What? College? Already? :eek:
But that would make you... um, elderly? :haha:

We're a little early. She's a sophomore and yes I am elderly, since I'll be 6 years qualified for Veteran's fencing soon.

You really do have to start planning by sophomore year, though, especially since it's already April. Good for her (and you) for being prepared. Man, I still remember what an awesome time I had visiting colleges. Damn shame I didn't get to go to any of those. :lol:

(And in that vein, make sure you impress upon her the necessity of having a "sure thing" application--not just a school that she can get into academically, but one that can be afforded if, say, it turns out she qualifies for zero financial aid, the school she wants to go to unexpectedly raises their tuition by 40%, and/or her parents suddenly find themselves with a lot less income that year than they had planned on. The only reason I managed to go to college at all the year I was supposed to was because my mother had forced me to apply to the state university just in case, even though I was quite determined not to go there.)

Stevedallas would have a unique perspective here - I think he's worked at both?

I got a letter from social security today, and I have been approved for SSI. That is $959.00 a month on top of the $1228.00 I get from the Veterans Administration. I am also getting $14,000.00 in back pay. I now get fix the A/c in my car. get a Mac, and get a digital SLR. Keryx is going to cut her hours at work, and she can have any thing she wants. My god is an awesome God!!! Praise the Lord!!!

excellent news for you :)

Happy Day.

both are great schools. All my siblings went to those two schools. I loved the Swarthmore graduation ceremonies. Beautiful campus.

Agreed - beautiful. I'm not far from Swarthmore - err perhaps thats a negative :blush:

Swarthmore's a dry town.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are very selective/expensive schools, she'll need backup as a matter of course. We'll see how the financial aid looks, being heavily endowed Haverford is reportedly very good on that front.
Good info, if he doesn't pop up, I'll pm.
Awesome. Feel free to pass on any info that may help.
We both know that ain't true.
That no longer hurts my feelings, except that honesty is very important in an alcohol policy. Haverford seems very progressive on that count. Our contact there talked about how it plays out on that campus.

Fargon - that's really great news!

In Haverfield, Harvard, and Swarthmore, hurricanes hardly ever happen!

How exciting...the school search. Hard watching the kids grow up?

Not so much, its pretty cool really. I'm appreciating them now and hoping to help them choose a good path.

Heeheee...my younger sis-in-law was telling me last Sunday she couldn't stop crying in church...she'd just look at the girls (ages 4, 7, and 9 and growing fast) and just cry. I guess it's a woman thing.

Pilau and I just went for the most delightful walk. We took the same route as on the vids I posted, with a slight detour down the old bridlepath.

Glorious sunshine. The air perfectly still, not the slightest breath of a breeze, even up at the top of the hill. But not silent. No, definately not silent. A cacophany of birdsong. From simple twittering to complex songs, caws and whistles, you name it. The main road is just far enough away for the traffic to just be a gentle rumble; sounds almost like a waterfall at that distance.

Oh, and we saw a squirrel, running and jumping from branch to branch overhead. Seemed to have somethng in its mouth; looked grey, may have been its baby.

In the woods, the grass has suddenly started to make an appearance everywhere. Startlingly green against the greys and browns of the trees and mulch. Real deep, emerald green in places.

I really wish I'd remembered to charge my camera. Pilau was bouncing through the heather like he was Pepe le Peu. Then darting round the woods looking for squirrels and barking excitedly when he caught a scent.

Great fun. But waaay hot. I was only wearing a thin cotton long sleeved top with light summer jeans and a trackie jacket. I had to take the jacket off and I was still too hot.

Pil was knackered by the time we stopped off at Ma's house (where I am currently logged into her comp typing this :P). Mum's not here, but I've let myself in so Pilau can have a long cool drink of water, chat with Dante about the squirrel he just chased ("No, really, it was THIS big!") and rest his old joints before we make our way back up the hill to home.

And ... to be fair, so I can rest my old bones ... and roll a little herb for the journey back :P

About as idyllic as a Saturday afternoon can get in my book :)

ok, start over here.

you were still too hot, so you....

