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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
cflute's LiveJournal:
| Sunday, July 5th, 2009 | |
| 11:47 pm | moving right along - progress report The progress so far is encouraging. With the help of friends (thanks, D, K and J, and R!), we've managed to clear out the under-house storage; clear 2/3 of the garage (and significantly reorganize the rest of it); get a 10x20 storage unit rented and about half full of the aforementioned stuff; reorganize the items in the unit after the original unload; retrieve the hand trucks (and inflate their tires); drop off a kit of at-unit items including a box cutter, roll of tape, list making materials, and marking pen; and return a bunch of unused shelving components (ones with UPC codes still on) to the home improvement store and use the resulting store credit to purchase moving supplies. I've also started to sort through the books and get mine separated out and packed up; so far I've done most of the science fiction paperbacks. There's still tons more to do over the course of the week, then get what we pack this week loaded onto another rental truck and hauled to the storage unit next Sunday. By the time *that* is done, though, we should have this place pretty well cleared out, at least the main floor and upstairs portions of it. I'm tired, and sore, but it's a good kind of tired, the kind that comes from having worked hard and accomplished a lot. Onward! Current Mood:  satisfied |
| Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | |
| 11:54 pm | thankful Thursday Even in the midst of cataclysmic change, there are things to be grateful for. - Available professionals who "know their stuff". - A good and loving place to adopt out the household canine. - Helpful housemates. - A partner who tries to understand, and who cares, and shows it. - Words of encouragement - and a few offers of help - from friends far and near. - Kid hugs. - Google fu. - Water aerobics. - Laundry facilities. Current Mood:  calm |
| Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 | |
| 7:23 pm | daze of our lives Due to unfortunate circumstances, my household and I are in a bind. We're needing to muster very quickly to get the house in Lake Forest Park (aka the Big Green Monster, home of Dandelion Fluff 1 & 2) on the market, and its denizens relocated elsewhere. We're low on time, money, and spoons, and desperately in need of extra pairs of hands to help pack (starting no later than Sunday July 5th and continuing through the following week), then load a truck on Sunday July 12th (yes, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kendaer, after the house filk in Lynnwood) so we can empty this place as much as possible by mid-month. Any and all help welcome, anytime from 9am-11pm, any day of the week. We can provide pickup from Third Place Books at Lake Forest Park Towne Center, food and beverages, effusive grateful thanks, and quite possibly mathoms and/or random outbursts of song, for any who can help. ( contact info beneath ) ADThanksVANCE cflute Current Mood:  stressed |
| Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | |
| 3:39 pm | i have no job and i must scream After seven months of nothing nothing nothing [job offer later put on indefinite hold] nothing, I got a call Friday offering me a temp job. One that I was given very little information about but hey, I can't afford to turn down work, so I said I'd take it. Well, yesterday was my first day. And my last day. I am not physically capable of standing on a slate floor for most of seven hours, walking back and forth and back and forth and back and forth across a 300 meter (at least) building, and then crawling under desks - usually multiple times under the same desk - which was almost a respite - for days on end. After just one day of it I was in considerable physical pain. Still am. So I called the temp agency after they'd let us go for the day and told them I couldn't go back. Recovering from the physical strain will take a few days, I expect. Ibuprofen helps, in the meantime. Part of me feels just awful that I couldn't "take it". But I would've been struggling to keep up 25 years ago, when I weighed half as much. Now... just not happening. I need a job though. A job that is done with brains not brawn. I've never had the latter to speak of, just the former. At least, I used to think I had the former. These days, with sending out resumes that don't get any acknowledgement at all, I start to wonder. Current Mood:  exhaustedCurrent Music: background noises |
| Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | |
| 1:48 pm | hey Brooke... I'm only two paragraphs in to this post about pharmacists and health care, and I already think it's one worth bringing to your attention, and that of anyone else who has an in-the-trenches perspective on this issue. |
| Friday, May 15th, 2009 | |
| 12:27 pm | oh really? I came across the following ad in a recent issue of a weekly national magazine. I found it extremely offensive. Here's why: ( I have a different perspective ) Current Mood:  cynical |
| Friday, May 8th, 2009 | |
