I've been keeping my eye on this Weather Dude for a while now. Sometimes it's funny; sometimes it's not. This one is pretty okay. It's yesterday's, though:



Then there is the Dinosaur Comix from today (you might have to click on it to see the full width):



I think there might be some people on my f-list who aren't reading this yet, and YOU TOTALLY SHOULD BE. The proof is in the pudding, people.

/endlinkspam

OMG, awesome:



Of course, my weathernerds comm is all over this.

Also, someone in my seth_rogen_fans comm astutely alerted us to six clips from the upcoming Pineapple Express movie. Ohhhhhh, Seth, I love you so, even though you're Canadian.

Since school and work are getting in the way of me walking in the 3-Day this year...

Thank you for volunteering for the Breast Cancer 3-Day and for your support of the fight to end breast cancer. You are now registered for the following volunteer position:

Volunteer Opportunity: Pit Stop Support
Date: 09/21/2008
Time: 12:30 PM - 6:00 PM CST
Location: TBA, Twin Cities, MN TBA, United States

I have no idea what that means or what I'll be doing, but whatever. I need to be involved somehow. If anyone wants to do the same, go here to sign up.

Let's save some BOOBS!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I submit to you for evidence Reason No. 348393020394857 why I can never, ever, ever, ever, ever work the day shift:

Currently, the time is 10:50 a.m. Central Standard Time, and after calmly awakening to the sounds of kitty purrs at 9:37 a.m. Central Standard Time and lingering in bed for a half hour or so, I am now sitting on my balcony enjoying the cool midmorning breeze and leisurely drinking a cup of tea and eating a piece of toast. This task could never be accomplished in the heat of an afternoon after a long, hard day at work. Never. And I cannot imagine a world where one doesn't get the chance to have an International Coffee moment like this.

Heh.

Every day should be like this.

So the mama squirrel is back. Remember last year? Yah. At least I think it's the same one. I have to see her tail in order to be sure. But she's definitely got babies again. The kitties are going crazy. I'm gonna have to keep the A/C on and the windows closed until she leaves. Boo.

I think I have found unsweetened green iced tea nirvana. I found this tonight while shopping at Kowalski's and perusing their GINORMOUS tea section. Good cripes, it's overwhelming! But this jumped out at me because of the blueberry goodness. AND NO EFFING SUGAR! And it still tastes pretty okay. It kind of tastes like blueberry-infused water w/ a hint of green tea flavoring. Whatevs. It's not soda or milk or juice or just plain water.

Otherwise, I got nothin'. I don't have school again until next Monday, so I'm planning to get my drink on Wednesday night at a classmate gathering. w00t!

Oh, I know! I came home after the weekend to find my apartment kind of overrun by fruit flies! WTF? I have NO fruit or old food in the house. I need to find that fruit fly death recipe.

Ugh. I really wanted to put my freshly washed, hung-out-on-the-line-to-dry sheets on my bed, but I am just too tired. And I hurt. Gawd, do I hurt. My back once again. I've been ignoring the nagging pain that's been growing in intensity over the past few weeks because...like I have time to go to the chiropractor. I can't lay down in a straight line, though, and that's a problem.

Spent the day taking care of Benny, our family dog. He's old and extremely high-maintenance, which is fine, because I love him to death, but it makes me sad to watch him struggle to walk, eat, poop, everything. Poor little guy.

So I'm curled up in a ball, writing this and watching season 4 of Rescue Me. Finished Coupling season two. The Wire has been put on hold. Poor Netflix. I think I may have to cancel them again.

Happy birthday to my little brother and fellow LJer (eep!) gerkvoltage!!!! We will be celebrating at a later date, however. But still, glad you were born so I had somebody to tease! Luv ya!

Sangria was trunken. There was steak and baked potato and salad. And more sangria. lafemmezilla makes the best sangria. Also, the fruit used to make the sangria was consumed even though it was probably 100 proof. She also nifty-gifted me with a knitted squid! Which is blue! OMG, it is adorkable.

Then there was WALL-E. A random decision based on everyone else's rave reviews. And OMG, we were NOT disappointed. It was worth the whole $10 we had to pay. (Stupid movie theaters.) OMG, Wall-E. I *heart* you. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. Good stuff.

So A/C seems to be functioning. It is FREEZING in here now. The kitties are much less lethargic. Which is not necessarily a good thing, especially since I have homework to do now.

Still, WALL-E. Go see it. Try to get in to a matinee, though. Those prices are ridiculous.

ETA: Happy Burfday to mudflapgirl72 and Mr. Loudmouth himself, Claude.!!!


Picture of Claude taken just now. Notice the "paunch" he has developed. Hungry, hungry, hippo-kitty.

I don't need no stinkin' boys around. I can lift my OWN air-conditioner into my OWN window BY MYSELF. Thx. I'm curious to know exactly how much it weighs. It feels like 200 pounds, but I'm a bad judge of measurement.

