Nice tree -- but it looks kinda firewoodish for this time of year. (and I don't see a chimney... ;) )

It's quitting time, and I'm off tomorrow. 4 day weekend!

Have a good holiday, everyone.

In approx 5 mins time I go home.
And waiting in my home is Dana!

It could only be better if I had today/ tomorrow off (Grrrrrr) and if it didn't look like it was going to bucket down any second.
Oh and if I'd been a good host and got some cold brewskis in.

Never mind, I'm sure she's found a way to occupy herself since 15.30!

we demand pics

and a full report no matter what happens

Sittin on the sunny side of the deck after work with hubby, drinking Dos Equis and being silly with my chi chi...:p

My new car.......grrrrr (thats a turned on grrr)

looks sweet. what is it? (so not a car guy)

Check it out, B:
Coordinate 39° 10′ 0″ N, 26° 20′ 0″ E

Dudes, you are so hot!

?

Holden (GM) Commodore VE SS, 6.0-litre Gen IV V8 LS2 engine, the motor produces 270kW and makes 530Nm of torque at 4400RPM. :D (such a car chick)

plug it into google earth

The license plate cracks me up, Ducks. :)

Much yardwork progress. Borrowed a truck over the holiday weekend and made a trip to the dump (couch, dryer carcass, bike). Second trip was all yardwaste/garbage but loaded in the Rover, so we got the flat rate for "automobiles". I had it fully loaded, seatbacks to tailgate, window to window, floor to ceiling.

Last night worked in the back yard, raking and mowing, shoveling dirt, sweeping, weeding... just plain labor, but a labor of love.

Today I'm sore.

eta: got a new electric mower, to replace our current electric mower. It was stationed on the parking strip with an "all free" sign on it. It's a Craftsman, and upgrade (mostly) from our antique Sunbeam. The Sunbeam ran fine, and I keep the blade sharp, but the side mount catcher bag has been missing forever, and so it sprays clippings with unbridled enthusiasm. The Craftsman has a rear bag setup, but it has a door, and an insert to redirect the air/clipping flow for mulching. Plus, it is much quieter, seems stronger and lighter, and the handle is much more rigid which allows me to maneuver it with one hand more easily. One downside is that it is much taller and the handle has a higher lowest setting, which means I can't lay the handle down flat/parallel to the grass to mow under stuff (like the swing, the picnic table, the hydrangeas, etc). A small price to pay, and overall a nice upgrade (for free) for us.

An unexplainable thing happened.

My Honda Transalp, which I haven't ridden in a while (the tags expired in 2003, so I probably haven't ridden it since 2004), wouldn't run. I suspected that the gas sitting in the carburetors for five years probably blocked up the small passages.

I took off a few panels, the seat, gas tank, air box and carburetor. Then I took apart the carburetor and cleaned the jets and floats and all that stuff. Then I put it all back together. When I hooked it up to my truck battery it started and ran. I never thought that would happen.

Now I just need to install the new battery (which has been charging over night), balance the carbs, clean and re-install the air filter, change the indicator flasher and it should be ready to go.

I love it when you talk like that HLJ

Cool looking new car there Ducky !!

Air box [yes]
air filter [yes]
jets [yes!], floats [more!]
jumpstart [don't stop!]
carburetor! [yes, yes, carburetor!, carrrrburrrrretorrrr!]

DucksNuts, have you seen my vacuum pump? I can't find it anywhere.

got a new external hd, $170, 1 TB. Sweet!

looks like I will finally get a successful backup of the old ext hd conta

Well I'm excited about this new monitor! You guys look so good right now! lol! I got this computer months ago, and finally got the kick butt monitor!

woo hoo! I can turn the monitor 90 degrees!
(it's the little things folks) I guess.
:D

Woo getting the apartment clean completely for the first time in about 1/2 a year! I'm not a slob I promise its just been difficult to be motivated. Am having some trouble finding all my cleaning stuff, I keep discovering things I've run out of...

Today Stephen Hawking became my friend - OK, it's on MySpace - but I love the idea that he has a page there.

8 touches against an extremely good Hungarian fencer/coach!

perv

I just spent a few minutes observing a water snake settling itself in for the evening. And no, I was not tempted to kiss it good night.:headshake

I have a meeting this afternoon at another college south of here. It ends at 4, by the time I get back to the office it would be 5, so I'm not going to bother coming back to work until 6:30. Therefore, it's a short day in these summer 10-hour day/4 days a week times. Then, I'm on vacation next week. A staycation, as the media has dubbed it. Beginning of August we're back to our normal schedule which will be nice but the 3 day weekends have been nice as well.

oh c'mon baby -- I won't bite

hard.:blush:

You just made me LOL, barefoot serpent, so I guess that means that the What's making you happy today? thread made me happy. :D

Seems like a number of large companies and organizations are going to the 4 day 10 hour work week to help employees and the business save money on gas and energy costs.

