CafeChatNoir

A six-week-old born-in-captivity jaguar cub (panthera onca) rests at El Pinar Zoo in Caracas, May 30, 2003. Found mainly in Central and South America, only an estimated 15,000 jaguars remain in the wild. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Phone rings, I pick up.

“I’m sorry - I’ve dialed this number in error.”

Click.

The creepy part was that it was *not* a human voice. Ewh.

What is that?! That hot, blinding light?!?!! Oh, wait - it’s the sun.

I am all about the girliness today. I had promised myself that I’d do a spa day or something before the new job started. Well, short of that (cause those are pricey!) I’m off to get my nails done in 25 minutes. Fingers AND toes!

The rest of the afternoon is slated for laundry and such. Then get cleaned up and head for the going away happy hour. Already have my clothes together. No, I have no idea why I even care enough to have them picked out, but I do like the look I have managed to come up with. (Given that 99% of the time I am a Glamour Don’t, that doesn’t say much!) I guess it’s just that for a change, I WON’T be looking anything like I usually do at work. And since it isn’t raining, I can wear my new shoes - WOOT!

Well, I’ve taken forever to type this, and it’s already time to go get tarted up.

The Aaron’s Dream Team pit crew, the first all-female team to compete in a NASCAR (news - web sites) touring series, performs a pit stop at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas, on Tuesday May 27, 2003. The team and driver Shawna Robinson are scheduled to compete in three NASCAR Truck Series races. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

Can’t say I’m shocked, LOL - hazard of being a born slob, and lazy to boot.

Been dozing on and off since the dentist. Heated up some leftover lasagna for dinner. Bug guy gave blood & platelets today - came over, wobbled around for a bit and finally crashed.

Tomorrow is another day to attempt housework. Right up until I have to leave for happy hour. :-D Should be fun - it’s a combined going away for 5 of us from the department. Nothing scarier than mixing alcohol and accountants. Debating whether or not to try and get out of the house early tomorrow afternoon and hunt down a pair of black flats for work. It can wait for the weekend, but I’ve got to take care of it NLT Sunday, or I’ll be a bit light in the shoe department. (I’ve been able to wear jeans and boots on a daily basis at the old place - the holes that had developed in the bottom of my flats were a non-issue up til now)

Seems to be a glitch in the system somewhere this evening. Can’t pull up LJ on the web, ping times out and so does a tracert.

Ah, http://status.livejournal.org to the rescue:
At 2:14 am GMT on Friday, May 30th, Admin jproulx writes :
Our systems administrator is currently at our colocation facility trying to work through this unexpected downtime. Please be patient while we get the site back running.

Now, I can’t explain why they’re 4 hours ahead of me, since I thought they were in Seattle or somewhere like that, but hey, it’s an explanation and I can deal with it. Be interesting to see how long this takes to post.

*sigh* Only three days left of vacation. But somehow it’s better to come off vacation going to something new than back to the same old crap. Sure, someday this new thing will be the same old crap, but hey, for now, it’s new.

New update:
At 2:15 am GMT on Friday, May 30th, Admin jproulx writes :
Our systems administrator is currently at our colocation facility trying to get the servers back up and responsive. Please be patient while we get the site back running.

Heck, I can keep typing stuff into the client all night if I have to, but I think I am going to hit the rack instead. Very sleepy this evening.

Back and waiting patiently for the novacaine to wear off. I am SO hungry. Other than that, tired and not worth much of anything right now - really could use another nap. :-D

The one downside to a week off where you’re not actually going anywhere on vacation where you’re getting up to do things every morning is that well, your sleep schedule can get tremendously effed up. :)

Gonna have to work on getting my butt outta bed more towards the morning over the next few days. Granted, I am sure I’ll be bouncing out of bed on Monday, but I’ll be dying Monday night if I don’t get to bed early enough on Sunday.

Leave in about an hour for the dentist. Had a dream last night that I went in, someone else saw me and started doing the work without any novacaine or nitrous or anything! Ack!!!

Tomorrow night is the 5 man going away happy hour for my former workplace.

Still not nearly as organized as I need to be. Depending on how I feel after the dentist, there will be cleanin’ a goin’ on around here tonight. (If nothing else, after the post-dental nap that is inevitable)

The notebook I wanted to find for work. Going to be taking a *lot* of notes in the beginning, I am sure. Looked while out earlier today - it is one of those “can’t describe it but I’ll know it when I see it” things. No luck - then I stopped at the drug store on the way to drop off the cable for mom’s printer, and voila!! There it was. (last one, too.)

this is what I’d been hunting for:

So, I really hadn’t been imagining it (except mine is green). Comes with a couple of folders and places for your pens and some paper, and damn, this is just like getting ready for school again!

Got mom’s printer hooked up, came back to find the big guy mowing the green spots in the backyard. WOOT!! (The rest has turned to mud.) Thinking it may not be a bad idea to toss some grass seed out there at some point this week. Can’t hurt, I wouldn’t think.

Printer is working beautifully. Already have my W-4’s and I-9 printed and filled out and ready to go for Monday, (in the magic notebook with the original offer letter and the noncompete agreement) and a couple of letters that need to go to the bank and the application for the pool passes (printed it out at work and promptly lost it.)

