Travel plans made

Today, I finally booked a flight to Chicago for our work "Annual Meeting" in a couple weeks. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride as to whether or not I was going at all and how long I would be going for if I did go. I'm only going from Sunday to Tuesday, which means I'll miss the big dinner at The Field Museum on Tuesday night, which kinda pisses me off because I was looking forward to that. Oh well, what can I do? I'm not paying and at least it's a short trip out of the office. Traveling for work is fun! Also, I might be able to catch up with one of my friends who lives there!

Stolen Web site

Well, it wasn't exactly stolen but this article tells how the Ocean County (NJ) Library System did not renew their domain name membership and someone bought it out from under them before they realized the mistake. This is their old domain name and this is the one they are currently using while they furiously try to get the old one back. Anyway, why it caught my attention is because I know someone who works at that library and it would make me laugh really hard if she had somehow been to blame.

Cool electrical plug

And speaking of electricity, how cool is this electrical outlet? It rotates so you can plug in, say, your cell phone charger and your iPod charger at the same time in the same outlet. I will say that the directions to install it seem a little scary to me, but I do think I could manage!

Blackout

The power at my apartment building - and all the surrounding buildings - went out last night for about an hour and a half. It sucks not having electricity! You can't watch TV, you can't go on the computer (well, I guess if I had a battery-operated laptop I could but I don't), you can't do your laundry, you can't do anything that requires light and most things seem to require light I noticed. I thought I could read by candlelight but I lit about six candles around me and still couldn't see! So I took a bit of a nap, until all the lights came back on and woke me up. Seriously, I could never have lived in another century before there was electric lights.

Halloween Party!

A friend invited me to a Halloween party at a bar she likes this Saturday night. Costume required. And a cover of at least $10. They say they will charge more as the night goes on, to get people there early, I guess. I REALLY hate Halloween and hate dressing up but I guess if I think of a decent and easy costume, I will go. Any ideas anyone?

Maintenance in my apartment building sucks

I was standing outside the shower yesterday morning and realized that I was getting wet, that drops of water were hitting my back. Seemed unusual but the water in the shower was running, so I don't know, it's possible to get wet outside of the shower. Well, later, after the water was turned off, I realized that I was still getting wet and I soon realized that the ceiling was leaking! The ceiling is all puckered like it's been dripping for some time. Plus, the light fixture (aka heat lamp) seemed to be full of water. And the bath mat was drenched. Seemed like a good time to call emergency maintenance!

I called at 8am, then again at lunch to make sure something had been done about it (didn't really get an answer) and then at about 4pm when I had a moment in the afternoon. I was told it had definitely already been fixed. Turns out my roommate had called at some point and gotten the same answer. When I got home, the water was still dripping!! Ugh. So I called AGAIN and someone finally came up, investigated, fixed something and told me the problem was corrected. He seemed to be right. Until this morning, when I AGAIN noticed that the water was dripping. Guess Mr. Fixit is more like Mr. Temporary Fixit. So I called yet again (yes, that makes it SIX times) and we'll just see what has happened when I get home. I really doubt the problem is fixed.

Monday meme: Last but not least

When was the last time you...

1.Cleaned out your closet? I don't know, but I tend to do that on a regular basis.
2.Went to a concert? A really long time ago, although I have found myself in clubs that happen to have a band playing, which the last time was about six weeks ago... not sure if that counts
3.Had a milkshake? I almost had a milkshake about a month ago but the milkshake machine was broken so I ended up not having one. It's probably been about 8 months since I had one.
4.Got all dressed up? Hmm, tough call because I'm not sure what "all dressed up" means. But let's say at Christmas was the last time when I got dressed up for church and dinner with the family.
5.Went grocery shopping? Last week on Tuesday night after a Happy Hour. And, I'll probably go tomorrow since I buy very little each time I go grocery shopping.

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What I did this past weekend

I had a very busy weekend and this week ahead doesn't get much better.

Let's see. On Saturday, I went to the National Book Festival, which gave me a huge headache. I volunteered at the New York State Table in the Pavilion of the States and it was kind of a huge turnoff. People are pushy, obnoxious, greedy and kinda annoying. And I also realized that instead of going down there and dealing with the crowds, I could have just watched the authors on BookTV or listened to them from the Library of Congress Web site, which has podcasts of the event.

Then, I met up with a friend and went to Clarendon Day, which is, you know, a street fair kind of thing. And then we went to a couple bars/restaurants in the area and had a drink and some dinner. I got home about 9:30pm and literally went right to bed. Which, for me, is pretty unheard of.

On Sunday, I started off the day doing a walking tour of Georgetown as part of a Special Librarians Association get-together. I don't exactly know what I expected but I wasn't that impressed with the tour and do not feel informed about the area at all. I think I would have been better off doing a self-guided tour. However, I did meet a couple of other librarians who were very nice and with whom I then had lunch. I also walked around Georgetown a lot and went into some shops and did some people-watching, so at least I got to explore that area a bit. It was a beautiful day.

On my way home, I stopped at a Macy's and bought a really cute yet really nice Jones New York dressy skirt for only $14. I love a good bargain!

Monday meme: More Random Joy

Random Joy

1.Which category of Trivial Pursuit would you say you're most knowledgeable in? Kind of a tricky question considering each version of Trivial Pursuit has different categories but for traditional Trivial Pursuit, I would say I'm best at Sports & Leisure. Or maybe Arts & Entertainment. Yeah, probably Arts & Entertainment.

