Ask.com

Ask Jeeves has abandoned its butler and become Ask.com and now offers some new features. I played around with their mapping feature a little bit and it seems pretty cool. For one thing, you can ask for 'walking' directions rather than just driving directions. I am not sure that this capability is in any other mapping site and is certainly convenient. You can also just pick a point on the map and it calculates the address there. Also, the zooming in/zooming out feature is a sliding scale, rather than the preset 'city,' 'region,' etc... that are on Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps. I guess Google Maps features that too, but I personally hate Google Maps. I find that the directions they give are often horrible. One other thing I liked about Ask.com Maps is that it saves addresses for you along the lefthand side. So, if you want to go from point A to point B to point C but then also want to see how to go from point A to point C directly, this is much easier and viewable all at once.

Ask.com also apparently has a 'search desktop' feature, which apparently is all the rage these days. Google Desktop is a similar feature available. Personally, I don't have the need for this - yet.

The Ask.com toolbox is nice, too, and collapses if so desired. Its quicklink options are useful, in my opinion. Ask.com has, and who would have thought this possible, an even more streamlined and simple interface than Google does.

Wrong number

So I'm here in the computer lab on campus doing homework and job-searching when my phone rings. Okay, it happens. It's a 440 number, which means it's someone from Cleveland. Okay, it happens. I say "Hello" and the guy asks for "Cheri" (or "Sherry" or "Sherrie" or "Shari" possibly) and after some confusion, we realize that he has the wrong gal. I have to say that I've never had the experience of getting a wrong number where the person was actually looking for someone with my name. I imagine that happens more often with someone who is named like Bob or Mike, but, hmm, kinda weird.

Librarian at Subway

There's a job opening for a librarian at Subway. Yes, Subway, the restaurant chain. It's on this page. It's more of a librarian in the sense of organizer, someone to keep order of their records, rather than a librarian in the more scholarly sense of the word. Still, who knew Subway had librarians?

Busy bee

I haven't checked in here in over a week and well, that's because I'm bogged down with homework. And more homework. This is my hell week of the semester, with major assignments due in every class... luckily, it's come early this year and I really don't see any big problems for the rest of the semester. Things are spaced out well from here on out.

I am probably farther along with the assignments than I typically would be (since I am a top-notch procrastinator) but still have a bit to do, particularly for the 1-hour presentation I have Monday night. I hope to get a paper written tonight (it's actually written; it just needs to be reread/edited/improved) and another part of my PowerPoint presentation for my classification class done tonight and then the weekend will be spent finishing up that latter assignment and going crazy on the 1-hour presentation.

I've spent copious amounts of time on campus this week, taking advantage of the high-speed Internet access there, although I did decide on MSN dial-up service here at home. MSN offers 3 months free... and since I'll probably be moving in 3 months, it works out perfectly! Today, there has been major winds. leaving thousands and thousands of people in Syracuse without power - yep, I was one of them. My power went out at about 8:30am and, from my calculations, didn't come back on until about 5pm. I wonder what that means for my refrigerated items - luckily, I haven't been to the grocery store in weeks so there are few items in the refrigerator.

As if that wasn't enough drama, I've been highly distracted by a certain person who I have realized that I have a major crush on. There are self-help books for everything and I wonder if there is one entitled "How to get Over a Crush" or something like that because although I do subscribe to the theory that some crushes can be rather harmless and actually good for a person (say, for instance, my crush on Tom Cavanagh), this particular one that I find myself in the middle of is VERRRRY bad for me. Ugh.

Oh, and on top of that, I got rejected from two jobs this past week, too.

Good-bye AOL

My free AOL access finally came to an end, after seven months. That's not bad, considering it was only supposed to be for 50 days. But now I'm stuck trying to find another cheap option. Dial-up services are ridiculously expensive compared to DSL or cable modem services. I mean, I found a dial-up service for $28.95/month. Who would pay that for dial-up these days? I realize that some people still don't have access to any type of broadband... but still, there are cheaper dial-up options than that!!

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas about cheap dial-up, let me know!

