my fortune.

Got the best fortune cookie fortune today ever:
fortune

temporary office

a few weeks ago, our regional administrator told me I should move into the visitors office b/c 2 new hires were joining us, and they needed my cube space. my carefully cluttered and filled cube space! So they put me in the office, and when I asked how long they just said “it’s temporary!”

So, of course, I settled right in.
office1

(in my defense, it took about 4 months longer than expected to move down to this office. I have NO IDEA how long it’ll take them to bust down the wall between the empty office space next door and actually get it tricked out for us to use. so I think it’s best to just settle right in. Plus, apparently I’m a nester…)

I even put up my postcards on the wall, and I have some framed pictures to bring in, too.
office2

of course, this afternoon I’ve been totally distracted by the VERY LARGE BRUSH FIRE that is just outside of my window:

fire7

Edited: I emailed that photo to our health and safety officer and asked her if we had an evacuation plan and she awarded me the first quarter H&S prize for being Super Healthy and Safe. Wow! 30 bucks to spend at the company store! hee!

Sorrow.

As someone who identifies as a Christian, this breaks my heart:

“Most disturbing to me are the high numbers of self-decribed Christians favoring torture: only 26 percent of Catholics oppose it in all circumstances, while only 31 percent of white Protestants rule it out entirely. If you combine those Christians who think torture is either never or only rarely acceptable, you have 42 percent of Catholics and 49 percent of white Protestants. The comparable statistic of those who are decribed as “secular,” which I presume means agnostic or atheist, is 57 percent opposition.”

a plug.

holy cow. y’all may not have known this, but while using wp 1.2 I was plagued with spam. so many offers for tramadol! amazing! I screened comments and had to manually delete at times as many as 80 spam comments a day. all so you, dear reader, would not be surprised by the offer to play holdem poker and feel I was in any way endorsing such a thing.

so now that I’m up to date with the latest version of wp I’ve started looking for plug-ins, and I want you all to know that even though it’s only been one day, spam karma is rocking my socks. it is superfantastico. It caught 30 spams since I installed it yesterday afternoon! that’s 30 that I don’t have to manually delete in the ‘manage comments’ menu! I am sure that this is not really the latest thing since sliced bread, but hey. I am so excited by it, even if it IS all Old News. Yay Spam Karma, you are The Bomb.

open letter.

Dear Metro Honda,

I’ve noticed that in the past we’ve had difficulties communicating. Sure, maybe it was just me, maybe I was being too demanding when I kept calling trying to find out when my car was coming in. I was just, you know, *worried* that the car wouldn’t come in before the end of the year. My feelings were hurt when you quit returning my calls, Metro Honda, but I thought we got past that when I forked over $20+ grand.

So now, dear Metro Honda, I find us having the same poor communication problems. I know that this is all very new for you. I AM your first Insight driver, and potentially your first hybrid car owner at all, despite the pretty reassurances you’ve given me. But I’m concerned, dear, that you don’t respect me. I’m concerned that you’re not willing to really grow with me, to grow in our relationship. Again we miscommunicated when I brought in the Insight for it’s first maintenance at 7,500 miles. Instead of an oil change and tire rotation, I got an oil change and a talking to. I know, Metro Honda, that you have a lot of experience with other cars. But I read the manual, and I am concerned you’re not really worried about what’s best for me and the baby. If you say I should change the oil every 3,750 mi, how does that reconcile with the recommended change of every 7,500? why didn’t you look at the service requirements for MY CAR instead of relying on what you *thought* ought to be done? When will my poor tires be rotated?

What hurts the most, Metro Honda, is that I just don’t think you treat me right. When I questioned why I should follow the “severe driving conditions” maintenance schedule you poo pooed me with several bad arguments. It’s the stop and go nature of the area, you said! it’s the wild fluctuation in temperatures that we get, ranging from a frosty below 32degF to a steamy above 90degF! And what about the SMOG? I was so shocked that you’d think my driving was severe that all I could do is respond: I don’t drive stop and go, unless I’m going to your place during rush hour. I think that the temperature range you just described is AMERICA. and SMOG? that doesn’t affect motor oil! it’s a closed system!

