Laptops and Whoopee Pies
Years ago some friends and I speculated that another colleague probably spent much of her spare time watching TV and eating bon-bons. Having just scarfed down a "whoopee pie" in a moment of sugary weakness, I can see how, for some people, this might not be far from the truth--especially since I am currently between jobs (the politically correct phrase for "unemployed")--albeit temporarily. I will probably be starting another job in a few weeks. In the meantime, here I sit, inspired to share how I have been occupying my time--some chores are certainly more interesting than others.
- We've already covered the whoopee pies, so I won't go there. (No bon-bons in the house; just some Icelandic Dark Chocolate--at least for now--purchased from Whole Foods Market.)
- Stayed up most of the night (and next day) reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
- Sleeping.
- Washed dishes in the dishwasher (a rare treat after two weeks of waiting for the part to come in and using paper plates. Wine doesn't taste as good in a paper cup.)
- Gradually setting aside excess crap accumulated over the years for Ebay, Goodwill, or bookstore buyback.
- Updated my resume, applied for jobs, went to a couple of job interviews.
- Played with my laptop and watched reruns of Star Trek: Voyager.
- Tweaked the internet connection of that gradually-becoming-a-piece-of-crap desktop computer I gave up in place of a laptop (because I felt trapped in the corner and because it is gradually becoming a piece of crap). The Toshiba laptop works great most of the time; unfortunately their tech support staff gets paid beans to sit in India or Pakistan, read off a script, and generally not know their bytes from a hole in the ground.
- Finally got around to potting the flowers I purchased last month.
- Went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
- Visited Lancaster County (Amish Country), PA. Took photos and purchased produce, shoo-fly pie, and whoopee pies from Amish farm stands.
- Cooked said produce (and some Mexican food, hopefully low-fat) in the crockpot.
- Strolled with a friend around Hanover Antiques (it's the size of a warehouse and at least a mile to walk around the whole store and see each booth). Good exercise.
- Typed the minutes for our building's condo board (I'm the secretary).
- Took my friend John out to dinner for his birthday and presented him with a couple of gag gifts, including a bottle of Boone's Farm (for some reason he likes to drink his own version of a wine cooler, wine mixed with Gatorade.) I asked him to let me know which tasted better (he said the Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill).
- Thoroughly cleaned the cat's ears in the hopes that they'll stay clean for at least a couple weeks.
- Wrote my Congresspeople in support of universal health care (and impeachment).
- Much laundry and much grocery-shopping.
- Super-cleaned the kitchen floor and finally got around to putting a new bag in the vacuum cleaner.
- Went to the park with my mother. (Herons and rabbits and geese, oh my!)
- Found a bunch of missing poetry on a CDROM and imported it all into my poetry database (hooray!).
- Cleaned out my email inbox (at least for a couple of days. I must be on every Democratic email list in existence.)
- Volunteered to help with a drumming circle.
- Continued to pester XMRadio over why I haven't seen the refund they promised me three months ago.
- Made travel arrangements for an upcoming trip to Maine and Massachusetts (Salem and Concorde, MA; Brunswick, ME) in August.
- Updated my web page and blog.
- Uploaded photos to flickr and played with Adobe Photoshop.
- Played with an early birthday present (a Canon 1:1 F2.8 macro lens!) After I bought it, I told my husband he didn't need to get me anything else for my birthday. :)
- Was planning to go see SICKO this evening, but my husband had to stay late at work. :( See ya next week, Michael Moore!)