I know what I did last summer

In doing a post for one of my online classes, I found this link to a Library of Congress bulletin from October that has a story about the internship program I was in last summer. So here's the link to it. There is a picture of all of us interns, although I am barely visible in it. Tall people in the back, just like grade school.

Word of the Day: vade mecum

n *1: a book for ready reference : manual 2: something regularly carried about by a person

I thought this word - or phrase, technically - might be appropriate for a librarian so I'm putting it here to potentially remember it!

Librarian- Kuwait!

There is a job opening for a librarian in Kuwait (via Monster.com). Exclamation point theirs.

Great!! Let me send my resume!! I sure can't think of a more ideal place to work than the Middle East!

Here is an added bonus that I don't see on every job posting:

"Work Schedule: 48 hours per week, varied days. Some overtime may be required."

It's a 48-hour workweek and overtime is still required!!?!??

Nightmare

Not that I don't love my mom and all that but I can't imagine anything more unfun or dreadful than doing this when I was a child.

Bird crap

This will be a lovely topic.

Umm, so, in the parking lot for my apartment building, there were some parking spots that I immediately upon moving in marked as 'undesirable' and try my damndest to avoid. These spots are directly under trees where the quietest but apparently most full of shit birds reside. Therefore, when you go to your car after having parked there overnight, your car is marked with bird crap. Unfortunately, lately it seems that everyone in my building has made the same realizations and try hard to not park in those spots and I've been stuck with no other option!

Yesterday, I did not go anywhere and, therefore, my car stayed in the undesirable spot not just overnight but overnight twice!! When I got to my car this afternoon, there was SO MUCH bird crap on it that it looks like a white car, when actually it is dark blue. It's really disgusting. I'm just hoping it rains tomorrow like it says it is supposed to and some of the crap will "wash" off. Yuck.

Crash

I did get a chance to watch Crash today and it was a pretty good movie, I'll admit. It's one of those where everyone's lives intersect in some weird way and the people who are bad guys maybe really aren't all that bad and the people who are good guys are maybe really not all that great. It's realistic. There is also a LOT of racial slurring, which is supposed to make everyone stop and take notice, I guess. That's what the behind-the-scenes vignette told me. I mostly thought, "Wow, nice, the open-mindedness" (dripping with sarcasm, of course). I will say, though, that I am highly surprised that Matt Dillon got nominated for Best Supporting Actor from that film. It's not that he was awful; it's just that his role is really pretty small.

Oscar Time

The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning and, as usual, I have seen pretty much none of the nominated movies or performances. However, I do have a copy of Crash on DVD from the library right now so I hope to find a time to watch that in the next few days.

I did see War of the Worlds, which is nominated for three less prominent awards and which has earned Tom Cruise a Razzie nomination, for worst acting performance!!

Horrible book

I love to read books/short stories/plays that have been made into movies (preferrably before watching the movies), I guess to note the differences and try to figure out why those differences were made - to try to get in the creative mind of the filmmaker. Nine times out of ten, the book is way better than the movie. I mean, there is just a LOT that has to be cut out of a book to get it down to approximately two hours and rarely is one able to get attached to the characters in a movie like one can in a book. Anyway, I read this book the last couple of days that HAS to be one of the few where the movie is way better. And I haven't even seen the movie yet.

I'm talking about Just Like Heaven, which is a little romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It comes out on video/DVD next week and it turns out it was based on a book called If Only It Were True by Marc Levy. I found this out and the book was only 229 pages so I thought it would be a pretty quick read and I requested it from the library. Not only was it a quick read, but it was also an awful read. I don't remember reading a book so bad... since, well, some Christian fiction book one of my friends made me read when I was in a book club a couple years ago. Ugh.

The overall plot of the story is kind of interesting and romantic, I guess, but the writing is so corny and stupid that you just don't care. The auxiliary characters that are introduced are irritating. I swear the same dialogue is used over and over and over again... I could go on. Why didn't I just put the book down and not finish it, you ask? A valid question, to be sure, but it was such a fast read that I figured I might as well get to the end - even though the end was incredibly predictable. I just cannot fathom how this stupid novel became an "international bestseller" as it claims OR how the author got what undoubtedly was a huge sum to have this drivel turned into a movie. Ironically though, I'm sure it will make a decent movie, though. It's one of those books that seems like it was written all along with the intent of being made into a movie, with even the author writing as if he was transcribing a movie.

