June 27, 2006
sleep freak
More and more studies are showing the benefits of a good night's sleep. I'm somewhat ambivalent about sleep. I enjoy it but at the same time I feel like there are things I could be doing or missing by going to sleep. I'm not someone who necessarily wants to sleep more than 8-9 hours at a time. But I wish that when I slept that I slept more peacefully overall. I wake up a lot and I dream like a freak. Some nights my dreams are so detailed and intense that I feel completely unrested. I feel always on the verge of waking up--that half lucid dreaming, half sleep state. It's not restful at all.
But to our credit, we have managed to follow most of the healthy sleep tips from the National Sleep Foundation. We go to bed and get up at mostly the same time--and even on weekends we're not too far off the mark, usually only sleeping an hour or so more than normal. We keep our room cool and dark, use it only for sleep and other private things ;-). We have a new mattress. I exercise regularly (most of the time). We eat many hours before we sleep. And we don't smoke. Sometimes we'll have a drink before bed--but usually several hours before with dinner. Otherwise for the most part, we do all the right things. We even have white noise. And I've trained myself to do two things I would have always thought impossible--to only hit the alarm once and to NOT look at the clock if I wake in the middle of the night.
That latter point is important and I know it's helped quite a bit. I would often look at the clock and see that it was 4 or 5 and think, oh crap, I have to get up in an hour or two hours. And then I would never really get back to sleep. I manage this much better than I used to, thankfully.
But more frustrating to me is the crazy dreaming. I have such vivid, elaborate, colorful and often very linear dreams. I wish I could remember them better or had the werewithal to write them down. If so I would have a gazillion novels or screenplays screaming to be written. But for the most part, they keep me partially awake and extremely vivid ones can also have a tendency to sit with me throughout the day, like a little weight in the back of my mind. Thank god they are not usually scary or terribly disturbing dreams.
This morning I was dreaming about sleeping in my old basement room in the house that I grew up in. I was the same age that I am now. For some reason, I knew that the person who owned the house--a woman I was not related to--would be home at 4AM which only gave me a little time to fix the special shovel that I had which I had been carrying with me throughout the rest of my dream (which I don't recall). I remember that there was a little compartment near the shovel head that I had opened and was going to put something into but the woman drove up and parked next to the ground-level window, which oddly, the window shade was open and it was bright sun (although I knew it was only 4AM). I rushed to climb into bed and pretend that I was asleep, trying to arrange myself on the bed like I was sleep tousled. I was wearing my red velvet bathrobe and I was worried she would wonder why I had that on in bed. But she didn't seem to notice as she got out of the Blazer she was driving and peered briefly in the window before heading into the house. When I finally heard her opening the front door, I bolted up and looked for ways to hide the shovel, which I knew was going to be the only way I could escape later.
It gets weirder and weirder after that. And it was only a tiny portion of a much grander, highly complex dream. I know that dreaming is supposed to be healthy but some nights I sort of feel them to be a curse as I feel on the verge of waking for most of the night and then when I finally do awake I only want to go back to sleep and catch up on all that I've missed. Even now, I'm sitting here yawning, wishing I could nap.
I don't think it's insomnia because I am technically asleep. I can't find any information on chronic dreaming though. I would love to be able to just sleep peacefully through the majority of the night rather than feeling as though my brain is in high-gear for the duration of my respite.
Posted by crystallyn at 07:20 AM | TrackBack
April 13, 2006
rant rant rant
These are my rants for today.
1. Friends who think they are corresponding with you/know what's going on in your life because they read your blog. Honestly, it makes me want to delete my blog altogether sometimes.
2. When people you care about get sick and they don't bother to tell you because they don't want to "worry you." Who the hell are they to determine how I should or should not feel? It's my perogative to worry or not worry, isn't it? Like the time my mom told me months and months later that she had to go into the hospital for some sort of procedure that was life-threatening. Never bothered to tell any of us kids, even my sister who lived just mere miles away. Usually it's old people. WTF? I don't get it. If I were ill I would want the comfort and love of friends to surround me. And it saddens me that my love and support aren't wanted or needed in those circumstances.
