ardina_13

updates

2009-04-20T03:02:58Z

yay for time to update! boo for being bored!

So, one of the systems I need to access to do work on Sundays is down, which means I'm sitting here for the next 6 hours with really nothing to do except make one training manual. And since the information I wanted to access to make said training manual requires me to have an unexpired password, I'm really SOL. I've already checked out all of my online stuff, and have nothing left to read (What's that Jim? It's something most people never see; it's the End of the Internet!)

Sometimes being too well organized is a curse instead of a blessing...

So, let me ramble on about a couple of the topics that are currently looming large in my life.

1st, I really don't get the fascination with Facebook. Most of the newspapers and such out there have these stories warning people not to spend too much time on Facebook, or you'll lose track of your life and what's important to you. Well, I work overnight, when there's not much to do, and even on days like today, I can honestly say that I don't see how it's possible to spend too much time on Facebook... There's really just not that much to do on there... Let's see, you read the updates from your friends; you update your own status; you take a few quizes, and then you sit there with nothing to do... I really don't get what the fuss is about at all!

2nd, classes this quarter are so far proving to be more of what I have in mind for this program. It's less taking shots every week for a different project, and more time spent planning for the shots and projects that you will have - this is the way these classes should be going! I understand that the school is run on the thought of "if they take 50 million photos, at least some of them will turn out nicely", but in reality, having the early classes focus on taking lots of photos means that the students feel rushed into taking anything that's convenient since they don't have time for something that requires planning and effort. So, even though the classes this quarter may not be my favorites, I think I might actually enjoy it a bit more than I expected to do!

3rd,wedding planning is getting there. There's a bunch of stuff to iron out still, esp. with the honeymoon, but overall it's not doing too poorly. Though I am still waiting on the florist to call with her estimate for us. I think the wedding is going to turn out very nicely, which is really all we can ask for. But, as both of us are agreed that the main things are that we are there with 2 witnesses at least, even if the wedding is a disaster, it'll still be good :-) I have to say that I love the fact that I'm marrying my best friend - it's already like we have a sleepover every night since we laugh ourselves to sleep half the time.

BTW, whenever anyone tells you that relationships are hard work, tell them they are in the wrong relationship! Seamus and I can both tell you honestly that never has a relationship been so easy before. I think the people that say it's supposed to be hard work are the ones who've been disappointed and want to have an excuse to stay in the situation.

yay!!!!!

2008-11-05T09:24:03Z

i have to post this one here to avoid rubbing it in the faces of the parentals, but for the first time in 8 years I have some hope for this nation! And, I'm not just talking about the presidential election, but also about the issues that were up for vote besides. Maybe we can finally have some of the rest of the world not detest us on pure principles....

Unfortunately, I am once again dealing with a massive headache; making this about the 5th time in two weeks. I'm really getting tired of these headaches, but since I know that part of it is due to my sleeping schedule, there's not a lot I can do for the rest of the quarter except try to rest and relax when I can. So, this is a short post!

Samhein fun :-)

2008-11-03T09:01:34Z

So, this year we went to Pandy's for her Samhein celebration, which was much fun as always. It included a walk in a cemetery that was unfamiliar to me, but which I think I'd enjoy visiting again on another evening, as it was quite active. I saw a ghost walking, which previously I've only had luck seeing ghosts in Gettysburg, not really round these parts. It also included finding a rather large area of influence that was handily marked by having a very large swath of dead grass in the entire area. Very interesting to say the least. Since Samhein is the beginning of the new year for me, I can't wait to see what this year will hold in store!

I hope you all had a wonderful time, and blessed be!

And life continues...