Busy busy

I have no idea what I have been up to this past week but here I sit on a Sunday, having spent hours and hours in the computer lab to try to catch up on all my homework for the week. While I did manage to get the minimum assignments and postings for my two online courses completed today (the week ends on Sundays for these classes), I did NOT do all the reading that I am supposed to be doing. And I haven't even started the readings for my class that meets tomorrow night. Oy. I can't believe how far behind I already am in my classes and it's only the third week of school. Luckily, one benefit of not having a job is that I have free time.

I did apply for a couple jobs this past week, which I guess is what accounts for me being so behind on homework. Job-searching is more important to me than homework right now. However, I have not heard a thing from any of the jobs I have applied for so that is pretty frustrating. But it takes time, they say.

This week: more job stuff and maybe not only get caught up in my work but get ahead!?! Crazy thought.

Now I have a TV network named after me!

The big television news announced today (via TV Guide Online) is that the WB and UPN will merge in September and be called CW. The CW stands for CBS Warner apparently. Now the big question is which programming from both networks will make it to the new network. They say that my favorite Gilmore Girls is safe. Phew!

Animals running in front of me

I'm not even exaggerating but I counted SIX animals running in front of my car yesterday during the course of the day and it just seems like that would indicate bad luck or something. There were three cats, two squirrels and a skunk (I think, although honestly I don't even know what it was!!). None of the cats were black, although the squirrels were and presumably the skunk was, too, although that happened late at night and it was hard to determine its color. And, also, I didn't hit any of them.

Anyway, it was just weird, even if it isn't an indicator of bad luck....

Daymare

Today's word is 'daymare' which is pretty self-explanatory but not something I knew was really ever a word before.

daymare: n : a nightmarish fantasy experienced while awake

Isn't that just a bad daydream?

Dancing with the Stars spoiler...

I kind of get sucked in to that silly Dancing with the Stars show every Thursday because I really wish I could dance like that. I did force myself to go out last night before it was over, although I recorded it and watched the rest when I got home.

Anyway, so they have the dancing on Thursday nights and the elimination show on Friday nights. I know they advertise the Thursday show as being 'LIVE' and I just assumed this was also true of the Friday show. I honestly didn't really know or care. I haven't even watched the elimination show because it's just filled with fluff until the very last second when they announce who is voted off - just like the American Idol elimination show.

However, when checking some sites this evening, I found out that the name of the next person voted off is already on the Internet. It's this person here apparently going home. Or else it's just a coincidence that that person is going to be a guest on Regis & Kelly Monday morning - the same show that has featured the castoffs on Monday morning for the last two weeks. I'm guessing if ABC was aware that Regis & Kelly were advertising the name of the next castoff on their site before the results show airs, they would probably not be happy.

I know I have no money...

BUT I went to the mall today hoping to buy a calendar marked down to $3 (Waldenbooks drops them to $4 now - it used to be $3, but I guess I understand inflation.) but instead went into stores like The Gap, H&M and American Eagle. I bought this really cute skirt at American Eagle for $4.95. Come on, it was cute, it was a small size (a size I haven't worn in years), it fit and it was $5! I tell myself that once (if) I get a library job, it will be good to have some skirts. Although, miniskirts... not so much. This one isn't that short but it is above the knees.

But it was cute! And it was $5!!

HDTV blog

I found this article via TV Tattle that talks about a man's cat being into HDTV - sitting in front of and sometimes even touching the TV screen when a HD program is on. Seems he's not alone to have pets fond of HDTV. It was a cute article, complete with pictures of the fascinated cat. That site is also one of those ones with articles on which celebrities look good and which look AWFUL when broadcast on HDTV. Potmarks, agelines, blemishes, acne, etc... all show up on faces on HDTV. I find it fascinating to hear who looks bad, but I don't get too much joy out of it knowing full well that my face would look awful too!