I had no alcohol, sorry. I drove up to Cork and took the Park-n-Ride (€5 to park on the way and take the double-decker bus into the center of the city: avoid crazy city parking, save money, help the environment!) to see the parade.
Fota Wildlife Park
bunch of pirate kids
more than meets the eye
some kind of smoking dragon alligator thing following a Captain Hook type guy, out of the picture (I think this is a play on a movie I didn’t see but I’m vaguely aware of… Disney?)
Not really sure what’s going on with these guys!
The parade wasn’t very high energy in places, but there was a ton of people. I kept getting crowded by kids sneaking in front of me, which was fine except for the one too tall to see over! But his name was Paddy so it seemed appropriate.
I’ve had a really trying day attempting to book flights and receive documents and fill out even more forms, but this makes up for it:
Arliss has her own blog! Yes, that’s right, I kicked her to the curb while I went on a European adventure for a year and she has already taken over her foster home’s computer to complain about it. I guess she got an even bigger head when she became a famous Disapproving Rabbit.
Please visit Arliss and I’ll try to let y’all know when she posts a new rant. Those are the only kinds of posts she will be publishing, I’m sure.
This tool makes a graphic of how your tax dollars are spent (or were spent as compared to years back to 1940) if you enter your income. Where your money goes
I’m anxious about a dentist appointment today, since I have a tooth root area that feels way funny and I don’t think I have the psychological stamina (nor the excellent insurance) to go through any more fancy dental work. Plus I think I had a root canal on this one anyway so I’m not sure what the problem could be that isn’t really bad! I remembered one of my favorite Sesame Street clips, though, which makes me feel better:
I just called an automated prescription refill line for my mail-in pharmacy benefit. I’ve called this line for refills many times, and while the voice actuated ordering is really annoying, usually it’s quick and, oh, automatic. So I went through the whole automated refill process, including confirming my address (which it knew) and my credit card, confirmed I didn’t want any other refills, and then it said it was connecting my call and I was on hold for ten minutes. What?? Usually they confirm immediately and ship without me talking to a CSR. This must be the cost savings from the mail-in pharmacy selling their operations to someone else. Awesome! When the CSR answered, she asked me all the same questions again, and I asked, “Why am I talking to you?”
Yesterday we held a family party for my grandparents’ 60th anniversary! It was nice to rehash the old stories. Grandma wrote Grandpa a letter which recounted how he’s not often outwardly affectionate, and gave an example of her tough day home with the kids when he came home and didn’t reassure her as much as she would have liked. She asked if he loved her, and he said, “I come home every night, don’t I?” Somehow this seemed very sweet given my gentle grandfather’s nature.
We attended the eastside pub crawl again this year, which our buddy George organizes to benefit NESCO. We scrambled again at the last minute to create costumes, but David is a bit more last minute than I am!
Mac Daddy (Stephen), Andrea as police woman, Phil again, and organizer George as Little Edie Beale
Ziggy Stardust (Don) wants to bid on the showcase
I would like to point out that my outfit was fun farts & craps time and only cost $10 in materials. The fonts used in my bid and prize are the actual fonts used on the show! Amazing what the internet holds.
David had to repaint his rubber boots ten minutes before we left because the previous coat flaked off in our kitchen.
Coming in as my second favorite typo so far, I give you: The I-70 ramp to RURAL Street. Ironically named since this street is in a gritty urban area, now I have a reason to pull off the road to take a picture and risk carjacking.
Meanwhile David’s prototype coffee table bit the dust when he sat on it. All the items on the floor used to be on the table. Watching him land was hilarious. I should note that it was a prototype for size and shape, not construction quality.
A few of the smart asses from IASMH class of 1993 at their 16th reunion (because we were too lame to plan a 15th)
And I’ve been bonding Harrison and Vegas (seen here in before-and-after haircut pics)
Who wants to do the Tour de Cookie?? I need to get my bike replaced! COOKIES!
Congrats to my little brother (though he’s noted as a Clydesdale, and darn it if I’m not basically Athena weight!), Matt, on completing his first triathlon last weekend. It was in downtown Indy and so far there are no reports of anyone dying after swimming the canal.
