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My life of chaos...
Sep. 23rd, 2012 10:08 pmHad a good time at what of CAN-CON I was able to attend (I should have stayed home and done homework instead though, sigh). Heh, my prof from the summer did a book launch and a couple of panels on horror and had looked up CAN-CON on Wikipedia and saw my name... she half accused me (jokingly) of keeping a little too much of myself to myself in her class ;).
In the end, this weekend didn't work out the way I hoped. I did get my final textbook today (a few finally arrived on Friday) and now I have 40 pages of dense academic text to read and a one page report to write on Monday (I'm in class Tuesday from 8:30AM until my feminist theory course from 11:30AM to 2:30PM and so it has to be done by then). I also have a computational physics assignment due Thursday and a quantum physics assignment due on Friday.
One of my cats, Crookshanks, is having urination issues again. I am beginning to suspect that she has ongoing urinary tract problems and I'll take her to the vet soon (I'll try to get her in to be seen as soon as I can, hopefully Monday even, I'll call in the morning). Sadly, as a full time student, there is only so much I can afford to do (and that would be very little, fyi, but I can certainly deal with any acute issues and maybe adjust her food further or give her ongoing preventative treatments... surgery is out of the financial question). Until then, I brought in the big cage from outside, cleaned it up, and will be locking her in there when she has no direct supervision until this is resolved (it's big enough for a litter box, bedding, food, etc. ... it's really meant for small dogs, but I bought it when I moved back to Canada to put the cats in). I've talked to the girls and asked them to take her out and give her lots of lovin' as much as they can (I plan to do the same once or twice a day when I'm home). I now have to probably call in professional cleaners for the carpets upstairs, etc. ... sigh ... this whole situation is beyond my ability to cope with (it's certainly not the only thing going on that needs serious attention on my part).
I also have a bazillion other things to do, of course. I need to do some serious cleanup in the basement. Specifically, I need to move a ton of stuff (well, maybe only 800 or 900 pounds of stuff) around so I can put my filing cabinet against a wall (permanent location) so I can file away all the papers that need filing (clutter drives me insane when I need to focus on stuff like my homework). I also have a bunch of computer stuff that needs doing... I have wired Ethernet to the living room (my server and main shared computer), but was relying on wireless for upstairs. Unfortunately, the wireless router is in the basement and it's just not working in Happy's room reliably (she's not at all happy about it, heh). I had had the same sorts of problems when I had a computer in my bedroom (which I'm finally going to be able to assemble again... I got a bit of money and bought a fairly cheap mid-range graphics card and can now rehabilitate my old server fully). I got new wireless cards for both computers upstairs and plan to move the wireless router to the living room (up one floor) to assist further. Reliability is key as I want us all to be able to do our homework without frustration in our rooms if we want (there's room on the kitchen and living room tables as well). It all, of course, requires time that I don't seem to be able to find (I do plan to get all my stuff done and have time for myself, but something always seems to come along to kerpload my best intentions... "road to hell" and all that... heh).
I am trying also to deal with some of the furniture woes in the house... the stuff I had just never fit properly in the house and it makes it almost impossible for me to concentrate on work here. I had tried a bazillion configurations of the living room and nothing worked. Over the summer I did finally chance upon a configuration that not only works, but the few who have seen it really liked it. Basically, I've put a donated table/chairs kitchen set into the kitchen and have given up on the Japanese themed dining area I had (I had a low, Japanese style, table to eat at, cushions to sit on, all on a tatami-esque bamboo mat). I took the table and put it in the middle of the living room between two couches facing each other (a "conversation pit" and gaming area now). I have a control centre (computer, multimedia, etc.) behind one of the couches towards the long wall, which is lined with low CD/DVD storage shelving (black) along the back of the control centre. The dining area (it's a living room/dining room room with openings and windows and weird jutting bits everywhere, it's a nightmare to fit stuff into it aesthetically) now has the TV stand, stereo, and gaming consoles in the corner with the tatami mat coming out diagonally into the room. It's odd, but it really, really works nice (there's good energy flow in the room now). I just ordered 4 adult-sized bean bag chairs that I'll be putting on the mat to sit on to watch TV or play games. That will complete the functionality of the area. Sears catalogue (not the stores) were one of the only places I could find bean bag chairs at all at a price I could afford. So, they are due on the 28th... I also solved the lighting situation in my room finally... I bought a standing lamp for there (the kind with a frosted glass bowl on top of it that holds the light bulbs). I plugged it into the outlet that is controlled by the light switch and presto. It's actually taller than I am (so the bulbs, two up to 100W incandescent lights, don't shine in my eyes), it has a built in dimmer, and a halogen reading lamp also with its own dimmer that can be aimed. It sits next to my bed and solves the most vexing light issues I was having... all at once.
