Too Much To Dream

Car nostalgia

One unique facet of life in these United States is the Huge-ass Car I Once Owned story. Mine was a '79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon. (Mine was not anywhere near the mint condition of the one pictured -- I paid $300.00 for mine, and twice as much to insure it and get it tagged.) Unlike the model in this picture, I had the two-door version,* and those doors each weighed a ton; by the time I got it the driver's side door had a broken hinge, and had a tendency to swing slowly open in traffic. One day I pulled into the yard of the hovel I rented a room in, and I heard a dull "clank." I got out and looked under the car; sure enough, the muffler as well as the entire exhaust pipe had fallen off.

I drove it like that for about four months.

It was a car to inspire fear in the mean streets of Miami. Suddenly all the demises-by-auto I used to envision for myself -- such as the one where my flimsy econocart was squished between a tomato-red Camaro driven by a smoove Cuban youth in Raybans and a white Ford Bronco piloted by a distracted suburban mom trying to calm her hysterical brood, and I had to spend eight hours listening to the same salsa tune playing over and over from the Camaro's jammed cd-player as the rescue crew tried to pry me out of the tangle of vehicular rubble with the Jaws of Life -- vanished in the humidity as I watched shiny ego-machines shudder away from my path on the Airport Expressway. Despite its age it had a pretty powerful engine (it also got about ten miles to the gallon, but hey, at least I wasn't taking the bus). And for the first few months I owned it, the a/c worked, the power window on the driver's side still opened, and it had a cassette player I spent $400 to get the door fixed, and (eventually) replaced the muffler and exhaust pipe. I also got the brakes replaces once.

Well, the end came: first the windows stuck, then the a/c failed. Summer came, and I had had enough of sweltering. I sold it to the junkman for sixty bucks. I think I'm about ready for another one.

*This is a correction; I posted this rather late, and I was tired; or my brain refused to let me take in the details of a vehicle painted such a hideous brown color, and I thought the link went to a picture of the two-door model.

A case of the Mondays

Since this was a particularly annoying Monday, I don't have much to say tonight. But there is one thing I forgot to mention in my post from the weekend, and that is what greeted my eyes as I came back from my errands (click for larger pic):

I took the picture this morning, but it looked just the same then as it did Saturday. Apparently some bimbo, driving god knows what, had managed to crash into the mail kiosk. I can't quite figure out how she managed, because if you will take a look at the next photo (again, click for a larger one):

-- you can see that there is a rather high concrete rise from the parking lot to the walkway. I can only suppose that she was trying to pilot a Uhaul truck, or perhaps a small yacht, and backed into the thing. It must have made the most godawful noise; I'm glad I wasn't there to hear it, as my nerves are not what they used to be.

Anyway, the upshot is, I have no idea where my mail is going. The girl at the manager's office said to call the post office on Hiawassee Road.

Oh well. Here is another piccie for you all to enjoy (clicky clicky for larger):

Weekend after next, come hell or high water, I know what I am going to go to the theater to see. I do need something to cheer me up; nothing like a long, incomprehensible, boring movie filled with characters nobody can possibly care about to make me feel better about myself. Oh wait, I'm not going to go see Seabiscuit; that was the bad dream. Seriously, why do people who have no appetite (apparently) for heroic fantasy movies go see them, only to complain that they were bored and felt as if they were being tortured? It's not as if ROTK is something new no one had ever done before; it is the last part of a three part movie. If you didn't like parts one and two, you aren't going to suddenly like part three, especially since the characters you didn't care about in the first two movies are also in the third movie. But then again, this person preferred, among other fare (like Peter Pan, a story I have always found to be creepy in the extreme), Gone With the Wind, a film I have never been able to watch more than five minutes of before changing channels.

By the way, I'd also like to see Master and Commander, and I plan to rent out that pirate thing that the Elf was in. That's about it for me and movies.

PS: yes, I know that the grammar in this entry sucks, but I don't care, I'm tired and posting anything at all tonight was like swimming through cold molasses.

Domestic Bliss

I finally got sick of waiting for the maintenance people in this apartment complex to get around to my place and decided to hook up my washer and dryer myself. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be -- you just hook up three hoses. The only problem is it takes a certain amount of strength to get the drain hose all the way onto the valve on the back of the washer, strength my feeble little fingers just don't have. (There is also a stiff metal clamp involved.) So it's leaking just a bit -- but you know what? I don't care. The utility room has a concrete floor and opens to the outside, so it can leak away until I put my next call in to the manager's office. I plan to play dumb. "Gee, I hooked up the washing machine and it's leaking all over the place!" I wonder if will light a fire under someone's behind. In any case, I am washing all my laundry tonight.