I don’t know, Metro Honda, is it me? is it because I’m a GIRL? am I not the man you’re looking for? Is it that I am too confident and well-informed to be the kind of girl you’re looking for? Should we have a special date night where I go over my cars requirements with your technicians? because on the one hand, you seem to want to see me twice as often as required by asking me to come in for severe conditions maintenance. But on the other hand, are you just into me because of my wallet? I don’t want to get petty here, but you should know that I had to reset my own maintenance required indicator light today.

Oh, Metro Honda. I’m not sure where we can go from here. Should I start hanging out with Garden State Honda? Is that what you want me to do? I hope we can hash some of this out when I go back next week and force an uncomfortable situation by asking you to rotate my tires.

In disappointment,

Karina Jean

done.

done. done done done. Phew. I’ve got 2.0.2 installed and have tweaked it as much as I am able to do quietly and without learning anything (replaced the background graphic with the old fashioned stars). Tomorrow I’ll restore all the old links, and then we’ll be off to the races.

truth be told, this really wasn’t that hard. it’s just the first time I’ve had to manipulate a sql database, and there was a learning curve. a harsh, ugly, but not too frustrating learning curve. it was really like the learning curve was made out of molassas. that there analogy is an indication that I should get off to bed stat.

 

holy cow.

so, a friend of mine mentioned she couldn’t get to this here blog, because there was something that said I had a hawt box or a broke box and also that so and so loves saudi arabia, all in hopelessly confusing webspeak. I thought it was just her problem, b/c she works in a box office, but she had been going through the main page and not the back end direct link like I was doing. so I contacted my host and they told me to delete the index page and to upgrade word press, which I’d been meaning to do, to a more secure version.

like, 1 1/2 hours later, I finally upgraded from 1.2 to 1.5. holy cow. I guess I’ll go all the way and upgrade to 2.0 now, but BOY HOWDY it’s a big fat mess. I ended up backing up everything, deleting everything, installing the auto script from my host for version 2.0, and then finding out that if you’ve already got a sql database that’s not really the best way to maintain your old files. after a long time fiddling with restoring my old version and old database, I’ve upgraded to the midpoint and am now ready to valiently push on to the newest and bestest version. phew. you know, after all this work I totally expect that I will never get any more pharm-poker comment spam ever again. won’t that be awesome?

elliptical…

last night: 25 minutes = 3.24 miles (7.72!)
this morning: 20 minutes = 2.6 miles (7.69!)

usually (these times included) I set the hardness level to about 7.

faster and faster

I don’t know if I’ve ever really mentioned this, but when I’m working out, I like to go FAST. I want stamina too, but when I was trying to be a good runner it was all about the running as fast as I could for 30 minutes. And then I broke my knee. sigh. but now that I’m all working out again, I’m getting more excited about going really really FAST on the elliptical trainer.

so, sat. I did 3.84 mi/30 minutes on the elliptical (7.8 minute mile, I really can’t believe it!),
this morning I did 2.24 mi/20 minutes on the elliptical (8.9 minute mile).

sweet.

weekend results

* do laundry, including all sheets.
* go to the gym for ellitical training, knee and for yoga.
* get hair cut tomorrow if they have time for me.
* Make/Pick-up food for NLP in Queens
* go to NLP tomorrow in Queens
* put away blankets from trip to bmore
* sort and put away crafty stuff in bedroom. Make this more fun by separating out planned projects and photographing before restashing.
* tackle piles of crafty things over dining room table. See also pile of crafty things next to my sweet recliner.
* hang lamp over dining room table area.
* listen to audiobook of “pride and prejudice�? while homemaking. Only 1 1/2 hour left! I couldn’t do this at all, my renewal license expired. I think I’ll get it from the library to finish off. I’m nearly done, after all!

added on the fly, cause I’m like that:
* sort msl magazines and get them out of living room — I went through 2002, 2003, and 2004. now there’s just 2005 to go through and rip pages from!

weekend list

I’ve been totally into lists lately, as you may have noticed. not for any real reason. but it’s a nice way to think about what I ought to do. and in the rare event I actually DO do things, it’s totally gratifying to cross things out!

so, this weekend I should:
* do laundry, including all sheets.
* go to the gym tonight for ellitical training and knee, and tomorrow for yoga.
* get hair cut tomorrow if they have time for me.
* Make/Pick-up food for NLP in Queens
* go to NLP tomorrow in Queens
* put away blankets from trip to bmore
* sort and put away crafty stuff in bedroom. Make this more fun by separating out planned projects and photographing before restashing.
* tackle piles of crafty things over dining room table. See also pile of crafty things next to my sweet recliner.
* hang lamp over dining room table area.
* listen to audiobook of “pride and prejudice” while homemaking. Only 1 1/2 hour left!

