shifting further back on the exam table and making scrunched, discomfited snuffling faces after escaping said stick.

Doctor said I’d be smart if I stayed home for about a week, got as much bed rest as possible and just waited it out. I reminded Doctor of current job market and said that was not an option. Doctor offered staying away from work another two days, I counter-offered going back Wednesday, Doc wrote the note. Followed up with work again this morning, told my supervisor what the doctor said and was informed I was *not* to come in today whatsoever, that she might see me tomorrow. I told her she would see me tomorrow because I’ve too damned much to do. Warned her ahead of time that I’d likely be hacking like no one’s business and would sound horrible, but that I’d come armed with Purell and Lysol and that if people were going to be sketchy about my presence she’d best tell ‘em all today that I’m coming in tomorrow so they can stay the Hell away. Bitches be crazy if they think I’m stayin’ out of work for a whole damned week.

Now I go to the grocery store high on cold syrup to obtain anti-coughing pills and an inhaler the doc prescribed last night. Maybe some juice & more tea, too. Oh, by the way? 3 parts blueberry green tea, 1 part lemon green tea & 1 part pomegranate tea + honey & lemon = really quite good.

More later.

~E.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Had a rather long day yesterday, but it was good. Worked some overtime again (big surprise, may happen again today), but made a concerted effort to get to the gym afterwards. Succeeded, then had my ass handed to me by said gym. Politely, but firmly, declined to pay an extra $300 - $600 for a "Personal Trainer Package" as (barring profit from the sale of my organs) I am not made of money. For the time being I'll simply have to try & muddle through figuring out the machines & their use on my own.

Raced back to the apt.to clean up & change, then sped over to meet people (albeit late) for wings. Didn't have a whole lot to eat earlier in the day and after the gym I was SO very hungry. Had grilled chicken fingers w/the sauce, though, instead o/buffalo wings. Go me.

Slept better last night than I have in a really long time. I think I only woke up once, which is kind of a big deal considering I usually do at least twice, usually three or four times a night. Got up this morning and, though I was a little tired for about the first 1/2 hour, felt great after that and have since. If this is what going to the gym makes a person feel like every time they visit, I can see why it's so addictive. Can't wait to try out the yoga class next week. :)

Have a ton to finish today before I leave work. Depending on when time that is may actually be able to hang out w/Katiedid for the first time since last week to run around Georgetown & do some window shopping, which would be supah-keen as I've not been down there in awhile.

All righty, must head back to work before I become all distracted again. More later.

~E.

Commence with the gymmery...

I finally decided on a gym to try for awhile, being LA Fitness. I've heard good and bad things about the chain, but after weighing the pros & cons of the various options in the area, I thought this would suit for the time being. Could not get over what they wanted me to pay for this membership, seriously. I spoke to friends who go there, I did my own research, and then decided on a range I was willing to pay. I want to be more active and start working out, but not to the detriment of my all ready limited budget.

Called LAF around noon yest.to arrange an appt.for a tour after work. Specifically told XYZ gentleman that I was not sure exactly when I'd get there, only that it would be somewhere between 5:30p & 9p as I was working late. That was fine, he'd be closing anyway, just drop in and ask for him. Duder then calls my cell 3x (4:40p, 5:58p & 6:28p) to confirm our “appointment”. ::raises an eyebrow:: Eh-heh.

Arrived at 7p, met Mr. XYZ, took tour. Gym seems nice, there appear to be plenty of machines I like avail.(even @ 7p when it's still a bit crowded from the leftover after-work crew), etc. Check. Locker rooms look good, there are probably enough lockers, more than a couple showers avail., clean. Check, check, check, check. No towel service. N/A, could care less. Pool if I ever wish to use it & evening yoga classes included with membership. Check, check, okay. Return from tour and Mr. proceeds to try and convince me that the following rates & reg.fees are reasonable:

Option #1: Initial Registration Fee - $249, then a mo.-to-mo.fee of $39.99
OR
Option #2: Initial Registration Fee - $149, then a mo.-to-mo.fee of $49.99

o_@!!! ::coughs:: I beg your pardon, are you serious? Oh you are, I see. There’s more? Well it can’t be a good thing, you’re starting to shift uncomfortably in your chair. Oh, I have to pay the first and last mo’s bill along with the initial registration fee to sign up? Uh-huh, I see. Why is that, considering it’s a month to month contract? Oh, it’s just like an apartment. Mm-hm. Okay, you know I’m not moving *into* the gym, right? Ha ha! Yes, wasn’t that funny? Oh, it’s just company policy. I see, okay, so my *real* options #1 & #2 are either $330 today, then $40/mo.after, or $250 today, then $50/mo.after. ...I see.

