layout skeleton by ravenclawbest . Graphics and various tinkerings/modifications by me.

I got my pictures of the condo uploaded. I took a picture of the view from the front door down the hallway, but I don't have it on the comp because I took it on a seperate trip, so I'll add it later. LJ gallery: Olive66.

Escrow was funded just after 4PM, so Molly & I tore back across town (kinda) from Old Glendale and got the keys right after 5 PM.

I asked when we'd be getting our LCD flat panel HDTV, and they said probably Monday. Too bad we won't have cable service till next Saturday at the earliest. We're going to start moving things in tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to the moving stuff part at all, but I'll be glad when its all done, I think.

Congrats to us!

Marty signed the paperwork for the condo today, so we've closed on it.

We got a surprise, though. The builder suddenly sprung this agreement on us which states that (and I paraphrase): "the buyer agrees to not install a washer/dryer in the purchased unit after the close of escrow." It also stated in that the builder never led anyone to believe that a washer/dryer of any kind could be installed, etc.

This is a big issue, because this was the one thing that we requested be guaranteed to us in writing and we were told when we were looking and when we signed the purchase agreement that we would be able to put in a combo washer/dryer, and now this agreement totally renegs all of that.

It bothers me for that reason only, that we were greatly misled on a very important amenity and, had we known that this laundry issue would come up, I seriously doubt we would have purchased at Olive66.

Since we're technically not "installing" anything (the combo unit is something that can be rolled in and out at-will like any other appliance; it is not a permanent fixture), Marty feels confident we'll be OK, and I'm OK with it on those grounds as well, but it will seriously suck a year down the road if they come and tell us we have to remove the washer/dryer.

I'm gonna upload photos of the unit later. We did our walkthrough and found a lot of small things. The only major thing is the front door isn't fitting the doorframe properly; we noticed a lot of light coming in around the frame, and that indicates air-leakage. They're going to fix that along with everything else.

I have to run to catch Molly so we can look at pantries. I'm really excited!

Its New Year's Eve.


I'm at work.


I'm sick.


The Jaguars are losing.


This sucks.


On the bright side, I've probably had enough white tea with honey that my body is ripe with loverly antioxidants and my free radical count might be down.


Hopefully.

Oh wow! We're gonna have a new home for the new year!

Marty and I (known as "M&M" to the family now) are doing what will be our final walkthrough of the condo on Friday. Then, Marty was told that we should be funded within 24 hours, so we should have our key the next day! SCWEET!

I am going to take pictures of the condo before we move our things in so people can see how nice it was before we started living there. Well, my hope is it STAYS nice (and my plan is to take good care of it), but we'll see.

We still haven't officially decided on which washer/dryer combo we want to buy. Its a 2-in-1 machine like they have in Europe and Asia, not a stackable, and the only drawback is that it has like a 3 hour drying cycle, so we have to do our laundry before we go to work, as soon as we get home, and when we go to bed, and the loads must be relatively small, too. Its just two of us, so it shouldn't be too bad, and in a pinch, there is an on-site laundry less than 500 feet from our front door. The one we seem to like best is the LG Electronics Ventless WM3632H combintaion washer-dryer. We need to get our exact measurments and decide if we're going to get this, since we'll probably have to order it.

Marty and I don't have any real plans for New Year's, other than maybe drinking a bottle of Martinelli's (yum!). I work New Year's Eve, but its a short day, so it'll be nice. Oh what will I do when I have to go back to a regular 5-day work week? After vacation, then Christmas, then New Year's, I've had a ton of short weeks. Bleh!

Meh.

Bleh.

Note to self: stop eating food from the cafeteria at work. Any time I order anything heavier than a sandwich (like a burger or chicken fingers), the food is always really heavy and, no matter how little of it I eat, my stomach always feels like its going to burst and I feel really icky for the rest of the night. On top of it making me feel weird, its also hella expensive: $7.50 for a cheeseburger, bag of Baked Lays, and a bottle of water, and the stuff isn't even that good. I mean, its decent, but I've had better for much less. I buy their salads once in awhile, but those are expensive and not so great, either. I really need to start making lunch at home and bringing it to work with me, but there is that ever-present threat of someone stealing it from the fridge, so I could wind up buying lunch anyway.

I'm trying to lose weight, too. Eating at home versus eating out would be so much better for that. Not a ton of weight, just enough to get me back into my old clothes (size 4s), so that'd be like, 7-8lbs that I need to drop, mainly off my hips and thighs.

C'est la vie.