I have a heater under my desk....I can feel my toes and legs again. :D

does a 9 mm or a 44 mag ward off middle managers the best?;)

shotgun :shotgun: :p

Minifob has deigned to sleep during his nap today. There is a god.

To a dyslexic, there is a dog.

or "here tis dog"

My friend, J, had a bit of a bad first half of the year. Customers holding out payment and a couple of projects faling through. So, i helped him out at various points, as I have a regular (if quite small lol) income and his is all irregular. Apart from a couple of loans, which he paid back, I also helped out a few times and didn't want the money back.

So, he got paid on one of the larger jobs and is insisting he pay me back.....but...he isn't giving me the money to do with as I want, as that'd mean it all vanishing into the blackhole that is my utility bills :P Instead, he has insisted that he is buying me a new computer :) My PC is pretty much knackered and way out of date. I can't access facebook or youtube on my council laptop anymore, and have been trying to work out a way of affording an upgrade for the last few months. Now, instead of trying to scrimp about to get a £150 upgrade that'll barely bring my machine out of the dark ages, I have a budget limit of £300 including P&P to buy a new PC and no scrimping to do for it!

*smiles* so.....last night on Ebay, I ordered a shiny new computer, with 4 gig of RAM and a 8 series Geforce. I will be able to play modern games again yey!

YAY!
Really pleased to hear it

Sweet, DanaC! Enjoy your new toy.

Happy yesterday. Took my son to work with me and he really enjoyed himself. He is off to college for the first time in three weeks and am happy he is following in my footsteps of study. He is really growing up and being responsible.

All good news! I am trying to get out of the office to go on Anniversary Vacation!I've been married for a whole two years today! People were clever and left for the weekend already, or didn't bother showing up at all. So here I sit, holding down the fort. Not only will I not be able to leave in time for check-in now, I won't be able to run the lunch errand I needed to run.

Vacation yay! Now! Geeeez...:)

I picked the first batch of raspberries this morning. :)

found my lighter

I think I can get a huge discount off the cost of an Open University course. For those not familiar it's a home study system that has been running in the UK for years and is highly respected, not some sort of degree for money scam.

I've been thinking about it for a while now - probably since I joined here and realised two of my favourite Dwellars were back in full-time education. I'd always shied away from it before- a boat that had sailed and I didn't need a piece of paper to prove my worth anyway, hmph, thank you very much. The trouble is, that attitude didn't stand up to questioning about wny Bri & Dana were doing it. They were doing it for the love of learning, and that is definitely something I have.

The OU seemed the most likely avenue, but wasn't practical before I moved here because I didn't have internet access outside of work. Not 16 hours a week anyway. And then of course I had to find work and settle down and all that.

So it finally got to the point where money was the only barrier. Of course, isn't it always. But I thought it would be worth looking into the idea that I might be able to pay in installments. Maybe the next thing I do once I've had a good holiday and paid off my debts.

Searching the site, I realised there was a possibility of financial support. My salary is low enough and I have few enough qualifications that I should be eligible. Yup. It might even be in my financial reach for the course starting this year (or Feb next year!).

Wow. Gives me a lot to think about. It's a HUGE commitment. Up to 6 years study. But I figure if I don't start it then it will always be six years away. And if I start it and (god forbid) lose interest then at least I tried.

Hmmmmmmmmm.
Have to live with the idea a bit to see if it's a commitment I really intend to make.

It's feasible now though, and that's what's making me happy.

SG - I think you should do it. Heck, in the time you've spent in the Cellar you could have graduated by now.

(This from the person who should be working, but is posting here instead.)

All your happy thoughts are nice.

I can't think of anything except how grateful I am for vicodin that takes the pain of an abcessed tooth away.

I am getting it pulled on Thursday then I start a 4 week vacation before school starts again.

Sundae, I think you'd love it. I bet part of you really misses the intellectual endeavour of learning. I know I did. The time factor worried me when I first started down this path. Three years for a degree, a year for a masters and then another 3 years for a PHD. God, even the first 3 year stint seemed like a huge chunk of time. Now I am heading into the final year of my degree and the time has just flown past.

The trick is not to keep thinking in terms of how much time is left on the course. If you're doing it for the journey rather than the destination, it doesn't matter if it's a long ride.

