My Little Corner of the Sky

So, the lady who's incharge of my dept. @ EMU *finally* wrote me back, LAST TUESDAY! Said to set up an office hr. or to e-mail her my transcripts. I did both, over a week, and nothing! So, I send her an e-mail this am. also pointing out I've been trying to get my schedule SINCE APRIL! And at least 2 of the required classes HAVE SINCE FILLED!! She's like OMG, SO SO SORRY!! It's like, umm, if I hadn't already have moved here, I'd have totally dropped everything by now. The whole damned place seems to have their heads up their asses! IT'S FREAKIN' E-MAIL! IT'S *NOT* THAT HARD!!!

Seriously! She's like "oh, oops, someone else is in the same boat as you, and I thought they were you, so I scheduled them today, sorry! Seriously, how f'ing hard is it?!

Current Mood: annoyed

Okay, so I decided after talking to some impartial folks, that it'd be best for me to probably rent instead of buying a place, and I contacted my friend's apt. complex. They allow not only ALL SIZES of dogs, but multiple dogs, requiring only temprament tests (apparently drooling on the tester, and rolling over for bellyrubs = fine!) and that's it. Major happy! That's what I need! Well, anyway, I e-mailed them to find out the current rates, and see what they'd be if I could lock them in, and I find out that they're LESS than they were a couple mos. ago when I checked on them! In fact, not only are they less, but the base price of the 810 sq. ft. is what the original price was of the 700 sq. ft. in March!! I have a number of floor plans to choose from, and realistically, for me they'll all be as big or bigger than my parent's place, which's cool, but yeah, seriously happy me!! Even w/utilities, I should come in at about $600 or so/mo. which's the upper end of what I was looking to spend. Happy me! Nothing is set in stone yet, but so nice to see that the prices have dropped a lot! (and, my friend could get a hell of a bonus if I do sign a lease; I think the current offer was almost 1 mos. free rent!)

Current Mood: happy

My funding request HAS BEEN ACCEPTED!! Hot damn, I WILL be going back to school in the fall!!

Hopefully this is the start of much bigger & better things to come! I go to see the school & the area this weekend, looking forward to that, but the whole "condo shopping" thing is a bit daunting... I have 2 or 3 in mind that look to have (small) yards that are capable of holding a (or 2!) basset(s) so those I am hoping live up to expectations. If I could find a pet friendly, 2+ pets allowed (I only want 2 dogs, Joey's social and needs a sibling, but I figure if they allow more, I'm golden on having the 2!) w/a small yard, garage or carport, hopefully near a dog park or biking trail, and not terribly far from EMU, I'd be golden. Likeliness of finding all of that... good question...

*doing happy dance around the office*

http://www.gocomics.com/features/118/feature_items/420335

Though, I think most other dog owners can relate!!

Current Mood: amused

So, let's see, I haven't posted in awhile...

Went to the eye doc. last thurs. eve; new glasses on order, and new contacts as well, no thanks to 2 days worth of phone tag! Plus, I didn't use 2 boxes of last years contacts, so I get credit for them, meaning that this year I paid $50 for 1 full yrs. supply of contacts!! Yeah, I can live w/that! The glasses were a bit costly, as I had to get the special lenses, but all in all, I'm about $100 less than last year, mostly due to the contacts.

Apparently they have this new type of lense this year, which's like the Day & night lenses, but NOT rated for overnight wear, which means about 1/3 the cost of the D&N ones! Plus, they're MUCH more easier to wear, and stay hydrated better. Apparently they breathe better or something. Dunno the specifics, but they work, that's all I care!

Other than that, I'm waiting now to hear back from all the schools. U T-Austin & U of M-Ann Arbor are by far my top 2, and both would let me do the majors I want. I'm leaning a little more towards U of M now, as I have friends in the area, and it's much closer to home, so I could still visit occasionally, plus (due to friends in the area) I already have located affordable dog friebndly apt. w/affordable rent in a nice area, that has their own on-site bark park! It doesn't get much better than that!!! All I need to do is find out if I've been accepted, & work out the whole job thing, and I should be good! So, let's hope all that pans out!

Other than that, not much going on, I have pretty much everything I need for my trip next month, sans hotel reservations, which'll be made this weekend, as soon as the next paycheck hits, and then if L takes care of Stonehenge, the rest can be done in country, I think. Not too shabby!! I got the tix I needed, all of our flights (USA-UK, Eng-Scot and return on both) are taken care of, all we need to do is buy the connecting train tix, but those need to be done on-site, I believe.