In other home front news, I still have no car. Well, I plan to go looking in a couple of weeks... three or four... whenever I scrape up some money. Being carless in Orlando sucks. On the other hand, my cat is happy -- except for one trip on foot to the grocery store I haven't stirred from the house all day except to take out the trash.

As to the site look -- well, I can't really think of a holiday theme that satisfies me. I wanted a retro Christmas look, but not the same one I had up last year. I couldn't find any retro Christmas clip art that I really liked, though, so I just settled for this vaguely retro look. I may keep it, I may not.

Life Without Wheels, cont.

Well, while everyone spent their Thanksgiving eating delicious turkey and spending time with family and/or friends, I got to stay home. But, I really can't blame my lack of a vehicle for this -- I had horrible cramps. I wasn't about to go anywhere -- I have a vague memory of some friends asking me over, sorry friends! -- with or without a car. I spent most of the day in front of the teevee with a heating pad on my belly. I did manage to get up and force myself to make French toast, with some apples sauteed in butter, brown sugar, and nutmeg. As Steve H. likes to say: "Oh, oh, oh..."

Weather is supposed to turn nasty later on today. Right now it is sunny and not too not. I really should get up and walk over to the store (it's about four longish blocks away, and I could use the exercise), but I still feel crampy and disinclined to move from my comfy cave. Tomorrow it will be nice and cold, or so they promise. We shall see. Maybe I'll make a few phone calls to some used car places.

Later: okay, I didn't go anywhere. A walk to the dumpster with my trash proved to me that I was still not feeling well enough to walk four blocks up and back. This is too bad; I am craving pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top right now. Mmmm. Pie.

PS: weather was nice and sunny up until, oh, now. Temps are supposed to drop into the forties tonight. Yay!

Oopsie

Well. Ain't life a kick in the ass sometimes. Take today: I got up and went outside, planning to do my usual routine of getting in the car and driving to work. Unfortunately that proved impossible to do, since there was no car waiting for me where I had parked it last night. I had the feeling the neighborhood's joyriders were not the ones responsible. I kept meaning to call the bank...

Anyway, after much rigmarole, I found out that 1) I will have to come up with $2027.89 in fifteen days to get the car back. That's with "repossession fees" -- I don't owe that much in just late payments. Since I don't have that much money, I guess I'll be carless for a while until I can save up enough money to buy a piece of junk. Then I called the number to find out where I could go to get my stuff out of the car, and they tell me they charge "inventory fees" for that, to call back later and find out how much I will have to fork over for my cassette tapes and other crap. And I can pick the stuff up only at a certain time "by appointment only" between the hours of 1:45 and 3:45pm or something like that at this place wherever it is. (I'll bet you it's in one of those neighborhoods where there are a lot of "bail bondsmen" places.) Fun.

Oh well, those car payments were crushing my head anyway. We'll just try not to think of my ha-ha joke credit rating right now. At least I have all the important stuff paid for, like this here internet site. Now I have to figure out how to drive it to work. If only I could just upload myself... Now I am off to figure out the bus system in this town.

Update: bus system has been duly figured. My one fear was that Orlando would have some stupid "we're still a small town" schedule where the buses don't start running until 8 o'clock, and stop at sundown (kind of like Miami did -- see, even though Miami is a huge city with a population above two million, the bus system there was a joke and a half; don't expect to be able to go anywhere after 9pm without a car unless you live near downtown -- aka, in one of the worst neighborhoods in the US) but fortunately that won't be a problem. Lots of buses, and they start early and stay up late. Also, I'm on a normal work schedule.

Some other look-on-the-bright-side moments:

I might finally lose some weight.

It's not summer.

And last: at least I'm not this stupid female.

Last very last update to this I swear: (6:10pm) I checked this entry again to see if I was really pathetic; I decided that I could have been more pathetic, so I'll leave it as is. A few more things: car-pooling has been arranged for (turns out one of my coworkers lives in my nice across-town neighborhood); the fees for getting my used kleenex, old-worn-out U2 tapes, and junkmail aren't that bad, though I certainly wouldn't charge that much for them; and the bus system sucks in Orlando too, just in a different way from Miami's.

By the way

I am rather pissed off now. Sometimes I really wonder if a few jackboots up a few asses wouldn't do the Intercrapnet a world of good. In other words, don't cross my fucking boundaries.

Moan whine complain

Stupid sinus headache. I feel like someone punched me on both cheekbones. (And before you ask, I am waiting for my transition from temp to regular employee starts and then I need to find out how much longer I can wait before I can get health insurance and then avoid going make plans to go to the doctor.)