2.Did you go to your High School Prom? What was it like? Yes, I went. I don't remember too much what it was like... lots of high school kids I didn't especially like. There was a dinner. Some dancing, with lots of "friends" making fun of my date's dancing. It was pouring rain the whole day and we got drenched running to the car. I think I got my picture taken. Professionally, I mean. I remember I wasn't feeling too well, like I had a cold or something. After-Prom was more fun, at an athletic club.

3.If you were one of the five senses which would you be? Sight.

4.Have you ever gone downhill skiing? Nope.

5.What's your favourite kind of nut? I really don't like nuts but I'll occasionally eat peanuts or pistachios.

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Standoff with a raccoon

I went running last night, as I do sometimes (although not often enough) and decided to go down this park path that I never have gone down before. Well, I was about 15 ft. along the path when I saw that there was a small animal in front of me wandering down the path too. I thought it was a raccoon and as I got closer and it turned around, I saw that it indeed was a raccoon! I continued to get closer and it just stayed put and stared at me. I got closer and it stood its ground, continuing to stare at me. I looked at its claws and knew that it was probably full of disease and disgustingness.... and I promptly turned around and decided that I would go a different route.

Am I wimp or what? I'm about 20 times bigger than it (well, at least 10 times) but I just didn't like that it wasn't moving, wasn't afraid of me and I didn't want it scratching me and giving me rabies!

Indians clinch!

Another Cleveland team in the playoffs this year, as the Indians officially win their division with today's win! Yay!

Short Grammar Quiz

Had I gotten any wrong, I would not have been happy!!

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

"Do Not Call listings aren't forever"

Hmm, I had no idea that if you put yourself on the 'Do Not Call' registry, that it was only for five years and then you have to re-register. Interesting read. The point of the article is that if you signed up when it launched, which was 2003, your five years are up next year. I can't believe it's been five years almost since that started and also, I don't remember at all when I registered my number... if I registered it at all, that is.

Update: So I read a second article on the topic and it turns out there is a place on the official Do Not Call Web site to verify that you are in fact on the registry and to tell you when you registered. Sweet!

Family Guy does Star Wars

I'm really psyched to watch this Sunday's Family Guy episode, which has dad Peter telling the family the story of Star Wars during a power failure. This review says it's not that good but I'm sure it will still be pretty enjoyable! At the very least, it's a whole hour of new Family Guy!

"HBO Producing Michigan-Ohio State Football Documentary"

Excellent! I'll enjoy watching that. I found an Ohio State bar near me the other day, too. So maybe I'll watch this year's big rivalry game from there this November! (via)

Monday meme for while I was gone

Random Joy

1. Do you bruise easily? Oh yeah. REALLY easily.
2. What does your name rhyme with? An endless number of words: berry, fairy, dairy, hairy, to name a few.
3. If you could have any famous piece of art to display in your home, which would you choose? When I used to go to the art museum, one of my favorite paintings was always Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, so let's go with that.
4. What's the most inconvenient thing about the place you're currently living? What a great question... I could go on forever on this topic. But the most inconvenient thing is its poor location in relation to public transportation. Or the fact that the washer & dryer are in my roommate's master bathroom. That drives me crazy.
5. What book are you reading right now? Look to the right....

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West Coast time

I got back from my business trip in San Diego today. It was such a fun time, although I did work some pretty long hours! On Saturday morning, I missed my flight (ugh) but still arrived by 1:30pm and spent the whole day with my former roommate. That was awesome! We went to a great Mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego and also walked around Seaport Village and the Gaslamp Quarter, the two areas closest to my hotel. We also did a lot of catching up!

Sunday morning I had off but then I worked our seminar from noon-8 on Sunday, 7am-8pm on Monday (plus then we had a work dinner here), and 7am-5pm on Tuesday. When I wasn't working, I hung out with my co-workers, mostly in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Here was the view outside of my hotel room window:


Yeah, Pretty cool.

On the way home, I was so exhausted just from working a lot, the time change, traveling, drinking too much and all that other fun stuff. I couldn't wait to get home and go to bed. Of course, now I realize I'm on West Coast time and can't to go to bed because it's like 7:30pm. Thank god I only have two days in the office this week.

"Early rising no good for the heart: study"

According to this article, those who are early risers might be more prone to heart problems like hypertension and strokes. So there's a good reason for me to sleep in!

Charitable search engine

I guess if you are going to use a search engine (and really, who doesn't use one?), you might as well use GoodSearch, which donates a penny to the charity of your choice for every search conducted. Pretty cool. It's powered by Yahoo! and is downloadable to your browser, if you use Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer 7. Plus, there are over 42,000 charities/nonprofits to choose from so I think everyone can find a cause they believe in... (via)

Monday meme: Laboring Day

Laboring Away

1. What is an appropriate amount of labor for you? How many days a week would you work if it were your choice? Hmm, maybe three.

2. If you could be paid an annual salary so that money wasn't a factor in choosing a career, what job would you want to have? A writer, I guess.

3. Describe your most memorable Labor Day (or May Day) weekend. In 2001, I went to Las Vegas with a couple friends and saw Madonna in concert! That's pretty much the only Labor Day weekend I remember... most of them are very low-key and just like any other weekend.

4. What's the minimum wage where you live? Do you think it's appropriate? Well, I had to look it up and it's apparently $5.85 in Virginia, the national minimum. However, in DC it's $7.00 and in Maryland it's $6.15 (see here) . Do I think that's appropriate? Uh no way. That equates to $12,168 in Virginia and let's see rent alone can cost nearly that for an average place to live so I'm not sure how people are expected to live on that. It's highly inappropriate, is what it is.

5. Have you ever been in labor or helping someone else while she was in labor? Nope.

Bonus question (we're making you work this Labour Day) - Do you spell it Labour Day or Labor Day? Obviously the latter...

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