Timeless Beauty

Timeless Beauty
Originally uploaded by horsenbuggy

There are no words for how beautiful this girl is, inside and out.

Technology can steer you wrong

Today is Cyber Monday, the online answer to Black Friday.  I had two items that I wanted to purchase during these sale days: a pocket point and shoot digital camera and a GPS navigational device for my car.  I did my research online and decided on a model for each device.  I found a great price on the camera and bought it online Thursday.  It should get to me this week.  I had a hard time finding a good price on the GPS device. 

On Saturday, I drove forever and a mile to get to the place where my friend Gail was getting ready for her wedding.  I had my real camera in hand to shoot the getting ready process.  I met them at the salon (where another friend did the wedding party's hair) using directions I'd printed from Yahoo.  Then I followed them to the hall for the wedding and reception.  I realized about half-way through the reception that I had no idea where I was.  I had not printed out directions from the reception back to my house.  D'oh!  At that point, I really wished that I'd bought a GPS device.  How marvelous to just get in the car and ask the GPS how to get home. 

By the time I was ready to leave, there was only one person from my side of town left at the reception.  I thought about asking him if I could follow him back to the highway when he left.  But before I could get around to that, the bride's parents (dear, dear friends of mine) asked if I wanted to stay at their house instead of driving all the way back home.  Not knowing how long the reception would last and that people are always asking me to spend the night when I'm down there, I had brought overnight stuff with me just in case.  So, I followed my friends back to their house and stayed in the bride's former bedroom while she was off on the first night of her honeymoon.

I spent the following day with my friends and whoever popped into their house, mostly family from out of town.  I was treated to one of my all-time favorite experiences later in the day when the son and father played guitar together.  I used to go to bookstudy at their house.  Every once in a while, I would hang out afterwards and listen to them play together.  It's a magical experience.  Except, it's gotten better.  The son is now a man with a lot more confidence.  It used to be like pulling teeth to get him to play in front of people and you could hang it up if you thought he was going to sing, too.  But yesterday, he sang and there was no shutting him up until he had to leave the house to give a talk.  My only regret was that they played a bunch of OLD country songs which I didn't know and so couldn't sing along to.  (Do you know how frustrating that was for me?!?!)  I grew up listening to Motown, not Country & Western.  (Isn't it weird how the people in my family can be such great dancers, but not be able to sing or play instruments at all?  Surely with our rhythm, one of us could have at least played a percussion instrument?  Thank goodness my immediate family inherited a tiny bit of vocal ability from my mother.)

I also got to hang out with the oldest daughter who now has three sons of her own.  It's been difficult to get with her since she became a mother.  So, it was really nice to watch her kids play and feel like part of her life again.  Ok, this is really off the subject, but she made an awesome soup for lunch.  I normally hate vegetable soup.  But her soup was beet based (since she's married to a Russian) rather than tomato based.  I have never eaten a bowl of vegetable soup and not left some veggies behind in the bowl until yesterday.  Of course, it also helps that she didn't add any carrots.  I just can't eat soggy carrots.

So, I got to thinking about what a great day it was, hanging out with their whole family.  I realized that if I'd had that GPS device, I probably would have just relied on it to get me back to the highway and home.  I doubt that I would have taken them up on their offer to spend the night.  And even though it would have given me the correct directions, in that situation, technology would have steered me wrong.

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I've been Stumbling again

Some of you may have received personalized email links from me today. Yes, I've been using Stumble Upon again. Here's a video I found that is just too strange to explain.

My water has been delivered.

A really bizarre sale notification

OK, this is weird, but it is a really good deal.

If you purchase 6 cases of 1/2 liter bottles of water, you can get them for 23 cents per bottle from Office Depot - delivered.  I know that is a LOT of water.  But you know that you all buy bottled water.  Where else can you get it for 23 cents a bottle?