Home sweet home

Note to self: sell all possessions before moving ever again. I finally got the washer and dryer moved into the place. I was terrified that I had made a huge mistake and the tiny space this apartment has for washer/dryer sets was too small (they are ideally set up for the stackable kind; I have the separate floor set). Damn things are a headache and a half; my friend tried to hook up the lint hose (or whatever that stretchy aluminum thing is called), but it kept coming loose. And I need to have maintenance plug the hoses in anyway, as well as making sure the electricity works. Did I mention all the non-working outlets I have? Grr. Oh well, it's a cheap place, so I get what I pay for.

I also got my few remaining large pieces of furniture in the place. My oh-so-Gothic matte black iron-look canopy bed frame is in pieces against the wall. I've decided to get rid of it; for one thing, it's too tall for the room, and for another, it will interfere with the ceiling fan if I set it up. So, anyone want to buy a black metal canopy bed frame? I might even let the rails go with it.

Anyway, that was my exciting day. I have a sinus headache now. I have taken handfuls of Advil and sinus pills, with very little effect. Also, I am addicted to Sonic's Cheddar Peppers and Cherry Limeade. I bought this meal twice today (well, the first time I bought a Strawberry Limeade instead but I find I prefer the Cherry). Nitey nite.

I still have to put away books and do laundry. Oy.

The art of putting everything off

Time for another episode of My Life: So When Do I Get a Parade? Yes, it's what you really look for here at Spleenville Central: evidence that I am really a total phuqup instead of the web goddess you love and fear. Well, to begin:

I finally got my hands on the key to my patio utility room. This means that I can finally get my washer-dryer out of storage, along with all the other heavy things I left there, such as my bed, futon frame, and kitchen table. (Hey, no way was I going to pay for two Uhaul trips. I already moved everything that could be transported by car, including the millions of books I own, and the mostly eighties vinyl album collection no one wants to take off my hands. Yeah, used record stores only want rare records and master recordings these days. But that is for another rant.)

Let me explain about the key: it turned out that the lock on the storage door was broken, so they had to fix it before I could put anything in there. Not that I was really afraid that I would get robbed of my washer-dryer set, but I am from Miami and I don't take chances. Yes I lock my car doors -- Orlando hasn't been a small town for quite some time. Anyway, they replaced the lock on the door -- and then didn't leave the new key in the office for days and days.

On the other hand, I am not too pleased right now with management; they promised me that someone would be here yesterday to fix the annoying dripping tub faucet that drives me insane, as well as remove the showerhead so I could install the handheld shower I bought. Their showerhead is some ancient plastic thing with several years of Orlando water grot caked on it, and I want it gone. I knew something was up when I came home and my cat was not cowering in some far corner because a Strange! Human! had been in the house. And of course, the tub was untouched. Hey, they pay for water, so I guess they don't care if a 400+ apartment block of leaky faucets runs up their bill. Fortunately for me they are open today so I plan to call and harangue them.

In plant news, the Australian fern confirmed that it was a creature of the shadows, so I brought it indoors and trimmed off the scorched leaves. Once it was no longer subject to the blasting rays of the Florida sun it immediately perked up. It already looks crowded in its little pot, so I am going to buy a larger pot some time this weekend.

Books, books, everywhere books. All over my bedroom, mostly, which is still sans bed (I have been rolling the futon out onto the living room floor and sleeping there). I finally went and bought a three-shelf cube bookcase thing from Vilemart, and hauled it indoors. Now I must put it together, yay. And I know that it is only large enough for a portion of my books, but it's a beginning. I also have my eye on the Mission Style desk -- the one I am using now is too small, really.

Incidentally, in searching for the perfect (cheap) bookcase I found myself in the Belz Fashion Outlet. I had no time to really go through the place -- it spans a few blocks and has outlet stores for every manufacturer you can think of; and I really don't need Donna Karan knockdowns from last season, or a Burberry trenchcoat right now. But I did get sucked into a lingerie store, where I found what might be the world's most comfortable bra, so the day was not wasted.

Doin' the Martha

I know what you all really want to hear about from me anyway: you want to hear about my home decor. Well, I finally found the cheap black plastic wastecan and black rug for the bathroom. On my second trip to SuperTarget I found the aisles where they have all the color-coordinated stuff. I could swear these aisles weren't there when I went to the store before; they must have been in some other dimension, or maybe I was. Anyway, I chose the cheaper make of rug, which turned out to be a different shade of black from the more expensive brand: the cheap rug was a kind of ashy black as opposed to blue-black. It worked out because I was trying to keep to the warm/neutral color spectrum for the bathroom. (Of course, I get home last night to find that my cat the slob had somehow thrown litter across the entire rug. But at least the apartment elves had finally fixed the door to the outside utility room, so know I can get my washer-dryer set out of storage and have it hooked up.)

