Treat Day

Wednesdays are Treat Day at work, so one person from our Department brings some sort of treat for the rest of us. There has been everything from Chips Ahoy Cookies to ham spread & crackers, vegetable platters to candy canes. Today was good old fashioned cheesies, popcorn twists & Salt & Vinegar chips. My eyes lit up like Vegas when I saw the cheesies - yum, cheesies! I had at least 4 helpings & then my fingers got all orange & cheesie flavoured. My mouse got all dirty, too. The popcorn twists were also great, and much less messy. I can remember back in the day eating popcorn twists and watching cartoons on T.V. Cheesies were never a huge thing on our household but I think that's partly why I find them so irresistible. You go to a party and then suddenly - cheesies. They can be elusive, no cheesies for months anywhere, then suddenly - ooh, cheesies. Do I want more cheesies tomorrow? Well, no, not really. But, this Treat Day will stay with me for a long time and will be another fond cheesie memory added to my mental happy cheesie experiences list.
You'll be happy to note I also had a healthy lunch & dinner to round off my excess snacking today so my health is in no jeopardy, at least not from too many cheesies.

PMS & Road Rage

I think I've already written about my road rage & you know what a temper I have but I realized today what may cause my more extreme attacks of Road Rage - PMS! IT is only a week or so away and that means meat cravings, chocolate cravings, feeling a little frisky, among other things but I also had wicked road rage today. As I am enraged I feel like I am completely in the right & justified in my anger - the OTHER driver is rude, crazy, psycho, mean, jerky, just plain BAD. But, upon reflection I can't really support my initial assessment. So what if someone drives a little slowly when they're getting ready to turn - at least they signaled...eventually. And, if they went way too fast, spun out & hit me that would be terrible. So what if someone tries to cut in, maybe I would do the same if I got stuck in the wrong lane. So what if people are driving too slow in the slow lane - it is the slow lane after all. The majority of the things that pissed me off are things I have done it's just not me doing them at that moment. But, I figure I am just prone to unreasonableness at this time & therefore my temper flares before I can even think. The other option is that all drivers other than myself are bad drivers, which is certainly possible at least for about 50+%. The other 50% or less is just in my way on my PMS day. Perhaps tomorrow I will be less easily enraged but I can't promise anything.

Extra

For the newsletter, I wrote about this Cheetah foundation because the Zoo is planning to acquire a baby Cheetah from their breeding program later in the year. Anyways, it's really interesting so check out their website:
http://www.dewildt.org.za/
I could maybe incorporate this into my African plans, but I think the rooms in their lodge are a little too swanky for my budget. Maybe they'll let me sleep outside somewhere for cheap but likely not.

A Sunny Day

After weeks or even months of crazy weather the last couple of days have been bright & sunny - FINALLY!!! However, as you may notice, I'm still inside typing this up rather than sitting outside. One reason is that I don't have proper patio furniture. Another reason is that it's still a little chilly in the shade. The main reason though is that there are people working on the yard. My landlords decided to landscape & redo some of the yard stuff last fall & so on nice sunny days, or at least not-rainy days, the landscaper would come and dig stuff or do whatever landscapers do. However, this was sporadic to say the least, partly because of the weather. So the last 2 weeks there's just been a sheet of plastic flapping in the wind and that was the extent of it. But, the cement blocks that are being used for the terracing have been in the driveway for a few days and today the landscapers came to install them. They are replacing the railroad ties (I'm not even sure if that's the correct term but hopefully you know what I mean) that lined the yard. This is great because Clyde's chain always got caught around the corners of those things and that drove me and Clyde crazy. But, unlike my Mom who will talk to any stranger in length, I prefer to stay out of the way & not have to make awkward conversation at the top of my weak lungs. No, I don't have pneumonia or anything. I'm just quiet and find talking loud exhausting!
I did go to the Zoo today - thanks to Clyde I was up even BEFORE the crack of dawn - but the Keeper I usually help out was doing food prep & so I worked, inside, on the Newsletter I volunteered to help out with, an then at the Vivarium, inside, wiping windows. At least the bright blue sky looks nice even from the inside. And I did get to use my sunglasses while driving. Spring must be near...

F&%$ Columns!

ARGH! So, I hope you're happy 'cause the latest & greatest Jenclyde World newsletter is complete and ready to be mailed. Why the angry title? Well, I was trying to streamline & avoid handwriting everyone's address. I did that at Christmas and it sucked even more than my actual handwriting which as you could see REALLY SUCKS. So, I used my Yahoo calendar because you can add contacts & then print mailing address right from that so I thought, "Great!". So, I spent an hour or 2 yesterday adding my contacts and then tried the printing and realized I need special Avery labels so my big plans were shot to hell. Then today, I thought I'd try to do it in Word. Luckily I as able to copy the text from the PDF Yahoo created & plunk it into Word but then it was a nightmare trying to format it. And, what made it even worse was me! I originally set the document as 2 columns since the labels I have are in 2 columns but this wasn't working so I created a table. But, since I left it on the 2 columns everytime I tried to enlarge the table it cut off the text half way through the page - hmmm, just where that second column would be. Did I clue in? After about 20 minutes of trying different settings, yeah. GRR ARRGH! AHHHH!!! I am an idiot.
The good part is that you loyal Jenclyde fans will get something in the mail with an official looking address label. And, watch those columns if you ever do anything in Word.

