Electricity is a beautiful thing

Since the power came back on I have been turning on every light in the house and then turning them all off, and then turning them back on again. When I am not basking in the glorious, incandescent glow, I am kissing the air conditioner on the mouth.

Running water is pretty great, too.

I did not get out today to take pictures because I have been too busy with my head in the freezer but these other people did.

Take a look.

In comparison, we were remarkably lucky.

So was this frog!


(via Vetteman98)

Looks like he found shelter under a cracked sunroof.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes. It is going to be a long time before things return to "normal" around here -- and even then, it will be a different breed of normal.

I Am Fine

No rain yet.

Here are some fun pictures (not mine) from my hood.

I am expecting scary winds and power outages. Will update soon.

Hurricane Ike Q&A

2:37 [Comment From cww]
Do you have any recommendations for pets? Our dog is an outside dog, and I don't want him to leave a brownie on my carpet. Can I tie him to a tree? We are in the Woodlands if this helps...

2:37 Eric Berger: I'd try to at least bring him in the garage if you can. Would you want to be tied to a tree during a hurricane?

Networking

E: "So, basically, you're that person that nobody likes to talk to?"

M: "What are you talking about. People love to talk to me. I am delightful. I remember everything about their alma mater and occupation and children and then I hit them up for money."

Ok, Mom.

Good morning!

I hope you had a good time last night and got up in time.

Pls.bring a notebook or some paper to advising meeting. Make sure you apologize to yr advisor about not sending your AP scores. We will scan in AP grades and email if that helps & also if you call to ask us we'll try to help get them sent to Tulane.

Pls empty yr trash before yr roommate shows up so room looks as neat as possible. You'll need to be neat to stay organized and know where things are.

Our flight leaves at 11:15. Hope you make some good decisions with advising today. Pls let us know how it goes.

Love,
mom

Weirdo Mushrooms

-- Unfortunately, not hallucinogenic



"The Plant Disease Clinic occasionally receives calls about small, yellow mushrooms that pop up in the pots of houseplants. What are they? Where did they come from? Are they harmful to the plant? Can they harm people or pets?

In most cases, the fungus in question is Lepiota lutea, sometimes called the yellow parasol or flower pot parasol. This species can be found outside in the summer, but is most commonly found year-round with potted plants or in greenhouses. The small lemon yellow mushrooms are about 1 to 3 inches tall with 1 to 2 inch oval or bell-shaped caps. They may appear singly or in clusters.

A mushroom is the reproductive structure of a fungus that spends the rest of its life cycle as a thread-like body in the soil or debris, not usually visible. That thread-like body, called a mycelium, could have been introduced to the pot in the potting mix. Alternately, a spore of the fungus (similar to a seed) may have floated through the air and landed in the pot, starting the fungal colony.

The Lepiota lutea fungus is a saprophyte, which means that it breaks down dead organic matter in the pot. It does not harm living plants and mushrooms do not need to be removed for the plant's sake. However, the mushrooms are poisonous to people and animals, so if pets or small children are nearby it would be wise to remove the mushrooms as they appear. Fungicide treatments are generally not effective against mushrooms."

What the Olympics Are Really All About

Wishing the commentors would shut the eff up and wondering where they got their qualifications.

STOP PICKING ON ROMANIA. GOD.

Gonna Make U Sweat...

My electric bill is OUTRAGEOUS.

For this, I blame the boy and the dog. Quit heating up the place, breathers.

Let's take a month long vacation somewhere cool.

Evacuation Do's and Don'ts

There are many things that haunt me about Hurricane Rita, but this one tops them all.

Early in my 12 hour drive to Tomball, I was driving with the windows down to save gas, probably about 1-3 miles an hour at this point, but we were still moving, barely. Slow enough for me to have a conversation with the driver next to me. A young guy from Galveston asked me if I had any water to spare. He had been driving all day. "It's in the trunk," was my pathetic reply.