I also found Australian Tree ferns on sale there, so I bought one. I've been wanting to own one for ages; I love ferns. Pictures are coming soon of all this domesticity as soon as I get around to taking some.

At the Target store they also had the neatest stuff: furniture that you can assemble without hammers or nails. It's a brand called Fasil, and the items are rather expensive, but I like the easy chair and the bookcase. I think Target is trying to get some of Ikea's customer's -- pretty easy considering the closest Ikea store to my area is the one in Virginia.

Domesticity

Finally got around to straightening up (somewhat) the walk-in closet in my new apartment. So many shelves, so many places to hang my clothes... I got rid of half my stuff, and I still am running out of hangers. Well, it's 88 cents for a dozen at Vile-mart. Soundtrack: Swinging at #1, a cd of WW2-era swing hits I picked up at the aforementioned retail mart; seems somehow appropriate to accompany housework. Now, of course, I am taking a breather, and I'm listening to the playlists of random songs I have stored on my hard drive. Currently playing: Love and Rockets "Judgement Day."

Where is my mind?

So much to blog about, so little brain with which to blog. Back tomorrow, hopefully with a fully loaded brain.

Clouds in my coffee

There's nothing like grocery shopping to put me in a foul mood.

Unless it is grocery shopping on a Sunday evening, when every brat-intensive family unit is also out chasing down provender while ignoring their loose little ones ping-ponging and skidding down the aisles, when they are not thrashing and shrieking in the kiddie chair of the grocery cart behind you.

Unless it is all that and the fact that I could not find the one simple thing that I saw in all the stores not two weeks ago -- I swear. See, I want a small black rug and small black plastic wastecan (not one made out of lucite or porcelain and which therefore costs the earth) for the bathroom, to go with my beige-with-black-and-gold-patterns shower curtain that I bought at Linens-n-Things two years ago. Of course now that I want something in black that isn't three feet tall and made of wire mesh (I am so going to put wire mesh in the bathroom on the real stone tile, yeah right) I can't find it. I drove so many places my ass went numb and I used an entire quarter tank of gas. There were tons of gold and beige and similar shades, but the shower curtain already uses as much of those two colors as I can stand.

So by the time I gave up and decided to go home I was too pissed off to go to the food store -- and then I was even more pissed off when I remember I still had to go to the store anyway because I needed some things that could not be put off. So away I goes! to Vile-mart, where it was raining bratty kids and their deranged parents whose grocery-cart-piloting skills did not reassure one as to their driving-in-the-parking-lot (or on the road) skills.

And hey, mister, how's about you get your fat ass out of the center of the aisle? Yeah, you there, leaning on your empty grocery cart, staring into space. I don't know what you were doing there, and I don't care, but I didn't appreciate having to squeeze around your well-fed posterior.

Anyway, that was my day. Huzzah.

Back in black

I'm ba-aaaack.... Regular posting to resume forthwith. First I have to catch up with my reading.

PS: dipnut is the only one to get the meaning of the title to this post. Are there no other Eighties "new wave" music fans left in the world? Sure, a lot of music during the Reagan years sucked, but you will pry my U2, Simple Minds, and Echo and the Bunnymen LPs out of my cold, dead fingers.

Just checking in

Saturday the cable guy arrives. Yay, three days to I-Day. (Internet day.) Watch out, world!

Come in come out of the rain

Well hi kids. I've finally moved into my own place, so I have no internet access currently. (I am typing this at the Apple store in Millenia Mall.) It will take me at least a week to get back on line -- the way things always seem to go for me, probably longer. Until then I probably won't be posting much unless I can squeeze in a minute to blog from work. In the meantime, er, have great lives and all that.

PS: my new apartment is much nicer than any apartment I have lived in so far. For the first time in my life, I have a dishwasher for my exclusive use. Also sliding glass doors and central air as opposed to window units. My cat is happy -- she hates living with other people; she barely tolerates me.

I'm ba-ack

A storm took out the cable modem where I've been staying, thus the dearth of new posts. More later.

Change of Seasons

Autumn is approaching: the fogs have begun. I went out today and saw a nice thick mist had made everything beyond about fifty feet disappear. Gollum would have approved.

It will burn off quickly today, though. The temps are supposed to go into the nineties.

