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The Mental Slate Landscape - LiveJournal.com
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Tonight's mission
Tonight's mission is to
1. Find a good wallpaper
I change my wallpaper maybe 2 or 3 times a month? I'm curious to know how many times people on average change the wallpapers applied to their computer desktops.
2. Vaccum Vaccum Vaccum
Ferry and elvis are not scratching or grooming as much. I am going to vaccum so I can hopefully get rid of the fleas and eggs at least until I can purchase some fRontline!! Since Elvis and Ferry (my two cats) fight, I ams ure fleas will jump from Ferry to Elvis. This shit sucks but I will deal with it when I get paid next
3. Catch up on the presidential campaign news
I am still voting for Obama and rooting for Obama. I might have at least considered voting for John Mccain if he had not selected that throwback minded Palin. She has executive experience but she doesn't convince me that she would be able to stand by herself on the world stage as president and contend with the kind of national security issues we have. She tried to tie energy independence into national security but energy independence alone isn't going to secure the nation. It pulls us out of sticky situations where we have strained relations with a country we trade with or have a stake in appeasing or being indifferent to because they provide oil.
So ya that is my ultra boring list of my mission for tonight. I can't afford to go to Praia Urbana really or drive out there and back so it looks like I am staying home which I don't really mind to tell you the truth. I went out Friday night to Matthew Dunn's event Thrive. There wasn't anyone there but Joey, Mr. Zog, Katie, Darbie, (later) Chris, some dude Joey came with or met up with, and some random people that came in from walking down Main Street. It was just fine for me though because the music provided a nice backdrop with catching up with everyone. I also had a conversation with someone I usually see in passing, put a name to a face, and hung out with Faysil and other friends the rest of the night. Topped it all off with a Heineken lol. So ya, I am fine. I can put on music to stream to make party at my own place!!
FINALLY HAVE ELECTRICITY!!
WOO HOOO!!!
I can't believe it. I saw Centerpoint working in the complex this morning but with the trees around the apartment I wasn't sure if the power would be turned back on by the time I came home today but it was. The first sign it was back on was that no one was outside. The second sign was that the light at the gate was on!!! I almost cried I was so happy. The cats were at the door to greet me. Boy was I happy to see them with lights on in the apartment.
My Cable Tv is working but I have not tried the Internet. I plan to go back over to my place tonight and prepare to move back in. I only moved my bed over here so I will have to have my dad take it back over there, but when I get it back over at my apartment, I think I will have my dad take the thing the mattress sits on back to the house because it was more comfortable just sleeping on the mattress with my comforters. The frame sucks lol and the mattress keeps sliding every which way.
There is a lot of work I have left to do in the bathroom. There is a lot of water that needs to be mopped up but at least I can take a hot shower and use the bathroom with lights and without water dripping on me.
Google Chrome vs. Firefox 3
I like Firefox over Google Chrome. I finally downloaded it yesterday and played around with it. I like how you can move the tabs out of one browser window and manipulate the browser windows, but it loads up slower than Firefox. It's ok as browsers go, but I like Firefox. I like it even more now that I have discovered Foxy Tunes. It allows me to control my media player of choice from the Firefox browser window!! I don't like having the media player on top of my browser windows and it saves me a click. Normally I would have to actually click on the media player box on the bottom toolbar to do anything with my music library.
Other developments
Internet Explorer popped up and I saw that I could add a tab!!! I never see the Icon for it. I have tried searching for Internet Explorer only to come up with shortcuts that didn't take me anywhere. I know I tried to install some Microsoft Updates awhile back, including the new Internet Explorer, but it never seemed to take.
Still no power at my place
I'm starting to get depressed. I've been staving it off as best I can and been trying to put things into perspective, but this is getting kind of aggravating. Besides having no power, this afternoon was passed in an awesome fashion. After seeing that the Museum of Fine Arts was open to the public for free I hopped in my car and drove up 59 to the Museum District. Finding a place to park around there is such a pain in the ass. I never feel like paying for parking if I don't h ave to so I drove around in a circle until this woman finally pulled her car out of this space about three blocks back from the museum. It was a good spot and one that I managed to parallel park within with ease. I had a little green inspiration beforehand that allowed me to do that I think lol.