| 2:14 pm | no i won't do that... This week I've had some ... opportunities to rediscover what I will - and will NOT - do. Such as - outside sales. no thanks! - leave messages on recordings re billing disputes. if an organization can't be bothered to make sure that a human answers the phone, they can effing well re-bill at the very least! - take actions I consider unethical - take actions or make statements that would violate my personal integrity I'm not much enamored of applying for jobs via third-party websites, either. But I'm too much in need of a job to let that stop me. Alas. Current Mood:  annoyedCurrent Music: Anything for Love, Meat Loaf (Bat out of Hell II) |
| Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | |
| 7:18 pm | the sky is crying As well the sky should cry, here in the Pacific Northwet, for one of our local filk luminaries died very suddenly today; almost certainly of something related to the horrific motorcycle accident (hit by an SUV) on Monday, from which we all thought he was recovering. John Caspell, aka "Dr Filk", was a gentle, wonderfully talented man who warmed up a room when he came into it. I was fortunate enough to see him two weeks ago today at a house filk in Burnaby, BC, where we got a great song-swap going, and to hear his guitar artistry ... for what it turns out, was the last time. My favorite memory of John was about four years ago at V-Con, when I'd arrived very late on Friday night having driven up from Portland... only to stumble into the filk room where he and Greg (whose last name I don't know) were trading blues licks - and continued to do so until 2am. It was magical to witness. John, you are profoundly missed already. Brooke, and denizens of Pondside, my deepest condolences. Gotta go cry some more now. Current Mood:  shocked, grieving |
| Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | |
| 5:53 pm | tear it down One of the not-so-nice "surprises" which the people who sold us our house left for us to find was a deck with rotted, termite-infested joists. We showed what we found (after prying off concealing planks) to a reputable contractor, and he said that we need to get the existing deck torn off, and start over. Gulp. We've been meaning to get to this for quite a while, but have had a severe outbreak of Life, y'know? Still... we're finally going to do it this Saturday, and a few hardy folks have volunteered to help. But we sure could use a few more! Wanna join the party? It's a chance to beat up on some defenseless wood, and help us get past the first hurdle and on our way to a replacement deck-reation area that can be built right the first time. There'll be free pizza and non-alcoholic libations provided for the work crew. And who knows, filking could break out during the process; filk can be a kind of work shanty, right? Party starts at 10am on Satuday at the Big Green Monster. RSVPs - only, please - in comments. If "go team go" is all you can offer, dear reader, please just think it real loud, rather than fattening up the comment stream. Thanks, and I'll see anybody who can help, even if it's just to carry boards around the house and to the disposal receptacle, on Saturday! Current Mood:  hopeful |
| 12:12 pm | more epic fail See this message for first round epic fail. Well, guess what? The email I sent bounced. Because if you use the address listed ($webmaster at $site) to send a message, it gets rejected, "permanent fatal errors", "user unknown". If - and only if - you mouseover the address link, do you see that the actual address in the mailto link is different: uses plural not singular on "webmaster". Riiiiight. Who set up their site? Ill-trained monkeys?! I forwarded the mailer bounce to the under-the-mailto address, with the following introductory text: --------------- See below for original message. Perhaps you could also correct your invalid text link, and/or enable the address which the website lists for sending feedback about it? --------------- Anyone want to place bets on whether that gets through? I sure don't. Current Mood:  irate |
| 12:01 pm | how NOT to set up a website The riteaid.com website is made of epic fail. ( details below the cut ) I wonder whether Walgreens.com is similarly fubar'd. Anybody know? Current Mood: *very* aggravated |
| Friday, March 27th, 2009 | |
| 10:53 am | signal boost Thanks to s00j for the great subject line.I'm posting this on Sooj's behalf - and yours, if you live along the I-90 corridor east of Seattle, WA. This means you, beige_alert and mnfiddledragon and sweetmusic_27... and you dear reader, if your You see, you have a fantastic opportunity headed your way in just a few weeks. My friend the fabulously musical SJ Tucker ( s00j on LJ and to her friends) will be touring in that area in May, and would like to set up as many coffee house and house concert type gigs as her schedule allows. Please contact her directly at sjtucker [AT] skinnywhitechick [DOT] com with any contacts you have either for venues, or folks in your area who might know of good venues.If you haven't heard Sooj herself, or her group Tricky Pixie, and would like to get a sneak preview, you can find such here: http://www.skinnywhitechick.com/music.p http://www.trickypixie.com/index.ph Hoping you can help out - and/or show up for - a fellow musician who delights me and whom I think will do likewise for you, if she gets the chance. Current Mood: hopefulCurrent Music: Hymn to Herne, SJ Tucker |