I did my research beforehand, checking other locations, rates, etc., so this wasn’t gonna fly for me. Politely but firmly tell Mr. XYZ I appreciate the info., but the combined fees were simply far more than what I was looking to pay and I would need to continue researching other locations. Answered w/the names of those locations and some idea of rates. Mr.XYZ decided he needed assistance, going in search of Ms.Asst.-in-Charge-of-Stuff. Ms.smiled and sat down, extolling the virtues of the gym all over again, then started explaining how the reg.fee was “standard” and proceeded to break everything down week-by-week into wee tiny pieces of itself, like I didn’t know how to do math and would be tricked into snatching up the offer by seeing a handwritten “$9/wk!” on a piece of scrap paper. Yes, thank you Ms., that’s terribly exciting. You do know that all those little numbers have a nasty habit of adding together again to make the same, much larger number I just explained I’m not going to pay, right? Here, I shall Math as well. It is a word problem, see?:

Person E.wants to work out, but needs option to go to other location in 3 or 4mos.should she prefer. Fitness Location X says payment for such is $250 today + monthlies or $330 today + monthlies. What amounts would she *really* pay per mo., over the course of 3 or 4mos., with either option?

Answers:

Option #1 (over 3 mo.period) - $330 (reg.+2 mos.coverage) + $40 = $370/3 = $123.3/mo. = decidedly not $9/wk.
Option #1 (over 4 mo.period) - $330 (reg.+2 mos.coverage) + $40 = $370/4 = $92.5/mo. = nope, not $9/wk.
Option #2 (over 3 mo.period) - $250 (reg.+2 mos.coverage) + $50 = $300/3 = $100/mo. = still not $9/wk.
Option #2 (over 3 mo.period) - $250 (reg.+2 mos.coverage) + $50 = $300/4 = $75/mo. = O HAI, not $9/wk.

Ms.decided she needed help, too, and went in search of Mr. Much-Higher-Boss-than-She-Was. Mr.#2 also extolled virtues of gym, taking the "commitment" tack and reorganizing the numbers all over again for my benefit. Informed that I was simply reticent to pay anything nearly that high, and that other gyms had @ least much lower reg.fees, but also mo'ly fees. After what can only be referred to as a very polite staring contest involving several nods of acknowledgment, Mr. Boss presented me with the following equation.

Option #3 (over 3 mo.period) - $79 (reg.fee) + $70 (2 mos.coverage @ $34.99/mo.) + $35 = $61.66/mo. = $15.42/wk.

We shook on it. :) Gotta love negotiation.

More later,

~E.

From the mouths of supervisors...

My supervisor's a very nice woman and I like her a lot. She's an attractive lady that's maybe 'bout mom's age, very sweet and thus far, though more reserved than me, has a pretty good sense of humor about most things that go on in this office as well as my personality and ways of dealing with said things.

I also like her because she has a tendency to comes over to my desk, hand me whatever paperwork I need, say something random like, "Hm...guys are takin' a longer lunch than normal. Must be Hooters day," then returns to her office and continues on about her day. :)

More later.

~E.

New additions, now in pocket-size!

I've just returned from the hospital after a 3hr.+ meet-and-greet with the very small, terribly ponderous, currently salmon-colored 7lb.Simon Pegg lookalike that is my new nephew. Named Henry Francis, he was born at 2:12p this afternoon following a very quick labor (thank goodness). Mom’s exhausted, Dad’s exhausted, baby desires longest nap in history.

Almost immediately after exiting the womb, Henry peered around briefly at the new surroundings, looked directly at his mother, pulled a face and arched one eyebrow higher than the other to display his incredible indignation. Thus far he enjoys warm bath water poured over his scalp, sleeping, and gumming flannel.

::grins:: I like this kid all ready.

A very busy Tuesday...

Few quick things, then back to work for me:

1. Petunia's to give birth @ some point today and I'm trying very hard to concentrate on work because I'm terribly excited to meet the little man. She was originally scheduled for inducement at 7a, but it was pushed back a bit & (I believe) it should all ready have taken place about an hour ago. I can't WAIT to see the Cups after work. :D
   
   
2. I have one HELL of a lot of expense reports to do today & am really, really, *really* hoping I don't have to stay late to process them so I can still make it to the hospital after work by a decent hour.
   