3. That running on pavement is so so much harder than running on the treadmill.
4. That the taxi driver who was (definitively and without a doubt--we can prove it based on the timing of the lights), speeding and took our lives in his hands a year ago and nearly killed us, has decided that since he was also in the accident, that he's entitled to the miniscule amount of money that we have coming back to us, despite the fact that he's ok but my husband is permanently disfigured and I'm scarred and still missing feeling in my upper lip. And that because of this jerk we have to wait even longer for our money because we have to sue him (which will probably eat into more of our money). Our only saving grace is that we literally have the best lawyers in town (thank you Paulette).
5. That American politics is like a trainwreck that everyone is too ashamed to watch so they just turn away and pretend that nothing is happening while their freedom, environment, economy and privacy are being obliterated.
Posted by crystallyn at 07:15 PM | TrackBack
November 13, 2005
so much for walking 10 miles in snow each way...
New England is known for having particularly hard winters. And in truth, last year's was a doozy and so was the year before. But several new studies are showing that New England winters are just not what they used to be. The U.S. Geological Survey shows that for one, New England Rivers are melting sooner in the spring.
The total winter days of ice-affected flow decreased by 20 days from 1936 to 2000 for the average of the nine rivers with records that long, with most of the decrease occurring since the 1960's.Of the 16 rivers studied, 12 had significantly earlier spring melts, called "ice-outs," the study found. On average, the ice-out dates became earlier by 11 days from 1936 to 2000, again with most of the change occurring since the 1960's.
"The changes in spring river ice-outs in northern New England are consistent with previous studies," said USGS hydrologist Glenn Hodgkins, the lead author. "The overall evidence of changes is strong and is consistent with warming temperatures in the late-winter and spring in New England in the last 30 to 40 years."
We've certainly had our share of weird weather this year. The whole year has been a mess. Hard snowfall in the early part of the year, followed by one of the rainiest springs on record (I think May only had 2-3 rain-free days), a super-hot dry summer and now, this fall has been so freakishly warm that it's the second week of November and although most of the trees have lost their leaves, there are still quite a few that are just now starting to change colors. The bright red maples, usually one of the first to turn, were one of the last to change over because we didn't have any frost until just a week or two ago. The weather is just plain freakish this year. We even had a quarter inch of snow the Saturday before Halloween. And yet today is supposed to be in the lower 60s.
A recent article in the Bangor Daily News talked about the devastating effects that global warming can have on New England's environment which in turn, directly affects our tourist dollars.
Because of global warming, widespread and costly impacts could hit the region hard. According to researchers at the University of New Hampshire, New England could experience a 10-30 percent increase in precipitation and an overall temperature increase of 6-10 degrees by 2090 - a greater climate variation than any the region has seen over the past 10,000 years.In this drastically different climate of tomorrow, maples would fade from our hillsides as oak and hickory trees became the dominant species. The pride of farmers for generations, New England pure maple syrup could become a memory if global warming remains unchecked. And like the sugar maples, seasonal leaf peepers would also increasingly migrate north to Canada as the fall frosts so vital in creating the fiery hillsides immortalized by Kipling, Thoreau and others become a thing of the past.
Although a few might miss the traditional winds and snows that have made New England winters so famous, New Englanders surely would miss the annual tourist dollars. Not counting the adverse economic impact of climate change on New England's agriculture, conservative estimates show that a 50 percent drop in fall tourism could cost the region nearly 20,000 jobs alone. Unfortunately, though, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Indeed, according to a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, global warming over the coming century could cost local cities like Boston as much as $94 billion. Through increased flooding and changes in seasonal weather patterns, researchers in the five-year study found that climate change will impose increased demands on building upkeep, emergency services and energy consumption throughout the region. Luckily, however, New Englanders have never been inclined to sit and wait while danger mounts. The gathering threat of global warming is no different.