Filler

Oh, look, I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy and stuff. Apartment hunting and getting used to the new job (remember that scene in Office Space where they took the fax machine out to the field and smashed it up to hip-hop music?) and so forth. Also, I haven't had any interesting thoughts lately. My apologies to those people who got into my previous blogged arguments, I haven't forgotten the subjects I raised, I just haven't had the time or inclination to sit down and get into anything again.

So anyway. I have Ken Layne's new cd to listen to (thanks, Ken!) and I'm working on a new project (just a personal one, and I really haven't been working on it very hard) but mostly I am dead-dog tired. Bleh. Oh well, that's the end to this edition of the dread Personal Blogging Stuff That No One Important Cares About. (No links, I am sure that people of that opinion are legion.)

Public Service Announcement

Do not -- I repeat, do not -- drink Lipton's Orange and Spice Tea. Unless you like severe heartburn. I've been pounding Tagamet like it was Tic-Tacs. I don't know what they put in that stuff (my guess is lye), but whatever it is, it's deadly. I never have indigestion like this.

Newsflash: I don't know everything

For instance, I had never encountered this word before. But I must say it describes me rather well.

Not drowning but waving

No, Florida (or my web page, wherever it resides)wasn't at all affected by the Blackout of 2003, I've just been very, very busy. More later; now I must go to work.

Dial tone

2 tired 2 post.

Down and out

Nothing like a sinus headache to ruin my day. And I was craving pasta with homemade (by me) marinara sauce, but I felt too weak to make it. So I had Raisin Bran instead. Maybe I'll make it tomorrow, if I feel up to it.

Whitespace

Oops, there's no entry today. Well, that's because I cut down the blog's index display to just one day's entries, and I haven't posted anything. Well, here's an entry. Remember, write something, even if it's nothing. At least I'll get typing practice in. (And I haven't had any good ideas today, nothing that I feel like writing about right now, anyway. Talk amongst yourselves.)

Surfacing briefly

I may have to stop reading most blogs. Not only am I using "I gotta finish reading the blogs" as an excuse to not write in my own, I often find myself getting pissed off, and there aren't enough hours in the day, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I can talk about it now that one whole day has passed: I have a job. Sure, right now it's temp work, but there is the possibility of -- dare I breath it? -- a permanent position, and at the very least I am learning an office routine and getting a normal lunch hour and figuring out how to set up the coffee maker and everything, and that is what I need right now. That and a paycheck.

Anyway, I didn't want to say anything about it until I had shown up for my first day and not been told "Oh! Didn't the temp place call you? We found out we didn't need anyone after all." Because each time before that it looked as if I might have a position I told someone and then the thing fell through. Call me superstitious.

As for me writing, it looks as if staying up until 4am is over, but I was tired of that anyway. I am trying to get back into writing mode; I've been sort of preoccupied lately, as you can see. And there will be some changes around here. (Cue ominous music.) Stay tuned... (Yes, I know I've said it before.)

Moveblog 1 Entry 5

Okay, guys, I'm moved and hooked up. most of my possessions, however, still need to be destroyed put into storage, so you won't be seeing much from me today. Really. Honest. I promise. Gotta go now.

Okay, in a minute.

(Talk amongst yourselves -- oh, I see that you already are. Carry on.)

Moveblog 1 Entry 4

Sigh.

Moveblog 1 Entry 2

Still here. Feel like crap. To be specific: I feel like I am coming down with something. Oh, that would be really convenient.

Update: to compound my pain, on Cold Case Files the narrator just said "Outside a small New Hampshire town, inside a small and tiny house..." My aching head.

My day so far

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

(Bonfire animation from this site.)

Movelog 1 Entry 1

I
Hate
Packing.

Also the power just came back on after being out for about an hour due to what they call a severe thunder storm. My cat has only now just ventured out from under the bed. It's not so much the scary loud noises and flashing lights she dislikes as it is the fact that she can tell I am up to no good. Wait until she finds out she's going to be spending some time in a place where there is another cat, a dog, and a guinea pig, not to mention an assortment of strange humans.

Anyway, all I did today was dismantle my desk (one of those powder-coated metal jobs), cart some crap off to the Goodwill, pawn one of my old teevees (don't ask how I end up with three tvs when I am one person; okay, one was so old I had to give it to the Goodwill, the other was old but they gave me 20 bucks for it), sell a bunch of my cds (goth cds are in demand, go figure) and pay my car payment. Of course this entailed me allowing the 96-degrees-Fahrenheit-but-feels-like-100 (per the Weather Channel) outside air to touch my skin several times today, which means I feel as if I have walked across Death Valley. So I am going beddy bye.

Thanks for everyone's good wishes, by the way. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes!