2008-11-03T08:56:56Z

(This is a repeat of my parent friendly blog for those that read that one - don't waste your time reading this one too :-) )

I just realized a couple of days ago how long it's been since I've blogged anywhere. Even then, in spite of my good intentions, it's taken me longer still to get back online. Life, or my lack of it continues. I'm in the middle of my 6th quarter back in school, and have 5 more to go after this one, assuming that I'm able to get the classes that I need. I'm starting to enjoy my program again after the mess I had last quarter. I'm sure everyone goes through a period of "why am I doing this to myself again...?" For me, the fact that I've gotten another promotion, and am now a manager in my department, with all that entailed in that (raise, more responsibility, etc), I asked myself even more that question. But, now I'm on the downslope of the program. I can do this, especially if I can just keep my momentum going. Of course, being able to use digital photography for all of my classes this quarter really helps :-)

I find myself out of patience with film. Don't get me wrong, I know some people love the format and never want to change, but I'm no longer one of those people. This is kind of amusing to me, as even a few years ago I was arguing against the necessity of switching formats. However, in that time, cameras have changed. We now have digital cameras capable of catching as much information as film was, with advantages that film will never be able to match. for instance, one of the things I hated the most in my early (film based) classes, was that if I was shooting a roll of film for one class, I had to finish that entire roll before I could take photos for my own enjoyment, or even for another class. With digital, I no longer have that issue. Overall effect, I can have fun taking photos again! No matter how engrossed I am in a particular subject, if I see something I want to photograph, and I can't because the roll is for classwork only, my enjoyment of photography goes just a bit downhill... I also love that fact that digital processing has gotten soo much easier as well (I LOVE Lightroom 2!!!). I went through the 422 photos of my brother's wedding (which was lovely btw) and got all of the work done on the photos, as well as narrowing them all down, in about 5 hours time all told. Before Lightroom, this would have taken me 20-25 hours. before digital, it would have taken me 2-3 weeks to do the printing on the ones I like. Big difference. And, of course, since I'm a hippie at heart, I love the lack of chemicals needed for every print that you do; and that everything I'm doing can be done on my computer! Digital has found a place in my heart, and it's not budging :-)

I am in that part of the quarter where my normal life has taken a back seat to my classes and work. My house is a disaster, and I doubt it's going to get fixed before this weekend. Of course, the fact that this past month was chaotic didn't really help. We made two large trips this month, including going out to Seattle for my brother's wedding, and then going to WI to visit Obrseamus's mom. We then had 2 parties to attend, and I had 2 field trips for class that messed with my schedule. So I guess I can deal with the mess as long as I get to clean it up SOON!!!!

On the plus side, we had a lovely domestic episode 2 weeks ago :-) I am more and more convinced that anything is fun if done with the right person! We had a blast, going to buy a new vacuum after the old one bit the dust and started smoking (Seamus's hair must be made of steel :P). And, while we were there, we looked around for a while at all of the kitchen stuff they had Sometimes all that saves us is knowing that we don't have ANY room for more kitchen stuff :-) On a sad note, one of our favorate linens/kitchen supplies stores in the area is going out of business, so I'll have to find a new place to torture myself.

In any case, I plan to get myself back on track this month, and by Thanksgiving, I will have updated my flicker, and have put some new images up to enjoy. Hopefully I'll also have the energy to continue blogging :-)

and time has passed

2008-06-20T02:49:54Z

so, I'm mostly done with my first week of no school for a month, and I've gotten a lot of stuff on my to-do list started and pretty far along, but for the past three days I've been exhausted as well. I'm hoping to turn this around next week, as I actually have some time off of work as well, without any major plans (cheers). That being said, I am checking (and responding) to LJ for the first time in months, and plan to do so again in the not too distant future (heh). I'll try to keep a bit more up-to-date on this for at least the next 3 weeks :-)

School countdown - 1 complete year done, 7 more quarters (21 months) to go!

Ugh...

2008-04-24T08:00:00Z

So, it's starting to get to the point where I need to sit down and make some decisions about my future. Some things I've already determined, and some things are still up in the air, but that's not going to be an option much longer. I need to decide where I want my focus in photography to be, because the focus that I choose is going to determine the focus I have when it comes to freelance jobs and internships through the school. They encourage you to go for different things, but they admit they want students to have some preferences to work with. This sounds easy, until you realize that the type of photography career you have will determine your home life. For instance, if I want National Geographic, and go for it, then that literally means no kids, since assignments can be for 6 months to several years in length. If I go for photojournalism, I will need to be available for news coverage as it happens, which will also be rather inconvenient for raising a family. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about children in the first place (for a number of different reasons), which is making this decision even harder. In addition, some forms of photography pay better than others, and I have to decide how much I want that to influence my decision too.