Friends recently invited us to Symphony on the Prairie, where we heard Queen music in an outdoor picnic setting. Drunkenness ensued. Also the guy who sounded like Freddie Mercury threw in “I’m gonna sit by you, another one rides the bus!”
Had a bunny date at my house. Rabbits who happened to be named Bill and Hillary met, and Bill humped Hillary repeatedly. She looked annoyed and went home with Waldo instead.
I grew huge ass zucchini!
And my pepper is finally turning red!
Also note we now have cabinet doors, drawer fronts, and a wine rack! David’s work slowed to a backwards crawl but at least he had time to work on his own place.
I looked away or took a phone call or something while working, and Walter apparently brought me Thing 1 for a game of fetch.
Rode my bike to the state fair this weekend. I’ve never gone and wanted to get it out of my system. The prospect of fried food overrode the sadness at some of the animals (I managed to walk into the swine building while they were being auctioned). Of course the first building I wandered into had the rabbit judging going on. Poor buns.
There were a number of bizarre sights at the fair, including middle-aged white women belly dancing in a group (I got stuck watching this because it began pouring rain and this tree kept me dry):
An awesome mullet with balding and feathering at the same time:
Suckers with their feet in nasty brown muddy water getting ‘toxins’ removed (what a freakin’ racket):
Miss America seasoning (I almost bought it but it wasn’t worth eight bucks for a joke):
And a lady playing show tunes on an organ in the middle of Pepsi Coliseum while competing horse teams trotted around her:
It was all worth it for the funnel cake, mint ice cream, and onion rings.
Casper and I walked down to the park for a free concert last night. She wasn’t so sure about the clapping or the kids who petted her, but she did well. As usual, the walk home was her favorite part. Casper is not a social butterfly–unless you count the dogs she sees on the way. She was reluctant to keep going on our way there until she saw another dog and followed him!
Check out a total WIN for vegetarian comfort food. I took my mom’s porcupine meatballs recipe (which appears to be xeroxed from Betty Crocker), subbed in Gimme Lean ground beef substitute, and came up with ‘meatballs’ even David thought were great. He even said these were preferred over the real ones–obviously duplicating a steak is difficult, but for meatballs that get all the flavor from seasonings and sauce, the fake stuff wins and you don’t have any of the fat/cholesterol of ground beef.
A couple of pics of my recent dining adventures. Well, I guess it’s not that adventurous once you’ve had the dishes multiple times.
Peruvian food: vibrantly colored pesto pasta and potatoes from Machu Picchu restaurant
I took this picture because the falafel looks like little turds.
The neighbor’s dog, again hanging out on OUR front porch.
And this is just weird. I think I saw this truck at the Woodruff Place sale. They sell lemonade or lemon shake-ups or something. Whoever drew this ought to be fired.
Holy moly I have a lot of work to do this week. How come everyone else went on vacation?
Nicole and I will have to do more study halls. It’s easier to focus on working from home when someone else suffers with ya.
Several years ago we discovered a reasonable way to manage work and stay caught up was to be ‘in the window.’ Our email has to fit on one screen in our mail program. The last time I was in the window was about three and a half years ago. I’m also at 172% of my allotted email space in the system. Go me!
Someone egged our house this weekend. It was about 90 degrees so it pretty much baked right to the porch. Fun neighborhood! I can’t help but think it has something to do with the punk kid next door. Usually his Rott jumps the fence and tears up our trash but unless the dog grew thumbs, someone else has it out for us. I was mad the other day that they let the dog (I assume it was theirs–high probability given the number of times I’ve seen him standing in our yard) leave a steaming pile in our front yard and they sat on the porch and did nothing about it. So I mowed over it and they had to smell it. Eggs may be payback?
Just got a ‘good job’ email from my manager to my boss. At least someone notices I’m trying to get a few things done. And today was nacho bar!
I struggle constantly with The List running through my head: all the crap I should do. I keep written lists sometimes and then got excited when Google came up with a notes-tracking application, except my stupid work computer has an old browser which I cannot upgrade and therefore I can’t use that application except at home (nor see much flash, nor load a lot of pages, nor get the computer going in less than six minutes–but that’s more a RAM problem I think).