It would be SO GREAT if I was able to finish my bedroom (which involves sorting crafty things) and to clear off my dining room table (which involves sorting crafty things). That would be SO SO SO GREAT.

But I’m not going to hold my breath.

EDITED.

crap, I already screwed the pooch on this one. it’s 9:40 and I’m just getting ready to leave work. True, I got some stuff done, but heck, it’s 9:40 on a friday night. That means no gym tonight, going to gym tomorrow for knee and yoga, and probably no elliptical trainer. Unless I get up and get to the gym tomorrow at 8AM so as not to miss the 9AM yoga class. heck! 8AM on a sat.! I am going home post-haste and climbing into bed with a romance novel. BOO.

it’s the little things…

I had to drive to Camden today for a pre-bid meeting. at first, my response to the PM was “um… Camden is by PHILADELPHIA.” But it’s such a beautiful day today, warm totally windy, and sunny, and it WAS nice to be out of the office all morning. But this is the real cake:

Total Miles to Camden round-trip: 170.5 miles
Reimbursable mileage amount: $75.87
Trip mileage in swank hybrid: 61.8 mpg
Total cost of gas used at $2.09/gallon: $5.77
Total “because I drive a hybrid” bonus amount for my pocket: $70.10.

Totally sweet. If I went on a trip like this every month I would recoup the cost of my warranty (because really, the mileage is not just for gas, but the wear and tear on your car) in just over a year. Excellent!

List followup

Things I Actually Did Last Night:

* wash dishes.
* roast eggplant under broiler, pan fry tofu, and cook in Moroccan tagine sauce from trader joe’s. enjoy with whole wheat couscous.
* do laundry.
* finish framing posters for home.
* listen to audiobook of “pride and prejudice” while homemaking.
* (improvised!) sorted books more on bookshelf.

Remaining Ambitious List of Things to do Tonight:
* sort blankets/bedding for upcoming girl trip to baltimore, wash if necessary.
* sort and put away crafty stuff in bedroom. Make this more fun by separating out planned projects and photographing before restashing.
* tackle piles of crafty things over dining room table. See also pile of crafty things next to my sweet recliner.
* drink lots of tea so as to stave off horrible cold that project manager passed along. Try not to feel sad that gym is a Very Bad Idea when you’re fighting horrible post-nasal drip.
* go to sleep early.

New List of Things To Do Tonight:
* have eyebrows waxed
* go to gym for PT
* pack for weekend adventures
* put all laundered clothes away

Let’s Be Frank, This I Will Not Do Tonight:
* hang lamp over dining room table area.

johari window

will y’all fill this out? It’s a johari window, which is “a metaphorical tool intended to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships.” heh. sounds like FUN, doesn’t it?

List.

Ambitious List of Things to do Tonight:

* wash dishes.
* roast eggplant under broiler, pan fry tofu, and cook in Moroccan tagine sauce from trader joe’s. enjoy with whole wheat couscous.
* do laundry.
* sort blankets/bedding for upcoming girl trip to baltimore, wash if necessary.
* finish framing posters for home.
* hang lamp over dining room table area.
* sort and put away crafty stuff. Make this more fun by separating out planned projects and photographing before restashing.
* tackle piles of crafty things over dining room table. See also pile of crafty things next to my sweet recliner.
* listen to audiobook of “pride and prejudice” while homemaking.
* drink lots of tea so as to stave off horrible cold that project manager passed along. Try not to feel sad that gym is a Very Bad Idea when you’re fighting horrible post-nasal drip.
* go to sleep early.