Note to self: Find passport to go with I-9 form.

Figuring out the timing on getting to the office is going to be tricky. Don’t have to be in until 9:30 on Monday (orientation - only 2 hours - amazing), but I have no idea when I need to be in after that, and it’s going to be hard to judge the traffic… Aw, hell, I’ll give myself an hour - should be fine.

But between now and then, I really need to start getting to bed before 2 in the morning….

Because a trip to Target rarely ends up being for just one thing, and I knew I needed a $10 cable, I wondered what I’d be spending the other $90 on…

But, I only came in at just over $80.

$20 for 3 USB cables
$50 for a printer (Lexmark Z605 - pretty darn good for the price and very quick)
and the other $11 on 2 cans of foofie coffee (cheaper than at the grocery) and a new puffy thing for the shower, and tax.

It’s so nice to have a working printer again. :)

was kind enough to accompany me on my quest for stuff and is very good for hauling packages around. However, with school drawing to a close, he is becoming the embodiment of “idle hands are the devil’s workshop”! Quick, get him something to do!

Muslim Woman Sues to Wear Veil for License

This one drives me a little nuts. A driver’s license needs a full face photo - it’s that simple. It’s not only a permit to drive, it is the de-facto identification card for the state. Ya just gotta do it. It’s not about opression, it’s about beign able to show that you are who you say you are. Even in Saudi Arabia, women remove their veils for their passport photos. I’ve had the DMV folks ask me to fix my hair cause it was falling down in my face.

One thing I see coming - I bet the ALCU will next be suing Florida for the fact that the DMV shares a whole boatload of information with the Florida law enforcement authorities. (It was pretty cool when the DMV director was testifying about the work they’ve done to make as much of the information almost instantly accessible by law enforcement.)

Oh, and the other thing? She’s a convicted felon. She removed her veil for her mug shot. (And her husband was found to be in possesion of 5 driver’s licenses with his photo and 5 different names.) My thought was to just take the mug shot and put it on the driver’s license - then she doesn’t have to remove the veil for another picture. (Yes, that’s a snarky attitude and I admit it.)

Having a driver’s license is a privlege, not a right.

…I have to start working again???

I am so glad I managed to get this time off between jobs. If nothing else, I am really getting caught up on my sleep again for a change, and my dreams are just off the wall but not work related anymore.

PSA: If you decide to procure a Canon 530D photo printer, please be aware: It has many cool cables to attach the printer to other things. It does NOT however, have a cable that just goes from the printer to the USB port on the computer. And Canon doesn’t quite see the problem with this. I’ll be picking up a cable today, and dropping some comments at planetfeedback.com. (Maybe I’m the only one out there that would want to connect the printer to a computer?)

So, Fran has been in town for the weekend, too. She’s my wicked step-grandmother. :-D I haven’t seen her in a few years - it’s been really cool to have her around. Saturday, Monday and last night we all had dinner together. Last night I brought lasagna. YUM! I think the big guy has her approval. Saturday night we all went out for Chinese, and she looked at him and said, “You’re sitting next to ME, cause I have got questions for you!” LOL, it could have been intimidating except for the fact that she was trying to stifle her laughter. She’s a good egg.

So, off to the store here shortly to get that cable…

A Manchurian tiger cub is given to a staff member of Children’s Hospital in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province Saturday, May 24, 2003. The 10-hour-old tiger cub was born in the World Window Park in Changsha. Her mother refused to feed her. So, it was raised at the hospital. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Ga)

Left the purse at Mom’s. Went and fetched it, hit the grocery store and got a good reminder why delivered groceries rock.

We’ve got things to eat for the next few days, but I have *got* to get serious and get organized before work starts again.

It has just occurred to me that I don’t think I copied over any of my MasterCook files from the other computer. Installing the s/w now and wondering what files I need to look for in the other computer to be able to get my recipes back…

Restaurant is closed for another half hour, so I still can’t find out if they’ve got my pocketbook or not.

Can’t go to the store, cause I don’t have my wallet….Argh!

always have the totally crazy drink lists? It’s not that you can’t walk into any bar and order a Zombie, it just seems that Chinese restaurants are the only ones that really advertise them.

Pics of the cake will be forthcoming.

The dog enjoyed the leftovers of it. (Not because it was bad, but because I got distracted and left it at hound height. I didn’t even get to have any of it!) However, she was oh so dainty in getting the plastic wrap off the plate and getting to the cake without knocking anything on the floor.

Got to bed *very* late, woke up at 5 AM, finally fell asleep again at about 7 and then got up, well, very late. :) Dreamed about going to see Jameson playing at some show.

Nothing to do today except a quick run to the grocery store.

I’ve discovered that I have to be in two places at once tomorrow.

I can’t find my pocketbook this morning, which leaves me thinking I either left it at the restaurant, or at my mom’s place. Need to check the car one more time and start making some phone calls.

Forgot to take the stuff for dinner out of the freezer last night to actually cook, so I’m now defrosting leftovers.

Well, off to find my pocketbook….