   
3. I also have as much procurement to handle. Good Lord.
   
   
4. I'd really like it if my co-workers would quit dropping things off on my desk, (ranging from empty shipment boxes to computer parts to discarded batteries of all kinds), expecting that I will simply "take care of it" and make it go someplace magical they apparently can't possibly visit themselves...like the trash bin. These are grown men. Usually they've longer legs than mine as they're often taller, which means it *should* be even easier for them to traverse the extra 10' it takes to put whatever-that-is in its proper place and not in my workspace. Geez o'flip.
   
   
5. I’m excited to do fitness things this week. Also, depending on my paycheck & subsequent bills, I may be able to overhaul my diet which would be excellent.
   
   
6. I'd also like to actually hit the club this Sat.as I've not gone the past two weeks.

That is all. More later.

~E.

Very good things...

I'm very tired today (see prev.entry), so I shall be brief.

1. The Steelers won the Super Bowl AGAIN! This makes the second time in three years, which is freakin' awesome. I bet you didn't know I followed football. Guess what? I don't. I don't understand half of what goes on in that game, and I prefer football movies to watching it live as there are way fewer moments when you're watching some sort of pause or timeout. However I cheer for the Steelers because my Gram & Gramps did, being so supportive that they threw little house gatherings, dressed in black & gold, and shouted very rude things at the television when they disagreed with calls or plays. Since they passed, people in my family either root for the 'Skins, Packers, or Giants, so I root for the Steelers 'cuz they're a good damned team and for cryin' out loud someone in this family should.
   
   
2. Hey, Nicholas, lookit:
   
   
   
   I found it over here. (Also anyone else that feels like making Obama icons of themselves should go there, too.)
   
   
3. Tonight I get to hang out with Cynthia. She is providing vodka, I am providing stew and we are going to finish An Important Project. It should be assumed there will be much geekery and the occasional, unladylike snort. I am probably going to have to take a nap first, though.
   
   
4. Boy howdy would I like to make shrimp linguini and apple tarts right now. That is not what I get to do.

EDIT: GUESS WHAT. I just got a phone call from Petunia informing me that she is to have a 7 a.m. inducement tomorrow morning (Henry doesn't feel like coming out on his own because *apparently* he's just that comfortable) which means that tomorrow's to be Henry's birthday, Petunia and A-bert will finally get to meet their son, AND THAT I WILL HAVE A NEPHEW! I'm so excited I could pop, but I won't, because then I wouldn't be able to meet him.

Woohoo!

That is all. More later.

9 p.m. and no clean pants...

One of the things that rots about living in an apt.complex filled with too many people & only a single washer & dryer on each floor is the weekend. Since 3:30p I’ve been waiting for the damned washing machine to be free so I can do my load of jeans and the black slacks I most often wear to work. When I first checked it (a SpeedQueen with a minute-by-minute, digital countdown timer on the face) someone’d just started a load. The amount of time it takes to do any load of wash is 35min., and it’d only counted down to 27. A load in the dryer had just started as well, which takes about an hour. Cursing briefly for not having checked sooner, I returned to the apt., figuring I’d wait the hour, then check it again.

I did, the smell of warm laundry and dispersed dryer sheet wafting out when I opened the door, and I found the laundered clothes simply sitting in their respective machines, waiting quietly for their owner to either retrieve them or switch them out of their spin-cycle holding cell. Thinking, “Hey, sometimes I don’t get to machines immediately after they stop. I’ll come back in about half an hour and see if at least the washing machine’s empty,” I left the laundry closet again and returned to the apt.

Still no change half an hour later. The same clothes were sitting there, had not moved, had not been touched.

After that (now about 5:30p) I checked the room pretty much every hour on the hour, hoping that SOMEONE would come and take care of their business, freeing up the one damned machine I need to at least start things off in the vain hope of wearing clean pants to work.

Around 8p I heard someone unlock & open the laundry room door, then leave again after a minute or two. (It’s a loud & rather distinctive noise.) Immediately after hearing an apt.door close, I snatched up my ready laundry card and the key to the laundry closet & practically sprinted out the door. Sure enough, the lid on the washing machine was now closed & the status read “INSERT CARD”. Fantastic! Without further thought I shoved my laundry card in the slot, turned around & ran back into the apt.to get my basket & detergent. Walked back into the room, lifted the washing machine lid...AND THERE WERE CLOTHES IN THERE. Not only could I not use the machine, I’d now also just given over a dollar for the next person’s use should it turn out they find it open before I do.

It is now 9p. STILL.NOTHING. ::sighs:: I was really trying to take care of this early enough in the day that I could get a proper night’s sleep & go into work a little early tomorrow in order to get a head start, but that’s not going to happen if I’m up late waiting for some nitwit to saunter out of their door @ 11:30p, just before *they* get to go to bed, and I get to start my load sometime around midnight.