I think the thing that bothers me most is that people only start to care when there is money to be made or drastic amounts of money to be lost. Protecting the environment simply to protect it makes no sense unless some sort of government or big business is going to profit. It just makes me sick. Case-in-point, Fox News' special that will be airing tonight on global warming. Yes, you read that right--Fox News. They realized that the public is very concerned about this issue (in fact, a recent Fox poll showed that 77% of Americans believe that global warming is happening) and so as a result, they decided to cash in. Not because, IMHO, they really believe in the issue, but because there are ratings to be had. There is nothing fair and balanced about it at all.
Posted by crystallyn at 08:35 AM | TrackBack
October 24, 2005
comments, spam, annoyance
I've adjusted the weight on my comments to hopefully better recognize previous commenters and posts without URLs. I was having problems where instead of notifiying me to approve a comment it would automatically get junked. Hopefully I've fixed that a little bit.
The comment spam is really crazy--I probably get 30-40 a day so I really have to have some sort of filter. But I hate that it limits social interaction with people I really want to hear from. But hopefully the new weights will help...I'll monitor to be sure.
Posted by crystallyn at 08:33 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 18, 2005
so what's the deal?
No one has been commenting in ages. Am I boring? Are my comments broken? Do you hate me?
Hmmm.
Posted by crystallyn at 08:17 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack
October 11, 2005
thought for the day
The quote of the day in my Google News portal cracked me up:
If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Although that is, admittedly, one of my biggest weaknesses. I am always striving to stop gossiping...sigh.
Posted by crystallyn at 07:54 AM | TrackBack
August 22, 2005
"the price of gas...
keeps on rising
nothing comes for free..." ~Bloc Party
The song is terribly apropos these days. It's like a strange sort of sickness; driving around and comparing the prices at the various stations around town. When we see one that is only $2.81 we say woohooo it's better than the one that we saw that is $2.89, or $2.99...we haven't seen over $3.00 for premium yet but I'll bet we see it this week.
Stupid us bought a turbo earlier this year. Sigh. If only we had known!
We went to a wedding this weekend and one of the wedding party is in the Air Force. We were bitching about the price of gas and he said, "I can't talk bad about my boss, so I won't say anything." Well we'll say plenty about Mr. 5 Weeks of Vacation (319 days of his presidency) on his behalf. Argh.
So I've been far more concerned about conserving gas and have been really looking into what I need to do to help save a few dollars here and there.
Here are some gas-saving tips from the experts at the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence:
• Monitor tires. Under inflated tires or poorly aligned wheels waste fuel by forcing the engine to work harder (let the tires cool down before checking air pressure). Out-of-line wheels, as evidenced by uneven tread wear, should be aligned by a professional.
• Remove excess weight. Remove unnecessary items from the vehicle. Store only essentials in the trunk. Less weight means better mileage.
• Consolidate trips and errands. Some trips may be unnecessary. Also, try to travel when traffic is light so you avoid the stop-and-go conditions that hinder fuel efficiency.
• Avoid excessive idling. Shut off the engine while waiting for friends or family.
• Observe speed limits. Speeding decreases the miles-per-gallon average of your vehicle.
• Drive gently. Sudden accelerations guzzle gas. Try to anticipate traffic patterns ahead and adjust your speed gradually.
• Keep your engine tuned up. A well maintained engine operates at peak efficiency, maximizing gas mileage. Follow service schedules listed in the owners manual. Replace filters and fluids as recommended. Have engine performance problems such as rough idling and poor acceleration corrected at a repair facility.
Additional tips from Fine Living:
* Reduce air conditioning.Running the air conditioning burns up fuel, so do your best to limit your use of it. Roll down your windows for some fresh air, or use your air conditioner's economy setting.
* Try a light colored car. When renting a vehicle in the summer months, opt for a light colored exterior and interior and cloth seats, as this will keep you feeling cooler and allow you to use the air conditioning less frequently.
And even more from About.com:
* Purchase only gas that is the correct octane as specified by your car's manufacturer.