Out of interest, which courses are attracting your attention at the moment? Also, have you checked out the possibility of doing a part-time degree at a local university? Not sure what help's available funding-wise but it may be worth checking it out. Of course the advantage of OU is that you can truly wrap it around your time. And, of course, you don't have the problem of being the grown-up in a class of 18 year olds lol.

Keep us posted if you make a decision hon:)

You know that my problem with full time education would be my compatriots. I went back to education after two years when I was 18 and was studying with 16 year olds, I hated it. Like poison. It put me off ever studying again.

So this is a compromise. Harder because I have to work around two jobs. Easier because I don't have to deal with students there to just get a piece of paper and not because they love what they are studying.

I'd take a BA (Hons) Literature. You start with Arts Past and Present, which is basic course but counts towards your degree. From there you choose different options. There's even Creative Writing, if I am brave enough.

FYI
So as you see, I'd benefit just from taking it, even without any qualification.

That sounds like a fascinating intro. I am particularly intrigued by book 2!

The street looks kinda crooked though.

Oh water runs Down hill there ,
I told my son i law if the Neibors piss him off this winter he could just put a sprinkler in the street ( they live 2nd house from the TOP of the hill )

Lil'Pete's call from camp last night was pure happy exhaustion (she's lost one bout in two days so I guess she's comfortable). The previous night she sounded a little homesick. We also got a call from a nice/goofy boy we know from East Stroudsburg who's there. I guess we're the go-to parents this week.

Remind me how old Lil'Pete is?

What's makin me happy today: the post. Now, normally the arrival of the postman heralds no great joy. Usually my morning fayre consists of bills, final demands, threats of court action, council papers and invites to events I have no desire to go to (but invariably will).

Not today! Having ditched the obligatory junk mail (insurance offers and finance deals) I opened a letter from my university. It congratulated me on my performance this year and on winning the KPMG prize......and enclosed was a cheque for £100! Yey! I can pay my electric bill and they won't have to cut me off lol.

Just in case that wasn't exciting enough, the next was a small package. I knew as I was opening it that it was my much anticipated set of two Doctor Who audiobooks as read by Paul McGann. Happy, happy. Joy, joy. God bless Ebay:)

Thoroughly deserved Dana, well done you!

She just turned 14. This is her second away camp experience. I worry a little because she's wired a bit like her Mom who just isn't good at being away from family. Lil's room was pretty noisey when she called so I think she's got a crew. :)

I guarantee a smile.

http://cellar.org/showthread.php?p=470741#post470741

Bad news/ good news kinda thing
(put it here as it has a happy ending)

Went to a flatmate finding even in Leicester Square
It was rubbish
Not the sort of people there I was looking for
However - got a free bottle of beer out of it - good
My only alcohol today - good

Realised it wasn't right for me and went to the cinema instead (The Happening, good fun)
Bunch of witches sat at the front who had obviously wandered in by mistake thinking it was some sort of cafe, and proceeded to talk and have to be shushed 2/3 of the way through - bad
They left noisily and giggly at that point - good
The camp chap in the straw hat who I thought was making fun of me as he poured my diet pepsi spoke to me again on the way out
When I mentioned the girls he gave me a free pass to see another film - VERY good

Talked to HM when I got home - VERY good
He is made up about my plans to get back into education
We agreed I will be out by Xmas so I can save up - no row about it, just a calm discussion. I found after I'd calmed down on Monday I actually wanted to move, so we simply started from that basis

He's going to keep Hely when I move out, so she doesn't have to go back to cat rescue - fucking brilliant
(not least because he will start seeing her as his cat now and this will help things)
Diz will stay with me of course, but I have 3-5 months to find us a place - I just couldn't take two warring cats with me

All in all, a jolly good day

Sounds like the best possible outcome with the living situation, Sundae. I think saving up for your own place will have a lot of positive benefits.

Well, it won't be my own place, I'll just be sharing with someone else. And even that will be tougher financially as I'll be paying market rate instead of half HM's (relatively low) mortgage.

Still - I can specify a quiet house, and have time to shop around and find someone I can live with more peacefully.

A studio flat in this part of town (i.e. one room with a bathroom attached) goes for about 2/3 my monthly salary.

I got carded buying beer tonight, which should make me happy, as the old dude pointed out. But I'm in there every week or so and we always have a friendly exchange... I'm really more concerned with his mental acuity at this point...

I get to meet an author tomorrow, of a book I have always enjoyed and bought for some friends.
:)
It's the little thing folks!