Damnation. I wish I knew Spanish so I could abuse gratuitous amounts of office supplies making signs threatening the return of the dead and attacks by El Chupa Cabra if you don’t take your freakin’ laundry out within at least a couple hours of when it’s done. Perhaps this should be a new project.

More later.

~E.

Things I do after very long days to amuse friends and myself...

Yesterday was *far* too long a day. I came into work about 8:15a to work on my "To Do" list, but was somewhat unpleasantly surprised with what really ended up filling my schedule. In the end I was only able to complete 2 of my planned tasks and knock 'em off my list, instead spending the majority of my time on last-minute emergency projects that were all due either before I left work yesterday or before noon today.

Didn’t get an actual lunch (this is becoming a more common occurrence), opting instead for working through the break at my desk with coffee on an IV drip & a microwave Bucket O'Ramen from the emergency stash in my supplies cupboard. The latter was supposed to taste like beef & tomato. It did not. I ate it anyway.

5p rolled around *far* before I was expecting it and with it came the desire for real food, so spoke to Nicholas & IM'd/texted the usual crew. Found out everyone was either tired, working late, had other plans or just wasn't feelin' wings. By 5:30p I realized Nicholas & I were the only ones left even thinking about it, and with the amount of work sitting in front of me I decided to just stay put, figure out what to do about food later & keep working 'til my current project was either done or I was too tired to stay anymore.

Was saved from consuming all Doritos snack packs in the office by a co-worker who offered to get me Popeye's while out for herself. After several more hours, I finally completed designing, building & formatting the incredibly complicated, multi-tabbed, backup cost breakout spreadsheet I'd been asked to pull out of thin air earlier in the day. At 10p, completely drained, I finally got up out of my chair for the last time that evening, stretched, packed my stuff & said, "The Hell with this place, I am *out*."

By the time I got home, goofin’ off on my laptop with a beer, from my bed-cocoon, after finally shedding boots & work clothes was my idea of Heaven. While talking to Cynthia last night, she told me she’d accidentally consumed moldy bread recently. She’s fine, it apparently just tasted like college-girl wine apparently and F’d up her hummus, HOWEVER it spawned a discussion.

I started calling the mold Harold (it’s fuzzy, it’s growing, it should have a name) and it was decided he should run for mayor. While she worked on a limerick about him (which turned into haikus, which evolved into a mass haiku effort having nothing to *do* with Harold involving Nicholas, Cynthia *and* me), I started using my grade-school-ghettotastic incredibly impressive MSPaint skillz to draw him. Promised Cynthia I’d post him up today to brighten her day, so here we go.

After briefly searching for a proper picture of Aflatoxin, I finally found this one, thanks to Wikipedia:


...and within about an hour had decided Mr. Harold Aflatoxin should probably look something like this:


He comes complete with promotional pin, power tie, detached eyebrows & sinister, twizzly mustache (that’s how you can be certain he is EVIL). Babies and bread products not included.

Now I get back to work. More later.

~E.

Never enough time or coffee...

I’ve a lot to do & am re-prioritizing as I type this, so I've got a few minutes. First off, I can't believe it's all ready freakin' Thursday. The Hell? Could someone please tell me where the rest of the week went? Damnation. I need an extra day or so before everyone & their mother comes back to the office. Come Monday, soon as they all walk back in that door, I'll be immediately swamped with last-minute requests and "crises" (which almost never are) and everyone will again be under the mistaken belief that they are each the most important and unique little snowflake on the planet right then, when the only one who's ever really right about that is the über-boss. But I'll have to pretend like they're each #1 on my list (they often are, different list), which means getting a ton out of the way before that starts.

I feel like being quieter for the next few days. Was considering club stuff this weekend, but I've been out an awful lot lately. Even though I didn't go out at all last weekend, I still haven't spent enough time back @ the apt.on personal stuff or just dumb, quiet things I like to do. Think the only plans I'll make will be wings this evening (probably), seeing my family @ some point this weekend, and a friend's b-day party Saturday night.

Aside from those three things, I need to do/would like to do at least some of the following before next week starts:

• ALL of my laundry as opposed to little snippets of it here & there.
  
  
• Clean the bathroom again.
  
  
• Vacuum my room (it's been awhile).
  
  
• Find all of my pajama pants, then wear them (not all at once). I don't have that many, I've misplaced two pair, it's winter, I miss them & I've just ripped a hole in the leg of one of my favorites, damn it.
  
  
• Spend an entirely unacceptable amount of time on my computer doing things of absolutely no importance whatsoever.
  
