Archive for December, 2003

I got five resumes sent today - very good for me! …

Published on December 15, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

I got five resumes sent today - very good for me!

I spent about an hour or more helping older son write the essays for his application to Ohio State - due today if he wants merit-based financial aid (which he’ll have to get if he’s going to go there - its many thousands of dollars). I have very mixed feelings about him growing up. It’s what our children do. We did it. But he’s such an asset to our family. When you’re old and fat and tired and have a four year-old, and energetic seventeen year-old brother is such a huge help! They wrestle and run and play…all the things I’m too sleepy and achy to do.

How frustrating! Garrison Keillor will be at the …

Published on December 15, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

How frustrating! Garrison Keillor will be at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans at the end of January, very nigh unto my birthday. I was going to buy tickets, but now it appears that I’ve waited too long, and while there are single seats available, there are not two seats together. It’s not a cheap thing ($35-55 each), and I REALLY want to go with DH, then have dinner out someplace in the city that we can’t afford. I’m more than a little irked by this.

To drown my sorrows, I think I’ll apply for some jobs.

What a day. I sure am working hard for someone wi…

Published on December 12, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

What a day. I sure am working hard for someone without a job. About two years ago I bid $500 for a piece of a GED scoring program that I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on in the last three years. I just want it working and behind me. It’s not that the work isn’t interesting (it is) but I don’t WANT to do programming for free. Furthermore, the programming contributes not one tiny thing to the value of the product we provide our customers, which makes it even less enjoyable to do.

On the upside, we have a good relationship with the processor of the data I’m “massaging,” and since they are a competitor, I think that says a lot for us.

The garage door broke today. DH could have spent several hours fixing it. Or, we could do what I did instead, which was call a professional. Thirty minutes and 80 dollars later, it was fixed, with a nice new brace that will (hopefully) keep the problem from recurring.

DH wants to redo our bedroom closet. It’s a good size, but has a terrible configuration. He’s a handy guy, and I’m sure he can do the work, but I want the design to be good. Are any of my friends out there closet closet designers?

Sometimes, all I have to write about is the dull stuff. But that’s OK, really. I like having a low-key life. Drama is highly overrated.

I have the germ of an idea. I am thinking of writ…

Published on December 11, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

I have the germ of an idea. I am thinking of writing a politics manifesto for posting on The Foyer, as a bridge and an amends.

Whereas, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances, and;

Whereas, because our opinions differ, and our thoughts differ, we find that we feel we can express them among those we consider friends, and;

Whereas, some are capable of dispassionate and reasoned discourse about their political beliefs, and;

Whereas, conservatism and liberalism are different and sometimes competing political philosophies that have strengths and weaknesses which can be discussed, and;

Whereas, that doesn’t mean they can be discussed politely always, especially if people’s political beliefs are thoroughly integrated into their value systems, and;

Whereas, it’s a Bad Thing when people who care about each other are divided by these philosophies, and;

Whereas, we don’t want that kind of thing happening here in The Foyer:

Be It Resolved: The Foyer will no longer host political discussions, because we care about each other and want it to stay that way.

On another matter entirely, I’ve had some brief co…

Published on December 10, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

On another matter entirely, I’ve had some brief correspondence with the guy (referenced below) who I got really angry with over political stuff (name-calling). I think y’all know who I mean. It’s got me thinking a bit about this online writing stuff. I tend to self-edit a bit anyway, because I want to respect the privacy of people who are important to me (I can’t imagine writing anything about my husband here, he’s a very private sort and wouldn’t like it at all). But now, I’ve written something that I’m having second thoughts about, but there it is…out there for all to read.

There’s a fellow named Ed who posts on the Folk of the Fringe who talks a lot about owning his behavior and not being ashamed of who he once was and what he once thought. I’m not so brave, I guess. I don’t know if I like the idea of leaving my rants out there for all the world to see six months after I’m so OVER it. But they were there, and it was real, and if this isn’t about being real, what’s the point? Unless it’s not about being real, but about the writing. I haven’t figured that out yet.

If some of my posts from December suddenly disappear, y’all will know that I’ve reached a conclusion. Input gratefully accepted!

My paper turned out well. I feel like I did a goo…

Published on December 10, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

My paper turned out well. I feel like I did a good job. I may just put a copy out on the family web site and link to it so others may bask in its glory. Or not.

I also had my last final today! I nailed 9 of the 10 questions. The 10th was “Explain how a security agreement is perfected.” Yeesh. I had a stack of notecards two inches think with individual questions and answers, and the words “security agreement” did not appear on any of them. I obviously missed something. And I only blew off class ONE DAY. Oh well. The test is 45% of my grade, the earlier test was 45%, and the paper is 10% (that is 100%, right?) So I think I got an “A.” Grades will go out next week.

The paper I am writing is for my Legal Aspects of …

Published on December 9, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

The paper I am writing is for my Legal Aspects of Business class. The topic is “Mutual Assent in a contract.”

More progress. Just a page and a half to go. I’ve had more trouble trimming down my words than writing them. There’s just so much to say! I could have gone on for three pages about the objective standard, all by itself. Just the concept of an offer would have taken up the entire paper. I hope I’m not causing myself problems by using such a broad topic.

I found a great web site with resources for future papers - A Research Guide. It has examples and rules from the MLA Writing Standards.

I’m taking a break to cook some teriyaki chicken. We’ll have that with rice, veggies, and even a couple of egg rolls for dinner. Then it’s back to work.

I made most excellent progress on my term paper ye…

Published on December 9, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

I made most excellent progress on my term paper yesterday. Just a couple more hours of work and I’ll have a nice first draft done. I also set up blogspeak to allow comments here; I am mostly just posting this to see if it works.

Now, back to the grind…

Ann, how awful! I had no where near the kind of r…

Published on December 8, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

Ann, how awful! I had no where near the kind of relationship with this person that you described and I am incredibly hurt as well. You have friends and we totally support you. (((HUGS)))

Today I had my heart broken. I have been particip…

Published on December 8, 2003 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

Today I had my heart broken. I have been participating for over a year in an online community of disgruntled Mormons. After a while, even disgruntled people get tired of talking about the disgruntling stuff and like to talk about other things. It makes us think we’re multi-dimensional. In any case, a year is a long time in a community, and I had started to feel like many of these people were real friends.

Well, it turns out I was wrong, at least about one of them. When reading some political ideas with which he disagreed, he turned into a real asshole, spewing forth the sort of right-wing polemical crap that seems to characterize what passes for political discourse here in the U.S. - that is, that anybody who disagrees with the current policies of the Bush Administration is unpatriotic and unAmerican. And then they wrap themselves in the flag and sing Praise to the Man Who Communed with Jehovah…except they mean George, not Joe.

My interactions with people are about relationships, not ideas. I guess that makes me shallow, or an extrovert, or whatever. But I think the person who I had THOUGHT was a friend really wasn’t. Else, he wouldn’t have called me unAmerican and unpatriotic. See, a major failure of polemicists is that they forget that their insults are directed at humans with feelings. Not just at the abstract unknowns Janeane Garafalo or Michael Moore or Al Franken, but also at the woman who spent several hours reading and writing e-mails when the marriage was on the verge of tanking, and actually thought that meant the person on the other end was a friend.

Now I know better.