5 weeks from today I'll be in London, 5 weeks from tomorrow I'll be flying to Scotland to see my friend that I'll now have seen 2x in 11 yrs! No joke! We keep in touch (cards, e-mail, etc.) but I didn't see her at all from 98-2007, and then went downtown w/her & her bf in 07, then I'll get to see them again now. They should be heading to Trindad & Tobago in a couple days! (Lucky Scots! They get like 6+ weeks of PAID vacation a year!)

Well, time to go back to looking busy at work...

Current Mood: awake

So, my stupid work computer picked up this dumb Security Guard 2009 virus thing. The only thing I can figure was off of the site for the eye doc. I went to yesterday. It's a pain in the ass, but it's gone now, yeah!!!

Someone remind me to buy stock in Malware Byte!!

Current Mood: accomplished

Dude, they now make sugar free twizzlers!!!!!! No joke! SUGAR FREE TWIZZLERS!!!! Y'all have no idea how happy I am about this!! (We're talking happy dance in the middle of wal-mart, even though my co-worker was there happy!!!)

I have had a serious twizzlers eatting issue for years (one of the FEW non-chocolate & non-nut candies made that I can eat!!) and, now that they have them in sugar free, I can eat them again, and not screw up any diet type stuff!! Happy me!!

Too bad any more than just a small amount of any sugar free candy makes me sick, but for twizzlers, I used to get sick if I ate too many in a day before, so I know not to already. Only thing that'd make it better is when I get home & put them in the fridge. Cold twizzlers, yum! (Yes, I know, I'm weird!!) Now, if they can just start selling them @ gass stations, I'll be exstatic! Oh, and that $1.88/ea. price for them is a bit much; I'd get the same amount in the $1 gas station size, or even better, the $1.75 for the 1/2 lb. bag of them also at Wally World, but for sugar free, I'll spend it occassionally!

That so just made my year!!

Tonight I gotta go to the eye doc, and get new glasses & contacts, so something tells me the twizzlers'll be the high point of my day...

Current Mood: amused

So, everyone who's ever gone to college knows the bane of freshman Chemistry (or CH 101 at MTU!) I recall hear about this, and getting it in an e-mail when I was a student at MTU, and it was funny as hell, but I never saw it again.

Today a co-worker e-mailed it to me; it's funny as hell, and I decided to post it so everyone could have a laugh today. Enjoy!!

Current Mood: amused

The puppy decided to chew up my cellphone!! I don't know where he found it, but he pulled the phone cover off it, and busted a piece off. It was just the antena, and I was able to pop it back on, but there's still some teeth marks in it! How utterly vexing!!

So, I put that as my status on facebook... Well, randomly, about 15 mins. later a friend of mine posts that her beagle got ahold of some trident gum from her purse, ate the whole pack, and most of the wrapping.

Warning bells went off... Trident contains Xylitol, an artifical sweetner that is apparently HIGHLY TOXIC to dogs!!

I told her I'd heard as much, and she should call the vet... Fast forward a couple of hrs., and she googled it, found that it wasn't toxic, it was HIGHLY TOXIC, called the vet, told them what the pooch ate and how much, and was ordered to bring her in asap!!

The vet was able to induce vomiting, pumped her stomach, and loaded her w/charcoal to help stop the absorbtion of the xylitol. All total from the time she ate it to the time her stomach was pumped was about 20 mins., so they got most, if not all, of the gum out. The dog was taken from her, and put in the back to be worked on immediately by the vet (think human ER visit), and after a few minutes, she was worried & asked the office girl "So, how bad is this anyway?" she said that the vet tech would be out to explain it. The vet came out instead... said that 2-3 pcs. of the gum are fatal, if not treated, in a dog Winnifred's size. (She's about 25 lbs.!) So, 16 pcs., and she'd have been dead this afternoon, or evening at the latest!!

I asked J how she was doing, and she said that they were able to stabelize her glucos levels, but she's not out of the woods completely yet! If her glucos levels can stay constant for the next 14 hrs., then she should recover, but they're waiting to see what her liver looks like also.

Apparently Xylitol is a 2 fold problem. It causes low blood sugar, which is apparently worse than high blood sugar, and it also attacks the liver.

My friend is obviously very distraut over all of this! I'm just glad that fate aligned how it did; I saw a posting on our basset e-list about it a couple weeks ago, and when Crispin ate the gum (like 2 pcs, but he's 50 lbs., so no ill effects!) a couple mos. ago, a lot of the folks on the list were like OMG, bad!!! And, it just so happened that I was on FB to get my friend's message, who was still on FB, and able to call the vet and race the pup over. She also has MS (my friend, not her pup, the dog is epileptic, or has some sort of seizure disorder), so this really was lucky that she was having a good day. Fate just aligned well, and we're both hoping that it continues to do so, as it'd be lousy to loose Winnifred, aka Fred now!!

