Anything VII

Um...hey, everybody. Some of you may remember me from visiting here last year, courtesy of Asis. Just thought I'd drop in and say anything, so...

HI.

*Hugs* Good to see you Crazy! You hang out on IM anymore?

Well...no. A while back I'd posted that we were having computer problems and I wouldn't be around much until we fixed it or got a new one. Well, we got a new one right before the HB switch-over and to be honest, I haven't bothered to see if I can use IM on it or not. But I have been contacted twice using the Private Message feature here. So you can do that if you want. (By the way, whateve e-mail address you have for me most likely goes to a computer I don't use anymore, so you might want to just get rid of it.)

Ah, ok, good to know!

*hugs* Good to see you bud.

Ok, so how the hell are you doing Wizz? I'm still in retail hell, but took a few days off so I wouldn't go ballistic on our customers. Amazing what a little R&R can do!

Hi gang! No real updates from here. Life's pretty much the same, but could change in the near future. Oh, and I'm pretty excited about someone new moving to the Buckeye state! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

BTW, has anyone noticed just how ugly the Ohio quarter is? So many of the other states have really nice ones. Dunno who's responsible for this design, but expect it's Gov. Taft. Very poor taste, IMHO.

What is the ugly design Merle? I haven't really paid attention to the designs on the quarters since the first 10 or so were released.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 12, 2002 10:03 AM: Message edited by: sindatur ]</font>

It's an astronaut and the Wrights' airplane. I think the astronaut is supposed to represent John Glenn.

The airplane thing is more interesting. On the Ohio quarter it says "Birthplace of aviation pioneers". On the back of the North Carolina quarter is the first flight scene (one Wright flying, the other on the ground watching) and it says "First Flight". It's my understanding that Ohio and NC got into a bit of a pissing contest about whose quarter would show a "first" in aviation. Ohio said they should since the Wrights were from there and NC said they should since the Wrights actually flew there. So.

Yeah, you pegged it Crazy a. Ohio has been trying to lay claim to the Wright Brothers for several years now. They did some of their initial design work in their bicycle shop in Dayton, but actually flew in Kittyhawk. So Ohio tries to put both the Wright Flyer and a space guy on the quarter, with the outline of the state behind them. Difficult to tell what the things are unless you know.

And the space guy is probably a representation of both John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, I'm guessing, though I haven't seen anything official.

One other thing on the Wright Brothers: Ohio's license plates have had the slogan, "Birthplace of Aviation" for several years now. Really ticks off North Carolina, where they say, "First in Flight" I believe.

Ok, everyone knows the drill. Ya'll come by to see if anyone has contributed to the topics, so you can read what's happenin'. Thing is, no one is posting, so there's nuttin to read. If you want some, you're gonna have to give some.

I need some eloquence, I know.

Gee, whatever happened to the "United" States [img]wink.gif[/img]

As for me, I'm going through a change of employers . The new ones have taken 4 months to produce an unacceptable draft contract, and now have less than 2 weeks to the deadline for changeover.

I work for utterly lazy, complete idiots it seems [img]confused.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 12, 2002 06:41 PM: Message edited by: ianviking ]</font>

Wow, I didn't know the States minted their own coins! I should have guessed really (d'oh!) but it never crossed my mind. Going to check all my American change to see where it comes from now.

Life's Ok here. I'm off to Germany at the end of this month to learn German and chat to some clever people at the University of Berlin. If it's got to be in German though, it'll be less chatting, more frantic looking through phrase books. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Who doesn't?

Uh...Baze.

The states don't mint their own coins. The federal government is the only one allowed to make U.S. currency. The U.S. Mint is producing quarters that represent each individual state in some form, so the back side has some sort of "We're great because..." in picture form. I believe (but I'm not sure) that the quarters are issued in the order that the states joined the United states, which is why people start fussing over them from time to time.

That's not to say that the states wouldn't like to produce their own money...

I think I read once that you could make up and use your own currency as long as it wasn't a copy of "regular" currency.

Actually, under the old Articles of Confederation, which was the government before the Constitution in 1787 was adopted, the individual states DID mint their own coins. That was one of the weaknesses in the Articles that the Constitutional Convention set out to cure.

-Merle, who got his undergrad in history.......

There were many problems with Articles of Confederation, many dealt with the issue of trade. Not only could the states mint their own money but they could impose tarriffs on other states. This lead to fighting between the states.

