Funny bits

I was reading a semi-recent Macleans over lunch today and saw 2 very funny stories:
1. A shirtless Mormon hunk calendar for 2008 called "Men on a Mission"
2. An ex-girlfriend of a famous ball player wants to write a self-help book and become a teacher, but in the mean time will be posing for Playboy & is dishing the dirt on her ex in order to promote herself.
Okay, maybe #2 is not funny so much as ridiculous...

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My dishwasher is not working properly so I have done dishes 3 times this week! For the regular individual this may seem normal, maybe even less times than you would wash dishes per week. However, for me this is a zillion times more than usual. I would say over the last year I have washed the dishes once every 2 weeks, on average. And one time I had wine glasses left from a party for 2 months. The reason for this is that I am incredibly lazy and I also have a ridiculous amount of dishes. The dishwasher is also an enabler so I can fill it up, and unload it, whenever I have a chance without ever actually washing dishes. There are some dishes that do not fit or are too fragile for the dishwasher so those accumulate on my counter. Just for the record, this does not make me happy. It makes me feel stressed out, disappointed in myself, rebellious ('cause my Mom would disapprove), and ashamed to have people come over. So, because I haven't been able to depend on the dishwasher anymore I have been forced to do the dishes. I feel good about it, in a theoretical way, but I am honestly really tired of doing them. Since I cook often and have a dog that eats messy soft food I go through alot of dishes so it takes an hourish per session. Then my back and feet get sore. I am so old... Anyways, it's nice to feel normal, and have a cleaner kitchen, but I really would like the dishwasher back.

I'm BACK!

Oh, how I have missed being online! A few weeks back on a sunny Sunday afternoon my poor computer shut down and after repeated attempts to restart it the horror of the situation began to sink in. My computer was offically broken! Over a year of reliable service and it bit the biscuit. After some staring into space, I moved my lazy a$$ into my spare room and watched some movies for the rest of the day. Funny enough my old DVD player was completely dead as well when I went to turn it on, so thank goodness the VCR still worked. I had a work conference over the next couple of days so got to watch the news on Tuesday morning , but the rest of the week was spent watching my old video tapes: Breakfast Club - classic!, Mission Impossible, Braveheart, Star Wars trilogy - unspoiled version, Lion King, Robin Hood - Disney version & my favourite, etc. I felt so isolated and out of touch from the world. Granted, I could actually call people but that's completely out of my comfort zone. I did check my e-mail online when I could from work but it was hard to take enough time from my lunch hour to do it often. As it is the hour zooms by and suddenly I have to work again. I thought I would stay after hours to go online & get on Facebook but the company system blocks the site, to my complete dismay, so no Facebook for me. I think that was the hardest part of the whole ordeal. Recovering from a Facebook addiction is brutal. But, it's now been almost 3 weeks (this Sunday), and I am officially over it, though I admit to having thought about Facebook often - what song I should switch to, what mood I would be in, what stupid crap people were posting on my Fun Wall. After the first week of videos, and missing the first episode of Heroes which was just the icing on the cake, I moved my ridiculously heavy old T.V. into the living room, broke & bent up the electronic panel on the bottom because it was too heavy & I rested it on the sofa en route, and hooked it up to the cable. That was a happy moment for me, despite the fear that my T.V. may catch on fire or something because I broke it. I got to watch the morning news, the 2nd episode of Heroes, and just be somewhat normal again. As an extra kick when I'm down though, I had to re-adjust to the lack of a remote for the T.V. (I dropped the remote in a cup of coffee a few years back). I can hook up the T.V. with the VCR & use that remote but I can only change the channel linearly (is that spelled correctly?) so if I want to go from channel 2 to 32 I have to go all the way through the 30 channels in between. Sure some people still live without electricity but I'm use to my technology so it was frustrating.
Anyways, I am now officially back. My computer is okay - though I still have no idea why it did that. The guy that helped me when I went to pick it up wasn't a technician so all he knew was that they replaced the power supply 'cause that's all it said on the tag. The why/how is a mystery. I guess I was expecting a list of what they did & a thorough explanation, like Toyota does when I take my car in for maintenance: Rotated the tires & they are at 20% blah blah, replaced filter cost of $20, etc. Usually, my eyes blur and I zone out when they go over it because I just can't absorb car talk, it's sort of a thing. But, all I get with the computer is a sketchy 'replaced power supply'. The important thing is the computer is home & still looks beautiful.