Well, Marty and I went out yesterday to reserve a Wii. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), by the time we got to our local GameStop, there were no Wii units left to reserve. The store manager told us they only had 18 to reserve, and that the people had camped out to get them first thing in the morning. 18? Is that low expectations for sales, or maybe just a bit of this?

Well, a couple of good things did come out of our trip. We reserved FFXII: The Collectors Edition, which looks to be pretty cool, and we found this AWESOMELY GORGEOUS game called "Okami." A friend of mine online had told me about it, and I was looking for it but I couldn't remember the name, only that it involved the player playing as Amaterasu in Wolf form, and painting Japanese-style in the game.

I saw the game guide for it and just about freaked out. I asked the clerk if they had it, and he said "definately." He told me it was an awesome game, too, and so I bought it along with the game guide (it has gorgeous artwork in it).

The game itself is pretty awesome. You play as Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. You've come to rescue Nippon in the form of a white wolf, and you will use your skills both as a fighter and as an artist to restore the balance in the world. You can paint bridges, suns, and flowers with your brush and make them magically appear. And when you move, flowers and grasses spring up beneath your feet a la the Spirit of the Forest in "Princess Mononoke." Its eeffing awesome. Here are some scans I made of the actual guide:



Screenshots:
http://www.cloverstudio.co.jp/img/title_pic/okami_ss/okami_07.jpg
http://www.futuregamez.net/ps2games/okami/okami3.jpg
http://modetwo.net/users/nachimir/vga/media/okami-001.jpg

Developer website:
http://www.o-kami.jp/

Gamespy preview (has video footage):
http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/okami/708264p1.html

The only thing that I DIDN'T like was the voice-effects. There is a LOT of text in this game, and the characters "read" it a la "Animal Crossing" with garbled nonsense vocalizations. In "Animal Crossing," at least the intonations vary and it doesn't get too annoying. In this game, all of the "words" sound alike and there is little emotional inflection at all, so the "talking" gets really annoying, really fast. I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to shut it off, but for now, I just deal with it or hit mute. That is the ONLY thing I can find wrong with this game. Its just that awesome.

Go out and get it if you can~!

Marty is in bed feeling unwell. We had wanted to watch Avatar tonight, but it was a rerun. Too bad. I hate how they are stringing us along by making the season last longer than it really should.

BUT!

I was flipping channels about half an hour ago, and I found a PUCCA cartoon on TOONDisney! Its basically the flash cartoon, but on TV! Its very cute!

The episodes are all new, and they're like, 7 minute shorts presented as a 30 minute show. Pucca and Garu don't talk at all, they just make cutesy noises (just like in the online cartoon), but there are other people in the cast who DO talk, and it really works well. I like the Bruce Lee guy. <3

PUCCA comes on the JETIX portion of TOONDisney at 8AM EST on Saturdays, according to the commercial I just heard. Watch it!

Taken from a BBS on Geisha clothing/culture/etc (http://www.immortalgeisha.com/ig_bb/viewtopic.php?t=4483):

Atropos wrote:
"Due to the insane expense, and inability to find everything you need to wear a kimono - I have resorted to making my own things. Obijim, nagajuban, obiage, everything can be made at home for little cost and just a little bit of time.

I ahve spent quiet sometime shopping around - looking for a good cheap source of fabric and parts. The Walmart fabric department is by far the cheapest place to get fabric and other odds and ends.

Today I went to walmart and I took my wedding kimono with me (my arms were dying carrying that thing). It's Walmart.....there should be -0- problems with me taking a kimono there because theres no way anyone could think I was stealing it.

Oh...I had problems. I get stopped at the door and the first thing they want to do is put a sticker on the silk kimono.....here's how it played out

"Ms, we need to puta sticker on that" - employee
"No, you don't....first off its silk and the sticker will damage it. Second it an authentic japanese wedding kimono - come on..it not like walmart sells these..who the hell would think I'm stealing this?" - me
Dead silent from employee and vacant stupid staring to follow. Finally... "Oh, I should talk to my manager, because we have to put a stick on all outside products so we know your not stealing it."
"Wait, how could anyone think I'm stealing a real silk wedding kimono from Walmart?! Seriously - since when the hell did Walmart carry $10,000 japanese kimonos?!"
More dead silence from employee, confused looked and finally she waddles off to get a manager.