Beep also chose a new ceiling fixture for her room to replace the "rental industrial" style fugly glass thing there now. We're going to put two of those really big Ikea green leaf things up her walls and along her roof, and then string lights under them for ambient lighting when the ceiling fixture isn't being used. Lots needs to be done to her room to get it functional as well... so, so much to do.
I also found out why the stereo in the car I got sounded so utterly crappy (I just rolled it over the 370,000km mark... sigh... but it's been a great buy so far... yay for '97 Toyota Corollas...). I popped the cover off one of the speakers in the back and ... the speaker cones were literally shattered (see picture below if you are not prone to fainting at the sight of abused electronics). I'm guessing the plastic in the cones was old, and it was probably in the winter, and the stereo in the car has bass-boost... and the car was previously owned by a university student. The carnage was inevitable! I bought a set of speakers last week and at least got the time to install them earlier in the day. I took my girls out for ice cream and to crank the stereo to test it out... they chose Rage Against The Machine's eponymous album to put it through its paces. It performed... very well :). Both the front speakers in the doors are similarly shattered from the sounds of it (I've only been using the back speakers, they amazingly sounded better than the front ones... I'm afraid to look), but I'll have to get another pair of speakers and also figure out how to get the door panels off without breaking anything (so I can put them back together again). More work... sigh. That can wait though...
Unspeakable speaker horror...
Well, off to take the cooking out of the oven for the next week's dinners and lunches, put Crookshanks in the cage, print out my radio show's playlist for Monday (that I just finished), put the washed laundry in the dryer, sort the already dry laundry and fold the linens (and put away my stuff), work on my physics and feminism homework for a while, play some Kingdom of Loathing, and then go the fuck to sleep (did you know the audio version of that book is read by Samuel L. Jackson? You can't make that shit up, a.k.a. reality is stranger than fiction...).
In the end, this weekend didn't work out the way I hoped. I did get my final textbook today (a few finally arrived on Friday) and now I have 40 pages of dense academic text to read and a one page report to write on Monday (I'm in class Tuesday from 8:30AM until my feminist theory course from 11:30AM to 2:30PM and so it has to be done by then). I also have a computational physics assignment due Thursday and a quantum physics assignment due on Friday.
One of my cats, Crookshanks, is having urination issues again. I am beginning to suspect that she has ongoing urinary tract problems and I'll take her to the vet soon (I'll try to get her in to be seen as soon as I can, hopefully Monday even, I'll call in the morning). Sadly, as a full time student, there is only so much I can afford to do (and that would be very little, fyi, but I can certainly deal with any acute issues and maybe adjust her food further or give her ongoing preventative treatments... surgery is out of the financial question). Until then, I brought in the big cage from outside, cleaned it up, and will be locking her in there when she has no direct supervision until this is resolved (it's big enough for a litter box, bedding, food, etc. ... it's really meant for small dogs, but I bought it when I moved back to Canada to put the cats in). I've talked to the girls and asked them to take her out and give her lots of lovin' as much as they can (I plan to do the same once or twice a day when I'm home). I now have to probably call in professional cleaners for the carpets upstairs, etc. ... sigh ... this whole situation is beyond my ability to cope with (it's certainly not the only thing going on that needs serious attention on my part).