So here's the deal.  They have 1 case of 1/2 liter bottles on sale for $7.19.  That's 24 bottles at around 30 cents a bottle.  If you buy 6 cases (144 bottles), you push the total over $40 to $43.14.  Then there is a coupon code "77767594" that takes $10 off any purchase over $40.  Now you're down to $33.14.  You will have to pay taxes, which were negligible for me, but there is no delivery fee.

You'll have to find a place to store all your water, but I think it's worth it for that price.  I mean, water doesn't spoil, does it?

Click here for a further explanation of this deal.

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I'm not sure why, but I get the feeling this is going to be a long stinking week.

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Strange Week

Does it feel like Friday to anyone else?  There is a mood hanging over our office that feels distinctly like Friday.  It shouldn't be that way since we've had layoffs this week.  Everyone should have their nose to the grindstone.  Instead, people are almost hanging out in the hallways, chatting each other up.

Oh, I know why it feels like Friday.  The builders came in to do their bills today.  They normally do that on Fridays.  But this week our office is doing a Thanksgiving lunch on Friday, so they must have moved the weekly Builder meeting up a day.  That's really evil.  I was beginning to think about going to a movie tonight.  But not on a Thursday...

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It's Layoff Season Again

Last week I heard that my old company was going to have a big layoff.  One of my friends sent me her personal email because she was fairly certain that she was going to be cut.  Remembering what a bad day my old boss had had when he let me go, I called him to see how he was doing.  I was nervous for him because he's got a new boss who, by all accounts, doesn't know how to manage IT.  I was worried that this new boss would let my old boss go.  But then a part of me kinda wished that it would happen because I would follow my old boss to a new company in a heartbeat. 

Well, the person who'd first told me about the layoffs was let go.  That was sad because she had been there for around 14 years.  But it wasn't completely unexpected given the market conditions and the fact that she was middle management.  Then there was an issue with another of my friends who may (or may not) have escaped by the skin of their teeth.  I still don't know the outcome on that one.

With all this news going on at my old company, I didn't spare a thought for my current company.  A coworker came into my office this morning to ask why my boss was cleaning out his desk.  I had no idea since we sit on opposite sides of the building.  As my coworker and I were contemplating the possibilities, my boss called and asked me to go down to his office.  It's a long walk to my boss' office.  I knew there were two scenarios: 1) he had been let go, but I was safe or 2) the company had decided to dump our software package and we were both being let go.  I have to admit that I was selfishly rooting for the first option. 

Well, that first one happened.  My boss, the guy who hired me, is gone.  I will now report to his boss, the CFO.  Yep, that's the same CFO who has barely spoken three sentences to me in the year that I've been here.  So, this should be interesting. 

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Smells like roses, tastes like a$$

(And surely, I mean the donkey...)

It's not quite holiday time, when our office will be overflowing with foodstuffs from vendors.  Aww, memories of last year's ginormous solid chocolate bar from the Gas company come to mind.  :-)  But we do occasionally find random gifts of food in the kitchen.  Today, I was informed that I had to come look at the food that was sitting on the kitchen table. 

OK, the first clue that this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience should have been going into the auxiliary kitchen.  Good food finds its way to the big kitchen, nasty food ends up in the little kitchen.  Second clue, the box proclaimed that it was "middle eastern" food.  Yum, eat it up.  Third clue, the woman who dragged me in to look at it had already sliced one of these ... things (I don't know what else to call them) open and left both pieces sitting on the table.

So, I was greeted by a very small box of food items that I totally didn't recognize.  The one my coworker had tried to eat was round.  Inside, it was a lighter shade of brown than "paper bag," but not by much.  There was one pistachio lodged inside.  I have no idea what the rest was made of.  My coworker had chosen that one because she thought it looked similar to the date balls I'd made earlier in the year.  Nope, not even close.  I think there were maybe some peanuts in there.  But seriously, the outside should have been enough for her to not attempt to eat this thing.  It had tin foil melted/embedded/decayed into one side of it.  You literally could not separate the tiny flecks of silver from the ball. 