February 2006 Books

9. Leaving Normal by Stef Ann Holm
10. You’ve got Male by Elizabeth Bevarly
11. The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott (her first novel, written when she was 17 and probably the basis of Jo’s novel in Little Women)
12. The Capitve by Victoria Holt

A couple of free and traditional romance novels, classic.
I also read a lot of back issues of smithsonian magazine (like, at least 5 issues), but I don’t usually include that stuff on my book list. I ought to, smithsonian magazine is a hearty volume full of information.

things I’ve learned lately

1. I am a terrible procrastinator. I think the reason why is b/c I am bored. it’s true. I’d much rather be at home reading the pile of books that I need to get through, or sewing a skirt, or knitting the things that I have promised to people. Instead I am at work for 8+ hours a day and I find myself thinking about books, or looking at skirts online, or drooling over yarns and patterns on the internet.

the key to why I procrastinate is this: I am bored, therefore, I am way more interested in what I’m doing if I have to do it in a crunch/last minute situation.

the catch-22 is that when I’m at work screwing around at the internets, the day takes at least 5x as long to get through as it does when I’m at work actually being productive and getting things done. go figure.

2. I found out I have a very old version of WP installed here. I need to update it, but am a tiny bit nervous about the procedure. It’s an autoinstall from my host, so it shouldn’t be HARD, but these things are never guaranteed to be easy.

3. I cable all wrong. When I am making cables there’s a bar across the bottom of the knit stitch, like I’m holding the yarn in the wrong place before I twist the stitches. I need to consult elizabeth zimmerman about this for sure. of course, my only other experience with cables was this owl dishcloth knit several years ago for my mom, but I DID think it would come back a little better. and I’m even using a brilliant cable needle that my grandmonther gave me that used to belong to my greatgrandmother. I thought it would guide me, in a way, but that’s not really happening. sigh.

factoid

Johnson is also running an “economic impact” study of the experiment, comparing the average American’s $91-per-week food budget to the price of local eating. “I’ve paid $66 per week,” she says. “We’re trying to break down the fallacy that local eating is more expensive.”

from the 100-mile diet article featuring 100-mile diet groups around north america.

That’s pretty interesting. I don’t know how much I spend a week, but I estimate it’s less than $91. In the summer my CSA runs me about $28 dollars a week, and on top of that I might regularly buy $20 of milk, eggs, and cheese. During the winter I’m spending closer to $40 at the grocery store weekly. Then I’ll spend maybe $20 or $30 eating out every week or two (or even less). Amazing. If I were really into it I guess I could break it down to a finer level, but, well, go me!

links

blogs I’ve been discovering:

food
The 100-mile diet is a series written by a pair in vancouver who are trying to eat for 1 year on local foods only. it’s really neat. But then, I’m a nut about homesteading/local foods/skills that may be useful after an apocalypse. I get to it from the author’s page here.

Mighty Foods is pretty, interesting, and has got me interested in a new cookbook about healthy slowcooking.

I can’t handle how wonderful and twee and awesome vegan lunch box is. I went out and got a bento box of my own, though my meals are not as lovely as little schmoo’s.

Dork
I am so dorky, check out the kinds of comics that I stay current with. I’m pleased to tell you that after giving cathy another shot, I am off her for ever. Seriously, I thought to myself: she’s married now, I’m SURE she’s happy! I’m SURE she’s content! I’m SURE that now that she has a man to fulfill her, she’s fulfilled! but no, this strip continues to wear out every hackneyed cliche of married life, men, and women. YIKES. if anything it’s worse than it was before. seriously. you can build your own comic page here

FINALLY the new year can begin!



all of us

Originally uploaded by karinajean.


went to lovely brunch at buddha bodhai with the girls. About 4 or 5 years ago we started meeting for new year’s brunch on NYday so we could ring in the new year with our beautiful, smart, strong lady friends. we’ve slipped the last couple of years from the actual day (it’s hard when people live all over the country!), but sunday we were able to get together for vegan dim sum and of course, I made everyone get together for a dorky myself-and-another photo after the yummy yummy food. It was so great!

and FINALLY I can start the new year. I have really wonderful feelings about it from here on out. YAY.

(more photos here, including the FAMOUS VEGAN JELLYFISH DISH. Mmm, slippery and gelatinous and noodly, all at the same time.)