* Fill up in the morning--cooler gasoline is more compact, so you'll get more drops of the precious fluid for your dollars.
* Obey posted speed limits; fuel economy decreases substantially at speeds above 55 miles per hour.
* Set your cruise control to maintain a constant speed, which can also improve fuel economy.
* If your car has overdrive, use it. It reduces fuel consumption during highway driving.
* Try to avoid extreme acceleration.
* Don't tailgate. It leads to unnecessary braking and acceleration.
* Don't let your car sit and idle. Start it only when everything is packed in the truck, the kids are strapped in, and you're ready to go.
* Because running a car's air conditioner may increase gas consumption in some cases, opt for open windows, particularly at speeds under 40 miles per hour. Check your owner's manual for specific information about your own vehicle's fuel efficiency when operating the AC.
* Be sure to park in the shade.
* Try not to make single-purpose trips. Bring your beach gear along so that you can go straight there after a morning of sightseeing.
And from the American International Auto Dealers:
* It's all about the oil. Proper oil maintenance and viscosity will help your car to operate at maximum efficiency. Heavy oil will cause the engine to work harder. Use the lightest grade oil for hot climates. Check the chart in the owner's manual to find out what grade is best suited to your vehicle.
* Let your engine coolant be cool, but not too cool. Improperly mixed engine coolant can cause your engine to run too hot or too cool and can hamper fuel economy. The right temperature makes the car run more efficiently, so make sure your engine has fresh coolant.
* Replace the dirty air filter. An air filter works hard on freeways and roads and collects dust, dirt and debris. A new and functioning air filter will provide better gas mileage.
* Fire up the spark plugs. A tune-up is a misnomer in this day in age. Computer-driven coil packs replaced the points, condensor and distributor in most vehicles a long time ago. However, spark plugs must fire properly for the engine to run smoothly. Replace the spark plugs on time, according to your owner's manual.
* Don't ride around on big, big tires (besides you look like an redneck idiot). For those who bought bigger tires and fancy wheels for SUV's and mini-vans, it's more than likely that fuel economy has significantly decreased. If you still have the original tires, switch them back. Consult the vehicle owner's manual for the correct pressure.
* Tires. Tires. Tires. Maintaining your vehicle's tires is crucial to fuel economy. Every other fill-up, walk around the vehicle and check tires for uneven or excessive tread wear as well as proper inflation. Refer to the vehicle's doorjamb, fuel filler flap, or glove box for original equipment specifications or the manufacturer of the replacement tire for proper tire pressure inflation, he added. Check your owner's manual for your specific vehicle's service recommendations.
* Service engine light. If the engine light is on, one or more systems in the vehicle aren't working properly and can hamper fuel economy. Take the car into a reputable repair facility to be evaluated. Get a written estimate, if work is to be diagnosed.
* Keep it not so cool. Use your air conditioner sparingly.
* Don't stomp on the accelerator. How hard you depress the throttle will greatly affect fuel economy. Accelerate less aggressively, brake gently and stop speeding. Instead of driving defensively, go on the offense and adopt a more fuel-efficient driving style. If you're not already driving defensively, now's the time to adopt a more laid-back and fuel-efficient driving style.
~~
Sad though that it is going to take an energy crisis for us to start doing all of these things...
Posted by crystallyn at 07:43 AM | Comments (2)
August 11, 2005
tax free is barely free
I was in Origins the other day looking at their luscious but expensive ginger sparkly lotion which I love but just can't justify the cost right now. Instead I picked up a small but still expensive bottle of conditioner and went to purchase it.
"This weekend is tax-free if you are looking to buy any gifts or other items," the clerk said.
"Ahh the five percent discount. Not worth worrying about," I said.
He looked at me like I had two heads. "No, it's a tax-free holiday."
I nodded, knowing that he was the one with two heads. "Yes, that would be a 5% discount, you see."
He didn't get it. He was seriously confused when I left. Jeesh.