Cute as all get out

Check this out, got it from one of the Knitting blogs I checked out:
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2007/01/knittin_kitten.html

Volunteering

I got to feed Lions, Tigers & Bears today, oh my. Ok, well, just Tigers & Lions & the bears were hibernating still. I also had to try and throw raw chickens over a fence but they kept slipping & smacking up against it. It was a little embarassing!

Hand cramp

I can't stop playing Skull Stax! It's just so soothing...click,click, click. I always play with the monster faces & the eyes follow your mouse. Genius. The only problem is that it doesn't get harder once you hit a certain point & therefore the last few times I've played I got to 100+ levels, 1 million + points and a hand cramp. I forced myself to read over lunch at work- luckily I'm at a really riveting part of the book (The Shadow Rising, Book 4 of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series which I've ready several times already - just keep getting hooked!) - because yesterday I just played Skull Stax the whole hour, got home & played all evening. Ack! Tonight will be different because I'm stopping for, well till at least tomorrow. Really!

Same old

Well, I'd post another picture but it bloody well looks the same as the last one...yes, another blanket of snow and I'm stranded at home. Poor Little Car is a few houses down the street on the other side 'cause when I tried to go to work I ended up only being able to drive backwards. Yep. Another exciting day of being at home. Funny enough I was supposed to pick up my co-worker this morning & apparently she waited 45 minutes for me outside. What could I do? Frickin' walk down the mountain to tell her? Anyways, I am trying to make use of my time by doing laundry, etc. but have gotten addicted to Skull Stax, also on the CBC website. I still have a soft spot for Sushi Samurai but have plateaued (had to check the spelling on that one but it is correct). Perhaps, NOT getting snow tires was a bad decision on my part. Maybe I could go around asking neighbours if they want to pay me $5 to shovel their driveway with my spade, they wouldn't see any damage till after the snow melts anyways. That way I can earn maybe $25 or so towards $800 worth of snow tires. Or, I could just play more Skull Stax & f&^$ work.

Little Car

So, I got to work yesterday at about 11:00 or so and it was bright and sunny up to Mt. Lehman Exit which is the Exit before my Work Exit. Then there was some freezing rain/snow but it cleared up. However by about 1:30 it was snowing, and snowing, and snowing and the cars in the parking lot were covered. So, most of the office staff left early & I abandoned poor Little Car there on the street and caught a ride with one of my braver co-workers. So we drove caravan style down the only road not blocked by accidents, stalls or helicopters - yes helicopters - and slipped & slided our way back to Abbotsford. Then, when we hit Mount Lehman Road it was fine, sanded and no snowfall. The rest of the drive was fine & even up here on the mountain was fine. The biggest tragedy to it all was that poor Little Car was left all alone & I was stranded. It's maybe kind of crazy but I always feel so forlorn when I'm carless - almost like a piece of me is missing. I can spend days without driving but when I CAN'T drive I feel trapped. I got a ride to work today and Little Car was fine. It was a better decision to leave it but it just made me realize how much I depend on a vehicle to get around and how far everything is if I have to walk.

Snow Day

Not as bad as last time but I opted to not attempt to drive to work until my street gets plowed. The schools I had to call are closed today anyways. So, in order to make use of my time I went online to check out the latest news and discovered this shocking report:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/57268

Extra

Check out www.doubletongued.org for the meaning of 'fart in a mitten' and 'sweater puppies'. Made me laugh.

The Old Grind

I had a difficult time getting back into my regular routine. The week of vacation I had at home involved long hours of sleeping, snacking, video gaming and shopping and then by Monday I was all tense and dreading Work. When I thought about it there wasn't a specific thing I was dreading, I think it was just the idea that I had a FULL YEAR of work ahead of me before a lengthy holiday. Yes, I get the standard 10 days vacation and whatever overtime during the summer I want to bank but this is by no means a solid break. Due to Clyde issues in particular I likely will not be travelling much this year so if I take time off it may only be a few days here & there. I could look at driving to Manitoba again but should I? Clyde's okay but it's hard for him to get in & out of the car and 3 days driving is alot of getting in and out of the car. I am not going to discount the possibility but realistically this may not happen this Spring. And, I am a complicated mix of homebody and drifter. I NEED to relax at home and have frequent pajama days. And, I NEED to travel even if it's just a weekend away at my Kelowna friend's place. If I travel too much then I get sick of it and vice versa with the extensive home time. Last year I think I travelled too much but that just makes a year of non-travel that much more difficult to contemplate. I will try and take some time off before the Busy Season at work, so March/April and maybe a few days in the August lull. Then if Mom or Janet B visit in the fall as per usual I could take a few days off then, too. Another idea I had to satisfy me would be to take Clyde camping somewhere within a day's drive. Spend the weekend away which I am sure Hal can handle alone if need be. I wish I could take him too but I can't imagine him settling down in the tent to sleep. It would be ridiculous. I really wish that West Jet &/or Air Canada would have a pet-on-board flight so I could bring Clyde on the plane with me. That he wouldn't mind, except for the Calgary Airport stop-over. A direct flight would be best. I don't think it will happen soon enough but there are enough pet people out there that it could be feasible say 1 or 2 time a month, maybe every weekend if it becomes a demand. And then all the non-animal people can take their own cramped flight with their screaming babies separately. Brilliant!