| Monday, March 23rd, 2009 | |
| 10:24 pm | TFTD - thought for the day Take away the blame, and the shame, and a whole lot becomes possible that was not possible before. Current Mood:  thoughtfulCurrent Music: kitchen sounds |
| Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 | |
| 12:50 am | thankful not-quite-Thursday Much to be thankful for just now. The Consonance concom, for once again bringing together a fabulous quorum of filkers to entertain ourselves and each other over a too-short weekend, particularly in their selection of International GoHs, Playing Rapunzel, whose concert was one of the highlights of the convention, for me. A successful debut concert for Tempered Glass (of which more later). bardling, from whom we received the fabulous gift of a copy of Abseiling for Beginners. Feel free to read my review of same here, if you like.Uneventful flights and excellent customer service both to and from San Jose, on one of the few remaining check-two-bags free airlines. The Little Scooter That Could (and did)... make travel for my sweetie pocketnaomi so much easier.Good friends. Good food. Good music. Good video of much of the con, already on my hard drive to bring home and show my family. *waves fondly and gratefully at hvideo*.Our housemates jenkitty and acrobatty, who kept things going at home while we were away.Our housemates jeffreycornish and geojlc, who came to our rescue when a scheduling snafu threatened to leave us stranded at the airport. Current Mood:  thankfulCurrent Music: Circles of Music, Tempered Glass |
| 12:04 am | CD review - Abseiling for Beginners Just finished listening to Abseiling for Beginners, the newly released CD from that dynamic UK duo of callylevy and little_cinnamon, also known as Playing Rapunzel.Two words: hammered awesome. Haunting lyrics. Marilisa has a voice like silk velvet. Mich's piano virtuosity complements it in so many ways - and Mich herself is an expressive and agile vocalist. The blend between the two voices is sublime. Each track sparkles, and together they dazzle like a necklace of precious stones - multi-faceted, rich and deep and no two colors or shapes quite alike. I will confess that in general I prefer the songs built upon a foundation of flowing piano lines to those underpinned only by guitar, or even by harp, but then I've long had a preference for piano (e.g. Elton John, Billy Joel), or even better yet, piano and orchestra (David Foster, David Lanz, Elton John's _Live in Australia_). Smooth, complex, compelling... better than the best dark chocolate I've ever tasted. If you haven't sampled this album yet, go listen. And then go forth and order, if you can afford to do so! Current Mood:  enthralledCurrent Music: Tanglewood Tree ala Playing Rapunzel |
| Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | |
| 1:40 pm | PSA: re-enactors estate sale, suburban Maryland For those of you in the DC area who are into such things, details of the sale this weekend (17-18 January 2009) ( behind the cut ) Current Mood:  busyCurrent Music: Billy Joel, Only the Good Die Young |
| Sunday, January 11th, 2009 | |
| 1:05 pm | image du jour Today's APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) is spectacular, in a hard to believe it's not Photoshopped kind of way. Share and enjoy! Current Mood: calmCurrent Music: Home on Lagrange |
| Monday, January 5th, 2009 | |
| 5:18 pm | here comes the sun Seen else-journal, worth link propagation - a pinhole camera strapped to a telephone pole takes a six month exposure of the sun's path over a Bristol, UK landmark. Current Mood: calm |
| 4:35 pm | plumber needed We have a leaking drain pipe that needs to be Dealt With, and that's a part of the realm of plumbing that I have no experience in. Now that the holidaze are over and the roads are passable again, anybody got a recommendation for a good plumber who works in the north Seattle / south Snohomish county area? Current Mood: busy |
| Friday, December 26th, 2008 | |
| 1:14 pm | PSA: caveat traveller if you have the misfortune to be flying out of Sea-Tac airport (SEA), particularly if your plane is departing from gate D8 - beware! If you sit in the gate area between D7 and D8 (one of the few areas where there are electrical outlets near either of those gates), the PA from the D8 podium will not be audible and you may miss your flight, as I did. I heard plenty of pages for the Las Vegas flight, and for a particular passenger - but not one for my flight. I am now rebooked on a later flight, which is at least going into the same airport. But my attempts to try to notify the Port of Seattle about this snafu were in vain; despite the business hours stated on their automated phone menu they are not answering their phones today on either the main port number nor the Sea-Tac specific one. All I could do was leave a comment on their comments line - and, make this post, which Lesson learned: never be out of line of sight of your gate! Current Mood: spitting madCurrent Music: Steve's new song |