So I signed up for Evernote, but so far haven’t really done much with it. I would rather have a quick link from my Gmail. Is there some other application that would be better? Actually I think once I (probably) get that iPhone I’ll solve my always-available-paperless-to-do-list problem quickly, perhaps then with Evernote.
Anyway my ambitious self thinks I should do all this crap. And in the late afternoon when I want to leave work but have more work to do, I keep thinking how much stuff I’ll do when I get home. By the time I get home I’m just tired and cranky and downright lazy. I need to figure out what legal drug could get me zippy and productive in the evening but still allow me to sleep! Or something. I will say melatonin before bed has been helpful to regulate my sleep more. I get sleepy faster and it’s a whole lot easier to get out of bed in the morning–maybe that’s the miracle that will ultimately get more things off my List!
A sampling so I can feel accountable:
bond Arliss and Waldo somebody (Waldo was adopted!)
finish reorganizing and cleaning bunny room clean pig cage scrape brickDavid did it! change Jetta headlight AGAIN clean car get grids, get and plant hostas from Dawn
paint front porch trim repot mint plants mulching medicate Vegas (re-vet Vegas’ sneeze? and Harrison’s limp?pigs need vetting too)
more dog walking, cycling, and running haircut
meal planning
more cooking/less eating out pick up rain barrel at KIB
call cable company to yell about the latest price hike
iPhone purchase TV shopping
path forward: Tivo vs DVR/other source refill Casper’s meds
update Casper’s microchip rehab front porch mess
canoeing
iTunes from old computer
finish video edit
desk cleanoff
laundry room reorg
de-fridge the basement
continue decluttering at home
ditch financial adviser/meet w/new one mail passport renewal
respond to old email send Father’s Day gift to Dad organize recipes (still looking for advice on that)I just went with a binder with tabs for now. My elegant electronic version will have to wait
go through clothes for Goodwill dust/vacuumhooray for paying a friend to clean!
There’s an equally long list at work, one which stresses me even more.
Earthlink update! Remember how my email stopped working in December and they were able to hang up on me but not fix the problem? This week I got an overdue bill and they threatened collections! LOL. No worries, all resolved now. And I’m happy to report they never actually got a dime from me. I hope I wasted their server space and CSR time. Navigating their phone tree was enough to make me furious all over again.
Those on Facebook may be familiar with recent escapades. Here’s a summary and a few extras!
Poor David Beckham, victim of endorsing a product that can vandalize.
I finally captured this bizarre vehicle while biking. I’ve seen him around but now I know where he lives! I think he collects abandoned carts from the neighborhood.
April 7: Evacuation
April 8: Unclog sewer pipe
April 10: Are four gin & tonics a lot?
April 11: Pissed about working on a Saturday during my vacation
April 12: Beat the pants off my family at Scrabble
April 13: Finished state taxes and had an embarrassing exam
April 15: Ate all the peanut M&Ms in cubicle next to mine
April 17: Rode bike to work and saw red-headed woodpecker, Christmas tree w/tinsel, middle-aged guy in fedora on BMX
April 17: Went out drinkin’ with friends and then bought cigarettes for the first time
April 18: Rode my bike to Race for the Cure
April 20: Busch Light can in my newspaper tube
April 21: Work woke me up at 1 a.m.
April 23: Casper won a photo contest
April 24: Work woke me up at 3 a.m.
April 24: Some asswipe broke into my Jeep
April 25: Rode my bike to Earth Day
April 25: Appraisal woes and bought a refrigerator
April 25: Someone stole my credit card number
April 26: Mutt Strut! Pics to come but this is my favorite:
April 28: Frustrated by canceling services and realizing property taxes are worse than I thought
April 28: Someone shit in our driveway
April 29: Sold my house! Still pissed about taxes
Next few days: Slammed at work and given an ‘opportunity’ (that means more work)
May 2: ToxDrop and electronics recycling
May 3: Insulated the attic
Don’t you want to be my friend now? My favorite FB comments had to do with the shit in the driveway.