I got out and started walking down the street. There was a nice breeze out, so it made waiting to cross intersections really pleasant. I thought the Museum of FIne arts was bigger than what I toured but it looked like they had some sections roped off unless I am confusing that space with the Contemporary Musem of Fine Art's. On the main floor was art from some supposedly defining British artists from the 1990s. Most of it was ok. There was only one thing that stood out. It was in this large case and it was a model depicting this gruesome scene that looked like something out of a horrow movie. Amid the trees, these zombie like skeletons were lording over humans. In one area they were being marched down a desolate road. In another corner atop a hill were crucifixes. In another little area, the skeleton zombie demon figures were ordering some men to put up crucifixes. It was pretty crazy but I liked it a lot more than the other stuff against the wall. On the floor above this one, the space was dedicted to the art from African Americans. Some of it was rather frank in its subject matter, but a lot of it showcased the emotions and everyday scenarios of African Americans. Near the stairs on the far right of the museum there was a little wing of photographs of African American icons. Each photograph came with a little blurb about the person. That was pretty tight.
It was nice to get out, even if that was by myself. I came back to my apartment to see the crew that had been working in the field next to the apartment complex. There's still no power at my place. The Center Point Energy website says that my zip code is not set to be restored until beyond September 25th but the apartments and businesses around us have power. I don't get it. I wish I did.
Hurricane Ike Update
The city is getting back to normal, as more stores are opening and there is a lot more traffic on the roads. The curfew is supposed to be in effect through Sunday so there isn't a lot going on in town in the evening and at night, but at least the power has been restored to most of my area. I still don't have electricity and it is starting to make me angry. I'm well aware that people in Galveston don't have much to go home to, if anything, but I'm going to have to start reporting back to work beginning Monday. I spent a lot of money during Hurricane Ike on gas, food, and bills prior to my electricity being taken away from me so I am short on funds. I am not sure how I am going to afford commuting to work every day this week. I have several dollars to put in the gas tank but I don't know how long that will last. I want to go down to the Museum District and see if the art museums are open so I can have something to do. I can't really afford to do much but sit at home, watch tv, watch movies on my laptop, and play on the Internet. Some getting out in the sun is in order. I need some exercise and I need to get a break from being indoors.
Now people will say I should be grateful for being in a situation that while uncomfortable is more advantageous than the situations of those in Galveston who are dealing with a bad water supply, no electricity, and complete devastation of their dwellings. I know I should feel "lucky" but I am becoming more than just a little inconvienenced by all this. I am over here at my parents' house during most of the day to shower, dress, eat, watch cable tv, and be on the Internet but I have to go back to my apartment to sleep because my mom keeps the house too f**king cold and because there is nowhere for me to sleep. The floor is way too hard in my old room and the couches downstairs are couches that Satan might have in his living room because they are the most uncomfortable couches I have ever sat on.
Today I just plan to take it easy and try not to become upset at still having no power. I was driving around last night and saw a transformer and some power lines in the midst of some tree limbs. THat is the probably cause of the delay in power being restored to my small complex. The apartments down the road from us and directly behind us have power, as does the storage facility across the street. The strip center along Ella with the washeteria and dollar store have power, but yet we still don't. It's getting really aggravating. I drove to my apartment last night and saw the lights. Boy let me tell you I was so THRILLED! I thought surely surely my place had lights if everything around it finally had lights. You can only imagine my sadness to see my little complex left in the dark. I know others are in my situation and can feel what I'm going through. It's easy to say "be patient" when you have power. So ya, I need to get outta this city. I wish I had the money to do so right now. That's another thing. I'm broke and when I get paid next week, all of that money has to go to rent and then to my friend's dad, whom I bought furniture from. Hopefully, the time and a half goes on this upcoming check and I will have a little more money to work with. Life is ok, but it could definitely be better right no
What I'm currently listing to
God how I love youtube and the people on it who upload great music!!
Hurricane Ike Bitch Slapped Houston
I am finally posting on livejournal at my parents' house, thanks to AT&T finally getting the service up and running after the bill was paid. I thought it was going to be forever!!! Everything started off normal enough. The local news stations covered Ike from dawn until dusk and well after that, but I didn't really pay too much mind to the approaching hurricane until it finally did arrive overnight. The rain came and fell hard enough, but I wasn't really shaken until the wind started to scream!! It came in gust after gust, chilling me quite frankly. It was like some wild monster was roaring all around my apartment and trying to get in. I looked out the window every so often, but could barely see anything as the rain was coming down in heavy sheets. The rain drops were practically committing suicide against my windows!! I was brave enough to open the door once or twice, but quickly shut it. It was a wise decision as when I woke up the next morning, I saw the chimneys had been taken off the top of some buildings, tree branches littered the parking lot, and shingles everywhere. Now the night before when I looked out my window, I did manage to make out a large tree across the way that was being whipped back and forth by the winds!! Even though it was across the parking lot, I was scared that a branch would go flying through my window!! Well sure enough, I got outside and saw a huge branch had landed only a few feet from my car!! My car and person came out just fine from the hurricane, but man was I scared!! My troubles were just beginning though. I woke up to debris and water everywhere, but what was truly disheartening was finding that I had no power.
