Confessions of an Internet Junkie

ABC re-aired the last episodes of Lost before the big final season begins next week. Psyched! So. Freakin'. PSYCHED. I don't want to wish my life away, but really . . . next Tuesday can't come soon enough.

I slept the morning away (mostly), and I'm feeling better for it. I'm still having more than usual balance problems - don't know what the hell that's about - but overall it's going better today than yesterday. Can't argue with that.

We had a few days of above-freezing temperatures, but today winter came back with plummeting temps and snow. I was so thankful that I didn't have to be on the road in this weather. I'm always happy when winter is behind us, but even more so now I anxiously await the return of clear, dry roads.

The odds are good that I'll be getting some short-term copy editing/proofreading jobs through the graphics firm where Mark works. I'm excited about bringing in some money, no matter how short-term the job may end up being. I've been doing some editing and proofing for Deb and her business, and while I'm happy to help, it's all been voluntary. It'll be good to be able to contribute some cash to the household eventually.

I'm going to grit my teeth and watch the State of the Union address tomorrow. Never have I seen a president throw away such promise so quickly. But I'll be there.

The seminar was very informative. Boiled down to its essence we came out with 1) all alpacas are either red or black (even the white ones), and 2) to achieve color correction, breed to a full dark color. Easy, no?

I'm still tired and very achey, so I'll be resorting to numbers as I jump around.

1. My hair is ridiculous. I've grown to dislike the cut, and the dye job went very, very wrong. I have two-tiered hair color: bright red on top and auburn from mid-temple down. If I had the money, I'd go to a salon and have all of the color stripped and then start again. Dar thinks she knows of a way to tone it down and redye it ash brown. We'll see.

2. I finally got to see ( Niagara Falls. ) Pretty what with the spray and the rainbows, but I was bit underwhelmed. I think I as expecting the Grand Canyon with water - something immense, you know? The horrifying and cramped "amusement" section left the biggest impression; it was without a doubt the tackiest couple of blocks of real estate I have ever seen. And I've been to both Las Vegas and Nogales.

3. I may have a contract job with my former employer. It's looking pretty good, in fact. They've been dicking around building this new software for about four years now, and the new company owners have said enough is enough. They have a July 1 deadline to get it up and running, so my old boss has been authorized to hire 3 or 4 contractors. We talked on Friday, and he's up for it. If not that position, they're also hiring QA contractors. I think one way or another I'll have a job there for a couple of months.

4. I also got a call back from that deafblind independent living place. I have to call them tomorrow. I doubt I'll get that one because of my work visa situation, but I could be in place to be hired as a casual employee come September when my full visa kicks in.

5. We stayed at the Skank Motel on Friday night. The area we where the seminar was being held is small town western NY, so there wasn't much happening with the motels. We drove around literally for hours and saw only two motels, and the one we ended up with was the better one (according to the locals), which kind of blew our minds. It had to be 60 years old at least, paper thin walls whitewashed except for the two-inch border of dirt along the bottom and the holes along the corners. Dar turned the TV on and up popped the porn channel. Free porn! Not nearly as exciting as you might think. We were, "Give me a break. Where's the Home & Garden channel?" No such luck. Porn, yes; HG, no. No clock, alarm or otherwise. Two little lamps with dim bulbs. Filthy bathroom floor. Running toilet. The door was so sticky that you had to shove it open and closed. The guys in the room next to us took easily 20 minutes to unload their van, apparently carrying one piece in a time. Open the van door, slam the van door, open the room door, slam the room door. Repeat until Lee is ready to kill you.

The bed was like rock. There were two wafer-thin pillows and no extra blankets. We slept with our clothes on and on top of the covers. I took a sleeping pill and conked out, but Dar awoke in the middle of the night because the cats were scratching to get into the room. Except, as she suddenly realized, the cats were 500 miles away and what the hell was scratching at the door! Aiiiiiieeeee!

It was a wonderful night.

6. There was one Dunkin' Donuts in town. They made some of the worst coffee I've ever had. I was heartbroken. Dunkin' Donuts, y'all! I'm sure it was just that franchise, but it's not like I get to drink DD every day.

7. I've attempted to make a hanging hay feeder for the alpacas by cutting holes in one of those lightweight mesh clothes hampers and filling it with hay. Scared the crap out of them. Heh. The crias finally started coming around to smell it and such, but they never did get that they could eat the hay that's in it. I hung it out of the way in the barn in an area that they don't need to get into (i.e., not the poo area, not where the water bucket is), and I'll see what it looks like in the morning.

And now I go to dig out my resume. BSG finale tonight! Rome finale tonight! I guess I should also stock up some kleenex while I'm at it.