Vacation Stall...

After two days, I still have no fucking idea how to upload photos to Xanga from my computer after the Lion update. That really pisses me off. Why would the update change my photos folder into an icon called iPhoto library that I can't even click from the photo uploader's menu?

How infuriating.

Out

Technical Difficulties...

I'd be blogging about my vacation today if I could get my computer to post photos to Xanga. Hm. Seems that when I updated to Lion, it changed the photo menus that interact with Xanga. I don't have time to fight with it today, but I'll figure it out tomorrow on my day off.

Sorry folks.

Out

So...Amy Winehouse died. I'm sad! I guess I should stop waiting for her next album...although it didn't stop Tupac...

Lion...

I know, I know! I have to blog about vacation, and I will! With photos! I took 730 photos. I'm sure SOME of them are worth sharing...

But.

Last night I upgraded my Mac's OS to Lion. It's available in the app store for $29.99. That's a ridiculously low price for a new OS. They're usually about $100 more than that. Anywho...I upgraded. It took several hours to finish (6:30 until about 10:30), but it's done now.

Impressions? I'm not really sure yet. I don't love the changes to Mail, but I hate change. I don't love that they changed my gestures with the track pad. It took me an hour to figure out that they changed "back" on my internet browser from three fingers swiped back to two fingers swiped back. I don't love the new dashboard...but maybe there's a way to make it less opaque. Right now, it's a separate screen that doesn't overlay the one you're using. It's just an aesthetic thing that I don't appreciate...nothing functionally wrong. I like Launchpad, where you can see all your apps with a single click. That's nice. And Mission Control is pretty much the same thing as whatever it replaced. It just lets you see all the apps that are currently running, lets you switch back and forth among them really easily.

Other than that, I haven't had much time to explore it...or to notice what's different.

One thing I absolutely don't like? Normally, if you scroll to the top of a page using a gesture, it stops when it gets to the top or bottom of the page. Now, though, it has a sort of elasticity, where it pulls down a gray area if you scroll past the top...then it snaps back to the top where it SHOULD HAVE stopped before. They are trying to make it feel more "natural", but...it just feels completely unnecessary.

So...there's that.

I promise I'll blog about vacation soon! Multiple days, even!

FINALLY OUT OF VIRGINIA!!! We stopped in DC to sightsee...but it still took us 100 years to get out of VA. I maintain that they're the worst drivers EVER!

Not even out of town yet and there's a traffic jam...idiots stopping to gawk at a man tying down a boat...I think I'm ready to leave Virginia.

Virginia may be for lovers, but it's certainly NOT for drivers. If I see one more brake light, so help me, God...

And a treaffic jam 25 miles out of Richmond brings this trip to a screeching halt...damn. Hope we can still make Harry Potter at 10!

"This reminds me of a poorer Wisconsin." Robb opining about WV.

This McDonalds has EVERYTHING! Fat people heckling a kid with downs, babies screaming, lots of old people, and a random Asian family. Welcome to Indiana!

Road Trip...

Last night we shopped for road trip supplies. Our shopping list included red vines, gummy bears, beef jerky, trail mix...I felt like I was twelve when we got to the checkout. I half expected Mom to come around the corner and say, "Put those back! No. Get the smaller bag!" We got some responsible stuff, but mostly we'll be having whatever the hell we want on our way across the eastern half of the states.

I'm way excited! There's something about driving from where we are to somewhere hours away and coming home by a different route that makes the country feel small, accessible, and mine. And I wouldn't want to spend hour after hour in the car with anyone but Robb. He's never lost, always adventurous, and hey, as long as he's around, any place feels like home.

The only thing I'm really going to miss is the cat. But a week isn't too long. And he'll have a cat-sitter while we're gone. It's not like the apartment is going to be empty.

So tomorrow morning we're setting out for Virginia Beach. We plan to stop on the way and get a hotel room for the night. We'll get there Friday, see Harry Potter with some friends, hopefully have nice weather so we can go to the beach, and let our friends show us around their city. Then, on Sunday or Monday, depending on their work schedules, we're off to home. There's talk of stopping in Washington D.C., since I've never even SEEN our nation's capital. And all this without a working camera...

We'll probably just share Robb's camera. I'm taking my computer, so depending on internet connections, you might get a few posts while we're there. I'll be keeping a handwritten journal of our escapade, if nothing else. I'm sure you'll hear all about it. However it goes, I'm way excited! I've never been any further east than Eastern Ohio.

