Enjablog

I went in to the Alexandria Obama office last week to help out with a postcard writing event. It was listed as a Women for Obama event, intended to reach undecided women in swing states. They were very specific about getting Virginia postcards to make it clear where we were writing from. I sent Ian out the day before (on his day off) to find some pretty postcards in Old Town for me.

I <3 postcards, so this was very exciting for me. I showed up with extra postcards and stamps to share and plenty of enthusiasm. The two rooms in the office designated for this activity were at capacity. There were people sitting on the floors and taking turns sitting in chairs.

So, after the 2 dozen or so women show up to write to undecided voters in swing states, we received our lists of addresses. All of which were in the swing state of Virginia. Most of whom live in Alexandria. Specifically, Old Town.

I wouldn’t complain about getting postcards from someone though, even if they were local. So, if nothing else, I hope the recipients at least appreciated the prettiness of the postcards we sent. :)

So, in the mail today, I received my ticket for admission to the PE exam. There was a long, detailed list of things that are and are not allowed in the testing room. Highlights of the contraband list: slide rules, hoodies, pencils, and friends/relatives. I don’t even know what to say.

In other news, I finished making a Power Up Mushroom pouch for my laptop mouse. The USB key attaches conveniently to the bottom of the mouse and the mouse is cleverly designed to turn on when the key is removed. This, of course, caused problems when I would just throw the mouse into my bag and wear down the battery inadvertently. Clearly, I needed to make something to protect my mouse:

It took about 6 hours to figure out the dimensions for the pattern (I use the word “pattern” very loosely) and to put it all together. I think actual construction time was about one day of commuting — 1.5 hr round trip.

At long last, Squidgey has posted her pictures from Friendmas! :)

Saw this on my way to my parents’ this weekend, so thought I would share:

Got together with Rain for dinner on Tuesday night and had a blast catching up with her. We got a chance to do the grownup thing and talk about work and how kids these days just aren’t good workers, gossiped a little, and then her roomie got back and we put up their Christmas tree. We all tried Chai Nog for the first time. It was all so festive!

Last night was an exciting night of drunk shopping. A bunch of us were getting last minute accessories for my office holiday party on Saturday as well as brainstorming for some Christmas present ideas. My best find: Pirate earrings.

I just got them for fun and I got a pair of pretty dangly earrings for the party. But now I’m seriously considering wearing a pair of these on Saturday. They’re totally appropriate… and would go with my dress too. Hm…

I was also discussing with Ian today… I totally prefer ninja paraphernalia, but they need better marketing. Aside from the ThinkGeek badgeholders, which just say ninja on them, I don’t think I’ve ever seen ninja-y stuff. Pirate gear is everywhere though. Hehe, I rhymed. But maybe ninja stuff is so stealthy, you don’t even know it’s ninja stuff. Maybe.

Today was an early day at work. Got in around 7:30 so I could get home to meet the cable man. The time window I was given was 3-6. And they’re never on time, right..? So, I got a call at 2:55 asking where I am. The guy is already there. I said I was on my way, but would be about 15 more minutes. That was apparently too long. The guy left and came back around 4:30.

I set up the cable modem and router in preparation for his arrival. He told me that I couldn’t use my own cable modem, so he installed the [identical] one that he brought and seemed completely clueless as to how to get the router to work. It took him about an hour to get the new cable modem to the step where I was when he arrived. And so I just spent 25 minutes on the phone with a nice gentleman with an Indian accent (from Portugal, he assured me) getting my cable modem activated. So now all I have to do is go drop the modem back off at a Comcast office. Comcastic!

6:10am

6:59am

Oh. My…

Things I did not expect to see in my hotel room:
- Full kitchen with dishes, bakeware, stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc.
- Washer and dryer
- Dining table for 6
- 2 TVs
- Jacuzzi

Yeah, you read that right. There’s a jacuzzi in my room.

Let me tell you why I’m staying here. The hotel where this conference is being held was booked. They didn’t have any rooms left at the government rate. I checked 4 other hotels that were closer, but they too did not have the government rate. Those were around $2-300/night regular price.

This hotel is the closest one that I could find that was even close to my $169 limit. It said on the website that amenities vary by room, so I figured I was getting a low-end regular room. The cheapest hotel I could find has a suite suitable for hosting a dinner party. And has 7 pillows on the bed. I think technically, I’m in a “guest villa.”

Pictures.

This is so cool:

The trees on Mount St. Helens were knocked over when the volcano erupted, leaving a life-size vector field of the pyroclastic flow. Sure, this is almost 30 years old now, but it’s still cool.

My latest completed project:

There’s a pocket up front to hold my pink phone. :)

Aw, just got an email from Carolyn Hax!

From last week’s ALS Walk:

We’re closing in on $12k! Thanks, everyone! (On the front row, starting from the left, that’s Nick, Zuzu, and Carolyn) :)

Today was a sad day. My godfish died. NewGirl and Skunknut have had a betta in their office for the past four months. Whenever the two of them were out of the office, NewGuy and I would make sure Swbs was taken care of.

He developed a fungus a few weeks ago, but some medicine and a new heater for his tank cleared that up. He was never the same after that though. He stopped making bubble nests. He swam around sporadically, but stayed stationary and rested a lot.

We had some good times… He enjoyed preparing to mate, eating, attacking his reflection, and swimming in circles.

Funeral services were this afternoon at 5pm.

*
Swbs (?-2007)

*Not actually Swbs. We’re not supposed to have cameras in the office. But he looked a little like the fish in the picture. Well, he was blue. But darker and not as shiny. He was a betta, ok?

GAHHH!! and a spider just ran across my screen. Now I have the heebie-jeebies.

I had a couple people tell me months ago that my picture links were broken. As it turns out, they were broken because I never uploaded the files when I moved from .com to .net. So, um, yeah… I fixed it!

Let me know if things are still broken. I tried to go through and check stuff, but I got bored pretty quickly.

I bought flowers last week and was adding water to the vase today and I couldn’t remember the name of them. I was standing there for what felt like 2 or 3 minutes trying to think of the name of my favorite flower. My favorite flower. There must be something wrong with me, right?

Alstroemeria:

Congratulations to my cousin and his new wife! :)