Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Now It's Gone Interspecies

How far will this headbutting trend extend? (Not that you can call two instances a "trend," but I will anyway.)

Personally, I'd like to see it in rock climbing, figure skating, and ski-shooting.

Unofficially...

(This test was way too easy to jimmy.)

You May Be a Bit Schizotypal...
A bit odd and socially isolated.You couldn't care less of what others think.And some of your beliefs are a little weird.Like that time you thought you were Jesus.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Speaking of Margaritas


Wasted away in Margaritaville
Originally uploaded by Terry_Lea.
...and speaking of squirrel pictures...

This lady's photoshops always crack me up.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Sort of Back


[Finally, Blogger is accepting photo uploads again!]

Our internet was out this whole past week, except for a few times during which it came on for, say, five or ten minutes. I have also been transportationless during this time as my car's in the car hospital having its transmission fixed or, more likely, replaced. Therefore I've got a lot of official catching up to do, though I'd sit around and blog given my druthers.

The other problem I've had is that my sacroiliac (where hips connect to spine) has a nice little trick it occasionally pulls, in which it goes out of joint and gets inflamed, making it impossible to sit or stand without a lot of pain that actually goes down to my knees. Sitting a lot (as in school work) tends to make this happen.

Also, pregnancy makes it worse. The additional several pounds of weight on my front (considering leverage) puts 50-70 pounds of strain on my lower back area, according to various uncredited sources. On top of that, my body is preparing for the birth by producing relaxin, which (logically enough) relaxes one's ligaments so the hip bones can open up enough to extrude someone's head. (Particularly that same sacroiliac area.)

What this means is that I can't sit anywhere for long. Sitting in the car is agonizing, and being at dinner at a nice restaurant this weekend was very difficult. Naturally, sitting to do my work is especially bad. I have had to arrange the sofa cushions to support me in a downward-facing position with my arms hanging over the end of the couch to do my dissertation work. While this hurts my neck and cuts off circulation in my arms, it's still better than sitting on my behind!

I do have a chiropractor, but she'd have to come to my house every day to keep this in line. And when I went to a standard physician for it, they gave me an anti-inflammatory and basically said to quit sitting for a while. This is going to be extremely hard advice to follow while I'm trying to finish my diss data! (Hence the new couch position working arrangement.)

Meanwhile, just writing this has meant sitting too long, so... so long for now.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Makin' Hay While the Sun Shines

I have heard that the third trimester sometimes brings a burst of energy for "nesting" purposes. I think that's what I experienced today. And since I had a prenatal appointment in the middle of the day, I planned to not get much done as far as coding my surveys, so I actually did some other things. As it turns out, a lot of other things.

I weeded the garden plot (in the morning before it got up to 97 degrees, that is) and was pleased to discover some little budding tomah-toes, a tiny sweet pepper, as well as jalapeño blossoms (and later, one little hidden green jalapeño!)

Then, as the culmination of a few days' worth of virtually re-arranging the bedroom (via that old $5 design application) to accommodate some baby furniture, I felt compelled to actually do the rearranging in real life. So compelled, in fact, that I couldn't do anything else until I had completed this.

Thanks to some furniture sliders more or less like these ones, it was actually possible for a 7-months pregnant person to move the giant behemoth of a bed that TheLimey has had since he moved into this place. (Which reminds me on a complete tangent, a bed larger than a twin was one of the signs that I was looking for in a man, as it indicates that he has outgrown the "guy" or "bloke" stage. A man with a small bed is generally not ready for a commitment. Just FYI.)

Aside from some general straightening and organizing, the other big thing I did was this: I called one of my credit card companies and negotiated vastly better terms.

This is an account that bore a usurious interest rate (23.99%) and also had an annual fee of $59. Now, I am one of those people who have a hard time asking for anything from anyone, and I also really dislike being on the phone, especially for business. (it's one of those tasks I'll procrastinate forever.) However, we are now on a budget and saving hard for next year when I'll be on internship and we'll have a baby, so getting a random $59 fee in the post for really no reason at all was a thorn in my poor husband's side. I guess my guilt trumps my phone-anxiety, so I called them up.

It went just as it was supposed to, according to financial advice columns. The first representative told me she couldn't do anything, the next one told me he could do only a small portion of what I wanted, and the third person offered me great rates (1.99% initially and then 11.99%) and best of all, the thing I wanted most: no annual fee. It pretty much went exactly as you'd read in any financial-advice column or magazine.