I used to work for a sales and use tax software firm so I know loads more about sales and use taxes than normal people ought to know. And I know that tax free holiday (5% sales tax in MA) really is just a great gimmick for governments to get people to go out and buy to help give the economy a boost. The state will lose money to the tune of $14 million but retailers are expected to get a $300m jump ahead.
It's amazing how sucked in that people are by that five percent discount. Joe and I just happened to be looking for a rug last year during the MA tax holiday. We ended up at Jordan's furniture which was PACKED like it was Christmas. I couldn't believe all the sheep that had clustered there for their 5% discount, not realizing that if they held out a few weeks that the likelihood that the retailer would offer a bigger discount was probably pretty good. Instead the malls and the shopping centers are going to be jammed with people who can't do simple math and realize that really--they aren't getting much of a deal.
Now when I lived in Seattle and the city tax was something crazy like 9.6%, well a tax holiday on larger purchases would have been a bit more promising. 5% isn't enough of a reason for us to be herded around like the rest of the lugheads in MA. Give me the beach anyday. Can you say sand castle competition?
Posted by crystallyn at 07:04 PM | Comments (2)
May 04, 2005
Brazil rejects Bush's faith-based AIDS money
From Boing Boing:
Brazil has rejected Bush's AIDS-relief money because it came with strings attached: a requirement to condemn prostitution, rather than working with sex-workers to promote safe sex. The Bush AIDS money comes with requirements to block abortion, birth control and sex-ed in favor of abstinence programs. Developing countries can't afford the luxury of hypocritical "faith based" HIV/AIDS prevention (e.g., if you believe hard enough, prostitutes will stop plying their trade), but Brazil is the first country with the guts to stand up to America's extraterritorial bullying. This is gutsy as hell -- bravo, Brazil!
Yesterday Pedro Chequer, the director of Brazil's HIV/Aids programme, said the government had managed to resist US pressure during negotiations on the Aids funding to focus on promoting abstinence and fidelity rather than condoms - another ideological battle being waged by the religious right. But the US negotiators insisted that the clause on prostitution had to stay."I would like to confirm that Brazil has taken this decision in order to preserve its autonomy on issues related to national policies on HIV/Aids as well as ethical and human rights principles," he told the Guardian.
I second that, WAY TO GO BRAZIL!
Posted by crystallyn at 07:05 AM | Comments (2)
Brazil rejects Bush's faith-based AIDS money
From Boing Boing:
Brazil has rejected Bush's AIDS-relief money because it came with strings attached: a requirement to condemn prostitution, rather than working with sex-workers to promote safe sex. The Bush AIDS money comes with requirements to block abortion, birth control and sex-ed in favor of abstinence programs. Developing countries can't afford the luxury of hypocritical "faith based" HIV/AIDS prevention (e.g., if you believe hard enough, prostitutes will stop plying their trade), but Brazil is the first country with the guts to stand up to America's extraterritorial bullying. This is gutsy as hell -- bravo, Brazil!
Yesterday Pedro Chequer, the director of Brazil's HIV/Aids programme, said the government had managed to resist US pressure during negotiations on the Aids funding to focus on promoting abstinence and fidelity rather than condoms - another ideological battle being waged by the religious right. But the US negotiators insisted that the clause on prostitution had to stay."I would like to confirm that Brazil has taken this decision in order to preserve its autonomy on issues related to national policies on HIV/Aids as well as ethical and human rights principles," he told the Guardian.
I second that, WAY TO GO BRAZIL!
Posted by crystallyn at 07:05 AM | Comments (2)
March 27, 2005
give me dignity
If there is anything that the Teri Schiavo case has shown us...it's that we need to be very clear in our wishes as to how we would want medical treatment to be given or not given to us in the case of being mentally or physically unable to do so ourselves.
Get your living will in order. They're very popular these days as a result of the endless media circus!
As for me, let me state clearly, if I became vegetative, massively disfigured or unable to function on my own over the long haul--put me out of my misery. Please. There is no way on earth I would ever want to be sustained unnaturally and indefinitely. I figure that if I could only live hooked up to some crazy machine then God probably wouldn't want me living anyway--it's man playing God then, not the natural forces of the world that brought me into them.
