My husband was in the bathroom (I know, good start to a story, right? :) ) and he pops back out after what I know to be after 7 years of marriage--WAY to short of a time. Holding his pants together and up with one hand he points back into the bathroom and says (in a manner best described as put out), "there is a teeeny tiny toad in the bathroom". I leap to my feat to investigate such an anomaly (I have removed many a baby lizard, metric-crap-ton of spiders, and am currently planning on chemically eradicating a mess o' ants which have colonized my vanity. The ants seem to have bitch-slapped the termites into submission so I have mixed feelings on the buggers).
Inside my bathroom on the ledge leading into the shower is an ADORABLE white tree frog. Fyi: these are TOXIC (yet still cute)to dogs (cuter). So, the little bugger needed to be removed from the domicile (before Life ate it, she has a thing for reptiles). Husband and I debated various methods (tissue box--cause we are lazy and that was in the bathroom--or hands). I went with hands. I carefully leaned down, placed my hands around it, gently scooped it up and it FREAKED. Leapt from my hands while leaking out liquid like a sieve. I, the calm biologist who used to deal with a ton of reptiles on a daily basis yelled (loudly), "YOU PEED ON ME--I HATE YOU!!!". Then washed my hand. Once I retrieved some gladware from the kitchen I caught it and let it go outside. I then tossed the gladware in the trash like the environmentally irresponsible person I have become (I drive an SUV now!!! I retired my "green" shirt--I feel like too much of a hypocrite), then the husband went back into the restroom only to come out defeated. The little frog had scared his poop away.
(And he would be SO happy that I said that)
Goodnight all!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Well...
This economy sucks.
I am so tired of hearing about budgets, cutbacks, lay-offs, and all of the associated depressing crap. Today at the refinery there was a stand-down. A small amount of time where they encouraged people to remember to keep their minds on work. I think everyone should take 5 full minutes and really dwell on it. Dwell on the horror of people you know losing their source of income, their future completely uncertain. Dwell on the fear of your own security. Know that nothing is secure, that everything is scary. Seriously, time it. 5 full minutes.
Alright, now that the 5 minutes is over. Stop. Focus on what you are doing. Leave all the fear and insecurity at the door. Feel confidence that things will get better (eventually). Do your work the best that you can. If you start to feel freaked again, give yourself permission to take a 5 minute break, but then focus and get back to it.
Failing that, watch this video...it is freakin' adorable. My favorite part is the pure joy on the brides face as she walks down the aisle. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0
I am so tired of hearing about budgets, cutbacks, lay-offs, and all of the associated depressing crap. Today at the refinery there was a stand-down. A small amount of time where they encouraged people to remember to keep their minds on work. I think everyone should take 5 full minutes and really dwell on it. Dwell on the horror of people you know losing their source of income, their future completely uncertain. Dwell on the fear of your own security. Know that nothing is secure, that everything is scary. Seriously, time it. 5 full minutes.
Alright, now that the 5 minutes is over. Stop. Focus on what you are doing. Leave all the fear and insecurity at the door. Feel confidence that things will get better (eventually). Do your work the best that you can. If you start to feel freaked again, give yourself permission to take a 5 minute break, but then focus and get back to it.
Failing that, watch this video...it is freakin' adorable. My favorite part is the pure joy on the brides face as she walks down the aisle. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0
Monday, July 20, 2009
Old woman and the stick...
No, this is not a parabel. There is no deep meaning to this story. You will learn nothing.
This morning on my way to work going into Frederiksted there was a very old bow legged woman scuttled across the road. She grabbed a stick, turned around and prepared to scuttle back over the road. Seeing the woman was in a bit of a hurry, I slowed my beast of a truck to a halt and indicated that she should go ahead. She looked at me as if I were insane. Then looked away. I waited. She waited, staring in the other direction. I still waited, she waited. It was a waiting standoff which the old woman and the stick won. I drove slowly through the intersection. Then, I watched in my rearview mirror the old woman, scuttle very quickly with her stick back across the road.
I don't know who or what that scuttling old woman intended to beat with that stick, but I feel bad for them--cause she was MEAN.
