Somebody want to order me a pizza? I don't want to cook.

:D

TGIF!

But I still have like an hour and a half of work yet. Ugh.

And I'm going insane over here!!!

Help me?

Good grief, leave me a comment about something, anything before I decide to shoot myself.

*twitches*

....

how 'bout something funny? :)
(no depressin' stuff, k? thanks!)

So I just made two phone calls. Hopefully it means I'm at least starting on the right track.

It's been one hell of a week y'all.

Troops don't get much pay and often don't have the correct or substandard equipment. And then people wonder where the hell all those billions of dollars are going for war efforts. Well, it's going to stuff like this.

Is it any wonder that soldiers are complaining about the use of contractors? They get stuck doing remedial tasks instead of the jobs they're trained for while some contract company sits on its laurels.

Mornin' y'all.

Have a rant with your coffee.

If there are one or more people on your friends list who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.




Yes, I'm trolling through the flist. It's Saturday, and I have working netz, so why not?

But anyway - some serious bits now.

I realised yesterday that the cable tech somehow managed to break my patio table.

As I told the customer rep when I called the company up, I'm not so concerned over the table itself. It is old (though it was in good shape) and I hadn't been using it much.

What irks me is the nice giant pile of glass he left just laying in my yard. I have kids. The neighbor has a kid. Sometimes, they go running around out there.

You see where this is going?

Of course, I hadn't noticed it right away, since he stored the table frame part itself along in the treeline, obscuring it from direct view.

Hrm. I'm thinking he was trying to hide it, no? Now, if he really wanted to hide the evidence, he'd been better off a)picking up the glass, b)hauling the table frame away. Seriously, I wouldn't have noticed it had vanished completely until some time like weeks or months for now. (then I'd be wondering what the hell happened to it)

Anyway, the company is going to send someone out to look it over. I don't know why, really. I'm not expecting to get a new table out of it, I really just want someone to clean up the fucking glass.

And in other news...
( what is it with my friends lately? )

Gotta love geeks!

Heehee!

***eta: cuz I'm lazy***
brought to you by worldofcharlie

Your results:
You are Apocalypse

Apocalypse 50% Dark Phoenix 50% Poison Ivy 47% The Joker 46% Catwoman 46% Magneto 46% Green Goblin 46% Venom 41% Riddler 41% Dr. Doom 39% Mystique 38% Two-Face 38% Lex Luthor 37% Kingpin 35% Juggernaut 34% Mr. Freeze 33%

You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain am I?" quiz...

*waves*

Guess who?

:D

And...

*drumroll*

I have working home net again!!!!

Whoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ahem*

Can I possibly use any more exclaimation points?

Why yes!!! Yes I can!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*dances like a fool*

***eta***

So --- anything new and exciting happen? How about a quick fly-by comment?

Unless you really want to subject me to the omg-insanely-huge-flist-of-posts.

Have pity?

Guh!

Though I am on hold with tech support at this moment. I'm trying to see why on earth they can't run a temp line from the box in the neighbor's backyard. See? It's right friggin there!

And in talking with the hubby last night, he seems to recall that the last line came from there. (something about having to bury a cable that they forgot to come back and do)

Oy...tech guy couldn't reach regional supervisor so he was unable to confirm where the line is supposed to be coming from. Therefore, he couldn't get a tech sent back out. *headdesk* I think I forsee another phone call in my future...

On the good side, he did give me a credit. For the time I'm missing service. Which is from Friday the 11th to Thursday the 24th. Yes. The twenty-friggin-fourth. Which is the date I'm scheduled to have the line replaced.

Aka; another whole damn week.

I know I shouldn't be so worked up over something like internet, but damn. It is primarily my line to the rest of the world. I don't have cable TV, I can't get reception for 'free regular tv', I might catch some tidbit of news over the radio, otherwise, I'm cut off.

People can survive without the internet right? I mean, my mom does just fine without it. Then again...she also has satellite TV with gonzo mula stations. And just because 99.9% of all my communication is done via a network cable, doesn't mean I should being going nutso right? I *suppose* I could actually call people instead of instant messaging them.

But then I wouldn't be able carry on multiple conversations with people from Canada, California and Australia. *waves at you guys* :D

Hrm. Maybe I can try to fry myself run the line myself?

***eta: random dorkyness***
Duke has been testing its new 'outdoor warning system' all morning. Warning for what, I have no clue. Anyway, I've been hearing sirens all day. It's worse if you go anywhere near a window. (meaning all the folks with offices are hating life today ;)

Right as the ended the first half of their testing, I heard something amusing. The tonal notes from 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. Somebody's got a sense of humor, at least. *g*

My home internet is toastola.

As in the actual cable line, apparently. The cable company has to come out and run a new line.

It'll take them between 5-7 DAYS to get to it.

OY.

I can still access my email via my cell phone, but the standard numeric keypad makes it take forever to type anything.

And while I can *see* LJ, I can't ever login. Plus, the whole typing thing again.

So...

While I'm sorta offline (work still has workin' netz yay!) maybe y'all could like ... ya know ... make with not posting very much?

Hee!

*pokey poke*

. . .

*pokeypokepokepoke*

*hmpfs*

*flist POKE!*

That doesn't change it much.

Spring clean on the flist time it be now?

Y/N?

( ooh, the drama )

EffinFrackinMutherGoddanged...!!

*goes into an incoherent rage*

Buttasswipes!

Yah. I'm pissed. Can't ya tell?

