[something clever and obscure here]

It's been kind of dry here lately -- not a whole lot of interesting stuff being posted on this website. I've been working all the time and not writing much about work, and I've not had time for too many adventures.

I did go home for Thanksgiving. That was a little bit of an adventure. Harlan and I drove to North Carolina and then Virginia with the two cats. They've become excellent travelling pets. Well, Cash (aka the shoestring-eating cat) is scared of just about everything, which kind of surprises me, because he's so clever. He likes to poke around in stuff. He'll open everything that can be opened in a room: doors, cabinets, drawers, etc. He doesn't really meddle with anything (except shoestrings) or make a grand mess. He just opens things. Mamas is the friendlier cat. She almost seems naively friendly, but she's a scrapper, too. She'd kick ass in a cat fight.

We spent most of Thanksgiving in the mountains of VA. There were a few snow flurries, and I was reminded that I'm very lucky to be in Florida for the winter. It's 70 degrees here.

Work has settled down slightly, so I'm not working 15 hour days at the moment. I'm still working 7 days a week, though. I should be able to get back into the routine of adding more to this site.

It's Monday. Those in the US are returning to work from a long holiday weekend. My readers are checking one last time before abandoning me completely. Yes, I haven't written in a while, but I am writing now.

Thanksgiving was a whirlwind holiday since a long roadtrip home was involved and since I had to be back at work yesterday. It was my first days off since I'd started working 2 weeks before. I was not as gung-ho about going back.

I've got to go pick up a rental car now. I tried yesterday, but the place was supposed to open at noon and by 12:45, no one was there to rent me a car. I'll write more soon (promise)...

At the very least i could have the courtesy of posting something once in a while...

I just woke up from a dream. I've found that the best way to remember your dreams right after you wake up is to think about what happened last and build back from there. We'll try that.

It ended with being in a parking garage and seeing some kid shoot himself. It wasn't unusual to me that he had a gun, and when I saw him stick it in his mouth as I walked by, I thought he was just kidding around and told Harlan that, and kept walking. Harlan stayed back, saying, "no, I think he's serious" and everyone started to notice and make a commotion. I'm still walking away, as people are drawing near, I turn around to look and the kid blows the back of his head off and drops to the gound, dropping his gun. It was old-hollywood-movie style death, with no blood. Harlan is shocked and drops to the ground dropping his gun, too. That wasn't weird to me either, that he was just carrying a shiny .45 around in a parking garage.

I've got to go to work right now, so I can't tell you much detail about the rest of the dream. There were ghosts in it. Not people that I knew, but ghost-strangers. I'd never seen a ghost before and didn't believe that they existed, so it was big revelation. Then, later I was in an antique store where there was a sale going on, but the sale ended at 3pm, and it was close to that time. I was helping a friend (girl, dark hair, but I don't know who) quickly search for figurines, most importantly, a small Mr. Peanut. We bought some stuff just in time, but I don't think we found Mr. Peanut.

I remember more detail,(such as, one of the old-lady-ghosts had died of breast cancer, and I was worried that she was haunting me because I had cancer, too, but didn't know it), but I've no time to tell you more, now, and when I do have time, the dream will have faded. Such is the way of life, though: transient, temporary, lots of opportunities to miss. Don't beat yourself up about the ones you miss; there are always, always more.

Sorry, I don't have much to post lately. As you probably figured out, I've been working loads. Today was by far my longest day: 16 hours. I've reached the point of diminishing returns, so I'm going to get some sleep and see what I can do in the morning. Things are going well, but this project I'm working on needs to be presented Wednesday, so tomorrow will most likely be another long day.

I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the world outside of this building. I was able to catch some NPR on the way to work this morning, but I think they were talking about locusts swarms. It's that time again, isn't it? Anyway, if there is something exiciting happening in the world, I'm depending on my readers to text me the news.

I'm taking a teeny-tiny break from work to tell you more about this new job. I started Wednesday on this project that deals with getting housing to the people who lost theirs to hurricane damage. We're distributing mobile homes and trailers to these people in need, and it's my job to build an analysis tool so we can figure out how to make the process more efficient.

