immobile
Dec/091
well, i went to bed a tad early last night in hopes that i would wake up to find that santa had plowed alma drive in the night – but no such luck this morning. i just got back from walking to the supermarket because, although i’m embarrassed to admit, i have practically no food in my house. i generally buy small portions and eat them, then go buy something else. needless to say, i didn’t plan ahead for a blizzard. so chinese food at the food court in the supermarket was looking like a feast by the time i made it there. the snow was so deep in parts of the walk that my knees are officially wet (and freezing). i had *really* hoped that the store would have snow shovels, as i certainly don’t have one (or anything resembling one), but they were completely sold out. ah well, live and learn.
frozen
Dec/090
so, it’s been an interesting week. monday, tuesday, and wednesday i commuted to KC every morning for a training seminar on a professional certification my department is all pursuing (ITIL). i had my test on wednesday and i passed, so that was a big relief.
the plan for the holiday was to drive down and spend a few days in fort scott with the family, but it turns out that the weather had other plans and dumped freezing rain, sleet, then 2 foot snow drifts in the front yard.. so yeah, not going anywhere until this clears up. not wanting to spend the holidays alone, i worked up the courage to brave the roads and managed to get my car completely out of the garage before getting hopelessly stuck in my driveway. it took me the better part of half an hour just to wrestle the car back into the garage.
i grew up a “christmas person” i think, and while the date itself (and the gift giving) has come to mean less and less to me and my focus has shifted to the season and the time it usually means i get to spend with my family, i’ll admit that spending last night by myself was a bit rough. i could have left on wednesday night and beat the storm, but hindsight is always 20/20 i guess.
i hope everyone has a great holiday. if you’re reading this, you can bet that i miss you. =)
moving forward
Dec/090
well, a pretty significant change has happened since my last post: i’m single. a few months shy of two years qualifies that, unfortunately, as my longest relationship. like every other life experience, i guess the point is to take what you can from it, grow, and move on. that’s all i can really manage on that topic for now.
work is going well. it has really felt like an uphill battle for the last couple of weeks, as we’ve been inundated with problem reports that have kept us from putting a lot of time into our projects. after this week, i’m off until the 4th of next month so i’ve really been pushing to get caught up. things are looking good on that front, which makes me happy.
i took a road trip a few months back to visit my uncle jim in columbia, mo. i had a great time, and kind of got me back on the motivation track to pursue a graduate degree. i’ve done some research since then, and while i’m really trying hard to stop making excuses, it looks financially difficult at the present time. i think once i get settled in after the expensive move out of the woman’s apartment, and i have my annual performance review at work, hopefully it will seem a bit less out of reach. the columbia visit sprang to mind because i’m actually going back there this weekend to meet family for a holiday get-together. i’m sure it’ll do me a lot of good.
i hope you all have a great holiday season.
repair, part 2: the sequel!
Aug/090
this morning about an hour after i got to work, i missed a call from the agency that i rent my new place from. i called them back, and it turns out it was the owner of the agency. apparently, he had gotten word that the washer/dryer that was in the place when they rented it to me were, to quote him, “real pieces of crap”. i hadn’t complained after they sent the repair person, but nor had i yet tried to use them. admittedly, the dryer was held together by duct tape. anyways, he said that he was going to buy me a new washer and dryer. SCORE! it was only about twenty minutes later that i got a call from the appliance store confirming that he had just walked in and bought a new washer/dryer, and they needed to schedule a time to come install them and haul off the oldies.
repair
Aug/090
so, i realize i just wrote a post yesterday and i’ll be violating my 1-post-every-2-months limit, but this was worth writing about. i moved this last weekend and hit my first speedbump with the new place: the washer and dryer are older than i am. no biggie, as long as they work. apparently, they haven’t been used since the tenants before last (since apparently the last tenants just took their dirty clothes to the next county over to have their moms do their laundry). so i called the landlord and they are sending a maintenance guy over this afternoon. turns out, it’s not a general maintenance person, but an old repair guy specifically from an appliance store. landlord +1, good job! =)
so he comes over and we pull out the washer and dryer, and this is the first thing we see: the dryer’s vent hose.
i can tell you this much: dryers don’t function well with vent hoses that look like this.
he completely disassembled the washer and had it enough sections that i couldn’t even recognize it anymore. the whole time he was working, he was mumbling to himself between fits of humming and whistling. very nice old guy, but i never knew whether he was talking to me or not. turns out he basically never was. i’d jump up and see what was up when i thought i heard him call me, and he’d look at me like i was crazy. he’s probably correct.
anyways, all is working now. they’re old as dirt but we’ll give ‘em a try. ;)