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It occurred to me yesterday that I haven't posted in a while, since the stress caught up with me two weeks ago. Well, I have my reasons, as it turns out.
Well, weekend before last, I took it easy, slept and played and started the week looking forward to taking Friday off, working for the Friends of the Library Booksale and then another two days off to recover.
Monday was a Monday, and then Tuesday the roof fell in. Sort of. It started dripping on me. Building maintenance was called, I hastily draped plastic over my beloved iMac, and they took out the ceiling panels above me, then had to call the electrician to unhook the light fixture through which water was dripping, and then the plumbers to turn off the ice machine on the floor above. All for a leaky drain.
Only they couldn't fix the drain, now could they? They had to special order parts, and maybe the next day, so I cleared as much crap off my desk as possible (which was a lot - I'm a piler, and a packrat, and that makes for lots of piles) and went off to another building to beat my head against some recalcitrant printers.
Wednesday morning I didn't even bother to go to my desk first - I went back to the printers and finally tracked down the rogue jammed print jobs, fingered the culprit for the rest of the lab to dun for a round of drinks and finally headed in. The electrician had shown up, followed shortly by the plumber, and the repair was underway! Except I sort of needed a desk and a phone, so I wandered off to displace a fellow and get on hold with the IBM repair shop.
When I returned after lunch, the electrician was replacing the light fixture, and I was looking forward to sitting down for a change. Until some suspicious substance, remarkably like water, started dripping again. The electrician hadn't even left! I threw up my hands in disgust, and left him to call the plumber back, only to be informed that while the drain pipe had been fixed, the ice machine itself was leaking all over the floor, bypassing the drain entirely, and landing on my head.
Fine, whatever. Not that I need to work at my computer or anything, or finish up some last things before I left Thursday. Nooooooo. I dismantled my iMac setup to get it out of the way of both workers and water, and left.
Thursday, drapes against the drip everywhere, and I could get to my PC, but of course I only needed to deal with the Macs, right?
I washed my hands of it all late Thursday, handed over what I could, and promised various sorts I'd help them next week when I wasn't flooded away from my desk.
Ah, bliss! Ah, vacation! Ah, books! Only to realize Friday morning that while I'd put in for the time off 6 months ago, I'd recieved my reminder notice for membership and volunteering during the Great March HIPAA Madness, and left it on my desk to rot. Err. Oops? At which point I chucked it all, and sat down to play WoW all afternoon. I didn't even get in line for the books when the sale opened, simply waited until the great first rush was in, paid for my membership and got my limit. No plan, no hauling of books, no clandestine survey of the SF section for the gems. I missed the waiting in line, and instead of haring out before the rush to the cashiers, I got stuck with the hordes. It really does pay to get there early.
The weekend was nice and leisurely - I did some small bits of housework and cleaning, and played a lot of WoW. My plant starts are coming along nicely - Laurier hasn't eaten the squash the way he did the cukes last year, so that's a relief. Monday afternoon it was too nice to stay inside, so I took my book and went to the P-Patch to read in the sun.
Then Dru took it into his head to drop by work and surprise me. He got the surprise - I hadn't mentioned my mini vacation (mostly because I wasn't really going anywhere) but biked a little further and we sat in the garden and chatted for a while. His new girlfriend is really sweet, and decidedly less neurotic than the last one. I hope they stick together for a while yet.
Tuesday was even more beautiful, and I decided to take the bike for a spin. Mom had given me her old yellow Schwinn (might be older than me, it's certainly close) and had it overhauled. New brakes, new tires and tubes; I'd had Dru install my spiffy seat from the previous crapbike. Had to pump up the tires a bit before I started - it hadn't been ridden in ages. Got to one of the bike stores on the trail, and the front tire was looking a little low. I expected an automatic hose, but when I mentioned it, one of the clerks got a foot pump and volunteered to do it himself while I browsed. Eyed racks and fenders with a thought to making it my ride to work, and noted the clerk come back in. Was just feeling up those funky padded bike shorts when I heard a loud pop and a low hissing.
Er... Dread overwhelmed me. It couldn't be one of the new... nope - as I got closer to the outdoor bike rack, it was definitely my front tire deflated. But, of all places for the air valve to blow up (couldn't just be a simple hole, now could it?) a bike store was definitely the best. And because he'd been the one to pump it to bursting, the clerk didn't charge me labor for the new tube. (Tube was only $5, so I wasn't complaining.)
Pottered on down to the UVillage and poked at the phones in Radio Shack. The battery on my cordless at home has been giving out in increasingly shorter intervals - Saturday I'd only talked to Mom for 1/2 hour, and it needed replacing. Bought a cheap set with dual handsets (kitchen and computer) and caller id (so I can leave the solicitors to voicemail). Biked home (did I mention the gorgeous day? Cloudless sky, flowers in bloom... Loves Seattle, we does, my precious.) and installed the phones.
Absolutely no charge in the batteries. Couple hours later? Still no charge. Finally, right before I went to bed, I actually opened the handsets, hooked up the batteries inside (whodathunk?) and by this morning they were working. Still need a test drive, but I got the package of buttons from Mom (and a decidedly skimpy knit top, and a 20-year old bathing suit) so I should call her soon.