This morning on my way to work going into Frederiksted there was a very old bow legged woman scuttled across the road. She grabbed a stick, turned around and prepared to scuttle back over the road. Seeing the woman was in a bit of a hurry, I slowed my beast of a truck to a halt and indicated that she should go ahead. She looked at me as if I were insane. Then looked away. I waited. She waited, staring in the other direction. I still waited, she waited. It was a waiting standoff which the old woman and the stick won. I drove slowly through the intersection. Then, I watched in my rearview mirror the old woman, scuttle very quickly with her stick back across the road.
I don't know who or what that scuttling old woman intended to beat with that stick, but I feel bad for them--cause she was MEAN.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Hey folks
Sorry it has been a while, things have been stressful since my birthday (July 1st). Turns out the ever dreaded $$$ for me to work at the refinery ran out the day before my birthday; no-one told me so I continued to work. Long story short--I was fought for, but $$$ officially runs out at the end of September. So that combined with more layoffs, well, things are tough. However, you all know that, things are tough everywhere. I am blessed to have a job. No matter how annoyingly irritating people can be to deal with, I am still happy to have a job to deal with them.
I have news regarding the apartment. First off, they have totally fixed the road. Well, its still dirty, but it has been graded. Holy crap is that exciting. It is smooth sailing up and down that thing. It is almost a pleasure to leave my apartment now. Secondly, I have new neighbors. I still have my crazy neighbor, but he is moving out (or so I hear). But there are two new people in the "main house". And wait for it; they seem totally normal!!! Now, obviously, this normal thing is a sliding scale but here is some compelling evidence that they are in fact, normal (ish): they invited us to dinner one night with some of their friends and we all got along--with much laughter. This shows 1. they have maintained friendships and 2. since they find me entertaining they have a GREAT sense of humor ;). Then, we all met up at the rib cook off (where I kid you not, I never got to eat a rib--because they ran out within the first hour) where we all bought alternating rounds of beer and later that night we play Wii Bowling at their house (btw: I am NOT good at bowling, Wii or otherwise). So yes, normal, kind, and fun. I don't know if I will get ANY good stories out of them; but I will probably have more fun up here.
Wilkes (husband) and I took the dogs to the beach on Saturday after the "rib" cook-off (you know, the one with no ribs?). I was swimming and dragged Life (big dog) into the ocean--she was NOT happy with this plan at all. Teak (small dog) on the other hand was happy as a clam. I swam all the way out, he happily paddled next to me. When I stopped swimming he swam around me in circles. Just to experiment, I grabbed onto his tail. No kidding, he pulled me all the way into shore. Life sulked behind a tree. I swam out again, he "saved" me again. Teak and I have a new fun game. :) Life, meanwhile, will hide behind a tree.
I guess thats about it for now. Hope all is well with ya'll.
Miss you.
-H.
I have news regarding the apartment. First off, they have totally fixed the road. Well, its still dirty, but it has been graded. Holy crap is that exciting. It is smooth sailing up and down that thing. It is almost a pleasure to leave my apartment now. Secondly, I have new neighbors. I still have my crazy neighbor, but he is moving out (or so I hear). But there are two new people in the "main house". And wait for it; they seem totally normal!!! Now, obviously, this normal thing is a sliding scale but here is some compelling evidence that they are in fact, normal (ish): they invited us to dinner one night with some of their friends and we all got along--with much laughter. This shows 1. they have maintained friendships and 2. since they find me entertaining they have a GREAT sense of humor ;). Then, we all met up at the rib cook off (where I kid you not, I never got to eat a rib--because they ran out within the first hour) where we all bought alternating rounds of beer and later that night we play Wii Bowling at their house (btw: I am NOT good at bowling, Wii or otherwise). So yes, normal, kind, and fun. I don't know if I will get ANY good stories out of them; but I will probably have more fun up here.
Wilkes (husband) and I took the dogs to the beach on Saturday after the "rib" cook-off (you know, the one with no ribs?). I was swimming and dragged Life (big dog) into the ocean--she was NOT happy with this plan at all. Teak (small dog) on the other hand was happy as a clam. I swam all the way out, he happily paddled next to me. When I stopped swimming he swam around me in circles. Just to experiment, I grabbed onto his tail. No kidding, he pulled me all the way into shore. Life sulked behind a tree. I swam out again, he "saved" me again. Teak and I have a new fun game. :) Life, meanwhile, will hide behind a tree.
I guess thats about it for now. Hope all is well with ya'll.
Miss you.
-H.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
How I know I'm old...