  
• Reorganize files on laptop, delete extraneous crap, and move as much as possible off the hard drive & over to my external.
  
  
• Use part of previously mentioned, completely ridiculous amount of time on comp.doing nothing but adjusting, renaming, and uploading a bajillion & 1/2 LJ icons, because messing around with pictures and icons is one of my favorite things to do.
  
  
• Adjust music currently loaded onto my iPod, then acquire more as I do not have enough hip-hop/rap or classical, but I DO have too much 'Blondie' and I don't know how that happened.
  
  
• Play ‘Guitar Hero’ (I will not get to do this). Staniel taught me how to play bass and even though it’s only a fake, plastic, mini version of a bass AND I have to put it on the “5yr.olds play better than you” level (yes, this means the only thing I do is strum in time with the little clicky thing) I still had fun and felt a little like a very silly living room badass. :)

Okay, now I am hungry & have to go back to work. That is all! More later.

~E.

A slothful weekend followed quickly by “snow”...

This weekend I went absolutely nowhere. I was really tired from the work week and felt much like a wrung-out rag (especially after pulling 4 hours of last-minute, "Wait, you need this right now? You know I’m supposed to leave in about an hour, right? Um...okay," OT on Friday evening). I realized I probably didn't have the energy left to go home, clean up, change and drive back out to be social after returning to the apartment from work, walking directly to my room, shutting the door behind me, dropping my messenger bag & purse, and just sort of collapsing face-first on my bed, still ensconced in gloves, scarf & overcoat. After 10 minutes of remaining this way (turning my head a little to the left so I could breathe, of course), I realized I was *far* more comfortable than I should be, opted to just stay home & multi-texted as much to people. The decision ended up lasting the entire weekend and I caught up on all the sleep I’d missed the past couple weeks while being a complete pupa. Go me. :)

So now it’s Monday, I’m pretty well-rested, and my brain no longer feels like something that’s either mush, charred, or husk-like. A sizeable number of the staff who usually interrupts me all day long is to be out for at least part of this week, and all together this means I might actually be able to knock some older tasks off my “To Do” list and get things back in order as I prefer them. All I could really ask to make my day a little better would be more snow.

See, it’s all ready the end of January and I wanted more snow by now. Everyone else who likes warm/hot weather ends up having up to 9 months a year in this area where if it’s not downright hot-as-all-Hell and muggy to boot, it’s at least not cold in the slightest. For people like me that actually *dig* colder weather and even some snow, we're gettin’ gypped. Fall and winter are both supposed to be the colder months of the year, darn it, even in this area. Not balmy, not 70-something when it’s freakin’ October/November. It is supposed to be either chilly or cold, NOT WARM, and that's only really happened in the past few weeks or so.

The weather's being a teasing little minx, too. She knows I want it to snow so badly I can taste snowflakes on my tongue and apparently she doesn't yet want to give it up, but she likes getting me excited about it. So, every so often, she flirts a little bit of her white, wintery petticoat at me, bats her eyelashes for a second, then hides it away again. Just like any other situation where one’s being teased without any idea of when satisfaction may ever occur, it’s beginning to go beyond tantalizing and fun and is now stepping into the realm of annoying. Do not be surprised if you find me stopped in an empty parking lot at some point in the near future, car still running behind me as I stand on the blacktop shaking my fist at the sky yelling, "Damn it, woman! GIVE ME A SLICE!"

It's not that we haven't had *any* snow, y'see, it's just that what we've had has only been on the ground for about 2.5 seconds before evaporating again. It started January 8. I was all kinds of excited about the sudden deluge of fat flurries that practically dumped outside my office window, IMing everyone I knew online around 9:30 that morning. No one else saw it due to some freak happenstance that apparently caused it to snow only in Sterling & Chantilly that day, so I left the office on my lunch break (I had to retrieve my lunch from home anyway) & took pictures for proof.

I was able to leave the office & head back to the apartment after 12p. It was snowing heavily enough that it was collecting on the all ready existing black ice in some patches & making things damned difficult to navigate. I even slid a couple times doing 15 mph.

At 12:45p, Sterling looked like this:


Ten minutes down the road, near 28, it had quieted down to this:


At 1:05p, down 28 just a bit, the weather was, rather suddenly, practically non-existent:


And by 1:15p, back in Chantilly, there was absolutely nothing:


And, of course, considering how much the little tart likes to flirt with me, Mother Nature decided to pull this crap all the Hell over again today. Did anyone else see it? Noooo, of course not. However this morning, upon leaving the apartment, I saw flurries falling again. (Great day to wear heels when the weather report said only a 20% chance of precipitation. ::chuckles::) By 10a from my office window, I could see this:



And now what do we have? Nothin'. Absolutely nothing.