So, if you have friends or family w/dogs, please pass on this warning about Xylitol!!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-03-18-xylitol-sweetener_N.htm

Even just a little bit can be fatal! Not too sure about how it effects cats, but Trident is no longer going to be gracing my home, I doubt if it'll be in my friend's house again either!!

Current Mood: exhausted

Can't say I'm partial to TX, 'cause I'm not. WAY too "red state" for me, being the chicagoan I am, but it has one thing to offer...

IT'S 70 DEGREES IN AUSTIN, TX TODAY!

Yes, seriously, the only freakin' school in the country to offer a standardized master's program in Czech had to be located in TX, but for 70 degree days in December, I'll learn to like it!!!!

I red lined my car trying to get out of the driveway today (mom didn't want to come out and push!) So, now that my engine's crapped out, I'm here, ON TIME! The boss was over 1 hr. late, yeah, there's NOTHING to freakin' do, as the entire damned mid-west is off work because it's freakin' treacherous out there!!

Yeah, Austin's looking better & better by the second!!

And, why, yes I'm bitter!

Current Mood: annoyed

http://video.hsus.org/?fr_story=0c93a9d9fc95294ce2799e00afa093d12f33d3e4&rf=bm

On my basset list there are a number of folks who have said for years they're the worst offenders with buying puppy mill dogs. Now, Humane Society of the US agrees!! Please share this far and wide, and hopefully more Petland's will go out of business!!

Current Mood: aggravated

She was arrested for "killing" her "virtual husband's" avatar. No joke. How pathetic is that?!

http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/online-divorcee-jailed-after-killing-virtual-hubby/1259111

Please, someone tell me that this is some abusurdly bizarre thing, but yeah, if it's true *facepalm* he called the police because she killed his avatar... Oji!!

Current Mood: wtf?!

For all of you geeks out there, or for those of you leaning towards a different political angle... Enjoy!!

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

They've promised daily update's 'til election day, and I know the paper shredder is a new addition.

I suggest having the sound on, and to make it full screen, so you don't miss anything. Enjoy!!

(Is it bad the geek in me took one look at it and said "I could code that in flash!" Yeah, it is... I know that, and I admit it freely, as it's a really good flash (or director) piece!)

Current Mood: amused

Wal-Mart apparently sells full spectrum light bulbs now. And, at $2.19 for a 4 pack, it's a helluva lot less than through the theraputic resources that sell the "happy lights" and the light boxes. I are amused!

Current Mood: working

I was bored...

Your result for Which Vampire the Masquerade Clan Are You?...

The Deceivers {Ravnos}

Take Which Vampire the Masquerade Clan Are You? at HelloQuizzy

Current Mood: amused

The vet's office today said they'd put a note in my file to have vetman call when they finally got the results. He was like "well, I'd rather go in depth with it on saturday when you bring him in for his stitches removal." I was like no shit, no problem, so, what're we looking at? The long & short of it is (the super condenced, about a min. or less explanation) is one is a histiocytoma, which's what we had expected, and was the little one on his back end. The "worrisome one" turned out to be something called a "granuloma" which's a BENIGN thing!! And, the vet said in 34 yrs. of practicing, he's *never* seen anything like it, and the pathologists can't explain how it happened how it did; under the surface of the skin, and around what was probably his cyst; which may've ruptured or something of the like... (and he yowled like I've never heard before when they aspirated it back in feb. Entirely possible that it ruptured, unknowingly, when she did it...

Anyway, so all is well with the pup! I'm definately glad to finally get the results! Taking the boys for grooming tomorrow (the new lady we're going to is worth every penny! She got the boys so bright, it looked like someone took carneubo wax to them!!) I'm sure Joey'll appreciate it, he was so matted from the blood and schmutz of his surgery last week, and I did my best to wash him, but w/needing to keep the stitches clean, I couldn't do a good wash 'n rinse. So, this should get rid of any residual! I'm sure he'll appreciate that! This weekend should be quite busy, I think...

Current Mood: but happy!