I look at it this way--if it were me in a vegetative state for 15 years--my soul would be going bonkers trying to get out and to move on to bigger and better things (heaven, reincarnation, whatever may be in store!). It would be the most awful thing ever to be trapped, watching my family go through terrible sadness and pain; wondering when I would ever just get back up and move forward; wondering why natural forces hadn't just taken the course they were supposed to.
The thing that saddens me most about the whole Schiavo case is that the poor woman is now, in the last days of her life, the center of the world's attention...in a way that I'm sure she would never ever have wanted. It's sick and disgusting and we should all be ashamed of ourselves. We're all waiting with baited breath to find out if she finally passed on. I'm sure I'm not the only one who checks the news first thing in the AM with the primary goal of finding out--did she make it one more day? Or finally, did the end of this horrible media nightmare arrive? I just want her to be at peace.
And reading about people who want to kill to help her--I just don't understand. I don't understand how the religious right seems to decide to throw the teachings of Christ right out the window when it suits them. I mean really, an eye for an eye was SO Old Testament. Christ taught us to turn the other cheek, to forgive, to love our neighbors, and to live by example. He was a pacifist--the most pure and true of them all. So much so that he, with all the power within him, didn't lift a finger against his oppressors, dying on the cross at the hands of people who in the end, he FORGAVE. Isn't that the whole point of Easter? Sometimes it seems so strange to me, how I, bordering on agnostic that I am, know so much more about the Bible than the people who profess to it being their favorite book.
It really really saddens me. The older I get, the more crazy the world seems to be.
Posted by crystallyn at 09:58 AM | Comments (3)
December 01, 2004
Amazon's Customer Service Phone Number
so you have it, is:
1-800-201-7575
This is because Amazon doesn't want you to find it. It would mean that they have to hire more staff to man the phone lines. Heaven forbid...letting you talk to a real person! It's 2004! You can just fill in a form and get your information...why would you want the bother of speaking to a live human being?
Oh, and btw, they DO NOT TAKE BACK televisions over 27" so if you buy one, beware--you are stuck with it. And no, I didn't get a tv for me...had to pick one up for a promotion we are running at work. Argh.
Just don't get me started on how completely and utterly unhappy I am with Amazon today.
Posted by crystallyn at 12:52 PM | TrackBack
September 07, 2004
i find this exceptionally disturbing
Out of all the asinine things...
"On Monday, September 13th, at midnight, the national ban on military-style assault weapons will expire, allowing these murderous weapons back on our streets.
Congress is feeling the heat and is prepared to renew the ban, if the president will only ask -- but President Bush is letting the ban expire, on behalf of the gun lobby.
In 2000, President Bush campaigned on a promise to renew the ban. Yet today, after we've endured mass murders like Columbine and terrorists have bought assault weapons on American soil, President Bush is letting the ban expire.
Bush is jeopardizing our safety for the sake of an endorsement from the National Rifle Association. As reported in the newspaper The Hill, "The National Rifle Association's (NRA) endorsement of Bush is on hold until after the ban expires."[1]
Since 1994, the assault weapons ban has taken the deadliest military- style weapons off our streets, dramatically cutting their use in crimes by 66 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and reducing the murder rates of police officers and the public.
This is not a partisan issue -- the assault weapons ban was supported by Presidents Reagan, Ford, Carter, and Clinton, and by Republicans Tom Ridge and Rudy Giuliani. The ban is supported by 74 percent of American voters, by Republicans and Democrats on the committees that investigated 9/11, and by virtually every police officers' association including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, International Brotherhood of Police Officers , National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Black Police Association, and Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association.
Yet President Bush is letting the ban expire, as he refuses to call on Congress to send him the ban renewal for his signature.
If he lets it expire, beginning Tuesday the 14th of September, an 18-year-old will once again be able to buy an AK-47 assault rifle in most states..."