Update: did I actually write "this entailed me allowing..."? I guess I did. I really need some sleep.

Upheavals in meatspace

Things are going to be slow around the Spleenville torture-and-roast-'em camp for a couple of days, because I have to move out of my apartment. Yes, there is still no job, and I had to decide between my car and my apartment. You can always stay with friends, but in Florida you're sunk without a car. But no worries, fans -- I'll be staying with friends who have cable internet access, and they are going to put me on their network. So posting will be light while I commence piling my possessions in the parking lot, pouring lighter fluid on them, and setting them on fire packing. So stay tuned! (PS: some Secret Projects are in the works also.)

Headache Hotel

Okay, the headache is finally better, but now I am exhausted. I think I will break with tradition and go to bed early. I have a gajillion things to do tomorrow anyway.

Crushing my head

I do not like it when I have the sinus headache that will not go away.

Everything that rises must converge

Christ, people piss me off sometimes. It's enough to seriously make me consider setting up one of those password-protected blog things, so the sensitive of the earth won't be bothered by my personal whinings, and leave this blog for all the fluffy politics, war, and culture crap.

Life Plan Part 96214

So, I was talking to the lady from the bank, arranging for me not to have my car repo'd right away, and telling her of my jobless woes, and she said "It's too bad you don't live here, we're hiring." Now she was in Birmingham. I've never been there, so I don't know what it's like, but she said something about being within relatively easy access to mountains and beaches. I know some people who lived in Birmingham and didn't care for it, but my needs are simple: electricity, plumbing, cable access (internet, I don't care about tv), air-conditioning. Maybe I should move out of Florida.

So I went to Apartments.com to check out Birmingham. Prices seem reasonable... But is there a state income tax? Florida is one of the few states without a state income tax.

Attrition

Okay, time for a my-so-called-life entry. This is all personal complaints and whines so feel free not to read the rest.

I had the cable people come and get the digital cable box -- I simply was not watching any of the digital channels. There was a time when I would have killed to have three extra music video channels, but that was when 1) I still cared about the current music scene, and 2) there was still music to care about. I stopped caring about music some time in the late nineties; the last concert I went to was the U2 one in Lexington in May 2001, but I had more than one reason for taking that trip. I haven't been to a concert since. Having all those extra channels is useless to me now.

Anyway, the box is gone; after some thought I decided to keep the standard cable, because I do watch A&E, the Hallmark Channel, and Discovery. In any case, I'm not sure how long I will still be here; I still don't have a job, and rent is a problem. (It's like, not paid yet. My manager wasn't in his office when I sashayed over there today; he's going to be thrilled.) I could barely afford this place on student loans and a part time job; now I have neither. Also, I have a car payment that must be paid, and I think it's going to win out over rent. As things stand now, I need my car more than I need an apartment. I can always drive to a friend's house and stay there. But without a car I can't get a decent job (not the way the laughable public transportation system is set up in Orlando -- but there isn't a city in Florida where the public transportation system doesn't suck, this is a car state).

Anyway, I've been getting myself into the state of mind where I can think about moving. After all: one day last week I came home after a job interview to find out that the maintenance crew had hacked all the lower branches off the lacebark elm tree in front of my apartment. Their excuse was that they had to trim all the branches that were touching the building because of carpenter ants and termites. That is all well and good, but I observed later that they haven't trimmed the branches from any of the other trees in the place, not so I can tell, and some of those branches (like the bottlebrush tree on the other side of my unit) are touching the roof. Maybe carpenter ants don't like bottlebrush tree bark.

Of course the tree crew didn't bother to move my last two feeble potted plants. Falling branches had knocked them both to the ground: the geranium had actually put out a flower which was broken off, and the spider plant had been dumped out of its pot. Anyway, I picked it up and scraped as much of the dirt as I could and repotted it, and the geranium too. Then I had to go inside to comfort my terrified cat, who must have thought the world had come to an end. She actually crept out of her hiding place on her belly, very pathetic.

So: they have hacked up my pretty tree, the better for the outside lights to glare in my window. And I have never sat in my patio area on my plastic chair next to my nice plastic table; it's either raining really hard, or too hot, or the mosquitos are out. What I have decided I'd prefer is some place I could get a screened-in porch. That way I could "be outside" without having to actually be outside in the evil Florida weather. That being said, I do like my neighborhood, which is quiet and near a part and has lots of trees (I require trees), but -- oh well.

I've looked around on Apartments.com and seen some less-expensive studios (yes, I might go back to a studio or an efficiency, if I can shed half my possessions -- and if I get a job, ever) that are not in Orange County. (I refuse to live in Orange County. I'd live in Polk County before I lived in Orange. People who live here will know what I am talking about.)