I still have no power actually. Saturday morning I was unable to really get out and see what had happened around me because it rained all day Saturday. Then, when I thought the worse had passed, it started pouring down again so I didn't really get around the area until Sunday. Rita was eerie with all the traffic lights and stop lights out everywhere, but it was downright dangerous this past weekend because there was so much debris and high water in the area that it was really risky to go driving around at night. The water did subside though and the zero contact I had with the outside world was replaced with the sound of voices coming from the radio. For a time, the car was my source of AC and news because I had no power to watch tv. Like a fool I didn't take this hurricane very seriously. I stocked up on food and gas, but not batteries to power a boom box or a flash light.
And what food I bought was going to waste hour by hour. My dad brought over some ice, but I knew I would only have that ice for two days tops!! Luckily my parents got their power back on late Saturday and I was able to charge my cell phone and my laptop. Prior to late Saturday, I was only turning my phone on to check for texts and voicemails, or to call home, since there was still phone service at my parents' house. I've been at the parents' house ever since because life at the apartment complex is pretty sucky with no power. To make matters worse, I have a leaky vent in the bathroom that keeps dropping nasty smelling water on my floor. It's getting into the carpet right outside of the bathroom and making it smell something awful. I can't get ahold of the maintennance man though and since there is no power in the main office, I can't call there. I might just have to find out another way to get in touch with him so the work order is in place. I need it looked at as quickly as possible. I am a little concerned he will stumble upon my cats because I haven't paid the pet deposit yet, but I really need that looked at. It started happening right BEFORE the hurricane and it really made going to the bathroom shitty -- no pun intended.
Hurricane Ike close to making landfall...
Well, ain't this a bitch!!
I really thought the storm would go further south to Corpus Christi, but it did this crazy upswing and is now targeting Galveston. At work yesterday all anyone could talk about was the hurricane. Silly me didn't pay it too much mind when it was far away out in the Gulf, but I should have heeded the weather forcasting prowess of two people on my team. All week they were keeping an eye on the thing for us all. I thought they were hyping the hurricane too much but it turns out they were right all along about it being a much bigger deal than Rita!! They let us from work today thank god!! I seriously thought I would be battling traffic in the morning and having to deal with the craziness that has ensured all day today. I topped off my gas tank Wednesday night. I was going to wait until tomorrow but I am glad my mom convinced me to go out because now all the gas stations have spiked up the cost of gas 2o to 30 cents, but the gas is quickly running out. There isn't any bread to be found either. I woke up this morning after passing out from visiting Jason last night to do some last minute grocery shopping. The line at Kroger was a normal line. It wasn't atrocious at all. There was plenty of food to be found in the store, minus bread of course. I got the essentials (apples, potatoes, cans of soup [those bitches were 40 cents a piece at Kroger!!], canned pears, deli meat, A hormel's complete meal, cat fish filets, aluminum foil for the potatoes, and brownie mix). Everything else I bought last week.
I have been hunkering down in my bed catching up on sleep and staying off the roads. Besides this morning, I have been taking catnaps with my two cats. I think they are rubbing off on me because everytime I am home, I feel sleepy right around the time they feel sleepy. I want to to go to the Fitness Center, but my energy is stilll kind of sapped from venturing out to see Jason last night. good times, good times indeed. He's in a whole new spot but he's still the same Jason. We were supposed to get together today, but I imagine he is catching up on his own sleep. Heh. I am not really worried about the rain as much as I am about these hurricane force winds. When Rita came through, it was barely a whimper. There was maybe a few minutes of sprinkling and then it dissapated. Not so with Ike I think. There is a window in my living room and two windows in my bedroom, but I am going to hope for the best. With my luck , someone will have forgotten to put up a potted plant and it will go flying through my window lol.
READ HERE if you like Electronic Dance Music!!
Lineup!
9-10: JC Venegas
10-11: George Anastasiou
11-12: Wes Walz
91.
7 FM KTRU Live
Tune in Over the Internet Here
As I listen to Eric Prydz....
Eric Prydz live @ Studio 88 part 5
I am wondering if it was such a good idea to buy a second kitten only a few days after Elvis arrived here. Elvis seems to be doing ok. Then again, I will have spent three full days with him. During the week I am gone at work all day until 6pm so the kitten has been up to its own devices during the latter half of this week. Lucky for me, he only had to be home by himself Friday. I've spent a ton of time with him since then. Everything I read online indicated it is best to have two kittens so that the one won't get lonely. I know some people who only have one cat and the cat gets along fine being the only cat in the house, so I was probably better off with just having Elvis to start with, but everyone's situation is different. The World Wide Web suggests introducing the cats over a few days and not allowing them to see one another. What I might just do is keep the new kitten in the crate I bought and have Elvis come up to sniff it. I don't feel like spending DAYS having them separated in different rooms when the apartment is kind of small to begin with. The new kitten might become nervous or get anxiety, so I think I'm just going to hope for the best tomorrow lol. Elvis is 2 months old and so is this new kitten. Elvis will always be my first-born, so to speak haha. This is the closest I will ever get to having kids of my own.