Heck, watch what is happening in the EU with the Euro to get an idea of what it was like in the US under the articles of Conferderation. The issues that most European countries are dealing with are verys imilar to the issues the US had to deal with, although a bit more complicated given technology and the like.

The State coins are indeed created in order of their assention into the Union. I am/used to be a Numistmatist and knew a lot about the history f our currency. I t hink myoldest coint is an 1897 Silver Dollar. Its been a long time since I have taken out my coin books. Hmmmm.'


I will get the WHOLE set once all the tates have been minted. I will get the PROOF set which will look really awsome.

<font face="georgia">Stars, nebulas and galaxies plus a couple of other neat photos I found are at
http://www.astrophoto.com/ in the gallery.
Some are composites, some are 35mm camera shots, but most are pictures taken with a 14.5" telescope.

Well, I thought they were pretty neat pictures...

Sounds a very common disease Ran.


My Aunt is also ill, though she's just been diagnosed as having ovarian cancer, that has also spread to her liver. The doctors are very upbeat about treating it though.


Same week as that, my mother fell on a back road and badly hurt her arm, and I went to bed one night only to have a toe nail fall off.


Remind me not to book any more weeks off work. They are obviously hazardous to health!

Hello all. Not much going on here. The Sprout was just diagnosed with Fifth Disease - a pretty benign childhood disease - but I'd never heard od it. Fortunately she's past the infectious stageso she can go to pre-school. Also I went to a cool renfaire on Sunday and I'll be posting my pics from that in the next few days.

<font face="georgia">Job searching...

Here I've been, whining about no one posting about things in general, and all I've done is re-post JMS blurbs. Pot, kettle...

4/15/2001. VP comes by and needs to talk in his office. Cool, so I thought. Not so cool later. I'm doing the work that can be handled by one other who's more knowledgeable with the equipment and the single customer (in China). Everything else is demo's and trials, which are handled pretty much by the field folks. No other customers, no need for me. Considering the situation, getting a months worth of severance with less than a year was pretty good.

Lots of job-shopping on the internet. Resume sent to a number of potential employers, but...wow, not even an email response that they got the request. Phone call to friends letting them know I'm looking, and I'm thinking about the past where in 3 weeks, boom! new job. Uh huh...not! But, they'll keep me in mind.

Went to a couple of seminars on getting a new job. I'm doing one thing right (networking) and one thing wrong (putting my resume on the internet). Polish the resume, re-write it for each job, make a cover letter, prepare a 10 second, 30 second, and 2 minute elevator speach (in case you just bump into someone who'll consider your job-seeking status riding in an elevator). Learn about talking to people who aren't hiring right now. Good stuff, really...

Got a call last week from a good friend of mine that used to work with me at the railroad. "You ever do A-V work?" Me:"Yeah, I ran the movie projector when I was in jr. high school...you mean teleconferencing?" "Yeah, smarta--, you want a job or not?" Why she didn't remember me running the teleconferencing network at the railroad I couldn't figure out, but since I was in no position to fuss about it, I begged her to get me lined up. Five conference rooms in five buildings in Emeryville (next city north of Oakland, CA.) that need to be monitored, scheduled, maintained and set up as needed. Cool!

So far, no start date as the paperwork is still being attended to. It has an interesting structure, at least for me. I'm contracting to a company that has another company pay me, and I report to still another company than manages the IT functions for the real customer. It's income, and much better than what unemployment pays.

So, for those of you wondering about my silence, that's the plan. It's nice to have something to work on again...just hope they don't take too much longer with the start date. Big companies don't move very fast, as I learned all too well with the railroad. But, life is good once again.

Glad to hear that things worked out Wizz. Hopefully this job will last a while longer then the last one. (hugs)

My Aunt was rushed into hospital yesterday. Apparently, it was a mild stroke. She really is not having the best of luck!

Wow, Ian. Hope she recovers from all of this. Keep her spirits up, as it can get depressing when you end up with what she's been going through.

Cheers...

Wizz, congrats on the job! I hope it turns out to be something you really enjoy.

Ian, *hugs* I will keep her in my thoughts and you as well. Take care bud.

My update, well, Starbucks is wearing the hell out of me, so I was thinking about making a possible job change...when as luck would have it, some guy comes into the shop, uses a Target Credit Card, I ask him about it and it turns out he is a manager there and looking for department managers...