Still, that wasn't the worst.  In an attempt to identify the ingredients without actually tasting the thing, I smelled it.  (I learned that trick from T.)  I recognized the smell, but couldn't put my finger on it immediately.  I kept sniffing away until it finally hit me - it smelled exactly like roses.  By that time, there was an impartial bystander in the kitchen.  She smelled it and agreed that it smelled like roses.  I sniffed the box - the whole thing smelled like roses. 

I don't know about you, but I don't eat food that smells like flowers, especially when it is apparent that the smell is actually some form of perfume.  Who sprays perfume on a box of fancy food before they give it to someone?  Upon further inspection, the box top had grease marks, possibly even moldy spots.  Either someone was trying to poison us or we had been re-gifted this boxed of nasty food.  Either way, I deemed that it was too unsafe for people to eat and threw it away.

Still, my favorite part of the whole encounter was that my coworker tried to convince me to taste it by saying, "It tastes like a$$."

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Who ordered every car in the city on the road today? Traffic is crazy.

We like this spot

We like this spot
Originally uploaded by horsenbuggy

We are the Queen Bunny. We like this spot. We decree that we will sit in this pleasant spot and generate royal turds. When we vacate this spot, you, our loyal human subject, will remove the royal turds. Make it so.

So, the until last evening, the pattern was that the rabbit would come out of her cage, run around exploring the room and then get back in her cage to sit. She seems to hit a lull around 3:00 where I guess she naps. But since she doesn't actually lay down, I'm not certain that she is asleep. She is definitely hunkered down and relaxed.

Well, last night and again tonight, she decided that she would relax in that spot under my coffee table. I realized that she was extremely comfortable. I am not too worried about rabbit turds, they are very easy to clean up. But I am worried that she will get comfy enough in this spot to relieve her bladder. THAT I'm not cleaning up. I would just throw away the rug and I like that rug.

So, yesterday I made her go back in her cage when it was clear that she was no longer going to run around. I did the same thing again tonight. On the one hand, I want her to like my place enough to run around. On the other hand, I don't want her to like it so much that she treats it like her personal toilet. It's a delicate balance.

Coindence? I think not

I typically listen to podcasts on my ipod at work when I have highly repetitive data entry tasks to perform.  It makes the day cruise by.  I didn't charge my ipod last night, but I was fairly certain that I had charge it just a couple of days ago.  My ipod battery has never given out on me while I was actively listening to it. 

... until today.  I was listening to a technology podcast.  The experts, or Cranky Geeks as they call themselves, were complaining about Apple's policies on the iphone.  Apple has a deal with AT&T, so you must use that carrier (and only that carrier) if you want to use the iphone.  You are limited to only two iphones per customer.  You cannot purchase an iphone with cash - Apple wants to be able to track your purchase through credit card records.  Anyway, right in the middle of the all the Cranky Geeks ranting about these Big Brother-like restrictions, my ipod battery quit on me. 

I believe that Apple has a filter in their ipod.  When a recording playing on the device goes over a certain allowable tolerance of criticism, the device shuts down.  Sneaky.

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My new lens came in!

Vase in Sepia
Originally uploaded by horsenbuggy

Fed-Up actually delivered my lens today. I was thrilled to see it waiting for me at my door. I started shooting junk in my house. I wanted to get some good shots of the rabbit, but none happened today. That can wait for tomorrow.

But out of all the ones I shot today, I like this one the best. It is a sepia toned shot of a vase sitting on my hearth.

Not taking the bait

Not taking the bait
Originally uploaded by horsenbuggy

As you can see in this photo, I attempted to lure the bunny out of her cage with a delicious treat. Number 11 mislead me on the power of the graham cracker. The rabbit totally ignored my bait.

She did hop out of her cage again today when I got home to feed her. She was just so excited when I opened her cage to give her her afternoon snack, that she leapt out. But again, she freaked out on the shiny floor and hopped back in immediately. As you can see in the photo, I laid down a bath towel for her to jump on to. I figured that she wouldn't slide as much on the towel as on the bare floor. She still didn't leave her cage.