*goes back to steaming in a corner*

Elrond

A stern yet benevolent organizer who often knows best, your wits are keenly fixed on aiding efforts you deem worthy.

Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril to Mordor.

I do have pics to upload at some point, but the kids have 'borrowed' my batteries for one of their toys. *sigh* So in the meantime, I distract you with a meme.

Interesting result.

And also, the code irks me and I'm cognent enough yet to whack it and make it look better. I don't like messy code. *shrugs*

Choices, choices.

So this coming weekend is my completely kid-free weekend. I'm thinking I should do something but don't know what.

The ideas I've come up with so far:
- general camping
- camping in some scenic spot
- visit a place I haven't before
- run up and visit my mom (not likely, but I considered it)
- go visit the place I grew up

The camping has a couple of options:
1) I go to a place where I know people (they have a lot of land).
Pros:
Nobody will mess with my stuff and/or camp area
I might be able to hook up with a friend I haven't seen in a while scratch that, he had a death in the family
I know the area and the people so I'll probably be able to relax more

Cons:
Won't be able to take the dog with me
Not terribly scenic
Probably won't do much except hang out there

2)go to more scenic locale
Pros:
scenic - 'nuff said
more options to play clicky-clicky with my camera which I have been sorely lagging on
nobody but me
can take the dog

Cons:
leaving my gear and stuff unlooked after
having to drag the dog with me tyring to take pictures (yah right)
nobody but me so if random weird shit happens, I'll be so screwed

So - opinions?

***Edit***
Additionally, I'm a tightwad and want to do this as cheaply as possible. So I'd rather not have to shell out for doggie kennel. I also can't afford high-scale resort spots. I'd be looking to drive wherever I head to, so gas will be a little costly, but much less than what I'd pay out for other travel means.

Is the coast clear? The kiddies are gone?

WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Ahem.

Anyway, a few things to cover first.

Happy Belated Bifdays! to itsbuttery and shurimon! Yay!!

Somewhere out there is ficcy bits that I've read but have not commented on yet. (cuz I'm a tard)

And of course the flist omg peeps! can y'all stop writing for like two dangedgone seconds to give a poor dvl a chance to catch up on stuffs? really. *huffs* which I am behind on commenting to.

*cough*

So the first kid free evening was sooooo exciting. Spent an hour in the grocery store. What a difference to be able to actually *LOOK* at stuff instead of playing aisle chase. and I totally splurged and picked up some ice cream just for me. *snatches it away and huddles over it* mine! my precioussss.

And then I spent an exciting evening fiddling around on the computer. Yah, most people would probably be up for going out and partying, but I was kinda fragged out from the weekend and work.

Party tonight? :D *waggles eyebrows*

T-Minus 4 days

Now if I can just make it that far. *flails*

This morning made number two in a row of wrestling clothes match with the youngest. Egads! Nothing like having to force clothes onto another person's body. Especially if said body is flailing around, crying and screaming. Was so tempted to headdesk my steering wheel on the way to work after finally dropping the little hellion darling off at daycare.

Oldest decided at the last minute to pull a moody conipition fit of his own at the last second. Oy.

Morning was off to a great start.

Kids - 2, Mom - big stinking Zero.

Work was work. There was cake. Yay! There was also freezing-ass artic AC. Boo! Chilly is one thing. Cold enough to make my bones ache (thank you RA) is not amusing. It is summer. Or will be by this weekend at any rate. There should be no need for jackets. Particularly if said jacket winds up being worn indoors.

It can be next week now?

Apparently, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction wants to eliminate writing tests.

Here's where things get Buhwh? These tests (per the local news website) are administered in grades four, seven and ten. The writing tests would be replaced by a system that "would assess students in every grade level by focusing on a series of assignments to measure student progress". Wow. That tells me absolutely nothing. Furthermore, "tenth-graders might continue taking a standarized exam". Because checky boxes are a sure-fire to measure writing skill, I'm sure.

Rebecca Garland, executive director for the State Board of Education had this to say; "We're not going away for the importance of writing. We're trying to enhance writing. We feel like, with an annual attention paid to writing by every teacher that a student has, we'll begin to see significant progress."

I'm not sure if the grammar is due to the news staff writer or Ms. Garland, but either way, this statement doesn't offer any clarity or insight to the process and proposed progress. Perhaps it's just me? Does that statement really mean anything to anyone else?

It gets better.

"The North Carolina Association of Educators supports the state's new plan, and Garland said the changed system would prepare students for the modern world by utilizing computers and current event assignments."

Huh. Wait. What?

I'm trying to make sense of this and failing. If students can't write (note I mean write well) how is this going to be prepare them for the modern world?

Are we at the end of literature? Instead of 'my dog ate my homework', will we have such excuses as 'my laptop broke so I couldn't do my assignment and I have no idea what that pen thingamabob is for.'?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm boggled by this.

original article

Oh wait. I ain't got one.

*gets the sword instead*

It's sharp. It'll work.

The good thing? These guys aren't very coordinated. I keep watching them to attempt to climb the stairs and laugh my ass off when they fall. Sometimes the split level house with killer stairs (front and back!) is a real blessing in disguise.

At least I'm doing better than last year.

Finally home from work. It was odd, though. Not a whole lot of traffic on the streets for some reason. Like everyone suddenly went off on vacation. Weird.

There were people missing from work today too. Did I miss the memo for 'get outta work for free day'?

Now that sunset is approaching, there's this strange keening noise.

Wonder what it could be?