So I went to see him, he really wanted me, got me in for a interview quick and I have taken the job. It pays a bit more than Starbucks did and won't be so grueling physically. Great benefits, more days off, more regular schedule and every other weekend off! Woo Hoo! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Hopefully if I am not so darn worn out each night, I might start posting a bit more...

Hope everyone is well.

P.S. This Thursday is when I fly out to visit my dad and get to meet Elionwy. (hmmmpf! never could spell her nick! *grin*) I am looking very much forward to meeting her. I should start a webpage of all the wonderful people I have met.

Be well gang.

Hi, everyone.

Ian: So sorry to hear about your aunt. I hope she is feeling better soon.

Wizz - Good deal on the job. Sounds like it might be enough to fill in the time.

AsIs - Wow. I didn't even know you were working at a Starbucks. Congratulations on the Target job. So, you get some weekends off? You want to think about a trip to the New York Ren Fair? I've never been but I checked out their website (http://recfair.com/NY/index.htm) and it looks like a blast. Starts August 3rd and goes through the 15th of September.

As for me? I just signed up for my LLM class for next semester. Two evenings a week for the whole term. I am going to be one tired puppy.

My brother is moving to NJ this week. He is driving from Michigan and hopes to meet up with Bee on Tuesday night for dinner and get to my place Wednesday evening. Then we have to wait and find out when his furniture/clothes/kitchen will arrive. And I might have to be the one to supervise the movers because he has to work from the 5th to the 9th.

I am so glad I have my vacation to Canada coming up in 2 1/2 weeks. I need some time to just clear my mind of organizing stuff. I feel all organized out. Maybe it is the weather. Hot and disgusting. But I cleaned a lot of the apartment yesterday. I don't like to ask my brother to sleep on the floor unless it has been mopped recently. And his guinea pig has to stay with me until he gets an air conditioner installed in at least one room of his new apartment.

My wrist is all better as far as I can tell. One steroid shot at the orthopedist (for tendonitis) and a week later I was essentially cured. I might actually start to trust doctors at this rate.

Asis, say hello to Eilonwy for me too. I hope she's doing okay. I'ts been a while......

Speaking of renfaires, I went to the Maine Faire a week and a half ago. Then when I went to put my pics up, I found that my Tripod reduced my webspace from 50Mb to 20MB (and then had the gall to tell me I was over my limit when I logged in). Not happy about that. Anybody got any good suggestions for server space?

AsIs congrads on your job change I know how much of a pain it was for you at Starbucks!

CT and I just got back from Vacation. We went to Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island. (That’s one of the Islands in Lake Erie) We wanted to go to Vegas but didn’t have enough money for flying, gambling and shopping! Then hit Cedar Point amusement park on the way home. Still have a few days of vacation left but out of money LOL!

Sorry you didn't get to go to Vegas. [img]frown.gif[/img]

Hey, if we plan it out in advance, maybe I can scrape up enough money to do it with you gals next year. I am always up for Vegas.

Glad you did have fun on your trip. I can relate to that not have money thing! *hugs*

Just a quick hello, folks.

Yes, I did meet Polly's brother for dinner the night he spent in Erie. He is very personable and, like his sister, very knowledgeable. I had a wonderful time chatting with him about a variety of subjects. I even got to meet Koa, the guinea pig! I gave him my best maps and instructions for finding Polly's building, took a couple of photos, and bid him safe journey for the next day.

I've been busy for the past month and haven't checked in here for several weeks. I had to prepare for the the 33rd Annual Gem and Mineral Show, our local rock club's main fund-raising event. We had a very successful show--almost as many paid admissions the first day this year as we had in both days last year! I'll get the final numbers at out September picnic meeting.

Besides the show, it has been beastly hot here. I have an air conditioner in my bedroom so that I can get a decent night's sleep, but the rest of my apartment averages in the low 90s most of the day. Add in the humidity, often in the 90 percent range, and this place is close to unliveable. I tend to veg out in front of the tv or hide in the bedroom when I'm not in school.

I thought that school would be a haven in the heat. I was sadly mistaken. Put 15 to 20 computers in a room, add as many people as there are computers, and then try to cool it with a small wall unit that is several decades old. It isn't working. I'm glad that I have only 3 more days of classes this term. I can't say what my final grades will be--I haven't met my usual standards and don't even care at this point! I just want it to be fall with its cooler temperatures. [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]confused.gif[/img]

Time to head off. Be well, all!