So yay, I might move. Whatever -- I don't care as long as I can get internet access, hey! Also, to make my life perfect, I had to get a new cell phone -- and a new cell phone plan, because Sprint's (my previous provider) cheapest phone is a hundred bucks. What happened was: my antediluvian cell phone finally up and died. Without a phone I'm sunk; I need that to get job interview calls. (I have no land line; I got rid of it since I had the cell.) So I went to T-Mobile and got a Nokia for $29.00. It was their cheapest phone, and it freaks me out, all the stuff it comes with. I have games, and I can compose my own ringtone, and I can even use AIM with it. So I may be homeless, but I'll have a cell phone! Maybe I should trade this machine in for a laptop with wireless access and become a vagabond. I'll trade the car in for a converted van... I'll change the name of the blog to "Have Blog, Will Travel." Or maybe "Vagablog." Hey...

Retro Stove

Oh yes, when I have made my millions and I finally have that dream cabin in the woods, one of these will be installed in my kitchen.

Betcha can't think of me being all domestic and shit, can ya?

Things

I just realized why none of my imported posts have "convert line breaks" on; because they weren't saved that way, I had Textile installed on the other server. I haven't re-installed the plugin yet here. D'oh!

I meant to sleep all day, but I was awakened around 9am by some moron sounding their car horn over and over. Whoever it was is lucky I can't function without a pot of coffee in me. I was going for a walk, but the temperature is now in the nineties, so there is no way I'm leaving the house unless it is to get into my airconditioned car and drive somewhere else airconditioned.

Swamp thing

Well, still no job, but lots of calls from people I owe money to! Including a fun dispatch from the student loan people, who are under the impression that I have not been enrolled at UCF since February. I beg to differ: I held out for a week longer than that... And then I get to go explain to my landlord why I don't have the rent, and god knows when I will have the rent. Hah hah! I am loving life right now, I can tell you.

And later, I may tell you all about my car trip yesterday. Yeah, since it's only money, I decided to drive around Central Florida. After getting a look at the area off the main highways, I think I am going to start referring to my home as "Mirkwood," or maybe "Fangorn." We do like our trees here. (Here is an example of what I mean. This is a picture of the Ocala National Forest. Or maybe it's a picture of one of Lake, Sumter, or Marion County's many small towns. Sometimes you can glimpse the wall of a house or the corner of a roof. The picture isn't mine, I snagged it off the internet somewhere.)

Dispatches from the Doldrums

Well, it's been quiet as a country cemetery here in Spleenville Central. The silence is unnerving; all the kids in my apartment complex are either still asleep (having had their breakfast milk drugged so mother and dad could recover from their own hangovers) or they've all gone off to Disney World. I'm sure the silence won't last, though. There is no way everyone used up their fireworks last night.

Etc.: I am working on a new site design, as well as some other things. (Cue ominous music.) Also, still no job, rent is late, cable is unpaid -- all is as usual.

PS: I'd like to thank the benefactor who sent me (via Amazon and, I think, my intermittently updated wish list) Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy.

On to other things...

Update: well, this is it so far. I'm not too pleased with the colors, though. I had to set the two columns to absolute widths, but that shouldn't be a real problem for most regular browser settings. It is still readable with Lynx, which is the most primitive setup I can think of. As always I will still be tweaking.

Emyn Muil

Frodo contemplates his last paycheck from the Fellowship:

Nothing to say today. I wasn't home anyway. I had to get out of the house. No job yet; the one place that called me is "still reviewing applications"; they'll call me tomorrow or Wednesday or maybe never. I did my obligatory Pick me! Pick me! dance already, so I went ahead and contacted some more temp agencies. I have an interview tomorrow with one. Hey, what are bills anyway. Update: at least I'm in with the In Crowd!

I'm ba-aaack...

And now both my legs from the knees down are killing me. Oh well, I bought a big bottle of cheap white zinfandel, and it is chilling in the fridge. I might even make pasta later.

Update: Oh yeah -- the Invasion of the Backless Shoes didn't just inflict Payless. I went to the Expensive Mall (Mall of the Millenia, the one with the Apple Store and the Macy's and so on) and walked around. The few casual flats I did see were overpriced (not that I didn't expect that). A specialty store had some Mephisto walking shoes on sale, but even at fifty percent off they were beyond my budget. I love Mephistos, but I balk at paying so much for things I'm going to stomp around on the dirty pavement with.

Must... flee...

Okay, it's after 2pm and I've just been sitting here. I'm going to go... somewhere. Anywhere that isn't this apartment. Later, gators.

