I’ll Have My Cake and I’ll Eat it Too

I had to do some grocery shopping yesterday to restock my kitchen, so planned to stop in at Fred Meyers on my way home yesterday. I was just about to get into the turn lane when I remembered that I’d said I would check in on a friend’s house while he’s gone – so I just kept on going straight.

“I’ll just stop in at Target instead.” I thought to myself.

As I was pulling away from his house later on, I suddenly remembered why it was I wanted to go to Fred Meyers: they have the good bread there!

“Well, shoot. I guess I’ll just stop by the coffee shop/bakery on the way home instead. They have good bread there, too.”

Unfortunately, they also have pastries there. So, on the way in, I kept repeating to myself “I will NOT buy a pastry. I will NOT buy a pastry.”

10 minutes later, I walked out of there with my loaf of bread in hand – and of course, a pastry. How can you go to a bakery shop and NOT buy a pastry, I ask you!

The Lord Giveth, and the Lord Taketh Away

It never fails – whenever I get a windfall, something happens to make it slip right thru my hands pretty much the second I get hold of it.

I was all excited for a while there. Not only are there 3 pay checks this month, but I also got 10 hours of overtime last weekend!

Sweet!

Then, just last night, I get a bill in the mail from my accountant. He discovered that I had somehow neglected to pay him for last year’s tax preparations, so now I owe two year’s worth.

So much for all that “extra money” I was going to have in my bank account.

To look at it more positively, at least I got that bill on a month where I had all that extra money. It could have been so much worse…

Have I Mentioned Lately That I Really Hate Computers?

I got a disc in the mail the other day from one of my fellow volunteers on my Amazon trip containing her pictures! I’ve been eagerly waiting for it so immediately sat down at my computer to view them.

I ran in to a slight problem, however: I could not figure out how to get the disc into the computer!

I know, I know… that’s about as simple as you can get with computers. But honestly, I couldn’t figure it out.

I know where it goes. I can even get the outer door open. But I can’t slide the disc in – it won’t let me. I searched for a magic button, but couldn’t find one of those, either.

So, next I opened a window onscreen, accessing the My Computer thingy. My plan was to open the drive from there – but the drive wasn’t listed! All I had was the C drive and the Back-Up Device drive.

Now, I know I have a drive specifically for a disc. I know I do. It just wasn’t listed. As far as I could tell, the only way to get it on the list was to put a disc in the drive. However, the only way to put a disc in the drive was to open it thru My Computer – but it wasn’t listed!

It’s a vicious circle.

Finally, in desperation, I told the computer I wanted to burn a disc. It opened the door for me and told me to put a disc in, so I put the disc with the pictures on it in the slot. It then came back with an error message saying that it couldn’t burn that disc. I cancelled the operation, and it spit the disc out. Rather than removing it, I simply pushed it back in – and was able to view the pictures that way.

Sheesh! All that, just to look at a few photographs! Surely there must be an easier way…

What a great weekend I had!

Saturday was a day of rest for me. I didn’t go anywhere or do much all day long. I did get dressed at least, but that was pretty much the extent of my accomplishments.

Here’s a synopsis of the day:
     Woke up, got dressed
     Worked on the computer a while
     Went up to the craft room and picked out a card to make
     Watched an episode of X-Files while cutting paper in the library
     Went back up to the craft room and made cards for a while
     Went back to working on the computer for a while
     Went up to the craft room and picked out another card to make
     Watched another episode of X-Files while cutting paper in the library
     Went back to the craft room and made cards for a while
          … and so on, and so forth…

It was very relaxing: just exactly what I needed.

Sunday was even better: Rob and I drove out to Palmer to visit with Mother in his new truck. We had a good time chatting with her while throwing the ball for Daisy to play with. I would say “for Daisy to fetch” but she’s still hasn’t quite gotten the whole fetching concept down just yet. She’s all about chasing after the ball, though – and burying it in the snow, too.