Damn it Mother Nature, you trifling little temptress! GIVE IT UP ALL READY!

That is quite enough for now. More later.

~E.

Lunchtime...

So I'm trying to eat a bit better of late & it's a slow process, but I'm working on it. However I must say, it is *really* Goddamned difficult to make a healthier food choice for oneself when:

1. One has been drinking gratuitous amounts of coffee all morning.
   
   
2. One fails to pack a lunch for the day.
   
   
3. One is left alone to guard the office for several hours (spanning over lunchtime, of course) while anyone else who could do so buggers off for hours on end without telling one where they went or when they *might* be returning.
   
   
4. One's current emergency stock of food includes 2 ramen bricks, a bottle of water, a bottle of Mountain Dew & a bag of 'Sweet Hot Chili' Doritos.
   
   
5. ...and one is left, intensely hungry, in said office with an ever-expanding collection of tempting little takeout menus.

::sighs:: Hell's bells.

More later.

~E.

Zydrate comes in a little glass vial...

Among the many things that make me happy, for those who didn't all ready know, are things that smell nice. To be specific I collect scented oils, both the kind one can use as perfume and the kind used in some sort of diffuser to make a room smell nice. Personally I'm not big on flowery scents (I also don't wear them very well) and am more into the opposite end of the spectrum. Scents of smoky things, spices, green things or clean laundry. I also love odd combinations that might not appeal to most. As examples, head over to the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab site (LOVE that place) & check out the ingredients of the following scents:

• Aelopile
  
• Azathoth
  
• Cthulu
  
• Jabberwocky
  
• Miskatonic University
  
• No. 93 Engine
  
• Phoenix Steamworks
  
• The Deep Ones
  
• The Lion
  
• The Mad Hatter
  
• The Music of Erich Zahn
  
• Wrath
  
• Y'Ha-Nthlei

Well *now*, apparently, there is another scent I get to lust after.


!!!

That's right, Zydrate does, in fact, come in a little glass vial (appropriately blue) complete with GeneCo prescription label. Starborn Alchemy is offering an exclusive perfume from the creators of 'Repo! The Genetic Opera' which has been created specially for the 3rd Repo! Road Tour. At $25/bottle the scent is being offered for a limited time only, from January 13th to January 24th. The proceeds from the sales go to benefit the Repo! Road Tour 3 to help cover flights and hotels. The ingredients (which sound like a lovely combination to me) include musk, cederwood atlas, lemon, clary sage, French lavender, vanilla, eucalyptus, clove & cinnamon.

Want.want.WANT. Holy crow.

More later.

~E.

Cereal...

I finally remembered to bring my cereal & a half-gallon o/1% to work today. I *still* forgot to eat some when it was actually breakfast time, but that's okay because I'm having it now.

Know what's awesome? Eating Cheerios & milk from a giant coffee mug in front of my computer @ work. Know why? Because of the following:

1. It makes me happy.
   
   
2. It's something to eat that's simple & quick.
   
   
3. It's usually better than most other options & still tastes good.
   
   
4. I like all kinds of cereal (Cheerios, Wheat Chex, Corn Chex, Raisin Bran, corn flakes, Life & Cocoa Puffs) so I have several choices.
   
   
5. It makes me feel like I should be wearing pajamas in front of my work computer or something.
   
   
6. Milk is involved (I love milk)...
   
   
7. ...and I get to drink the leftover milk from the bowl/mug/whatever-container-I'm-using, which I still like doing very much even though I am no longer 8. (Also one of my favorite things about being an adult is drinking any milk, juice, etc.that I buy for myself directly from the container, simply because I can. Never gets old. It's the little things, I tell ya.)

Speaking of which... ::finishes off leftover milk from giant coffee cup::

:D Awesome. More later.

~E.

\'füd\...

Afternoon, everyone. Today's been pretty slammed thus far, but the über-boss is only in for a couple hours today, so every so often I've a few minutes to type something up in Notepad then copy & post it later. Today's topic (unsurprisingly, really) is food. (Yes, damn it, I failed the breakfast challenge AGAIN this morning, walking out the door with neither the Cheerios I just bought nor the quart of milk sitting in my fridge.)

1. Debbar sent me a recipe this morning, which made me curious, so I attempted to look up possible variations of this idea (pretty much resulting solely in drinks & WoW "recipes"), which *eventually* led me to THIS recipe and now the whole idea of making gigantimammoth stews makes me want to cook & eat a small chunk of Africa. It's a big place, there are lots of animals, I'm pretty sure they won't miss it.
   
