Spinning on that dizzy edge

It is already a gigantic pain to set up a new computer, but evidently Microsoft took that as a challenge and decided to go full authoritarian on Windows PCs. I don't WANT to have an MS account to be able to log into my own computer. I don't WANT MS to have control on when to run updates on my computer. This whole "appifying your desktop since Windows 8" is enough of a blight on the landscape; barely letting me have control of anything is rage-inducing.

But at least the new laptop will be faster?

Ah well.

Once again I've been beating my head against my current project, though this time the problem was the ugly, labyrinthine existing code. I was up late last night deep in imposter-syndrome despair. Then this morning I got a burst of inspiration and BAM, change accomplished! I did a literal \o/ with a loud WAHOOO and raced over to my coworker to share the news.

The rest of the day was spent in making sure I didn't break anything with my changes, so my sense of accomplishment was dimmed somewhat.

I'm in week three (ARGH) of trying to switch my cell phone service over to a third-party vendor running on the AT&T backbone, so I can finally join the rest of the smartphone world without paying a crapton for it. I signed up at the local GameStop store; I didn't know that I was their first customer to do so. Every step that could be screwed up was, and the vendor has refused to help at all, so it's been five visits and six hours racked up. Tomorrow I need to go back and politely suggest to the manager that they make it better OR ELSE.

I noticed a couple of days ago that the gleam from my headlights looked weird, and sure enough, one of the bulbs was burned out. I picked up replacement bulbs tonight and poked the internet for how-tos. "This is easy!" they said. "Five minute job!" they claimed. Instead, I had to deal with rusty screws, a dark corner of the garage I had to illuminate with a flashlight, and a stubborn assembly that refused to come apart. Multiple trips inside to check different sources and almost an hour later, I finally got the damned thing changed. Cue another (albeit tired) victory lap.

If I'm wise, the next lap will end in bed. G'night!

Phew! Thanks to sabaceanbabe, my Vividcon housing worry is abated. Woo-hoo!

I think I may have an idea of how Chuck Bartowski feels when he gets an intercept flash - I just did a quick and dirty recon through our nightly production process to find out where a new update program should go, in order to be able to explain it to others, and now I have something akin to a Sudden Expert Headache. All that information, all at once, all for me! Woof.

So glad it's almost time to go home. And tomorrow's Friday!

...And checking the weather, of course it's going to rain again all weekend. Nyargh.

What I would really love right about now is a substitute Responsible Adult to fill in for me. I'm starting to feel like one of the protective boulders at the bottom of a Space Invaders screen, that takes all the hits from both sides and gets worn down to nothing.

My Monday consisted of:


To top it off, the dentist this morning recommended that the husband have all his teeth pulled and replaced, because the bottom molars are too damaged to save.

Can somebody else step in as the mom, just for a bit?

My husband and his brother are on their way to parts south to pick up our wayward vehicle; please spare a moment to wish them luck. We still don't know if the minivan will run, so this could be a fool's errand.

As it is, the plot gets creepier: the towing company, where the minivan is being stored, called this morning to let us know a few more details, like the fact the Emperor's booster seat is still in there. However, there are considerably more than a couple of gas cans in the back, which is what we were originally told. (Someone please explain why the police wouldn't have kept them, seeing as they're, y'know, EVIDENCE?) Also, the parties unknown put out a bunch of cigarettes on the center console (fucking ASSHOLE[S]) and the interior is really, really dirty. Like, manure or fertilizer dirty. Like, possibly, fertilizer + lots of gas = homegrown bombs. Why couldn't it just have been crazy kids taking it for a joyride and ditching it in the countryside?

I just want this all to be over. It's going to be a long wait for news until they get there.

...but the clipping that's the hardest part. I'm through the first verse of my vid and onto portraying Sheppard as Universe Man. The portion with McKay as Particle Man was soooo much easier in comparison. I still have two months until the deadline; hopefully I won't need it all.

Open tabs! Getcher open tabs here:

Star Wars cookie cutters. I need these like you can't imagine. Never mind that my cookie baking in recent years has been limited to Christmastime...with these I could conquer a galaxy! Or eat Yoda's face, your choice.

With thanks to seperis, and of hopeful importance to dsjones, Technique yields potential biological substitute for dental implants. Stem cells are so damned amazing.

Ancient Egyptian eye makeup might have helped prevent or treat eye disease and skin ailments. I wonder what Daniel Jackson would say about this. I can just picture the Egyptian scientists in the Stargate timeline scrambling to replicate Goa'uld tech once they buried the Stargate.

A review of "Torchwood: The Radio Adventures". These sound REALLY good. *ponders acquistion*

I was talking with miniglik a bit ago about how much I love "Glee", but that I would be leery of hanging out with Lea Michelle, since she gives off the impression of having more than a few of Rachel's more obnoxious personality traits. This interview with her and Jonathan Groff only further confirms my feelings. Um, yeah.