Alright. Now? Time to go to work for the eighth day in a row...

Out

Pampered...

Last night, at the suggestion of my coworkers, I decided to pamper myself to try and get rid of my three day headache.  I came home, ate chips, homemade guac, and pizza rolls for dinner (I know...terrible...but we're trying to clean out the fridge before vacation).  I poured myself a glass of wine, drew a hot bath, lit a candle, put some music on, and got in the tub.  It was lovely.  My coworkers had said they thought maybe it was a tension headache, and that a hot bath and a massage might help it go away.

Well, Robb was having dinner with family from out of town, so it was the perfect time to treat myself to a little something.  When he came home, I was still in the bath.  Some relaxing Guns n Roses was playing on the stereo (it was on shuffle...maybe not the best choice).  He came in and gave me a neck massage and a pice of apple coffee cake that his dad had sent him home with (speaking of...I think it's breakfast time).

*munch munch*

And...I got out of the bath after the cat started getting a little too curious about what was on the other side of the tub wall.  I didn't think a screaming ball of fur and claws would be that relaxing.  Did the headache go away?  No.  I mean...it's not there this morning, but it was last night.

Perhaps it packed its bags and left.  If not, well...I'm not taking it with on vacation.  Thursday morning can't come fast enough!

Out

Maze Fail...

So...you might not be able to see it very well in this photo, but...

We printed out some "super tough" mazes at work on Saturday to get me through the ten hour day.  This was the first one I attempted.  I put red pen to paper in the center, and I went basically straight to the exit (lower right).  I'm fairly sure this one was faulty.  The other ones we did ere fifteen minute affairs that involved cursing and searching...but this one...

Super tough fail.

Out

Remember When I Got Fired?

So...in case you're new here, back in February of 2010 I lost my job at National City (now PNC). Why? Well, a stupid-ass old lady brought in a fake $25,000 checks, and I did what I was trained to do with it. Then I was fired for doing what I was trained to do. Then I was denied unemployment because they said I violated a known policy. Bastards.

But today is a happy day! I don't normally celebrate other people's hardships, but this...well...

Casey Anthony might have gone free, but this bitch got justice served on a hot plate. I went in to work earlier this week and saw the police report from the newspaper taped to the vault. And guess what? Phyllis Johnson, 82, was arrested for money laundering.

Apparently she got so deep into the scam that they recruited her to help them scam other people. And then? She got caught. The police warned her that if she did it again, she'd be arrested. She did it again. She got arrested.

Justice, people. What goes around really DOES come around.

Out

Kitchen Fires...

Our smoke detector has no battery in it right now. We took it out when it started beeping because of a low battery, and we never put in a replacement. Good thing, too.

I've started exactly four house fires in my lifetime. Thank God that none of them were serious enough to cause any real damage. My first AND second were for the same reason. I was maybe twelve. I put a strawberry Pop Tart (the kind with the candy sprinkles on top of the frosting) into the toaster and went to finish getting ready for school. They never popped up. The sprinkles exploded after a short while and burst into flames. I walked into the room as flames and black smoke were pouring out of the toaster. We stopped buying that kind after the second time.

The third was in the bathroom. The power was out. We used an overturned paper cup with a hole in it for a candle holder (Mom's idea). The rest of the family went to bed, but I had a friend over. We stayed up late and passed out in the living room without heeding my mom's warning to blow that candle out. In the night it apparently fell, caught a stack of Reader's Digest on fire, and burned the wall a little before ultimately going out. That one still freaks me out if I think about it too much.

Yesterday, however, this little firebrand returned to the kitchen. I was frying taco shells for Robb's delicious chicken tacos (he made homemade guac, y'all!) and apparently wasn't being careful enough with the flaming grease. Whoops. A small fire started on the burner, and I had to employ my best blowing skills to put it out. Three tries later, it finally went out. It was a little nerve wracking, though. I grabbed the pan off the burner before IT could catch fire, and I stepped back. It wasn't really in danger of spreading, but...still...

I won't let it stop me, though. My track record is just that. Only something to be overcome, to be turned into stories and not repeated (except in the case of strawberry Pop Tarts...whoops). In fact, I just pulled a perfect chocolate chip cheesecake out of the oven. No fire!

Out