Learned I'm entitled to a credential that I didn't realize I had, huh. (ACP=Advanced Certified Paralegal). It was time for me to renew my credential and I was sweating it because I was over the deadline, but made it, phew! For another five years, at least.

Family gathering here at the Capnhowdy/juju farm today. Pop's birthday deal. Great time and several family members came. Great thing is..... the big party is next weekend. Pop doesn't have a clue. He thinks this was it. We expect 30 to 35 folks next weekend and we'll have a family concert. Lots of musical talent on the tree..... looking forward to it. Pop is dying and under the care of hospice, but has the best attitude in the crowd. The world could use lots more like him. Savor life while you have it. It is good.

Have been productive today.
Got my bills paid, even paid my rent arrears despite the bank being closed when I arrived - some kind of computer shut down. Doesn't sound like anything to be proud of? Well, no I spose not. But a coupla years ago I'd have decided it was "a sign" and gone and spent the money! This time I checked the bank before I got the bus - it was open again.

Got Grandad his KFC - you don't have to worry about occasional takeaways at 87. Chatted to the weird family who live across the court on the bus. Hand delivered a card for Mum, walked a mile to feed the ducks (and a mile back), took delivery of a pile of leaflets for the LibDems to put through doors - I'm campaigning for them this election.

AND. Not about feeling productive, but about feeling happy. Had an email from a lady who booked a room at Ty Rosa thanks to my review on TripAdvisor, and video on YouTube. People like to know what they're getting. She's in Cardiff for about a week because her daughter's ship is in. I wished her a good stay and asked that she passed my regards on to her daughter in the Royal Navy. I don't do much for our Armed Forces, but if at least I recommended a Mum a good place to stay it's something.

Oh, along those lines, I sent Sarge another card. Anyone know how he is? I'm kinda sending post into a vacuum here, and I can't help worrying about him.

The neighbor's dogs were going crazy, so I went out on the deck to see why. There's a big female elk wandering around the back yard. I haven't seen them here for a few months.

I think I succeeded in getting a shitty person fired today. Seems like a bitchy thing to be happy about but...fuck you. I'm tired of working with shitty, lazyass people.
I don't know why it takes so much work to get rid of TEMP agents. Anyway, I hope I won this time. :P

wow....more than .....even so your happy parts are rift with angst.

I'm going a ka-zillion miles a minute. I am happy because if I were to slow down I would realize how tired I must be.

I am so fortunate to be in overdrive.:p:

I forgot. I changed my font to an elderly lady type that is to say to reduce eyestrain but not until the installed updates went through yesterday can I see the improvement in the font.....plus! The cellar's front page is very nice looking now. I do not have to change to the blue.

Carbon Monoxide!
 

The boiler repair guy found that our vent pipe was broken inside the boiler and had been pumping CO directly into the house. It looks like it's been going on for a long time.

That's making you happy? You're lucky it didn't make you dead.

Get a carbon monoxide detector...pronto.

sweet!

Have I missed something? Why is everyone happy about CO?

You are very lucky you didn't die or end up with damage to your brain or heart. CO is nasty, nasty stuff.

Yeah, exactly, so someone please explain why HLJ and glatt are so very happy about it. :confused:

I suspect he's happy that it was discovered before it did any harm.

Well, I mean...yeah...but it just seemed a bit odd. Maybe my sense of irony is off today. ;)

And, uh...harm THAT WE KNOW OF. I mean, HLJ did come back to the Cellar and all. We don't know what other kinds of long-term damage he may have sustained.

I was just trying to be supportive. :p:


We've got a CO detector that has a numerical readout in addition to the alarm. Pretty cool. I've never seen it get off of zero.

A regular maintenance call turned up a backdraft problem with our furnace a few years back, and we corrected it, but got the CO detector anyway.

Ours saved our lives when I was still married. We had a finished basement, big TV down there, and usually had electric heat but we were using a kerosene heater. The detector went off, we left the house and aired it out.

We could have died right there, watching TV.