The manager arrives.
"Miss, we put stickers on everything from outside that comes into the store." - manager says while eyeing my kimono with confusion and awe in her eyes.
"Well, your NOT putting a sticker on my kimono. I need to bring it to the fabric department to match fabric to it. That's all I want to do." - me
"Well, we put stickers on everything that comes into the store." - manager
"It's not going on my kimono. Seriously, come on, who will think I'm stealing this? Walmart does -not- sell authentic japanese wedding kimonos made of pure silk...." - me.

As you can see..it went in a circle like this for a while with a lot of confused employees watching, and bemused customers as well.

In the end...I won and no damn sticker went on my kimono......and walmart is all the more stupid in my book."

I agree! Three cheers for Wal-Mart!

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Well, his speech the other day was what I wanted to hear. That might be all it is, but its a start.

He made 4 points, if I remember properly.

1. Grant illegals with a proven employment record of several years at least, a clean criminal record, plus family ties to the United States, a path to citizenship. The thing that makes this REALLY great, though, is that they

a) have to pay a fine of some kind for coming into the country illegally and not paying taxes, etc for all of these years.
b) have to stand in line behind people immigrating legally from other countries.

So no amnesty. No special favors other than not kicking them back to Mexico directly.

2. Guest worker program. The only problem I have with this is that there are a huge number of illegals who entered the U.S. legally but who stayed beyond the expiration of their visas. So who enforces this "guest worker" program? Who makes sure these people leave when their period is up? And moreover, who would WANT to go back to Mexico after working here?

3. Securing the border. GWB wants to fortify the southern border with National Guard troops. I think this is a great idea. However, he severely handicaps their effectiveness by not allowing them to make arrests themselves. They instead are "support" for the Border Patrol. There has also been approval for a wall to be built. Both are a start in the right direction.

4. I don't remember number 4, but I don't remember disagreeing with anything he said, so I must've liked it.

Good job, Mr. President.

...but what about the average American?

The average American is still choosing to buy and choosing to drive those gas-guzzling SUVs, pickups, and large-sized sedans. Well, even a large sedan gets better milage than a lot of SUVs and large pickup trucks.

Why aren't average Americans doing more about gas prices instead of pointing the finger at a convienient scapegoat and then standing around bitching about it? Every single person in this country has a responsibility to do what they can to conserve fuel, and practicing good gasoline habits will have a long-term impact on prices.

Firstly (and this is common-sense to some), make one outing and get several things done. HOWEVER, for this to be effective you must plan your route in advance so you aren't doubling back or using inefficient routes. Also, sitting in idle and constantly stopping and restarting (as at a stoplight or in heavy traffic) is more wasteful than moving at a constant speed; when planning a route, one that has fewer stoplights and/or less congestion might be easier on your gas tank even if it means you have to drive a longer distance.

Secondly, instead of using a drive-through at your favorite fast-food place (or coffee-shop *cough*), park, turn off the car, and go inside. Its incredibly wasteful to sit in a drive-through with the engine running. Drive-throughs are meant to be fast, but oftentimes they're not and you might find yourself sitting there, engine on and gas-a-wastin', for 15-20 minutes. Same goes for car-washes, dry-cleaners, etc. If you absolutely MUST sit in your car, turn the engine off.

Lastly, don't waste money buying something you don't need. This means if you don't absolutely NEED the extra space, off-road capability, hauling power, and 4059 horse-power engine of that SUV or pickup truck, then don't buy it. Don't buy it to satisfy your ego unless you are willing (and happy) to silently pay the cost-to-own this vehicular penis-pump. It also means don't waste money buying mid-grade or premium gas if your engine doesn't absolutely need it.

So, why don't more Americans practice these basic things? None of them are incredibly complex maneuvers, and in fact, ALL of them are just plain common sense. If there was a reduced demand, there would be a reduction in prices. That's how our economy works. Also, reduced consumption means that people won't have to spend as much as often, either. I think the reason Americans don't do these things is because we are largely selfish, and that's about the only reason. We're certainly not stupid. Sigh.

Oh yeah. I baked peanut butter cookies today. I also washed out the plastic storageware that Molly gave to us, as well as the cups she gave to Marty for Easter. I did all of the laundry (our washer/dryer both suck...washer has no fabric-softner dispenser, and I bought some liquid not realizing this so now I have to buy a Downy Ball somewhere, and the dryer just takes forever to dry anything, and I don't think it has a buzzer) but there are still loads in both the washer and dryer. I feel like I've been very housewife-ish, and I am kind of enjoying it, but I know it can't go on. I need to get a job. I haven't heard back from the apartments on the leasing agent position yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

...look at what the U.S. government is doing to legal citizens.