Rep #1: Good morning, how are you today? [pleasantries exchanged]
Me: I would like to see about getting the annual fee on my card waived, as I have several others with much better terms and interest rates and can afford to prune a few of them out.
Rep #1: Please hold while I review your account [files nails for 90 seconds]. I'm sorry, there are currently no offers like that for your account. Those are the terms you signed up for.
Me: (pleasantly) I would still like to see about getting the annual fee waived. Is there someone else I could speak with?
Rep #1: Let me transfer you laterally to someone I will pretend is my supervisor. [transfers]

Rep #2 in distant country: Good morning, how are you today? [pleasantries exchanged]
Me: I would like to see about getting the annual fee on my card waived, as I have several others with much better terms and interest rates and can afford to prune a few of them out.
Rep #2: Please hold while I review your account [refills teacup, adds milk]. There is an offer available for your account: we can reduce your interest rate.
Me: That would be great, but I'm still most interested in getting the annual fee waived.
Rep #2: I'm sorry, there are currently no offers like that for your account. Those are the terms you signed up for.
Me: That is true, but terms often change over the lifetime of an account. Is there someone else I could speak with?
Rep #2: Let me transfer you laterally to someone I will pretend is my supervisor. [transfers]

Rep #3 in US South: Good morning, how are you today? [pleasantries exchanged]
Me: I would like to see about getting the annual fee on my card waived, as I have several others with much better terms and interest rates and can afford to prune a few of them out.
Rep #3: Please hold while I review your account [takes brief nap]. There is an offer available for your account: we can give you an introductory rate of 1.99% for three months that will change to 11.99%, and there would be no annual fee.
Me: That sounds perfect. Thank you.
Rep #3: You should receive your paperwork in the mail in 7-10 business days.

After that success, I was bursting with pride for hours.



I will leave you with my escape plan should things get any worse, politically speaking.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Our Kid?


OurKid_sml
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.
I'm really curious to see who's in there after all this time.

Will s/he look like the fotomorph we did last year? (I think I may have blogged this before but it's worth a revisit under the circumstances.)

And what is going on with those EARS?!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Headbutt Heard 'Round the World

I guess this was inevitable.

I hope more are to come, à la the Star Wars Kid videos.


Update:
PS re comments: I think "Tron Javolta" has to be the greatest online name ever.

Friday, July 07, 2006

What I'm Missing

Since I moved away from Ypsi: all the events in the park at the end of the block, including this one.



Although this particular sign is from last year.

I bet they reused it for this year, too.


I wouldn't have minded strolling down to see the Orphan Car Show, which I always got to see before the paying attendees during my morning jog.

However, as fun as it was last year, this year the Beer Festival would likely be unbearable for me: unable to drink the beer, pregnant, sweltering outside in August, among a huge crowd of drunks. Greeaat!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Independence (or, "Ah, We Didn't Want This Stupid Country Anyway")

(That, of course, is a direct quote from my husband.)

This photo is basically how we spent the 4th.

We went to the state park that's near our place--the one where we had our wedding reception, in fact--and stayed the entire day. This was because I wanted to see the fireworks.

I've been trying--and failing--to "go see the fireworks" (at one location or another) since I started grad school.

Since the fireworks display at this park is always incredibly crowded to the tune of blocking up the highways for miles and hours, we thought it would be best to go early in the day and just stake out a homestead.
Even arriving at 9:30 am, it was already full of early picnic setter-uppers. Nevertheless, we found a nice spot under the trees and hauled out the things we had packed the night before.

We congratulated ourselves all day long at having chosen the site that was the nearest to the park general exit, since simply leaving the park after the fireworks often takes hours.

All we did all day was to lie around and read and nap, interspersed with such activities as strolling down to the beach for a little swim, cooking things over the little gas grill, buying an ice cream, and so forth. (It turns out that grilling corn on the cob is actually easier than boiling it, as well as tasting better.)

Probably the most fun part was making breakfast on the grill. Even the water for tea, which TheLimey was pleasantly surprised to discover boils quite well on the grill, just as I had predicted.

We also watched people vainly circle the lot all day looking for parking spots. Or even wander about the site looking for a picnic table. Ha! Good luck.

When evening fell, we packed our things into the car and walked down to the lakeside for the fireworks. TheLimey made the predictable jokes about how, having conquered one individual, he had done his bit in reclaiming the U.S. After the fireworks were over, we read in the car for a little while until the parking lot had cleared out a bit. And that was it--getting out and going home was relatively painless, for the 4th.

The only thing we forgot was to set up the VCR to record the Germay v. Italy game, which was said to be a great one as they go. But we all know how that turned out by now anyway.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

In the Spirit of Things

I'm sure this episode has lately come back to haunt others as well as me:

=============================
A man in a cowboy hat barbeques a soccer ball and thrusts it, skewered and flaming, at the camera, screaming, "Open wide for some soccer!" As the commercial continues, high-action footage of soccer matches accompany the announcer's voice.

TV Announcer: The Continental Soccer Association is coming to Springfield! It's all here--fast-kicking, low scoring, and ties? You bet!

Bart: Hey, Dad, how come you've never taken us to see a soccer game?

Homer: I...don't know.

TV Announcer: You'll see all your favorite soccer stars. Like Ariaga! Ariaga II! Bariaga! Aruglia! And Pizzoza!

Homer: Oh, I never heard of those people.

TV Announcer: And they'll all be signing autographs!

Homer: Woo-hoo!

TV Announcer: This match will determine once and for all which nation is the greatest on earth: Mexico or Portugal!
=============================

Now just go here to get your own genuine football name shirt, like wot I did..