So, I'm sitting here, wiping snotty tears off my face after watching one of those stupid uplifting/depressing movies my friend keeps sending me. I don't necessarily enjoy having feelings, ya know Carol. :) :) I was thinking to myself, gosh, I'm up *really* late. Wilkes has been upstairs snoring for HOURS. The dogs are passed out snoring in a nice counterpoint to Wilkes. I estimated it to be around 2AM. I looked at the clock, it was 11:12 PM. What the heck?!?!? I recall times of not going out UNTIL 11PM. Nowadays I know its a party if I let myself have a caffeinated beverage after 3PM. *sigh*
The downhill slide has begun folks. Next thing you know I'll be eating a balanced diet, stop dying my hair funny colors, and stop pricing full body tattoos.
Although I would rock as a purple-haired, tattooed old lady.
The downhill slide has begun folks. Next thing you know I'll be eating a balanced diet, stop dying my hair funny colors, and stop pricing full body tattoos.
Although I would rock as a purple-haired, tattooed old lady.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The beer, the dogs, and the bra--a 4th of July Story
Don't get excited; this is not that good of a story--but the title totally rocked; didn't it?
For the 4th of July the husband and I were invited over to a small party at a co-worker's. Since I hang out with these people I guess it is appropriate to call them friends, but still, I am working from a place of accuracy. :)
Anywhoodle, I brought the dogs (my furballs; not the hotdogs) and they proceded to play with their 3 dogs. So, we had quite the pack of beasts running around--but all actually quite well behaved. I brought beer. and then, to celebrate the 4th and my continued good health I drank beer (and pomegranate martinis - yum!).
When I first came to St. Croix back in 2007 I noticed then that this island--well, I can't think of how to put it delicately--no-one seems to wear a bra. Since I came here for work (at a refinery, which has fires, and I don't reccommend wearing things like polyester) the only support garments I brought were cotton sports bras. Comfy, utilitarian, and if I was sporting the dreaded "uni-boob" who really cared? I was wearing fire retardant coveralls. But then I started making nice with people, and getting invited out, and I realized (with horror) that it was in fact innapropriate to wear pajamas to the bar (well, kind of innapropriate anyway). So the uniboob look was out. When I ran back to Chicago the first thing I did was find a few well fitting bras and throw them in the suitcase. So when I was getting dressed for the small party I thought I should bust out a bra. I now know why no-one wears them here. It is too hot. This is just a small tip for those of you coming to visit. :) The fashion tip for this island is "comfy".
For the 4th of July the husband and I were invited over to a small party at a co-worker's. Since I hang out with these people I guess it is appropriate to call them friends, but still, I am working from a place of accuracy. :)
Anywhoodle, I brought the dogs (my furballs; not the hotdogs) and they proceded to play with their 3 dogs. So, we had quite the pack of beasts running around--but all actually quite well behaved. I brought beer. and then, to celebrate the 4th and my continued good health I drank beer (and pomegranate martinis - yum!).
When I first came to St. Croix back in 2007 I noticed then that this island--well, I can't think of how to put it delicately--no-one seems to wear a bra. Since I came here for work (at a refinery, which has fires, and I don't reccommend wearing things like polyester) the only support garments I brought were cotton sports bras. Comfy, utilitarian, and if I was sporting the dreaded "uni-boob" who really cared? I was wearing fire retardant coveralls. But then I started making nice with people, and getting invited out, and I realized (with horror) that it was in fact innapropriate to wear pajamas to the bar (well, kind of innapropriate anyway). So the uniboob look was out. When I ran back to Chicago the first thing I did was find a few well fitting bras and throw them in the suitcase. So when I was getting dressed for the small party I thought I should bust out a bra. I now know why no-one wears them here. It is too hot. This is just a small tip for those of you coming to visit. :) The fashion tip for this island is "comfy".
dude...it is hot.
in all honesty, it is probably very pleasant most places here, for example, in a hammock, on the beach, in the ocean...however today in my laboratory (yes, I pronounce it the way an evil scientist would....) the a/c went out and it worked its way towards 90 degrees. I know because I checked. :) so, as I sweated in front of a microscope in what could very well have been the 3rd circle of hell I thought to myself, self, tonight you need to update your blog...seriously. So I came home, took a cold shower (purposefully), grabbed my pjs hot out of the dryer (which in any other climate would be a good thing--here, ugh) and am now sitting below my living room fan.