Braceless

I have ventured without the knee brace for the last couple of days. It's going good. I still can't walk properly down the stairs or bend my knee BUT it's getting easier. I was pretty frustrated earlier this week because everything has become more of an issue to do. After running a few errands I am exhausted from hobbling or standing or my leg is stiff from sitting at work. It frickin' sucks! But, I found a physio place to call, I still have to call but at least I have the number and it's close by. Maybe tomorrow. As for the rest of my life, I'm basically biding my time until next week when all the regular shows start up. However, I will be heading down to the Semiahmoo Resort (I think I spelled that right...) for a work mini-conference the night that Heroes premiers - bloody crappy timing but I will record it so that will just have to do. I can't wait to see Hiro!

Lazy Sunday

I had a semi-hectic week, what with the hobbling & work, etc. The knee is much better but I still can't kneel or pivot & walking down the stairs is difficult (up is fine). I volunteered yesterday morning & ended up staying a few extra hours to facepaint. I bathed the tortoises in the morning & Boris wasn't happy when I turned him upside down to clean his under-shell so he was kicking out his legs & stuff and I had to keep shifting him. I got it done & he looked very clean but my shirt was covered in tortoise dirt - I looked as if I was rolling in mud. Of course, I just happened to be wearing my white zoo shirt that day. So, when I was facepainting I kept having to explain why I was so dirty. It was a little annoying. The hardest request was a fairy princess getting married, but I pulled it off.
I guess it was a little exhausting because I had a long nap in the afternoon, woke up, watched some T.V. and then fell asleep again. I fell asleep watching Sin City, just in time for the creepy yellow guy part - which is great because he is so disgusting I barely made it through the first time I saw the movie. I woke up just in time to see a yellow splatter from his demise. It's such a great movie, but the yellow guy - yuck! I got up after 11:00, which for me is like sleeping till 3 pm. It's awesome. I have to clean because, as usual, my place is a mess but I will get to it....eventually.
Oh, I rented Pan's Labyrinth & Blades of Glory. Not a normal combination, I'm sure, but two movies that people kept telling me I should see. Both great in their own unique ways and both with haunting imagery - the creepy eyeball guy from Pan's Labyrinth & the ridiculous figure skating outfits from Blades of Glory. I recommend both, but Pan's Labyrinth would be suitable for people who enjoy foreign films with creepy symbology and Blades of Glory for people who like Will Farrel &/or figureskating. Actually, if you like figureskating you may find it offensive, so don't watch it.

Knee Brace

Wednesday I had a game and was actually doing pretty good. I had one really good hit. And the team was kicking butt. But the next time I was up and running to third I stopped and my knee didn't. I happened to be looking down, and it looked as if my leg snapped. I crumpled to the ground and couldn't move for a bit. My teammates came rushing over and got me up. I hobbled to the dugout and then later hobbled to my car, no more playing for me. The drive home was brutal. I tried to use my left leg to break so I ended up driving like a 15 year old. I broke down completely thinking about how I was going to make it down the stairs to my place. However, I survived, managed to work somewhat efficiently - though I had to ask my co-workers for help, like getting chocolate from the kitchen upstairs.
I went to the Walk-In, or "Hobble-In" in my case, and it was kind of useless but at least I got pointed in the right direction. I bought a knee brace, because the doctor thinks that it was just my knee cap and it needs to be stabilized to heal. I may need physio, but I'll see how it goes over the next few days. I still can't completely bend or straighten my knee and any sort of pivoting or getting up & down is difficult & painful if I move the wrong way. The brace itself is also smelly - not from me, yet, but with that new material smell like a new car right out of the factory. The worst part is the frustration of not being able to move normally. I'm exhausted from hobbling!

My first Settlers experience

I LOVE long weekends. Three hole days of not working. It's wonderful. Anyways, yesterday I got together with my work buddies to play Carcassonne & then we played Settlers. Of course I have heard alot about Settlers since I worked at a game store, but I had never had a chance to play it. It's really fun, though a little complex. I didn't win - at all! But, I was willing to play a third round though I was ready to fall asleep. Luckily everyone else was ready to pack it in so I got home at a reasonable hour. If you haven't played it before either I think you should!
I also went on a shopping spree - nothing too crazy, just a curtain rod - finally, after almost 2 years of tacking up my curtain with push pins - a couple new shirts and these glasses. It's really too sunny to live without sun glasses. These last couple of weeks have really sucked.