So now I am back at work, and I have about 2 weeks of LJ and email to catch up on. Whee!
Well, weekend before last, I took it easy, slept and played and started the week looking forward to taking Friday off, working for the Friends of the Library Booksale and then another two days off to recover.
Monday was a Monday, and then Tuesday the roof fell in. Sort of. It started dripping on me. Building maintenance was called, I hastily draped plastic over my beloved iMac, and they took out the ceiling panels above me, then had to call the electrician to unhook the light fixture through which water was dripping, and then the plumbers to turn off the ice machine on the floor above. All for a leaky drain.
Only they couldn't fix the drain, now could they? They had to special order parts, and maybe the next day, so I cleared as much crap off my desk as possible (which was a lot - I'm a piler, and a packrat, and that makes for lots of piles) and went off to another building to beat my head against some recalcitrant printers.
Wednesday morning I didn't even bother to go to my desk first - I went back to the printers and finally tracked down the rogue jammed print jobs, fingered the culprit for the rest of the lab to dun for a round of drinks and finally headed in. The electrician had shown up, followed shortly by the plumber, and the repair was underway! Except I sort of needed a desk and a phone, so I wandered off to displace a fellow and get on hold with the IBM repair shop.
When I returned after lunch, the electrician was replacing the light fixture, and I was looking forward to sitting down for a change. Until some suspicious substance, remarkably like water, started dripping again. The electrician hadn't even left! I threw up my hands in disgust, and left him to call the plumber back, only to be informed that while the drain pipe had been fixed, the ice machine itself was leaking all over the floor, bypassing the drain entirely, and landing on my head.
Fine, whatever. Not that I need to work at my computer or anything, or finish up some last things before I left Thursday. Nooooooo. I dismantled my iMac setup to get it out of the way of both workers and water, and left.
Thursday, drapes against the drip everywhere, and I could get to my PC, but of course I only needed to deal with the Macs, right?
I washed my hands of it all late Thursday, handed over what I could, and promised various sorts I'd help them next week when I wasn't flooded away from my desk.
Ah, bliss! Ah, vacation! Ah, books! Only to realize Friday morning that while I'd put in for the time off 6 months ago, I'd recieved my reminder notice for membership and volunteering during the Great March HIPAA Madness, and left it on my desk to rot. Err. Oops? At which point I chucked it all, and sat down to play WoW all afternoon. I didn't even get in line for the books when the sale opened, simply waited until the great first rush was in, paid for my membership and got my limit. No plan, no hauling of books, no clandestine survey of the SF section for the gems. I missed the waiting in line, and instead of haring out before the rush to the cashiers, I got stuck with the hordes. It really does pay to get there early.
The weekend was nice and leisurely - I did some small bits of housework and cleaning, and played a lot of WoW. My plant starts are coming along nicely - Laurier hasn't eaten the squash the way he did the cukes last year, so that's a relief. Monday afternoon it was too nice to stay inside, so I took my book and went to the P-Patch to read in the sun.
Then Dru took it into his head to drop by work and surprise me. He got the surprise - I hadn't mentioned my mini vacation (mostly because I wasn't really going anywhere) but biked a little further and we sat in the garden and chatted for a while. His new girlfriend is really sweet, and decidedly less neurotic than the last one. I hope they stick together for a while yet.
Tuesday was even more beautiful, and I decided to take the bike for a spin. Mom had given me her old yellow Schwinn (might be older than me, it's certainly close) and had it overhauled. New brakes, new tires and tubes; I'd had Dru install my spiffy seat from the previous crapbike. Had to pump up the tires a bit before I started - it hadn't been ridden in ages. Got to one of the bike stores on the trail, and the front tire was looking a little low. I expected an automatic hose, but when I mentioned it, one of the clerks got a foot pump and volunteered to do it himself while I browsed. Eyed racks and fenders with a thought to making it my ride to work, and noted the clerk come back in. Was just feeling up those funky padded bike shorts when I heard a loud pop and a low hissing.
Er... Dread overwhelmed me. It couldn't be one of the new... nope - as I got closer to the outdoor bike rack, it was definitely my front tire deflated. But, of all places for the air valve to blow up (couldn't just be a simple hole, now could it?) a bike store was definitely the best. And because he'd been the one to pump it to bursting, the clerk didn't charge me labor for the new tube. (Tube was only $5, so I wasn't complaining.)
Pottered on down to the UVillage and poked at the phones in Radio Shack. The battery on my cordless at home has been giving out in increasingly shorter intervals - Saturday I'd only talked to Mom for 1/2 hour, and it needed replacing. Bought a cheap set with dual handsets (kitchen and computer) and caller id (so I can leave the solicitors to voicemail). Biked home (did I mention the gorgeous day? Cloudless sky, flowers in bloom... Loves Seattle, we does, my precious.) and installed the phones.
Absolutely no charge in the batteries. Couple hours later? Still no charge. Finally, right before I went to bed, I actually opened the handsets, hooked up the batteries inside (whodathunk?) and by this morning they were working. Still need a test drive, but I got the package of buttons from Mom (and a decidedly skimpy knit top, and a 20-year old bathing suit) so I should call her soon.
So now I am back at work, and I have about 2 weeks of LJ and email to catch up on. Whee!