I also have a bazillion other things to do, of course. I need to do some serious cleanup in the basement. Specifically, I need to move a ton of stuff (well, maybe only 800 or 900 pounds of stuff) around so I can put my filing cabinet against a wall (permanent location) so I can file away all the papers that need filing (clutter drives me insane when I need to focus on stuff like my homework). I also have a bunch of computer stuff that needs doing... I have wired Ethernet to the living room (my server and main shared computer), but was relying on wireless for upstairs. Unfortunately, the wireless router is in the basement and it's just not working in Happy's room reliably (she's not at all happy about it, heh). I had had the same sorts of problems when I had a computer in my bedroom (which I'm finally going to be able to assemble again... I got a bit of money and bought a fairly cheap mid-range graphics card and can now rehabilitate my old server fully). I got new wireless cards for both computers upstairs and plan to move the wireless router to the living room (up one floor) to assist further. Reliability is key as I want us all to be able to do our homework without frustration in our rooms if we want (there's room on the kitchen and living room tables as well). It all, of course, requires time that I don't seem to be able to find (I do plan to get all my stuff done and have time for myself, but something always seems to come along to kerpload my best intentions... "road to hell" and all that... heh).
I am trying also to deal with some of the furniture woes in the house... the stuff I had just never fit properly in the house and it makes it almost impossible for me to concentrate on work here. I had tried a bazillion configurations of the living room and nothing worked. Over the summer I did finally chance upon a configuration that not only works, but the few who have seen it really liked it. Basically, I've put a donated table/chairs kitchen set into the kitchen and have given up on the Japanese themed dining area I had (I had a low, Japanese style, table to eat at, cushions to sit on, all on a tatami-esque bamboo mat). I took the table and put it in the middle of the living room between two couches facing each other (a "conversation pit" and gaming area now). I have a control centre (computer, multimedia, etc.) behind one of the couches towards the long wall, which is lined with low CD/DVD storage shelving (black) along the back of the control centre. The dining area (it's a living room/dining room room with openings and windows and weird jutting bits everywhere, it's a nightmare to fit stuff into it aesthetically) now has the TV stand, stereo, and gaming consoles in the corner with the tatami mat coming out diagonally into the room. It's odd, but it really, really works nice (there's good energy flow in the room now). I just ordered 4 adult-sized bean bag chairs that I'll be putting on the mat to sit on to watch TV or play games. That will complete the functionality of the area. Sears catalogue (not the stores) were one of the only places I could find bean bag chairs at all at a price I could afford. So, they are due on the 28th... I also solved the lighting situation in my room finally... I bought a standing lamp for there (the kind with a frosted glass bowl on top of it that holds the light bulbs). I plugged it into the outlet that is controlled by the light switch and presto. It's actually taller than I am (so the bulbs, two up to 100W incandescent lights, don't shine in my eyes), it has a built in dimmer, and a halogen reading lamp also with its own dimmer that can be aimed. It sits next to my bed and solves the most vexing light issues I was having... all at once.
Beep also chose a new ceiling fixture for her room to replace the "rental industrial" style fugly glass thing there now. We're going to put two of those really big Ikea green leaf things up her walls and along her roof, and then string lights under them for ambient lighting when the ceiling fixture isn't being used. Lots needs to be done to her room to get it functional as well... so, so much to do.
I also found out why the stereo in the car I got sounded so utterly crappy (I just rolled it over the 370,000km mark... sigh... but it's been a great buy so far... yay for '97 Toyota Corollas...). I popped the cover off one of the speakers in the back and ... the speaker cones were literally shattered (see picture below if you are not prone to fainting at the sight of abused electronics). I'm guessing the plastic in the cones was old, and it was probably in the winter, and the stereo in the car has bass-boost... and the car was previously owned by a university student. The carnage was inevitable! I bought a set of speakers last week and at least got the time to install them earlier in the day. I took my girls out for ice cream and to crank the stereo to test it out... they chose Rage Against The Machine's eponymous album to put it through its paces. It performed... very well :). Both the front speakers in the doors are similarly shattered from the sounds of it (I've only been using the back speakers, they amazingly sounded better than the front ones... I'm afraid to look), but I'll have to get another pair of speakers and also figure out how to get the door panels off without breaking anything (so I can put them back together again). More work... sigh. That can wait though...
Unspeakable speaker horror...
Well, off to take the cooking out of the oven for the next week's dinners and lunches, put Crookshanks in the cage, print out my radio show's playlist for Monday (that I just finished), put the washed laundry in the dryer, sort the already dry laundry and fold the linens (and put away my stuff), work on my physics and feminism homework for a while, play some Kingdom of Loathing, and then go the fuck to sleep (did you know the audio version of that book is read by Samuel L. Jackson? You can't make that shit up, a.k.a. reality is stranger than fiction...).