Blah! Finally got to my bedroom last night, dumped everything out of it (literally!) and moved the futon/bunk bed unit out, and to say that undeneath and behind it was grimy is an understatement! (I need to see if mom actually bleached it, as the frame is wood. I'm betting not...) Got everything out of the closet, am just starting to put stuff back into it. I lost A LOT of books! Books were the main thing that got trashed, along w/2 sets of tarot cards, my grimorie, possibly a computer tower, 2 dresser drawers (all of my melodia pants were under water, and mom put one set in the dryer! *sob*) lots of sca gear was under water, all of my old armor, most of my remaining rattan, some of my dance stuff, lots of stuff I was saving, plaster ornaments and the like (did you know that plaster literally dissolves in water?!) Also managed to drop a rollar blade on my big toe! Confirmed that the other toe, that I kicked the lader with accidently on sat. is in deed broken, just on the tip side from the first knuckle. I can walk, but can't put any weight on just the balls of my foot...

Still need to tear the carpeting out of mom's room, and check her sewing machine. Also, they had like 3 or so different mattresses for the bus, which were all downstairs in the closet, under water, and are now sitting upstairs leaking in the breezeway (no idea why anyone thought that was a good idea!!)

yeah, it's been one hell of a weekend! And, they *still* don't have Joey's results back from pathology, I so totally hope it's nothing major! (I guess I figured he's going to be fine, if the whateverthehellitis that was originally called a cyst was in him for 7 mos. w/o causing any ill effects (yes, he's had a complete blood panel run since then), that statistically he should be fine, right? I don't see him acting any differently, and he's got a VERY healthy appetite, so I'm guessing he's still fine, I just want hard, confirmed, medical answers, you know? And, he'll officially be frankenhound at the waddle...

Current Mood: and sore!

He was able to get up on my bed in the middle of the night when the flooding started. I woke up about 6:30, and decided to head upstairs to the potty, then back down to crash 'til at least 8 or so, purely out of principle. Until I landed in ankle deep water..

Then I realized that well we usually have a small amount of flooding in my room whenever it rains (thank you seapage), but it's not s'possed to be *that* deep... So, I go and explore the basement; at 6:45 my rooms were up to the ankles, and the laundry room was mid thigh. When I went down there about 20-30 mins. ago, I found that it had gone up, now it's pretty much up the baseboards. So, computer is toast, violin could possibly be salvaged, dog bed could go either way, my laundry is in a plastic bin, which floats, wee! Yeah, in short it's a mess! The CFO at my office siad they just had something similar happen to some of the units in her townhouse complex, and it cost a fortune to have the places dried up and mold removed. Mold. That'll be fun. I know it'll probably be sprouting mushrooms by the time the water receeds. I grabbed my clothes, desk top computer tower (which had a lot of water running out of it!), and tried to put up my violin, and remotes, unplug whatever I could, etc my sewing machine is porbably toast, as is mom's, the futon mattress on the floor mom was s'possed to cut up and make into dog beds is toast, most of our stuff in storage is gone, and all I got was "we told you not to put things on the floor" How my bed is s'possed to hover is totally beyond me!!

So, I can rest assured that I pretty much won't be able to live in my area until the rain stops, and the basement is emptied. According to the weather channel that should be tuesday at the earliest! Dunno what I'm s'possed to do in the interm, parents refuse to leave lights off in the livingroom where other futon is, and purposefully turn up the tv really loud, just because they feel there's no reason everyone in the house shouldn't be up at 4 am. (They usually tell me when I get up at 8 or 9 that I "slept away half the day," so I have no chance of getting to sleep at all here). And, then there's always the fun of what to do after the water leaves; it'll take industrial strength dryers to actually do something down stairs, and all we have is one lonely dehumidifier, and it's currently still plugged in and under water. *sigh* and my parents couldn't even leave their bloody cellphones on, so I had to sit here twiddling my thumbs for an hr. waiting for them to get home. Mom's reasoning "well, you were asleep, who else wold call?"

Anyone want another roommate? I'm totally sick of this, and this is the last straw... I got the waddle next weekend, and I need to see what's wrong with Joey, but as long as he's not dying, I think we're going to take a lot of time off in October, and go on interviews; I'm sick of dealing with my parents, who obviously give more of a care about mom's sewer than that I can't even go live in my room. Mom actually had the nerve to yell at me for using her computer, and watching her tv. Excuse me, mine're under water!!

Current Mood: pissed off

This just came as an update for the rescue I got Joey from. If you go here: http://www.petfinder.com/disasterprep  and look below the box, there's a link to click to vote. "Illinois" is the state, "Dwight" is the town, and Guardian Angel Basset Rescue is the rescue. The winner gets $5,000 and believe me, the could use it! They've rescued over 3,000 dogs in the 11 yrs. they've been around, and that's literally more than 3 other neighboring states basset rescue's combined! They are planning big for the future, and could help a lot more dogs with the money!

Current Mood: working