The pros:
I'm making good money.
I enjoy what I'm doing.
I'm working with smart, driven people.

The cons:
Until the next deadline is met, I have no time to do anything else besides sleep and work (with minimal breaks for eating and bathing).
They stopped the program that exempted all FEMA workers from paying highway tolls on the day that I became a FEMA contractor.


Anyway, that's a little more info about what I'm doing. I'm working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day until Thanksgiving, and I'm sure I'll hit an exhaustion wall at some point, but right now I'm enjoying myself immensely.

I have lots to tell you about my new job, but I'm working all day every day, so I haven't had the time. The brief version: I'm a FEMA contractor. More later, promise...

I got a job.
a real one with a regular paycheck
Woohoo

Ashcroft resigned.
Preview Micro$oft's search technology.
Fun with prime numbers?
Ice caps melting.
Stop your lip balm addiction this winter.
Get your free credit report from Experian.

Seen anything that you want to share with the rest of the world? Contact me. Everybody knows that the whole world reads my site.

just because you know it, doesn't mean it's true -me

Sorry, it's been so long since I've posted. I'm back in Florida after being in North Carolina for a week. I flew up there because my mother, sister, and I were throwing a wedding shower for my cousin, but that seems like ages ago now.

I was expecting to have a relaxing time where I got to work on a few things I'd been putting off, but it didn't exactly happen that way. I don't really know where all of the time went. The first weekend, my time went towards planning and cleaning up after the party. My brother brought over a computer for me, the resident expert, to fix, and I cleaned all the spyware off of it. Nobody has seemed to listen to me about not using an IE browser.

Thursday was my mother's 60th (don't tell anyone!) birthday, and we had a family dinner out. I had planned a surprise party for her on Saturday which turned out to be a success, despite the last-minute nature of it.

This is my granddaddy.

I went to bed last night sometime after 1, race undecided. This morning, I was afraid to turn on the TV and find out how it went.

I thought it was interesting to read about how wrong exit polls were, because earlier in the day, Kerry seemed to be winning. Why is it that the immediate comclusion is "those mixed up pollsters" not "those mixed up vote tabulators"?

Bush is claiming victory, and the bits and pieces of what I've heard on TV, seem to suggest that Kerry should concede because he has a snowball's chance, but articles I've read on Fox News paint a different picture about what is still undecided. My guess is that Kerry may speak later today and acknowledge defeat. Loser.

According to Fox News, Bush has 210 electoral college votes and Kerry has 144. Most other news outlets have given California to Kerry, so the electoral vote they're showing is much closer. We're still waiting for Florida and Ohio, but we might not have those answers until later this week.

Now ABC has given Florida to Bush. Eager beavers. They say 237 to 188.

I'd like to go to bed, but I don't want to miss any action. It's not exactly fast-paced, but it sure is suspenseful.

George Will just said that having a mandate would bring a president "an enhanced infusion of legitimacy." Really.

current tally: Bush 176, Kerry 112

I woke up and had an early morning text message from Sue in England, reminding me to vote today. Anybody who's got their eyes open would realize that today is the big day. However, if you've been living in a media-free bunker for the last 6 months, I'd like to ask you a question: can I come live with you? Thank goodness it will all be over tomorrow - yeah, right.

I volunteered at the polls this morning, handing out "I voted" stickers. I helped a man vote who couldn't read and entertained some kids while their parents voted. Voting makes me feel good, and it's great to see all the people come in and take part in the process. My polling place is a school gym, and the morning announcements came on while I was there. A little kid came over the loud speaker and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. It was enough to make you feel downright patriotic.

So, I've done my civic duty and now I'm hanging out on the front porch with the sun and the leaves. The postman just handed me the mail and I asked him if he'd had a chance to vote yet. He said he was going this afternoon. Don't forget, said Amelia, believer-in-the-democratic-process.

Now we just wait, and hope that it all works out.

I'm in North Carolina for a few days, and haven't had much time to be post to my site. Hopefully, I can catch up tonight. Encourage someone to vote.

PS. I like the dentist