   
2. This recipe and a couple others I came across obviously got me thinking about what rhino, elephant, warthog & guinea fowl might taste like. However as those aren’t exactly close to home, I wonder what the difference in taste, texture, and preparation might be for rabbit as opposed to hare. Can anyone answer this? There a lot of running culinary jokes on teh intarwebz about “not wanting hare in your food”, but I was curious whether or not there was a real reason such as its taste behind it or if it was just the obvious play on words.
   
   
3. I keep getting ghost wafts of IPA around here, which is distracting even for someone that's not really into IPAs. No clue what that's about, but it's making me thirsty.
   
   
4. A friend of mine posted something in her journal about this, so I’m cross-posting because it amuses me. Burger King has instituted an application that's used on Facebook that encourages one to ditch ten friends at a time on the site by offering to reward them with a Whopper. Each time a Facebook friend is dumped, the application sends a message to the rejected individual that declares food is stronger than friendship. As if that's amusing enough, BK's "Sacrifice" site is keeping a running tally of the number of sacrifices that have been made. Links with more info.about this are here & here.
   
   
5. Speaking of BK, did you know they've come out with something called the "Angry Whopper"? I *thought* I saw an ad for that on a BK the other day but thought I misread it while driving past.

Now I go back to work where apparently *everyone* today thinks that whatever they want me to do is a big, honking emergency that needs to be done RIGHTNOWOMG (like printing a label for a CD...no, seriously ::wry chuckle::). So glad people are heading to Iguana tonight. :)

More later.

~E.

Holy Hannah, SNOOOOOOOOOOW!!! :D

I am terribly excited about a couple things right now:

1. IT'S FINALLY SNOWING OUTSIDE! THISISAWESOMEHOORAY! ::bounces up & down in office chair, while staring gleefully out the window @ swirling snow:: I can't even properly TELL you how excited I am about bundling up & going outside to play in this once enough accumulates to do so. (And yes, I know it likely won't today, I'm just sayin'.) I want to go sledding! Also I want to jump into a gigantic drift of snow/push someone else into one, mainly because it doesn't hurt & makes a rather soft "FWUMP" sound, which makes me giggle.
   
   
2. Wings tonight, YUM. I've been looking forward to this all week (I had no ideas wings could be so addictive) apparently so much that I dreamt of wings last night. In my dream our normal place had a menu o/wing choices like Brickskeller's beer list. It was AWESOME. Very happy dream, but I woke up really hungry...
   
   
3. ...which is not helped by the fact that I'm still really suckin' @ this whole "breakfast" thing I keep hearing about. Really need to do something about that, like do what Debbar suggested & keep milk & cereal @ work.

That is all for now. More later.

~E.

Things, stuff, words & whatnot...

1. My friend, Joey, has been discussing healthier living lately & trying to eat more vegetarian food as a part of this. I've never really gone out of my way to try specifically vegetarian stuff before (nothing against it, it's just never been on my list of things to do) but he piqued my interest when he told me that MorningStar Farms' "Chik'n Nuggets" tasted just like the real thing. Last night I was hungry & didn't really feel like cooking, so I opted to hit the store instead so I could try a couple things from the "Healthy Eating" (a.k.a. vegetarian) section. I finally decided on "Chik'n Nuggets" & "Broccoli Cheddar Veggie Bites". I'll try more later, but figured I'd start w/these:
   
   
   • MorningStar's "Chik'n Nuggets"
     
     Joey was right, they did taste just like actual chicken nuggets, didn't even need gobs of ketchup or anything. I'll be getting these again.
   
   
   
   • MorningStar's "Broccoli Cheddar Veggie Bites"
     
     OH.MY.GOD. Let me preface this by saying I kind of have a thing about most things involving green veggies & cheese. THESE were SO good. It was nigh on impossible for me not to eat all the ones in the box in one sitting, seriously. Luckily for me I only baked a little o/ea. o/my choices at a time & saved the rest for later.
   
   
2. I am uncomfortably tired today for some unknown reason & therefore having a Hellish time concentrating on actual work...again. I've really got to do something about this. Maybe taking regular vitamins again would assist?
   
   
3. I am also intensely hungry & vaguely concerned that once my food gets here I might actually try to stuff an entire gyro in my face while planning what to consume next, possibly including office supplies & co-workers. I really need to make it a point to eat breakfast in the morning. This is ridiculous.
   
   
4. I think if you’ve not yet seen 'Hamlet 2' you should really get on that because it's awfully funny & you are missing out.
   