I sat in the room, staring and poking at her for a while. I finally gave up and went to watch TV in the other room. After about 30 minutes, I heard a significant noise. I get up to check on her each time I hear a noise that I don't recognize. Welp, this time, she had hopped out of her cage and onto the towel. She sniffed around and examined the extents of the towel, but wouldn't leave its safety.

At that point, I wasn't sure if she was freaked out by the touch of the floor or the reflection of herself in the floor. Not that her reflection is perfect as it would be in a lake, but there is definitely a white spot staring back up at her from the floor. I remember that there was a huge dog on "The Dog Whisperer" who refused to go onto any shiny floor or surface because he'd slid and slammed into a wall (knocking himself unconcious) as a puppy. Maybe something similar was going on here.

I spread the towel out so that it covered more area. She hopped back out onto the bigger towel and checked out her expanded territory. At that point, the towel connected with the rug that is under my coffee table. I had to call her attention to the rug by patting on it. She got the hint and headed over for it.

She eventually became comfortable enough to venture out onto the wood floor, but you can clearly see that it is difficult for her to get around on it. She has to crawl using all four appendages individually. Have you ever seen a rabbit do that? It looks really odd. They usually work their front feet together and then hop with their hind legs together. When they crawl, they look like tiny soldiers trying to shimmy under a barbed wire fence.

I have some electrical wires/cables that run along the baseboard of one wall. I don't want her to chew on them, so I'm not going to leave her alone in the room now that she will get out of her cage (unless I close her cage door). And if you think it's silly for me to worry about her chewing on wires, I've already seen her attempt to chew on my brick hearth. Silly rabbit.

OK. It looks like I have officially achieve "Cool Human" status. I just gotta get her to hop around on the floor during the day when the room is flooded with good light. Bunnies move too fast for low light.

Fed-UP!

I know this sounds petty, but I'm going to shout it from the rooftops anyway.

DON'T EVER USE FED-EX HOME DELIVERY!

My new fancy lens from Kalamazoo was sent to me through this company.  Evidently, Fed-Ex Home Delivery is a completely different company than Fed-Ex Express.  Fed-Ex is requiring a signature on this package - makes sense, it is expensive.  But every other time I've used Fed-Ex and not been home to sign for a package, I've been sent to retrieve it from the One World center that is literally three blocks from my house.  This time, because they're technically a "different company," they are telling me that I have to drive over to their "Ground Center" which is, like, 25 miles away.  I don't think so.

I called to ask them to drop it off at the One World center.  I spoke with three different people (2 levels of supervisors).  None of them would work with me.  I asked, point-blank, "So, you would rather lose a customer who receives packages literally every week than work out a solution?"  No dice.  I then threatened, "I guarantee you that I will tell every company I do business with, every week, to never, under any circumstances, use Fed-Ex to ship to me."  Again, no dice.  I hung up on the third guy while he was repeating that he didn't want to lose me, but that there was nothing he could do.

I had to call the camera store in Kalamazoo to get him to remove the signature requirement so that Fed-Ex would leave it at my door.  He's trying, but it will only work if the Fed-Ex employees are not completely inept.  Who wants to place odds on that?

You see, this probably wouldn't tick me off as badly (yeah it would), if my uncle hadn't told me stories of how his company (UPS) handles these kinds of things.  He told me about a delivery guy who missed someone during the day, returned his truck and packages, took the one package that he'd missed and delivered it on his way home because he knew the person would be home by then.  THAT! is customer service, my friends. 

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Bunny Play by Play

I doubt you really want an update on the bunny situation every 12 hours, but you're gonna get one.

This morning, I went down to feed the rabbit before I left.  Instead of running to the back of the cage as she did yesterday, the bunny ran to the door of the cage.  She stuck her head out and acted like she was going to jump out at me when I opened the door.  She knew that I was there to give her food and kept getting her head in the way of the bowl waiting for the food to appear inside it.

I have been promoted from "Not My Human" to "New Human Who Brings the Food."  I'm hoping that my next promotion brings me up to the status of "New Human Who is Pretty Cool."

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