I'd pray for a sign, but I'm afraid that if I do, she'll answer, and then I'll be stuck (yes, I like my illusion of free will still...). This is one of those times that I just wish I could crawl into a hole for a few months until my mind makes itself up

OMG, I'm a geek....

2007-12-23T11:52:42Z

OK, I never thought this day would come, but I'm a geek :-(

	I received 77 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz canon s5 is

tired...

2007-10-16T03:41:54Z

All I can say is UGH!!!! My new work schedule is great, my new class schedule sucks! It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for Tuesdays... I get home at 6:45 AM, then need to be back downtown at 12:45 for class, then have a 4 hr break before work - not enough time to get home and sleep, so instead I've found an office to take a nap in here, which is somewhat less then comfortable, but makes me able to function for my shift and then class at 8 AM. After this quarter, all classes will be at 8 AM or at 6 PM (I'm sure I can sneak out 5 mins early to get to work, or get to work 5 mins late, either of which will be better than this. Between class and work, right now I'm home long enough to sleep during the week, and not much else. I love my sweetie for putting up with this, and for helping keep the house up, since there's no way I can do it all myself now!

In good news, I'm on Meridia now to help me lose weight. The reports I've read indicate a 5-10% weight loss over 6 months, right now I'm already at a 2.4% loss after less than 2 weeks :-) Here's hoping that it continues the whole time I'm on it! Of course, the fact that nothing is open downtown while I'm here anymore also helps, as I am limited to what I bring from home. but at this point, I'll take whatever edge I can get!

remove the electoral college

2007-08-12T16:14:32Z

Today is just a quickie post, maybe more later. One of my friend's LJ reminded me of this, and while researching a bit more, I found this site: http://www.petitiononline.com/21ecr/petition.html.

For those who don't know, I hate the electoral college. It's an idea who's time was past a long time ago. Just for a quick reminder of why the electoral college needs to go away, here's a few thought:

The members are actually chosen by each political party at their conventions, so we know therefore how completely open minded they will be to the other party's candidate, or to independent parties.

The college was put in place in part to keep the vote in the hands of the educated elite rather than the uneducated majority.

the college doesn't have to vote that way the people in the state voted. In fact, according to this site: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#meaningful, the following states have no laws at all to determine how the college's vote is in comparison to the popular vote:

No Legal Requirement
Electors in these States are not bound by State Law to cast their vote for a specific candidate:

ARIZONA - 10 Electoral Votes
ARKANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes
DELAWARE - 3 Electoral Votes
GEORGIA - 15 Electoral Votes
IDAHO - 4 Electoral Votes
ILLINOIS - 21 Electoral Votes
INDIANA - 11 Electoral Votes
IOWA - 7 Electoral Votes
KANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes
KENTUCKY - 8 Electoral Votes
LOUISIANA - 9 Electoral Votes
MINNESOTA - 10 Electoral Votes

MISSOURI - 11 Electoral Votes
NEW HAMPSHIRE - 4 Electoral Votes
NEW JERSEY - 15 Electoral Votes
NEW YORK - 31 Electoral Votes
NORTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes
PENNSYLVANIA - 21 Electoral Votes
RHODE ISLAND - 4 Electoral Votes
SOUTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes
TENNESSEE - 11 Electoral Votes
TEXAS - 34 Electoral Votes
UTAH - 5 Electoral Votes
WEST VIRGINIA - 5 Electoral Votes

24 states, that's almost 1/2 of our country where the popular vote really doesn't count for anything. In other words, to that age old question of does your individual vote count; in these states, the answer is no.....

This is just one of the things I find wrong with our current political structure, however it really does point out how horribly wrong things could happen very easily. Without laws in place to force the college to vote the way the popular vote goes, a president can literally buy his way into office. There are laws in place in some states to punish those that break their pledge of good faith, but if a candidate can afford to pay more than the fine is worth, or you're in a state more the fines does exist, how much of a deterrent will a fine really be, eh? I recommend visiting this site for more information: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#meaningful

If you feel the same way that I feel, please let all your friends and family know the sites and information above! Feel free as well to copy any of the above into emails, LJ's blogs, etc.

classes started

2007-07-12T01:59:36Z

And so, my classes have started. For my first assignment, I need to shoot a roll of b/w film. Oh the horror; oh the pain. However will I stand this for 3 years I think this may well rank up in my list of best decisions I've ever made :-) If the rest of my life would ever match my classes, I will be a very happy person! Aside from class, I'm now only about a week away from having my knitted blanket done, which is something that has waited a long time. So, I will also soon have one less project to do as well, which is always good, and leaves me more time for my classes. Classes will be a very good place to hide myself for a while :-)

tired....

2007-06-30T16:48:02Z

ok, so yesterday we went up to visit Pandy - she's in the hospital with blood clots in both of her lungs , and stayed up there pretty much all day. She was feeling good for most of the day, but the valium they're giving her is hitting her hard. Thursday was a strange day, somewhere between elation and depression. The day started with finding out Pandy was going into the hospital, which of course, was bad. Then we have our weekly meeting, and the shift leader posistions i've been waiting to hear about for sooo long are finally going to be opening up very soon, since we're on a fiscal year. I spent the rest of the day going between trying to find out more about Pandy, and thinking about shift leader, and possible new schedule. Today, there's just not much left energy wise, so i'm going to just do my job and go home to relax. The new furniture is in place and looks really good at least!

meh

2007-06-24T18:55:48Z

i'm here, i'm alive, i'm tired, i'd like to find a hole to crawl into for a couple of years - oh look, school starts soon - that hole might do very well!!!!!

quick update

2007-04-15T22:54:11Z

Lot's has been going on in my life lately, but I'm not yet ready to share it with everyone, so just for so quickie information:

Still no promotion, we're currently understaffed and are hiring replacements prior to anything else.

Still on track for starting my photography classes in July.

Will have one loan paid off next month (finally) and plan to celebrate by getting a new microwave, after my last attempts to clean it have still not gotten it to point that I'm happy with it....

After driving around all morning on Friday to get Seamus's tooth taken care of, I broke one of my teeth .

Future plans include moving out to Seattle after my degree is done - about 3 years time, prob not by myself.

That's about all I can share for now, but life is going well, and I'm happy. I even have the apartment clean to the point for no major issues!

Flickr

2007-02-22T01:29:22Z

So, I've added my Flickr page to my profile for anyone that wants to see my photos :-) These are all unedited, but most are fairly decent. I start the photography program at AIP soon, which I'm looking forward to. Maybe I'll actually be able to use this bachelor's for work when I'm done.... Nah, prob. too much to ask for

stupid arm....

2007-02-09T01:53:49Z

So, I'm behind on my knitting currently . This will happen though when you can't move your arm very much. I went to the doctor's and found out that I currently have tendonitis of the shoulder rotator cup, which means, in short, pain in my ass! I currently am unable to do so much as put my own hair in a ponytail holder. My attempt this morning to wash my hair one-handed was laughable, and if this was going to be a long term thing, I'd prob. be cutting my hair tomorrow, however this is supposed to get better fairly quickly. If this is a test of my independance, it sucks big time, and if this is a way to prove I can rely on others for help, I hate it!!!!! I can't drive, I can't itch my back, I can't do shit right now. I can't wait for this to go away!!!!!

work is slow, and life is good

2007-01-28T23:19:25Z

so today i realized that my life is actually getting to be pretty good again now that work is slowing down a bit. i realized this when i realized that i can have both knitting projects done by may, and be working on a completely different project. in fact, i may have knitting and one quilt done before i even start classes again, which i've been approved for a grant to do through work . so, i'm getting somewhere again with school; just a slightly different direction; work is good, and home life is getting out of the fucked up stage. the only thing i'll have left to worry about soon will be games and homework. and, let me see, taking photos as homework, then working on them...? oh the pain, the agony, however will i survive it? :P i only wish that everyone i care about could be so lucky!

meh

2007-01-25T00:00:49Z

today has been a rather productive day, all told. i spoke with my admissions representative - i plan to start school again this july, as work will pay for me to take classes offered through their schools, so i'm going into photography, which has long been a main interest of mine. i've also been getting project stuff done, including working on a pair of pants that needed lengthened for a friend (and that have been sitting around now since before the soltice), got more chores done, so the place looks clean again, and still, all i feel today is meh... sometimes, there's really nothing that you can do to help.

meh

2007-01-21T18:10:54Z

I feel like so much has happened lately, yet when I checked my last journal, nothing has really changed. So, I'm still alive, I'm still at work, I still have a roommate, I'm still waiting for a title for my resume, I still deal with life as it happens, and I still hate both winter and the cold. Hope more is happening in your lives than is in mine!

and time passes...

2006-12-16T20:25:33Z

wow, i just realized it's been a while since i've posted to this account - though in part that's because when i'm at home, after having been online all day at work, i tended to not want to do online stuff anymore, and i wasn't able to post from work for a while. but, since that restriction seems to have lifted, I'm back, and not much has changed, really. My roomie and I are getting along well, and I finally told my folks that i have a roomie, since they didn't know for a while. Other than that, i'm sick, tired, need a vacation, not going to get a vacation, and feel like hiding from the world for a wekk straight, which is also not going to happen my manager told us, no calling off, no vacation requests until the end of the month at least, since we have newbies, so i've been plying myself wth meds, and having my roomie likewise shoving meds into me, in the hopes of waiting this cold out, as it doesn't really seem to want to go away. the good-ish thing about it is that i'm sitting here at work with a fever, and i don't want to take anything to reduce the fever, since the fever's keeping me warm, and if i got it down, i'd freeze, as the heat is already off in the building and we finally have wintery weather (or at leats temps) again. so, here's hoping i have a fever again tomorrow so i can stay warm then too :P the bad news is, that i'll prob get to repeat this same no-time-off thing next month and into feb, as we're hiring more ppl here, and will again need everyone on and in line pulling their own weight to hold it all together. i'm still hoping for a supervisor slot, but i'm a bit worried now about that, as one of my co-workers let me know that my manager thinks myself and my new co-worker/roomie are dating - which we aren't (we've just been friends for a long time). i'm not really sure what this will do to/for my chances, but if a slot opens up, i'm going to go for it, and go from there....

anyhows, it's about time for me to go back to work, so...

right on cue...

2006-10-09T01:51:59Z

And right on cue, life has been turned upside down again :-) at least this time it's in a 1/2 way decent way, as i'm getting a roommate - maybe not under the best circumstances, but will still mean help around the apt in a number of ways. and, i've made my 2nd trip to gettysburg for the year thursday night/friday morning, sitting around with pandy and obrseamus, talking about how much i needed to get out of the area for a day, and managed to talk them into a day trip for three hours later and it was good, and it was peaceful, and i was away from the apt and from the town, and the only thing that needed fixing was the weather, well, and a few more days to spend down there, but still. it gave me the peace i needed, which is good since life has started up again at a run rather than a fast walk. i'm sure it'll be fine once i catch my stride again though :-) oh, and i had my review and got a raise, which is really nice! i'm close to a figure i was starting to think i'd never reach, and still have hope of paying off my credit cards and loan by next fall, even though raise was a bit shy of what i was hoping for...

after the accident

2006-09-18T15:22:32Z

Well, I'm mostly back to normal now; I still have some back twinges, but things could have been much worse. However, I now have the enjoyment of the thyroid medicine I'm now on kicking in, and between the combination of pain when I eat a lot or the wrong thing, and the fact that my stomack proceeds to empty out anything it doesn't approve of, I've lost 4 lbs in about a week. I know I wanted to lose weight, but this isn't exactly how I planned on doing so. But, as they say, that which does not kill us makes us stronger...

On the plus side, I have more energy than I've had in a long time, and I got a book of spells that actually feels right finally, so I'm planning some workings soon to help with a number of things. Quite frankyl, I'll be very surprised if these doesn't work....

much stiffness and pain

2006-09-04T16:42:58Z

ok, so for anyone that doesn't know, i was in a very nasty car accident on saturday on my way to work. i'm ok, but my car is totaled, and everyone keeps telling me i got very lucky so, for right now, all plans i had been making to go anywhere, are on indefinate hold. i have insurrance, and my car will be replaced, hopefully by next week, depending on when i get the check from the insurance, but due to needing to replace the car, my budget may be a bit tight for a while, and all extreneous trips will be curtailed. which means, no zoo, no gettysburg, no corination, and no game for a while