Kitties are very proud of mama. They are showing their appreciation by sprawling out on the floor directly in front of the A/C. Of course, they're also being all, "Wait...does this mean we can't go outside now?" Yes, kitties. That's what it means.

Now I will shower, and then I will drink homemade sangria to my heart's content with lafemmezilla, for I do not have to get up at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow to go to school. In fact, it is a full 25 hours before I have to be at school, so I think I got time.

So I passed my final 100s test today in typical giddykiwi fashion: by the skin of my teeth. I was allowed 15 errors, and I got 15 errors. Heh. But for someone who took the test on 3.5 hours of sleep and no practice for 2 days, I'd say that's pretty okay by me. Anyhoo, now I don't have to go to 8:00 a.m. class anymore, except Thursdays. But I am no longer with "my peeps," and it's gonna be like going to the first day of school all over again with new people and harder material. Dilemmarama.

This development doesn't really affect my effed up work situation, so no change there really. Still in a holding pattern until after the 4th. I have inquired at Target and Kowalski's, though, just in case. Target, of course, is hiring. (Discount!) Kowalski's is hiring for cashiers, not ideal, but it pays more than $10/hour. If I get desperate, I'll go back to Rainbow. I worked for them for 7 1/2 years for cripes' sakes. They have to take me back, rite? *sigh*

Well, thanks to the generosity of underwhelm and ginnydoll, I got to see the Twins play tonight! We lost, but it was still fun, and it was nice to meet a new friend. Also, I rode the light rail train ALL BY MYSELF. Probably the only time the train has been useful for me so far.

And now I r tiredcat because I've been awake since...well, 4:00 a.m. basically.

That's what SHE said.

My rash seems to be clearing up, thanks to me poundin' the 'roids. Ooh, that reminds me, I need to take one now. Thanks, Target Klinik Doktor Laydee. You know way more than that urologist "triage nurse." Pbbt.

Itty-Bitty is still living with me...for the time being. I probably won't be able to send her over to mom's until mid-July anyway...long story. So FOUR litterboxes it is. I feel kinda bad because I lurve her and all, but I was talking to someone about the sitch, and they were all, "Why don't you get rid of the kitten?" And my immediate reaction was "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Because he loves me!" I'm a sucker for animal affection, I guess. I just don't know if Itty-Bitty loves me. If she does, she has a shitty way of expressing it. *cough, cough*

Went and saw SaTC movie last night with mom, sister, and sister-in-law. It was pretty okay. I lost myself in it, mostly because I've been doing nothing but work and school for the past two weeks, and I needed a break. So it made me cry in parts. Mostly, I can't get enough of Chris Noth. ( Did you know that he was born in Madison, WI? )
*drool* I love it when he kisses SJP (who is gross) on the nose. I imagine him doing that to me. *squee*

Anyhoo, in other news, I got a $1,000 scholarship for fall semester. Along with school loans and work study, I may be demoting myself at work and cutting my hours come August. O, happy day, if I can actually pull that off.

So I went to Target Klinik today. Diagnosis? Murder. No, I'm kidding. Really. They don't know what my rash is. They're guessing it's from the Cipro, even all these many days later, although that is unlikely. Perhaps the Cipro reacted with a medication I'm currently taking. Hard to say. Medical science is a fucking mystery apparently. So they gave me a prescription for a low-dose short-term prednisone to try. If that doesn't work, I'll have to see a dermatologist. Ha! Yah, right. Like I can fit that in my schedule. So I'll keep taking Benadryl to help me sleep at night. Last night, I also broke out the ice packs and covered myself in them. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and finally was so frustrated with the itching that I changed my sheets. Not that the clean sheets are any different, other than the material, but it's the mental aspect of it, ya know? I am mental.

In other news, I am almost ready to throw these damn DTV boxes off my balcony. Technology, my ass.

In a double chore whammy today, I have to do both dishes AND laundry. Calgon, take me away.

I'm at work, so this is all you get...

1.) After going for four days straight with NO poop on the floor, Itty-Bitty finally succumbed last night/early this morning for some reason. I can't figure out what is triggering this. I'm seriously thinking about asking my parents to take her...temporarily.

2.) Rash = STILL FUCKING ITCHING. (BTW, underwhelm? This rash is the reason I didn't come to your partay last weekend! This has gone on too long!) So I called the urology place, and the "triage nurse" I talked to was all, "Ain't no effin' way it's the Cipro after a week, girlfriend." She advised making an appointment with my primary, which is next to impossible on short notice. I'm thinking of going to the Target Klinik, but the closest one to me, I think, is in effing Shoreview. One of my coworkers also mentioned that HCMC has a clinic "in the back that is cheap," but that sounds kinda shady to me, and also, isn't HCMC in teh ghetto like Abbott/NW? DO NOT WANT. I did try taking THREE Benadryls yesterday, and I did sleep for about 12 hours, but I intermittently woke up because I was scratching myself. NOT GOOD.