Footnote:
[1] The Hill, "Gun makers get ready for big demand," September 2, 2004. Full excerpt from MoveOn.org.
There is an additional article that was published in the NY Times reposted here because the NY Times is a subscription only site (albeit a free one).
We need to do something about this...guns are out of control in this country. Just this weekend three youths died in Boston as a result of gun violence. Our schools and communities are no longer safe. Again Bush-hole is just plain WRONG.
Posted by crystallyn at 06:55 PM | TrackBack
September 01, 2004
!!!
A quip from the RNC, which has made my stomach churn so I haven't been watching, but I couldn't ignore this wonderful comment:
"I think Laura Bush is the most elegant first lady we've ever had," said Trudi Dickert, a delegate from Virginia. "She is ... a Southern lady in many ways. She knows her place."
Knows her place?!!!! And what is that?!!!
Oh, oh, I'll just keep my mouth shut. I'm just too pissed off. I guess I don't know my place, do I?
Posted by crystallyn at 06:28 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
March 17, 2004
i really
hate being sick.
*sneeze* *cough* *sniffle*
Posted by crystallyn at 08:07 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 13, 2004
(*()@*)$(#@&$&
So I went to see Midsummer Night's Dream tonight after a lovely dinner at the Red House, our favorite restaraunt in Harvard Square...
and came home to a bunch of Zoloft spam on my blog. 237 entries for me to go through and delete one by one. Anger is not quite the word for it. I had a feeling I was due for it...I knew I needed to upgrade my MT and I shouldn't have waited.
Turned off all my old commenting, until I can sort everything out. I'm sorry about that. I'll keep my most recent posts open but all my old ones will be closed, sigh.
Dammit. If you want to ban the IP addy on your own blogs, here you go...IP Address:
80.142.173.87
Although I'm sure it's been changed by now.
I get nervous installing MT. I paid for them to do it last time, sigh. Guess I'll have to have them help me with the upgrade.
Friday the 13th hit me square between the eyes today...in a couple of ways. Argh.
Posted by crystallyn at 11:27 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 15, 2004
this keeps flashing
up on my Weatherbug...
...Wind Chill Warning Late This Afternoon Through Friday...
Northern Massachusetts And Southwest New Hampshire Will Experience Increasing Northwest Winds This Afternoon And Evening...With Speeds Reaching 20 To 25 Mph. This Will Combine With Temperatures Of 10 To 20 Below Zero To Create Dangerously Cold Wind Chill Values Of 35 To 45 Degrees Below Zero.
These Winds Chill Values Will Make It Dangerous To Be Outside For Extended Periods. Exposed Skin May Freeze In As Little As 10 Minutes. If You Must Go Outdoors...Cover Any Exposed Skin. Wear A Hat...Mittens Or Gloves...And Several Layers Of Loose Fitting Clothing.
I went over the mall to pick up something from Au Bon Pain (which Joe calls Old Bed Pan) and omg it is FREAKING cold out there! The wind coming off the canal is just brutal.
Still, I'm VERY glad I'm not up in Quebec City...currently -16 there!!!
Posted by crystallyn at 06:51 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
October 03, 2003
one of the most annoying things
about being unemployed and having your resume up on Monster, HotJobs and the like, is that places like American Express Financial Services and American Income Life Insurance start calling you--wanting to tell you how you can have a lucrative career with them.
American Income has been the worst. I've received several phone calls, but each time from a different rep, sometimes 2-3 on the same day. They leave a message to call back, but when I do (I want them off my back), the extension I dial goes into a voicemail box for "the receptionist." Sorry, not leaving a message.
They don't care WHAT you do for a living when they call. They just want a warm body on the phones calling other people to harass them into buying insurance or signing up with them so you too can start hunting job boards and seeing who you can get underneath you. They didn't read my resume....which says MARKETING DIRECTOR on it. Does it say sales? Does it say telemarketing? No.