Bee

Well, I decided to move my site after I finally got a response back from the Tripod people. Their response was basically that they just reduced my webspace, but didn't offer a reason for doing so other than just because. I liked it how they reduced it from 50 to 20 MB and then said I can upgrade to a paid account and get 5 MB more.

Sooooo, I moved. If anyone wants to check out my pics from the Maine Ren Faire, you can see them at http://rantarn.50megs.com/renpics/renpics.htm

Well, my brother did make it to my aparment the evening after he left Erie and he finally made it to his own place last night.

Things were getting a little testy between us after a solid week of him sleeping on my living room floor. He could't understand why I didn't want to kiss the guinea pig on her mouth and I couldn't understand how he could look me in the eye and say that he didn't think he could spend much more than a few minutes fixing up his apartment after work when his work ended at 4:00 PM.

I ended up taking Monday off even though the furniture arrived on Saturday so I could unpack his stuff (books, cds, tapes and art mostly) all day Monday. It was the only way to get him off my floor and into his own place. Then I made him spend another 2 hours unpacking his clothes. That was Monday. He did enough more on Tuesday to check out on Wednesday. I woke up this morning to a a blissfully unoccupied living room and a refrigerator emptied of guinea pig mush.

No one ever babied me this much when I moved. Not once. Our parents once left me in an apartment in New York City with nothing but my boxes and a partially filled air mattress. I guess there are some advantages to being the "baby."

I love him a lot, but I don't want to live with him.

Ya be a saint, Polly. Problem with being the "baby" is that everyone cares for them...even after time passes and they're supposed to be on their own.

Refused to lock lips with the guinea pig? [img]eek.gif[/img]
Hey, I feel sorry for anyone who'd get romantically involved with him...unless they're guinea pig owners as well (with the same fetish).

Aye, ya be a saint, Polly.

Saint PollyMath...I like the sound of that. And he is working at a Catholic university, so you never know what might happen.

Enough. I helped more than I really had to. I know why I did it. By the end, it had nothing to do with helping him and everything to do with helping me. I now have my bags all over the floor where he used to be sleeping so I can start packing for my trip to Canada.

I know he is capable of moving without a family bail out. He did it at least once in Hawaii and once in Michigan, I think. Just not when there is family help available.

I'm going to help again Saturday with putting together the IKEA dresser, and maybe hanging a few pictures. And that is IT!

Saint Polly...it does have a nice ring to it. But don't you have to die in some unpleasant way to get there? Like running away from defilers or or burning at the stake or something?

AsIs ---

I really meant it when I asked about going to the NY Ren Fair. It is a bit of a haul for me. Probably longer for you (I know you are further west than I am, but I'm not sure how much further south), but it looks like a blast.

And they are open every weekend until September 15th. Any interest?

Or did I miss something and you are no longer in New Jersey. With my attention span these days, it is certainly possible.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by PollyMath:

Saint Polly...it does have a nice ring to it. But don't you have to die in some unpleasant way to get there? Like running away from defilers or or burning at the stake or something?</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

Uh...not according to my "Altar Boy" reference book. Generally, it involves a situation where your morals and beliefs are severely tested, and you refuse to succumb to the less than ideal ideals presented to you. As such, I submit that you passed the following trials without a change being made to your beliefs and morals (or morals and beliefs depending on if you're right or left handed).

A) Guinea Pig incursion
B) Baby brother life style

Now, I can't get a clear idea whether this makes you a minor saint or a major saint. Having said that, I'm sure the rest of the individuals in this group will agree that you easily fit into the "Major Saint" catagory.

For those that disagree, you are enthusiastically encouraged to keep that malinformed opinion contained.

Ya'll have a good weekend

Oooops, sorry Polly. I forgot to reply. Yeah, sounds good. I just started a new job at Target, actually on Monday and I am off some weekends now, unlike before.

Let me see what my schedule is for the next few weeks. I'll try and give you a call next week to catch up. *hugs*

Let this be a reminder... if you ever meet me in real life, you may end up with your own photographic web page. :>

Go to Daniel and Koa to see a photo of Polly's baby brother and his pet g. pig. [img]graemlins/camera.gif[/img]

Well, my aunt has suffered no pain from her cancer or stroke, only mild discomfort.

However, as of 4am she is no longer with us.


I have yet to hear why, considering how confident the doctors were of curing her just a few weeks ago.


I shall be returning to Wales to be with my family tomorrow, so I may not be online at all for a bit. You all take care of yourselves!