Meow Mix Chief Executive Bitten by Dog

Started with breakfast at IHOP with . Mmmmmmmm, pancakes. I resisted his oh-so-tempting offer to go wander around cemeteries… Note: If he starts saying that he’s seeing dead people - he is.

Back home to continue mucking about with my printer that won’t work. I think I’m looking at “toss and replace” at this point.

Then the girly day started in earnest.

Off to get my haircut - very good. (Reaction from the big guy: WOW.)

Then shoes. Cute shoes! Black slides. I think I am now only about a year and a half behind on styles now.

Then home again to bake. OK, so it’s not exactly visually stunning, it should taste good. (Know how I said it was reminiscent of a circus tent? Well, it’s the kind of circus that makes little kids afraid of clowns.)

Then, a nap. (I think that is the best part of a non-work day.) I am still having weird dreams about work. This one seemed to center around me & my coworker Laura, whose last day was today. She kept trying to leave and people kept bugging her so they could figure out how to do her job. My boss kept telling me he needed me to go through all the cash receipts a day at a time to figure something out. (Extra strange because I never dealt with cash.) I looked at him and said, “Sorry that’s too much trouble.” LOL.

Tomorrow I think I’ll paint my toenails to go with the new shoes. If it’s not pouring rain. Then off to a housewarming, and then to dinner for Mom’s birthday and cake afterwards.

Sunday I will be attempting to make pulled pork BBQ. Here’s hoping that it looks a little better than the cake!

Then Monday at 6 PM, I get to go see Andy’s new baby girl!!

But first, it’s time to hit the rack and catch some shut-eye. No alarm clocks tomorrow morning.

Hope everyone has a lovely long weekend.

OK, got it out of the oven, cooled off, out of the pans, no problems.

Nice volcano thing going on top with both of them… Slice off the top of one layer, flip it over, slather on some frosting, drop on second layer.

This is where I discover that my oven apparently leans. So, quickly lift off top layer and move it around 180 degrees so the cake doesn’t look quite so much like a ski slope anymore.

Now, this is where I got in over my head. I wanted to use two different types of frosting. Alternated triangles of chocolate frosting and cream cheese frosting from the center of the top and down the sides. Somewhat remiscent of a circus tent, and then to continue the black and white theme, I put some of those Hershey striped kisses on top.

Now, my frosting skills with one color aren’t anything to write home about. Two colors? Well, let’s just say that it’s a really good thing that this is for my MOM and she’ll love it no matter what. And it will taste fine.

The end result has left the big guy speechless. I do believe that if he had been drinking at the time, his beverage of choice would have come out his nose.

I think I may be making a bakery run in the morning…

The haircut looks good. Lots of hair gone now.

Got cute shoes.

When I sat down to have my hair done, the lady asked if I wanted my eyebrows done, too. I politely declined wondering WTF is wrong with my eyebrows??

Came home, checked mirror, still liked hair, fixed eyebrows. Looked at shoes - still like them. So, I’m all kinds of stylin’ (or well, something close to it.)

So, what’s a gal to do? Bake a birthday cake, of course.

So, I may already be skirting disaster, as it says to put the pans in the oven *immediately* after the batter is ready, and well, the oven isn’t ready yet. So, I’m in a holding pattern for a few more minutes. I really hope it turns out - I’d prefer not to have to go to the bakery!

Update: Oven finally got to 350. Pans are in. First injury received.

How many have you read on the BBC’s top 100 books list?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3035807.stm

(My list is too short to get into…)

thanks to and

That tomorrow I will go get my hair cut.

Also need to shop for shoes. I have no black flats, and a pair of plain black slides would come in handy, too.

Maybe get my nails done to boot.

cannot distinguish between “schnauzer” and “squirrel”.

I think I am going to have to take cookies to the neighbor down the way this weekend to make amends for the fact that Eve acts like she is going to EAT the her dog every time she sees the little fuzzball.

If you’ve seen Ocean’s Eleven, would you agree that this piece of music was PERFECT for Vegas flyover scene??

So, my day starts off with being all confused at posting on a weekend. Then I remember that it’s not Saturday. :)

Hit the bank, getting ready to do some laundry and planning out dinner for Sunday night. Thinking I am going to tackle pulled pork barbecue. Yum! (I’d do it tomorrow, but it’s not Friday friendly food, and we’re going out Saturday night for Mom’s birthday.) No time to defrost for tonight.

Which brings us to baking time!! Decided since I am off right now, I would bake the birthday cake for Saturday night. If nothing else, there should be time to get a replacement if it goes horribly wrong… It’s been a while since I baked a cake.

All sorts of fun with the LJ release the other night - support was up over 1000 requests a few minutes ago. (What’s weird is it always seems when they have these glitches that everyone gets, I don’t get them. Odd.)

Michael Stirna, 85, poses with a wax figure of entertainer Jennifer Lopez (news) at Madame Tussaud’s museum in New York on May 21, 2003. Stirna, a retired mutual funds manager from Brooklyn, New York, won a ‘booty call’ contest at the museum where contestants were supposed to compare their backsides with that of ‘J Lo.’ REUTERS/Peter Morgan