After the 6th or 7th phone call that Joe got for me from American Income, he asked the woman, "Is it a marketing job?" She said no. "Then she doesn't want it." That seems to have solved that problem. For now.
Yesterday I found Joe chuckling at something on his computer.
"What is it?"
"Go look."
I did, and sure enough, in his email, is a letter from American Income saying that they saw his resume (he's looking for a job selling WINE) and think he would be an excellent candidate for them.
Amazing.
Posted by crystallyn at 03:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 23, 2003
the things you learn--after the fact
I just spent an evening (sick as a dog--terrible cough deep in my chest, I might add) visiting with a very dear friend that I worked with back in the height of the dot.com era. The web consulting firm that we were working at (and with the brand that I built from scratch!) was beginning to boom. After a year and a half, everything tanked.
My friend told me tonight about the deal that should have happened, but didn't. The company was offered a buyout of $680,000,000--this when the company (and yes, Niki, this would have been when you were there) was probably less than 50 people. The then CEO (an amazing guy, honestly, despite this decision), decided to hold out for more. The deal never happened.
I would have been long since retired. If only. If only.
I'm still in shock by this knowledge!
Posted by crystallyn at 09:12 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 19, 2003
several disturbing things
** Cheney Energy Task Force Documents Feature Map of Iraqui Oilfields, courtesy of SixDifferentWays
** Creationist (ignoramus) Science Fair, courtesy of Ancarett
** Joe making me listen to Slade's Cum on Feel the Noize.
** The fact that Slade is still around and touring...
** The fact that I actually remember and like the song Run Run Away (see chameleon lying there in the sun...)
** A man finding a mouse head in his Wendy's chili. Mmm yum. Courtesy of Exploding Cigar.
Posted by crystallyn at 09:39 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 09, 2003
9 million people
out of work in the US for over a year now...
I hope to god they think twice when they vote next year.
Oh, and this site...absolutely says it all. Thanks James.
Posted by crystallyn at 06:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 01, 2003
thanks Mitt Romney and thanks Monkey Man
Today I got an email from the head of the Critical and Creative Thinking Program at UMass.
Dear CCT community:
As some of you might know, after the very positive 7-year AQUAD review the College of Ed. Dean, Jonathan Chu, and the Provost's office decided not to continue to fund Nina Greenwald's 50% position. The Graduate Dean, Emily McDermott, then imposed a moratorium on admissions to the CCT Program. (The Deans' responses to the AQUAD review provide further detail; see CCT website, http://www.cct.umb.edu) I regret to inform you that the Provost, Paul Fonteyn, has now endorsed the moratorium. If there is any reconsideration, we will let you know immediately. Courses will continue to be offered so that students already matriculated will be seen through to graduation, but current
students should read and respond to the email to follow.
There is some good news -- the incoming dean of the Graduate College of Education, Lester Goodchild, is interested in incorporating research on cognition and learning into the training of our teachers and educational administrators and wants to continue CCT under some intercollege arrangement. Details of this proposal and its implications will be posted as soon as they are known, probably not till the fall.
The letter continues, but that is the meat of it, except that we have to matriculate by the Spring '05. Cuts to UMass have forced the closure of some of the smaller programs, regardless of their success. And Nina...she is one of the most amazing people that I have had a chance to study with. It's not bad enough that the program was cut, but it's ten times worse that for the last four semesters that they won't even allow her to teach.
I'm fortunate only in that I managed to get into the program in time for me to finish up. Still, I worry...will the electives I had hoped for get cut? Will the core classes I need to take end up being at 4PM and throw a loop into the schedule that I'm bound to (understandably, my boss wigs out when I leave at 2:30PM to get to class on time)?
Funny how that both times my schooling became messed up have been when the Bushes were in office. Both times finding a job was near impossible has been when a Bush has been in office.
I'm not sure that Bulger should be head of UMass, but I think that Romney's personal vendetta against him shouldn't punish the students who are trying to move ahead to be better for the big business that Romney's such a proponent of...
Posted by crystallyn at 06:53 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack