Kevin's Watch

Realised this morning when I looked at my confirmation that I've paid extra to reserve a seat with more legroom only on the outbound journey, and not on the return, overnight flight...

That's a bummer Murrin.

I had a rough day at work today. It was hecka busy from about 1:00 on in the copy center and a mob scene on the floor. I guess I need to do more than just post the moscone schedule next to the office computer. I was yet again the only copy center person AND the manager on duty and we have both midterms for the art school and the GDC for this week. GDC is the game developers conference. It's a huge one. I've got a stack of orders to do tomorrow when I get in. Bleagh.

Murrin wrote:Realised this morning when I looked at my confirmation that I've paid extra to reserve a seat with more legroom only on the outbound journey, and not on the return, overnight flight...

I did the same thing. When I called Expedia they wanted to charge me to make the change, so I called the airline directly and they changed it for free. Worth a try.


It is 5 am. Been up since 3am so I had a total of 4 hours of sleep and that is pretty good. It is interesting about how the pain creeps into your dreams. I kept having dreams about tsunamis. You know that scene in one of those movies about the tiny person standing and staring up at a two thousand foot wave of water that is about to consume them..... That is me and my new friend, pain, I guess. In my dreams I am staring up at this giant churning gray wall. At least in my dreams I still try and run from it.

Going back to work today. The shelter is in disarray since I have been gone. Caseworkers are fighting with supervisors over stupid shit, like which kind of binder they need to keep the files in. I have a really STUPID director of social service that nitpicks over stupidness like that. She is only hurting herself since all the good caseworkers are now sending out resumes. I keep telling her they will not fill any vacancies right now, so let them have their kind of binders. GAWD!!! But when I intervene she says I am not allowing her to do her job and I baby the caseworkers. So I figure I better get back and try and make peace before the unions get involved and then I really have problems. I also need to get back before they replace me and I find myself relegated to one of the really bad dangerous shelters. If I don't get back to work I know my old friend, depression, is going to take hold. And if I get depressed I lose site of any hope. And that becomes dangerous times. And I need to build up my time so I can have this surgery. I only have eight weeks of time right now.

So, hiho, hiho, its off to work I go.

Careful Lorin, horseriding is one of the worst things you can do for bad backs!

Silliness aside, good luck with the tsunamis and starting back at work.

I was told this morning that I'm being recommended for a teaching position I applied for-- it would be a big change. So now I'm like, and then I'm like and I'll know Friday. Right now I'm exhausted and my day isn't half over and there are house guests at home (not the usual sort either, a Woodabe Fulani family from Niger, but really nice folks we've known for a couple of years).

Hoping your first day back doesn't suck too hard, lorin.

I was up early this morning, too. Went to bed really early, after finishing a YA novel that I'd picked up for free, but that was...uh...not very good. This was one of the bunch of free indie e-books that I won at Christmas and am slowly getting through. I sort of know most of the authors, so I feel like I ought to read their books. So far, only about half of them have been worth it.

lorin- I like your thought processes. I think that's some good thinking. I try to think like that when I'm feeling stuck and not like doing stuff, and it seems to be better than most options!
I am sorry about your co-worker whose obsession with binders and minutiae is likely to cost your organization so much.

Also I wish you a belated "good for you" for not just utterly dissolving into a puddle of self-pity (or at least, not being thoroughly lost to the puddle of self-pity) when that one doctor gave you his prediction.

shur-Lord Gudatetris wrote:...After my exam, this pretty gal was helping me out with trying on glasses, and was kind of flirting with me, and that was pretty cool...

But then my ex-wife walked into the eyeglass store, and suddenly I was ruined

Plus your ex presumably didn't get to see that if she wants you back that badly, she's got competition from the cute eyeglass store girl!
D'oh!!

I'm again tired. It was crazy busy again today. I did have fun with some of the GDC guys though. I'll post details in my blog.

I am super stressed by drama in the group I do volunteer work with.

That sucks Ms. Mary. Well, phase two of my dental work was done today. I got the fillings. They did one side first and at the end Dr. Berd was like, "Are you SURE you wanna do both sides today? We can reschedule if you want." and I said, "No, I'm fine, just give me a few minutes to rest my jaw and then let's do this." He kept asking me if I was doing ok and I kept giving him two thumbs up. At the end of it he told me I really was a tough girl and that most people need a break between two fillings rather than get through both and then get through two more after five minutes. Honestly, it wasn't that bad at all. I did tell him that the worst part was the novacaine shots. Those HURT! He laughed and told me that he was impressed that I didn't flinch even though he noticed I had a death grip on the chair handles. I then told him that the numbing agent he put on my gums before the shots was a crock and tasted awful as well. He thought that was pretty funny. We then scheduled phase three, deep cleaning and whitening for next Wednesday. Then I headed towards work. My mouth was still really really numb so I hung out at Starbucks and read for a bit while sipping an iced tea. Then I went in to work and hung out in the back room a bit longer until I felt like I had decent control over my mouth and clocked in earlier than originally planned. After about an hour when the novacaine wore off entirely I got a bit of a headache for about two hours which I think was more from jaw stress than anything but then it faded and now I just feel a bit sore in my jaw muscles and my teeth feel a bit odd and a tiny bit sensitive but I figure that's to be expected. So all in all, another very successful and non traumatic dentist experience. I so wish that ALL of you guys could go to Dr. Berd. He's totally awesome. I also found out today that he's been asked to be the dental consultant for Dr. Oz. I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't know who that was but now I know. That's totally cool.

Cameraman Jenn wrote: I also found out today that he's been asked to be the dental consultant for Dr. Oz. I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't know who that was but now I know. That's totally cool.

There go the rates I like Oz.

Went back to work and bump bump bump fell down. The leg gives out without notice. But I am glad I started back. It's way better than sitting around worrying.

lorin wrote:
Went back to work and bump bump bump fell down. The leg gives out without notice. But I am glad I started back. It's way better than sitting around worrying.

Hang in there, take it day by day or hour by hour, don't lose hope. I'm in a fairly similar kind of situation, and just going to work and attempting to concentrate on regular activities and hobbies in the limits of pain tolerance and somewhat reduced mobility has helped a great deal. I slipped and fell on a hard surface over a month back, which resulted into a compression fracture in one vertebra. I was quite afraid at first too, before getting a comprehensive analysis of the trauma (mine's stable, tho, and didn't damage any nerves).

I don't remember any more who suggested a third diagnosis (I'm still rushing through threads here after my absence), but I personally had three made and it cleared up the minor contradiction between the first two. So if you haven't had one yet, it might be a good idea.

Hope all goes well!!

lorin, what about carrying one of those drugstore canes 'til you're healed?

Jenn, yay for successful dental work (and for being motivated to get it done)!

MsMary, you have hit upon one of the big reasons why I quit volunteering with the Girl Scouts once MagickMaker graduated from high school -- too much drama, even amongst the adults.

I decided I need another three-day weekend, so I'm going to take tomorrow off. Well, the other reason is that I've got a midday appointment with a nutritionist close to home, and it seems silly to go in for a couple of hours at either end of the day.

Ali, I guess I didn't really realize how self conscious I actually am about my front teeth and now that I have the means to fix it and I am fixing it, I am really excited to get it done. I can sense that I will be grinning A LOT in my near future....

Cameraman Jenn wrote:Ali, I guess I didn't really realize how self conscious I actually am about my front teeth and now that I have the means to fix it and I am fixing it, I am really excited to get it done. I can sense that I will be grinning A LOT in my near future....

Is it possible for you to grin any more than you all ready do?

Orlion wrote:

Cameraman Jenn wrote:Ali, I guess I didn't really realize how self conscious I actually am about my front teeth and now that I have the means to fix it and I am fixing it, I am really excited to get it done. I can sense that I will be grinning A LOT in my near future....

Is it possible for you to grin any more than you all ready do?

The man's got a point.

Another 75 pages of the Big Scary Bill to slog through this afternoon. Sigh...

Cameraman Jenn wrote:Ali, I guess I didn't really realize how self conscious I actually am about my front teeth and now that I have the means to fix it and I am fixing it, I am really excited to get it done. I can sense that I will be grinning A LOT in my near future....

I had a bit of cosmetic work done a few years back, having had a complex about my teeth all my life. Would like to have more done eventually. It does do wonders for your general self esteem, even if you don't realize it.

Yep guys, me grinning more is possible and probable. I know I don't think about it all the time but I do think about it often and then every two weeks or so, some good samaritan points out that I have something stuck on my tooth and I have to explain that it's a dead spot and I can't afford to get it fixed right now and then I feel like talking with my hand over my mouth for at least the rest of the day if not the next two days. And they feel bad because they know they made me feel self conscious when they were only trying to help so it's a sucky situation for both sides. Knowing that I won't have to do that EVER again is really liberating and the closer I get to the day of completion, the more excited and liberated I feel. I even gave my self an adorable new hairdo the other night. I may even celebrate the weekend after it's done with a manicure and brow wax and facial. Max said something very sweet the other night at work when I was talking about it with another co-worker and he overheard the conversation. He said that he hardly noticed it because when I am smiling at him he's more looking at my eyes than my teeth because I smile with my eyes most of all. He's a charmer that Max guy.

Anyway, today was rough at work. INsanely busy AGAIN. Also the tray guide on the bypass tray on Damian, my only color printer, got broken. I'm pretty sure Jay did it but I can't prove it. As a result, the pull on anything printed from that tray is all jacked out of whack so I had to call in my Xerox guy to come fix it tomorrow. Luckily my Xerox guy Mike loves me so he promised to put me at the front of the cue for first call in the morning. Yes, my printers all have names. I keep trying to convince Sorus that if you call them by name and sweet talk them and even pat them lovingly every so often they work ten times better but she doesn't believe me. It's true though. Earlier today, Damian was refusing to print for Jay and I said, "Here, let me try." I gave him the print command through the computer, turned to him (as in Damian my color printer) laid both hands on top of his scan cover and said, "Damian baby, I need you to do this for me. Please baby? I know you can." and as soon as I finished saying that he started spitting out the prints perfectly. Jay told me I was weird and a bit creepy. It worked though so what can I say?

On other notes, I am so glad it's Friday tomorrow. I am MORE than ready for my weekend. OH and high point of my day today? Sorus watched Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and we had a ten minute laugh session this morning about various brilliant moments from that film.

Cameraman Jenn wrote:

Yes, my printers all have names. I keep trying to convince Sorus that if you call them by name and sweet talk them and even pat them lovingly every so often they work ten times better but she doesn't believe me. It's true though. Earlier today, Damian was refusing to print for Jay and I said, "Here, let me try." I gave him the print command through the computer, turned to him (as in Damian my color printer) laid both hands on top of his scan cover and said, "Damian baby, I need you to do this for me. Please baby? I know you can." and as soon as I finished saying that he started spitting out the prints perfectly. Jay told me I was weird and a bit creepy. It worked though so what can I say?

Damian works just fine when I call him a Cylon cow and threaten to stab him with a yardstick. Though I might be the reason he needs therapy.

Ditto about Friday.

And T&D vs. E.

He's abused by everyone in the store and even on occasion he and I have serious spats so it's not just you, it's all of us. We just need to love him more I think.