New shoes

My cat likes my new shoes. (A few minutes ago she was rubbing her head all over them but of course by the time I got the camera fired up she was little miss placid.)

By the way, whoever decided that turning every shoe type into a backless mule -- sneaker, leather mocassin, mary jane, etc. -- was what women wanted should be dragged out into the middle of the Mojave Desert, pinned to the sand with stilletto heels, and left for the sun to kill.

I need a sleep charm

I went to bed last night fully intending to read no more than a chapter or two of the Harry Potter book before closing my eyes. Hahahahahaha! I couldn't force myself to put it down until eight in the morning. My head feels like it's plugged with cotton, and I am out of cream for my coffee.

I suppose I'll have my review of the book up in a couple of days. If I survive no proper sleep. Also it's cloudy and looks like rain again, which means the air outside it like warm soup.

I need cream for my coffee, dammit!

Me news

I'm so excited. I have a job interview! Huzzah!

Update: the interview went well. The company looks interesting, the people were nice, the hours decent... I will know by Monday.

Bills and other unsightly things

Uh oh. And on that note, yesterday was my last day at my job. I'm not too worried -- yet -- I've got my resume all ready to fax. I wasn't fired or anything, but I had come to the realization that working part time and living off student loans was no longer a viable life plan. I hope to have a full-time job, or at least a full-time temp job, by the end of the week. Yes, kiddies, I'm going back to a 9-to-5. The bachelor's degree is going to have to wait a while. (I only have a couple of classes left. I was burned out anyway, and needed a break.) I also wanted my weekends back. My social life, such as it is, had come to a dead halt since my full-time days were Saturday and Sunday. Contrary to popular opinion, I do like to spend time with real live people occasionally.

But yeah, I feel Colby Cosh's pain. I just love that oops where did the bottom go? feeling. Drop on by his place and donate a buck or two -- the content is better, and it costs a lot of money to live in Canada, what with heating bills and all those taxes for that great national health care plan they have.

Changes a-comin'

Well! Now I've made a decision, and I feel much better. (No, nothing to do with the blog, put down the razor.)

Dispatches from the bottom of the well

Guh. Sorry for the lack of updates. (Though why am I apologizing? This is my vanity website, dedicated to me. If I don't feel like posting, I don't frickin' post! And y'all can eat it!)

Ahem. Anyway, I feel like crap and my ass has really been dragging these past few days, hence the lack of posts. Even caffeine isn't doing anything for me.

Paint me a picture

How did Michelangelo do it? My feet and shoulders and arms are killing me.

Crapola

Nothing like waking up in a foul mood and then having to unplug and replug the cable modem because the line is clogged or whatever the hell that problem is where it won't fricking connect to anything.

What I need

I need a goddamn vacation. No, not an extra day off that is just long enough for me to catch up on all the sleep I miss during the work week. I mean a real, live, at least two-week-long vaycay. What would I do? Well, if I had all this free time (and if I had at least a couple hunnert bucks and was caught up on my bills -- these are the current obstacles to my fantasy getaway, by the way), I would drive up the Atlantic coast and maybe stop at a couple of beach towns. I'd drive all the way to Savannah, which is a cute little town, or it was the last time I was there in 1981. Then I'd drive up to Clemson, South Carolina and visit my aunt and uncle, who are getting on in years, and see my cousins that I haven't seen since the Seventies.

Or maybe not. Maybe I'd just drive up to North Florida and explore all the little towns. I dunno. I do know I would really like to see some parts of the country I have never been to, like the Midwest. Oh well. Blah blah blah. Must finish novel and shop out to publishers. Must finish degree and get "real" job again. Must break free of pall of apathetic discontent.

The Wide Sargasso Sea

Well, I may as well take a ride on the light-blogging bandwagon. (Just surf the blogs, count all the ones that say "light blogging these days.") It's not that I have suddenly gotten one of those "life" things I keep hearing about, it's just that I have been in a writing slump, and have been singularly uninspired. Such is life. Perhaps I will change my mind ten minutes from now. Perhaps not.

Forty

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me!

Unfortunately, I'm stuck at work for the duration. :(

Update 10.27PM EST: Woah! It's like a party on my blog! Thanks, guys!

Second update: great people have been born on May 24th! Go send Katherine a happy birthday greeting.

And the band played on

Well okay, I figured out how to get Windoze Media Player to copy songs from my cds. Now to figure out how to save the resulting .wma files to mp3 format. Just in case I've downloaded a free mp3 ripper from CNet, because when you come right down to it, the hell with Windoze Media Player.