Once we moved inside to sit at the table and drink some coffee/tea, Rob got the great idea to go down to the hotel and have pie! Really, it was just a good excuse to show Mother his new truck, but hey – who turns down pie? So Mother got a piece of Chocolate Cream Pie, Rob got some Lemon Meringue, and I had a piece of Red Velvet Cake.

Preparations

I have an Earthwatch Presentation this weekend – as I’m sure you already know because you are an avid follower of my blog!

Anyway, in preparing for this presentation I brought my laptop in to work so I can take care of any updates required. I am able to access the internet for free at work (wi-fi) plus I can just have it going on behind me while I work, so it doesn’t matter how long it takes.

So far, I have downloaded 15 Windows updates, and it is currently chugging away at 29 other miscellaneous updates. And that's just the first round of checking - if this is anything like the last time, I will have a bunch more once these are done.

While I was at it I went ahead and copied all my photos from the Amazon, putting them in the files next to the photos from Costa Rica, Mongolia, Africa and Nova Scotia. I guess I am using my laptop as a back-up storage for all my pictures – well, the important ones at least.

Once I get the power-point finished (it mostly is) I will copy that onto there as well. Then I will be ready!

Earthwatch Presentation

Sunday, March 18, 2:00pm


WHAT IS EARTHWATCH?

Join volunteer Ruth Fitzpatrick as she shares her many experiences volunteering on expeditions with the Earthwatch Institute, whose mission it is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.

Today’s program will highlight her recent experience in the Amazon, as well as opportunities in other locations around the world from the tropics to the arctic.

Free program; $5 parking for non-members.

Eagle River Nature Center
32750 Eagle River Road
Eagle River, AK 99577
http://www.ernc.org/
907-694-2108

My Next Trip

Wouldn’t you know it; I’m already planning my next expedition. And they say tattoos are addictive!

This time, I’m going to go to Thailand for an archaeological dig. The expedition is titled “Origins of Angkor” and will be with Dr. Nigel Chang. The dig site is in Ban Non Wat and the Upper Mun River Catchment in Western Nakhon Ratchasima Province.

It will take me some time to save up the money, of course, as well as accumulate more time off at work. Most likely, I will be going sometime either late 2013 or early 2014. February is always a good time to leave Alaska – maybe I’ll aim for that month again.

This does give me plenty of time to study up on the subject. I’ve never done an archaeology one before, and have never been to Thailand either. Does anybody have any suggestions on books I should read? Classes I should take?

I sure would love to have company this time. Does anybody want to join me? It will be another 2-week expedition, with a few days on either end for traveling.

I Have a Secret

I’m tempted to tell people, but think I’ll keep it to myself for a while. It gives me a warm-fuzzy inside, just knowing it’s there.

I think everybody should have one; it’s actually rather empowering!

Obviously I wouldn’t suggest you have a bad one. No skeletons in the closet or anything like that. Keep it simple and small, something just for yourself.

No, I'm not pregnant. Nor am I engaged. It's nothing so big as all that - it's just something for me.

That's all.

Renting a Movie

Rob and I were standing outside of the Holiday Station the other day, going thru the movies in the Redbox to see what we wanted to watch that night.

ME:   OOOO! Two Headed Shark Attack!
ROB:   No. Absolutely not. We are not watching that.
ME:   But it has TWO HEADS!!!!!
ROB:   Not just no, but Hell no.

Gosh… some people just have no class…

It Moved Again

Wouldn’t you know it – it happened again.

I really didn’t want it to. I wanted it to stay in place – but the darned thing just insisted on moving. It happened on vacation, of all things. I didn’t notice at first, but eventually I realized it had moved.

I’m talking about my eyebrow piercing, by the way.

So – once I got home, I went back to The Hole Look and had them remove it. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

Sigh.

It’s strange – but I’ll really miss it. I grew quite attached to that little ring. Oh well. At least the tattoo isn’t going anywhere.


… or is it?