( Read more... )

I really thought we were beyond the period where people considered it "OK" to forcibly relocate Native people from their land. Apparently, though this is the 21st century instead of the 19th century, we haven't come very far. Its sickening.

Email/write/fax your representatives so that this can be prevented!

I've become addicted to "Native American Historical Romances."

Until a week ago, I never in my life would have been caught dead in the Romance section of a bookstore. My overall feeling was that bodice-rippers were for girls who were a) extremely sappy, b) extremely lonely, or c) lacked appreciation for real literature. I don't fit into any of those categories.

Anyway, I was out of town with work and hit Wal-Mart (ugh) with Leah. I wandered into the "book" section (crappy selection, I must add) and after almost buying "The Fair Tax" book, I instead picked up this little gem with a pretty cover called "The Spirit of the Wolf." I thought it might be an adventure novel with romance mingling in somewhere, and it was, basically. Well, not really. I mean, the relationship between the two main characters drove the story, but it wasn't really smutty at all. So I -guiltily- enjoyed it.

This led me to buy more books by the same author (there was a Barnes & Nobles near the hotel). Oh wow. I couldn't have laughed harder. In "The Angel and the Warrior" this author not only reused the exact plot from the book I'd just read, but she even recycles many of her lines, my favorite being "[he would go/it drove him] quietly out of his mind," as well as many situations (the stand-out is the whole "frolicking in a stream" scene that is present in every single book). The other book, "The Princess and the Wolf," was a bit more original and less straight-forward, as the couple had a vicious falling-out before the book started that was so great that the Native American crossed the Atlantic from Spain to American to escape her. So it was strained, but there was never any doubt they'd be together in the end.

Well, I can't believe I'm enjoying these bits of fluff so thoroughly. One good thing has come of it, though. It has renewed my interest in my blood, as I have Cherokee running through my veins. I want to contact my estranged aunt so that I can find out the man's exact name (all I know is it is a French surname--it was not uncommon that Native Americans were forced to adopt the name of European settlers) since she's the one with all of the genelogical information on that side of my family. This has also awakened my eyes to what the Europeans-cum-Americans did to the Native Americans over the last 500 years. The natives were almost eradicated, their populations falling to less than 300,000 towards the end of the 19th century. It makes me feel guilty (irrationally so, I know) for all of the times that our Anglo ancestors cheated the Native Americans out of their homes, and killed them for defending what was rightfully theirs.

Its sad. We effectively wiped several distinct cultures from the face of the Earth, and nothing today can undo that atrocity. Even now, the people on the reservations are still treated as lesser citizens. Maybe once I am in Arizona, I'll be able to better understand what goes on there. Maybe.

My grandfather died on Friday, at approximately 4:30 PM.

I am very saddened by this; Yet, I feel like I'm not as sad as maybe I should be. I haven't seen that side of my family in around ten years, nor have I had any other contact whatsoever. In fact, the only news I hear about my relatives in Michigan is how my aunt and uncles are not taking very good care of my grandparents, and are actually more or less stealing from thim. It is very sad.

I'm not going to the funeral. I'm moving across the country in just over a week, and I still have so much to do, so I didn't feel like I had the time to devote to driving from Florida to Michigan and back (four days total for the drive alone). I'm going to call, send a card and flowers, but I'm sorry that I won't be in attendance. I wanted to go, and had it been any other time, I would have.


I also found out Leah's grandmother is sick with pnuemonia. She's pretty elderly, so I don't know if she'll be able to get better, but I certainly hope so.

Pretty funny story. :)

http://www.zug.com/pranks/walmart/index.html

The pricing here in Jacksonville is so off-kilter.

For AMC Theaters, its $6.50 to go to a matinee.
For Tinseltown (the nicer theater, by the way) its $4.75 for a matinee.

I prefer Tinseltown anyway. But now that I no longer know anyone at the AMC, maybe I'll go there more often. It just always felt weird going back and finding people that I worked with when I was 17-20 years old still there, in the same positions.

Oh yeah. My back hurts, right at the base of my spine. Its a dull ache, but if I put too much weight on that area, it hurts a bit worse. Well, not really hurts, just feels uncomfortable. I think I slept wrong last night, and I've been holding my back in a wonky posture, so now the muscles are overtensed. It will probably feel better in the morning, if I relax.

Oh, its 00:18. Merry Christmas, world!

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/


All about Iraq, from an Iraqi's perspective.

Now I'm off to steam-clean my bathroom. Fun times! Fun times.