In other news, I continue to Hate Exercising. I've been hitting the treadmill most mornings for a 2-mile brisk walk for the past two weeks, and my weight seems to be bouncing up and down the same damned 2-3 pounds. I'm thinking (hoping!) that it's a case of my muscles gaining ground on the fat. The corners on my thighs seem to be re-emerging, and my husband has noticed a new firmness in my derriere. (He would know, since he checks it daily. *grin*) I have observed too that, though it's not really a burst in energy, I'm developing an aversion to being a couch slug. I've been gardening and weeding much more than last year, and I think I've kicked the Mafia Wars habit. Phew! But between the exercise and giving up chocolate at lunch, I had expected to lose more weight than this. *sigh*

In other other news, because I am a ridiculous fangirl for David Hewlett (and because my inner sulky brat is still pouting about missing the Vancouver opportunity), I am attending both the Minneapolis and Chicago Stargate Creation Cons, but I have doubts that the former is actually going to go forward. Ticket sales have been abysmal (why yes, I have been checking them on a daily basis), and the VIP passes and SGU people meet'n'greet didn't even have any bids. What would be awesome (like a renovated room) would be if they kept it going and simply went ahead with limited attendance - small crowd FTW!

*glares back at vid* John Sheppard, I'm going to make a Universe Man out of you no matter what. Onward!

Many apologies for the twee subject line. This post has been accumulating itself in my brain for what seems like weeks now, and nothing else would do for it.

I really fucking hate paperwork, fine print, phone calls, and all attendant annoying minutiae thereof. The resolution of the red tape of the past few weeks has included:

( Kindergarten, Taxes, Mortgage, and FSA - I'd rather have lions, tigers, and bears )

We hates paperwork! NYARGH.

At least the hives cleared up a couple of weeks later as mysteriously as they arrived. Man, those were annoying. I still have no idea what caused them.

I must share with you my new crush, which comes with a to-make-a-long-story-short-as-I-can explanation. With last week's episode of Glee, I was wondering why Idina Menzel didn't sing, given her background. That, however, got swept aside when I found out that Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, the other guest star, had appeared in Spring Awakening together, which led me to that show's website, which led me to The Bitch of Living, which has taken up residence in my head. It's such a fist-pumping anthem of male teenage energy and sexual frustration, and I love the choreography as well. Plus, the first singer's intensity and snarling delivery reminds me of Jason Dohring's portrayal of Logan Echolls, which sent me skimming back through my favorite Veronica Mars fic. I love the Internet. (Ooo - and Jonathan Groff at the end is totally channeling a Matthew Bomer-esque look and feel. Ah, pretty singing boys...)

Um...yeah. Adolescent sexual frustration and a visceral loathing of paperwork is pretty much is where my head is right now. Thanks, brain!

I am officially tired of being a Responsible Adult. (Though considering how I've spent my afternoon, a completely irresponsible worker drone.) Pardon me whilst I whinge about my first-world problems...

Today I have had to research:

1. How to get the Emperor into kindergarten. You see, my enlightened town has this wonderful system called "Controlled Choice", which they claim "gives parents and guardians of all students the opportunity to apply for admission to a variety of elementary and middle schools, each with its own unique learning environment." It basically translates to, "Hey, sorry you specifically bought a house in a nice section of town so your kids could go to the good schools, because a random lottery will determine your pick, hopefully from one of the top 3 choices you indicated, but we make no guarantees." Oh, and the school board just announced that they've been forced to implement cutbacks in the teacher/support personnel population, so we'll be getting even LESS than we paid for. Thanks, Blago, for your stunning leadership and fiscal responsibility here in Illinois!

2. Online appraisals of my house and surrounding real estate, in preparation for getting our mortgage refinanced. The three sites I checked for our property had a range in estimated current values from a little over the original purchase price to twice that. Sure, I'd love for my home to have doubled in value, but somehow...I don't think that's what happened.

3. What outstanding charges we have left to claim against my medical flexible spending account. This includes glasses, prescriptions, my CPAP, and office visit copays. Of course, obtaining records of the smallest charges were easy, while getting copies of the big ones have met delay after delay. I was very happy that this was the Emperor's healthiest year on record (1 prescription and only a few office visits), but the trending from his earlier years threw my budget way out of whack. I really suck at guesstimating. Worst case scenario, I might be getting last-minute contacts and maybe even some dental work to try and use up the whole FSA by the end of the week. Oooo, or maybe I could get a his-and-hers visit to the chiropractor.

Bah. I hate paperwork. I haven't even touched the taxes yet.

Stupid Mondays.

Well, here's a list of TV I was watching in the fall:

Chuck
T:TSCC
(postponing Gossip Girl and HIMYM/TBBT because of timeslot overload)
Heroes
Pushing Daisies
SGA
BSG

I added Dollhouse, Reaper, Castle, and My Boys when those were available.

PD and SGA were summarily canceled, BSG ended, and the future of Chuck, T:TSCC, Dollhouse, and Reaper have been in question almost since the beginning of the season.

So please don't shoot me when I mention that it's almost officially certain that T:TSCC has been canceled as well.

Honestly? At this point, I'm only pulling for Chuck out of what's left on my list, and wondering what happened to the geek renaissance on TV as the sci-fi/fantasy shows fall left and right. With each new show that comes on, I find it easier to just not care.

Has 2008 just sucked in general for anyone else? I'm struggling to stay on top of a couple of spectacularly cranky weeks, myself.

( Sickness, rain, bad news... )

I want a do-over. Barring that, I want someone come play Mommy for me -- though not my actual mother. *shudder* I suppose I'd just settle for a break, something as simple as a day at home without having to chase the Emperor, so I could putter around and get things done.

To end on a bright note -- I won a goofy contest this weekend, a Chief Tyrol action figure signed by Aaron Douglas himself. It's like Fate is awkwardly flirting with me or something.

G'night everybody.