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ok, so for anyone that doesn't know, i was in a very nasty car accident on saturday on my way to work. i'm ok, but my car is totaled, and everyone keeps telling me i got very lucky <sigh> so, for right now, all plans i had been making to go anywhere, are on indefinate hold. i have insurrance, and my car will be replaced, hopefully by next week, depending on when i get the check from the insurance, but due to needing to replace the car, my budget may be a bit tight for a while, and all extreneous trips will be curtailed. which means, no zoo, no gettysburg, no corination, and no game for a while <sigh. and yes, i hurt quite a bit still, though not as much as yesterday.

anyways, what happened, i hit my brakes in response to the guy in front of me hitting his, was on water, and proceeded to spin like a top, hitting the concrete median with both front and rear ends on my car, and finally coming to a stop with my passenger rear on top of the median. i didn't hit anyone or anything else, and i didn't roll, which are the only good things i can say. then, since i was on top of the median, in the middle of a 6 lane highway, i stayed in the car until the police came, which felt like forever btw, because i was in the middle of the road, it was raining, and if i took my foot off the brake, the car would start to slide down the hill... so, they blocked me up, checked me out, took me to the hospital (after repeating the "4 crashes in an accident" speeck many times), where the hospital basically did nothing anyways, and then i spent much time talking to family and insurance, while waiting for my brother to come get me, we cleaned out my car, whereby my hopes were dashed that it could be fixed, and my bro repeated the whole you got lucky talk, and since it's a holiday weekend, i got stuck at home with no car - i didn't have anywhere to go anyways, but still... and now it's simply a matter of waiting for rental car, and waiting for check from insurance <sigh> fun, eh?

ardina_13 @ 2006-09-01T22:06:00

2006-09-02T02:08:21Z

OK, so an update, I'm still feeling anti-social to an extent, but more importantly, I'm feeling sick. The flu has struck, and resistence is futile. Good news on the job front, we're hiring more people, and pretty much all the current workers, except myself and the girl that started about a month ago, are going to be on the morning shift, and my boss told me I'm going to be the evening shift-leader-esque person, which should translate to a good review, and a decent raise in October, with the possibility of a title in the future as well Bad news, I've been updating both my "family safe" blog and this one, and after typing for about 20 mins, I'm ready to go lay down again - stupid flu. And, I still need to finishing putting the house back together from my (unexpected) carpet cleaning on Weds, so I'm stealing a survey from krrrven's LJ and calling it done:

Pick one word from each pair that you think describes me the best and leave it in the comments. Then copy this and post it in your own journal to see how your friends view you (if you want).

* dominant or submissive
* logical or intuitive
* social or loner
* kinky or vanilla
* cute or sophisticated
* kitten or puppy
* warm flannel sheets or sleek satin
* leader or follower
* quiet or talkative
* spontaneous or planned
* teddy bear or porcelain doll
* hiking or window shopping
* tequila or vodka
* top or bottom
* bare foot or shoes
* jeans or slacks
* tender or rough
* aware or dreamy
* nerd or jock
* brains or brawns
* common sense or book smarts

I hope y'all feel better than I do!

ugh

2006-08-23T17:53:20Z

I've been feeling very anti-social for the last couple of days, and I'm not sure why. I was hoping that if I got some extra sleep, I'd be fine dealing with people again, but so far I still don't want to leave my apt., even though I have some errands I need to run Of course, my mood hasn't been helped by my mom, love her though I do, trying to force me to decide quickly to do what she wants me to do for the rest of my life... I think I blew her mind when I told her that in my "going nowhere" job, I'm making more money than I would in the career she wants me to switch to.... And besides, teaching high school students is really *NOT* what I want to be doing - college yes, high school no! I would hide from the rest of the world for the next several days, but unfortunately I have screwed myself out of even the possibility of that. Not only do I have a game FRiday that I would be looking forward to if I was feeling social, I also have a different gaming group that's going to be using my apt, so there's simply no place to hide. So, hopefully I can hide next week instead - I think I feel a cold coming on at least enough for one sick day .

damn...

2006-08-15T19:03:37Z

and today i saw the hottest kiss i've seen in a long time. too bad it was between two girls.... and no, obrseamus, i'm still not bi :P