Thursday and counting....
Seventeen minutes before I am supposed to turn into bed. *YAWNNN* NOT!! I am not sleepy at all. If I go and watch some television on the couch, my eyes might get droopy. I think it is all that fudge brownie I ate earlier. what I need right now is my kitty Elvis!! Actually, what I need more than him is these covers for electrical outlets around the apartment. I am also going to have to push stuff up agaisnt the wall somehow. The apartment isn't fully kitty proofed yet, but I'm fixing to finish pouring the litter into his litter box so it can be all ready for him. I am kind of scared of cat pee smelling up the apartment, but Elvis is worth any smells he might cause :D
I am also excited that Friday and a 3 day weekend is near!!! I have no plans for Labor Day except to see a movie or two, provided I am paid on time :) I also need to satisfy my craving for sushi. It's been so long since I have had any and I just cannot resort to buying it at the likes of Kroger. HEB has good sushi but there isn't an HEB nearby and it is expensive there!!! Times like these I wish the north side had decent sushi restaurants within driving distance.
WHEW!!
Looks like the student loan went through. SOOOO relieved. Well kinda. There's other stuff coming through but as long as the student loan is paid for, i don't care about the other stuff. Today I make my triumphant return back to work. I have no idea what is waiting for me. If I had to take an educated guess, retirees, cranky old men, high strung spouses of employees, and people who can't keep up with their billing are going to be calling in. I have one particular case that I really need to get working on. It is going to require going back into events run on the account back to Annual Enrollment. It's quite the doozy but I definitely want to get this taken care of. The less workflows in my court the better, especially ones that are created due to no fault of the customer!!!
In other news, I watched Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention last night. Hillary is very much the politician, but I have some respect for her. I mean, the woman attempted to defy the odds and run for president. I wanted her nowhere near the White House, but you have to respect her grit. Last night she was pretty inspiring, making the speech more about women and her role in furthering the American dreams of not just women, but ordinary Americans. She also handed over the torch to Obama and asked her supporters to get behind him. She asked an important question towards the end of her speech that I certainly hope resonates with her supporters, some of whom are grumbling still and are thinking of defecting over to the McCain camp, which would make absolutely no sense considering they would have little in common with his platform if they were TRUE supporters of Clinton's. The question was this (paraphrased here of course, due to my terrible memory):
"Did you vote for me, or for the single mom....the soldier fighting.....etc etc"
I thought that brought it all home and redeemed Hillary Clinton from the low road she took during the race to the Democratic nomination. Yes, there was some pandering and a little bit of ego that reared its head occasionally, but the speech was a good one. One can only hope that the Democrats unite so that Mccain does not get into the presidency. I think he would be a good leader if his mind wasn't wrapped around national security issues and the war on terror. THere is too much going on at home that needs addressing to spend at least 4 more years continuing down the same path of wasteful spending on large overseas missions to fight terror.
A Good Life Update!!! ZACK ATTTACKKK!! :D
I got my check yesterday and ZACK popped up out of nowhere. The dude has something like a beard now. He definitely still has that Louisiana vibe. I don't think you can ever take the Louisiana out of a person. My mom is a good example. She hopped next door to Texas, but her LA ways shine through in her musings and in the kitchen too lol. It was really cool to see Zack. It was even cooler that he paid me a visit. I had to rush to tidy up the place as best as I could in a few minutes, but I ended up shooting my bra across the room for a 3 pointer anyway. I had forgotten one near the couch. HAHAHa. Zack didn't seem to mind. He popped open his beer and we got to talking. He couldn't stay too long as he was on his way to Huntsville, but he did leave me with an Outkast CD. Friday night was pretty boring from then on but I am saving all my energies for the next 3 days. I am off Monday and Tuesday, so I am going to take the time I have off to really get around to doing all the things being near broke kept me from doing before like furniture shopping, grocery shopping, and going to the movies.
Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder are on the MUST SEE List. I am not really a fan of Ben Stiller movies, but man this one actually looks hilarious. I mean, if Robert Downey Jr. decided to star in this clusterf**k of a flick, it can't be too bad right? There is another movie out I really want to see called Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The trailer has kept that movie in the back of my head as one of those chance flicks that don't get a lot of summer blockbuster movie marketing, but is a good bet. Plus, how can you go wrong with a film shot in Spain?
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