CO
 

For the last two years I've been working from home. Sometimes when my wife is traveling I don't leave the house, or even open the door, for days at a time.

During that time I've been having headaches. I gave up sugar for a week; I gave up caffeine for a week; I gave up alcohol for a week - (not all the same week).

I ripped up all the carpets and had hardwood floors put in (thinking it could be allergies). Now I'm hoping that this is it.

We have a CO detector, but it's in the ceiling, upstairs. I need to get another one for the basement.

Oh, and I can't say for sure that it didn't do any brain damage. I've been having trouble calculating square roots in my head.

Well, join me over here, me with my tumah.

Last week I was talking to a student and I couldn't subtract 9 from 20. I just went completely blank.

But I have a CO detector.

Wow, glad you're OK, man.

Now, I want to work from home too. Any ideas?

No, sorry. I'm starting a new job Monday. I think they're going to want me to come to the office. No more work-from-home for me, either.

I find adding easier than subtracting; to subtract 9 from 20, just add one and subtract 10.

There are some consulting firms I could look into, but I don't know if I'm disciplined enough. Some days it's just so tempting.

Or you could just get a calculator.

Dude, I don't want to work from home because I couldn't REMEMBER 9 from 20. I want to work from home so I don't have to drive through the rat maze to come to the rat race, so I can work in my pajamas, so I can burp whenever I want, so I don't have to look at humans right in their faces. :lol:

Now I see. I thought you wanted to hire a consulting firm to calculate 20-9.

Oh. They have those?

And thanks glatt for being supportive.

A friend has been in touch.
Probably the smartest, coollest and best-looking (well, you can't help noticing) person I've ever been lucky enough to call a friend.

IRL I mean. Although I guess I know Dana IRL too... Okay, I'll stop before I dig myself in too deep.

This woman has a golden aura, she's just a wonderful person. And she married a lovely man too. And she still made time for me. I feel like Jade Goody (pre-martyrdom) to her Kate Moss.

And lit up like a neon rainbow that she got in contact.

E - if you're reading this I promise to pay for the dry cleaning if you honk up.

Is this that warthog you greeted earlier?

Wow HLJ - An old friend of mine IRL lost his marbles to CO poisoning.
Glad to hear you are ok. Breathe deep the fresh air.
This a place you own or do you rent?

We own it.

I just picked up a CO/gas detector and installed it in the basement.

Oh I would love to hang out there!

It's the first place I will go when I win the lottery.
If I win Euromillions you can come too (you're always welcome, but I'm thinking about having enough cash to pay your airfare).

If I only win a lickle bit - like under a million I mean - I might just come & see you. "You" being the Cellar collective of course.

Then rehab.

I was just thinking that: a big lottery win would mean a definite trip to Kenya. And England/Scotland/Ireland. And Holland. And Switzerland. And Australia. And New Zealand.

Yey. I'm feeling chipper. Charlie Brooker is back on my screen in the new series of You Have Been Watching. Love him. He's awesome.

He's such a rude cunt.
I prefer him on TV actually. But only because he's savaged some of my holy cows in print. Although he did make me laugh when he said that Torchwood is Scooby Doo for grownups, and they even have their own Mystery Machine. After all, it's true. And not a bad thing.

Enjoyed last night - got a couple of guffaws out of me. David Baddiel's story about his daughter made me laugh so loud I spooked Diz. Splendid.

lol I laughed my tits off at Baddiel's story. "David Baddiel!"

I am completely in love with Charlie Brooker. Oh, and David Mitchell too.


[eta] he is a rude cunt. But he's also very sweet :P I've been a fan of his since waaaaaay back when he used to write games reviews in the 90's.

Charlie Brooker on how to make a news report:



David Mitchell on Mock the Week

Fridayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

We're getting our driveway paved today! (If the rain and snow holds off.) We've been waiting 10 years to do this.

The current ankle-deep mud will be transformed into 5400 square feet of smooth, black asphalt.

It seems that once you do one home improvement/upgrade project you have to do more and more until you're completely broke.

Put me down for:

Awesome! I want a paved driveway. I just don't want to pay for one.