At the time, it really seemed like a prohibitive sort of arrangement. I would -- but it's in the trunk. I would have to stop my car, open my trunk, and get out a water bottle. It's not that I didn't WANT to share, or that I didn't have water to spare, but it isn't the sort of thing you DO in the middle of a freeway. And anyway it was the first thing that came into my head and then it was out there.

"Thanks anyway," he said, or something along those lines. By the time I realized, "obviously I can stop and get you water -- we're not going anywhere" I had lost him and probably would have been too embarrassed to reverse my original response.

Later as the traffic slowed to a halt, and I spent hours in one place all night long, and eventually had to relieve myself in the middle of rt. 290, and more and more hours passed without sleep, I kept thinking about how I should have given him some water.

But I can't beat myself up too much about it. These are lessons you learn in new circumstances; new sets of rules.

Tropical Storm Edweirdo

I am not going into the office made of windows tomorrow. Also not doing: evacuation.

Found Receipts

Cleaning out my old purses that have been shoved in the closet for several years, I found the following receipts from 2005:

Whole Foods
Taco Cabana
CVS
Acadian Bakers
Starbucks
Rudyard's
Turquoise Grill
Value Village
Starbucks
El Sol Y La Luna (Austin)
Hollywood Food Store
Rudyard's
The Proletariat
Field of Greens
Romano's
Buffalo Exchange

Now I can throw them away.

Strategic Shuffle

When you only put songs that you love on the iPod, you love every song that comes on.

True story.

iLoser

When I told my mom I was thinking of getting an iPhone she said, Great, are you going to be one of those people who checks her emails during meetings when other people are talking because she might miss something SO IMPORTANT it can't wait 30 minutes?

And I said YES I AM TOTALLY GOING TO BE THAT PERSON. For years I have been the only person in the room who is not that person. The one is who is all, hey... guys? when the meeting agenda suddenly pauses because everyone in the room has just been copied on the same email coming through their blackberries and has stopped to respond to it and I'm like WHAT DOES IT SAY???

And it's working! My communication skills are already vastly improved. Twice already some person has gotten mad at me and when I ask why he/she is upset he/she says "we were just talking and then you suddenly made a phone call" and I'm like, were we talking? Oh, I was just texting you. COMMUNICATION. It is happening. Check yr messages.

Also, it has very nice bells and whistles that can find me a restaurant and directions and make ringtones and connects me via 3G speed (speedy!) to internet radio and porn.

Not porn. Just threw that in to see if you were still paying attention.

And it's cool that I have to charge it every 2 hours! I don't mind so much. I can check my email on my phone while it is plugged into my computer charging. In fact, the internet radio function uses half the battery for ONE SONG! That is how clear the audio is. TECHNOLOGY IS GREAT.

I can't believe I'm blogging this on a computer and not on my phone. It is charging. Also, The Cat stopped talking to me 15 minutes ago and I'm not sure where she went but I hope we weren't in the middle of a conversation.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Data, Revisited

The same day I started my new job I lost all my data. Why my external hard drive stopped wanting to be an external hard drive is a mystery to me, but some people assert it might be that time I dropped it. Gently. Like, 4 inches. Onto a pillow. Nonetheless, one moment there was data and the next moment there was no data.

I sulked about it for a good month before actually doing something about it, and after making good on my warrenty and $100 at Data Doctors and like five trips back and forth to Data Doctors, this is the result:





I was going to move the drives side by side to make a picture but I accidentally jiggled the cord disconnecting the NO GROOD drive and for a moment there was a sharp intake of breath where I really thought I had just screwed myself and it wasn't going to connect again followed by an internal reeming of: YOU STUPID GIRL, PUT THE CAMERA DOWN AND COPY WOMAN, COPY.

So that is what I am doing. Copying. And not making pictures of it. Any more pictures of it.

I mean, at the end of the day it's just some files, some music, a TV show I bought, some games, etc. Nothing I couldn't live without. But, when I decide to live without them, I'd rather make that decision myself.

Mary learns how to send text messages on her iPhone.

M: Hey body! Yop

J: Jesus, you noob.