   
5. Speaking of movies, I just saw an ad for the new 'Underworld Number Whatever-The-Hell' that's apparently coming out on Jan.23rd. I had no idea another was in production let alone coming out soon. Is anyone else planning on seeing this? I don't even care if the movie's any good, I'd just go because Kate Beckinsale's gorgeous & I get to see her kicking ass in slick boots, latex, corsets & leather. :)

More later.

~E.

Holy Hannah, I've been busy...

Y'know, after being off work since the afternoon o/Christmas Eve, it's taking some serious work to really get back into the swing of things. I'm having a really awful time concentrating on anything today & it's a struggle not to roam the internet. I'm compromising by running an industrial Pandora channel in the background and typing this entry up in Notepad during breaks from today’s tasks.

My holiday time off was actually *way* more social than I originally planned, which was fantastic. I spent very little time @ the apt., returning briefly to do laundry or grab something before going back out again. Stayed w/the folks Christmas Eve & Christmas Night, then headed back to the apt.on the 26th. I was supposed to hit one or more of three Christmas parties to which I'd been invited, but for some reason I was feeling kind of off-kilter so I didn’t follow up on either. Had it not been for Michael's unrelenting insistence that I get over to the ALL Tower & hang out w/the crew for once, I'd have likely just stayed home & watched movies 'til I crashed, but I listened to him & ended up having a really good time & feeling better as a result.

Sat.night I just stayed in, apparently the *same* night that everyone else on the planet decided to head out to Spellbound that evening. ::chuckles:: I guess it was a shame I didn't know about it, but honestly I was perfectly happy to just go home, fall over, curl up & sleep that night b/c I was exhausted.

Sunday I hit the folks' house, helped my Mom, then went to Katiedid's where we stayed up *far* too late making 2 mammoth vats of stew while bouncing around the kitchen being rowdy & ridiculous to industrial and hair metal. I was supposed to stay the night in Rockville, but about 6:30a I got a call from Pat. The poor guy'd accidentally locked himself out o/the apt.& no one else w/a spare key was in town, so I jetted (have to remember to get a few things back from Katie's house) & headed back to let him in just before he headed out to work.

Tuesday I went to Hampton w/Katie & Nicholas to visit their friend Johnny & hit up a club. I haven't had that much fun at a club in forever (it's held @ Wave on Wednesdays for anyone reading this). The turnout was full, the dance floor was never mostly empty, the music was good & most importantly it didn't seem that anyone really had much of an attitude about club status/popularity/whatever-the-Hell, etc. The crowd was comprised of a *lot* of new blood, there were all kinds of diff.people enjoying the Hell out o/themselves on the dance floor and I didn't really notice any of the disdainful looks being flung one way or the other that's a bit more obvious in other scenes. It was a great time and I'd love to go back.

Party at Johnny's after the club, crashed out around ??? o'clock, then packed up & headed back to No.VA the next day after a quick stop at Waffle House (hash browns!). Went to Kohl's for my first time on the way back, met Nicholas's parents (they're great & make me want to make them food of some sort), then back to Reston. Showered, changed, then back out to the ALL Tower w/Katie, Nicholas & Dave to hang out for a bit before returning to Reston for movies & pajamas. Good stuff.

Last night no one was really feelin' like wings, so Nicholas, Katie & I decided to see 'Gran Torino' instead, meeting up w/Dave beforehand. I loved this film. I really like Clint Eastwood, always have, but the film itself was fantastic in so many ways and I think there were some pertinent facets of this movie that weren't necessarily advertised as strongly as others. It made me laugh, it made me tear up, it made me slap my hands over my mouth & my eyes but out in shock. I don't really want to go into more detail about it at the moment, so I'll simply say I seriously recommend it.

After the movie we were hungry as Hell, so off to the 24hr.Korean BBQ in Annandale. Sushi wasn't available (damn!) but the food we got was pretty damned good. I got the Jap Chae (basically sliced beef w/sauteed vegetables over glass noodles) w/boiled dumplings as an appetizer and there was NO way I could finish everything, not even close. Everyone seemed to like what they got & went home full & happy.

So that was my holiday! Good times for everyone & far too much food. I'm actually making a New Year's resolution this year (I never bother with these usually) to join a freakin' gym & ACTUALLY GO. I'm tired of feeling blech about my physical appearance b/c I weigh too much and I want to actually do something about it. Plus, even though getting into an exercise routine is difficult for me, I *always* feel better once I've started, so my goal is to've decided on a fitting membership by the end o/Jan. I think I can do that. I'd also like to look into yoga. :)

That’s all for now. More later.

~E.