3.) After one week, school is killing me but with good results. I passed two of my 80 WPM tests last week, meaning I only have to pass one more test at 80 WPM, and then I will move on to 100 WPM. We have tests every week, so technically, I could be done with the tests by the end of the week after next, but that's NOT going to happen because I canNOT steno 100 WPM to save my life. Still, it was gratifying to pass tests that I didn't think I had a chance in hell of passing.

I also have been named to the President's List of Students Who Do Good or Something since I've pulled a 4.0 both semesters so far. A winner is me! I got a certificate and a newspaper blurb to send in to "a local newspaper of my choosing" (what if I wanted to submit it online?). Well, anyway, it's nice to be recognized.

Okay, back to boring work that is boring and stupid but way less windy than outside.

(Oh, Pee.Ess. I had the most amazing dream last night about being trapped on a deserted island with shirtless Sawyer. I think I'm gonna chase that feeling.)

One day of school done, and I feel like I am in the abyss again. Look for updates from me about, oh, every month or so. I only have two classes this summer! It's already more work than last semester when I had FOUR classes. *growl* I'm feeling pretty confident, though, at the 80 WPM level, so I feel like I may pass those tests right away. 100 WPM seems like the devil's speed, though. IDK.

Day Four of the DTV tuners, and I am thoroughly disgusted. THE RECEPTION SUCKS MAJOR DONKEY BALLS. Especially since it's been cloudy and rainy the last day and a half. Anytime the wind blows, the picture gets all pixelated, and the sound goes away. So I get audio like, "I...wo...di...yu...a...the...fi...fift...lars...ly." If I wanted a gorram craptastic satellite dish, I would have got that instead. Adjusting the antenna does help somewhat, but only for the channel I'm currently watching. If I switch channels, the reception is all effed up again. At least with the regular old bunny ears, I could set the antenna and forget it for the most part. And I could still hear the audio even if the picture was fuzzy. *growl* IDK.

Sidenote: I effing HATE those Detrol commercials.

Also? I STILL have that rash from the stupid Cipro I took SIX days ago. It has spread to my stomach and upper thighs. OMG, it itches SO BAD! Benadryl doesn't help. Cortisone cream doesn't help. Benadryl spray doesn't help. Ibuprofen doesn't help. Cool showers don't help. I just...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

And tonight's the night of the week where I only get 3-4 hours of sleep because of work then school. Probably no one in class should talk to me tomorrow.

Oh, it has been 48 straight hours since Itty-Bitty pooped on the floor. That's something.

I haz digital teevee signalz!

I redeemed my coupons today. I ended up going to Best Buy because I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, and RadioShack was the only other choice of retailer, and I didn't feel like dealing with the ghetto RadioShack today.

So Best Buy only carries ONE of the dozens of brands of digital tuner, the Insignia, so that's what I got. I really wanted to get the Zenith one. I hope they're not carrying that one at RadioShack. I was a little disgruntled by that. Also, they were $60, so after coupons, I paid $47.something with tax. I was also disgruntled by that.

Got the boxes home. They're easy to set up. Yay! The captions make me frown, though. They appear in the middle of the screen on some channels. I have found the caption customization menu, so I will have to play with that a bit more. The channel switching is a bit delayed, much like satellite tuning. Also no good in my book. The HD channels come in, but the screen size is compressed since my teevee is 4:3. There aren't really that many extra channels, just a bunch of PBSs and a KARE-11 WeatherPlus channel that might be cool.

I dunno. It's not as great as I thought it would be, but it's not terrible. Feh.

-------------------------------------------

Remember when I had to take Cipro the other day at the doctor's? Yeah, one of the side effects, I guess, is a rash which erupted overnight last night. Now my neck, chest, and arms have what looks like heat rash on them, and it itches like a mofo. So I took a Benadryl, and now I'm all tired, leik whoa. I ran a bunch of other errands today besides the teevee boxes, so that probably didn't help. I have to rest for partay-ing tonight! NAP.

It's been so active this afternoon! Channel 5 has been doing NOTHING BUT WEATHER PR0N since just after 3:00 this afternoon. Man, I *heart* them. I think Rob Koch is my new favorite talking weather head. Channel 17, my usual weather source, is showing some Brit drama. FAIL!

At my apartment here in St. Paul, all it's doing is being breezy and hotter 'n Hades.

hahahahaha! There's apparently a town in Minnesota called Ubet! OMG....Oh, dammit. It appears that town is actually in Wisconsin.

I think one of the tornadoes went past my school in Anoka.

I think the Twin Cities' heat shield is protecting us once again. BOO.

Happy belated birthday, solalaeep!!!!

I'm sittin' at home on a Friday night before a holiday weekend drinkin' Grain Belt and watching The Sopranos. A real woman's woman, that's me.

For the record, I did wear a skirt to work today, and I may wear a skirt to the functions this weekend. That is, only if I don't do the giant pile of pants laundry I have in my bedroom.