Okay, so here are the updates:
Health
Oh happiness is being pain-free. You may all recall I had hurt my back (NOT at work. :) ). It made me gimp around, the pain was horrible. Or so I thought. Until a week and a half ago when I woke up Friday morning, began vomiting, went to work to give a talk on asbestos, continued vomiting, was fairly certain someone was stabbing me in the right kidney (just typing that is giving me a twinge), drove home, took pain pills, vomited pain pills (I know...the waste), told my husband "hospital" and off I went to Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital in Christiansted. Now, typing that sentence was a lot easier than the actual journey. My (poor) husband had to learn to drive on the left hand side with me screeching in agony and then passing out for a little while. And in reality neither of us knew where the hospital was--but I had a good idea.
However, we made it there fairly quickly and I was triaged in ahead of people--which was for the best since I was about to lay on the floor--and it wasn't very clean. They gave me Toradol--which although not a narcotic became MY BEST FRIEND as it helped relieve the pain. Which came back, and then they introduced me to morphine--at which point my wise, wise, husband took my phone away and I took a nap. The nurse tucked my blanket around me so it wouldn't touch the floor because (and I quote), "don't want any of the creepy crawlies to get up there". (I know, ewww, right?) So, long story short, it turned out to be a kidney stone. Holy hell people, drink water, do not get dehydrated, I did, and it is not worth the PAIN. I passed the darn thing per the CT scan but I am kinda disappointed that I didn't get to see it...maybe I could of made a bead out of it or somthin...
So, yeah. I am healthy (now), but I had a hell of a run there for a while.
Neighbors
Sadly, nothing exciting to report. He hasn't spoken to me since Wilkes arrived. It also appears that he has not been beaten up again, so that's good. My landlord apparently arrived back tonight (I see his jeep) but other than that no interesting news there.
Can't really think of much else that's going on. They did a big round of asbestos awareness training at the refinery, so I have been busy--and busy is good. However I don't like to confuse being needed with being important. This job is still hanging on by a thread--not a wussy thread, but a thread.
Hugs to all!
Okay, so here are the updates:
Health
Oh happiness is being pain-free. You may all recall I had hurt my back (NOT at work. :) ). It made me gimp around, the pain was horrible. Or so I thought. Until a week and a half ago when I woke up Friday morning, began vomiting, went to work to give a talk on asbestos, continued vomiting, was fairly certain someone was stabbing me in the right kidney (just typing that is giving me a twinge), drove home, took pain pills, vomited pain pills (I know...the waste), told my husband "hospital" and off I went to Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital in Christiansted. Now, typing that sentence was a lot easier than the actual journey. My (poor) husband had to learn to drive on the left hand side with me screeching in agony and then passing out for a little while. And in reality neither of us knew where the hospital was--but I had a good idea.
However, we made it there fairly quickly and I was triaged in ahead of people--which was for the best since I was about to lay on the floor--and it wasn't very clean. They gave me Toradol--which although not a narcotic became MY BEST FRIEND as it helped relieve the pain. Which came back, and then they introduced me to morphine--at which point my wise, wise, husband took my phone away and I took a nap. The nurse tucked my blanket around me so it wouldn't touch the floor because (and I quote), "don't want any of the creepy crawlies to get up there". (I know, ewww, right?) So, long story short, it turned out to be a kidney stone. Holy hell people, drink water, do not get dehydrated, I did, and it is not worth the PAIN. I passed the darn thing per the CT scan but I am kinda disappointed that I didn't get to see it...maybe I could of made a bead out of it or somthin...
So, yeah. I am healthy (now), but I had a hell of a run there for a while.
Neighbors
Sadly, nothing exciting to report. He hasn't spoken to me since Wilkes arrived. It also appears that he has not been beaten up again, so that's good. My landlord apparently arrived back tonight (I see his jeep) but other than that no interesting news there.
Can't really think of much else that's going on. They did a big round of asbestos awareness training at the refinery, so I have been busy--and busy is good. However I don't like to confuse being needed with being important. This job is still hanging on by a thread--not a wussy thread, but a thread.
Hugs to all!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Coconuts
Today's moment of Zen: I currently work in a place where employees bring in coconuts for co-workers because they have too many. Weird.
Yesterdays moment of Zen: people actually get Dengue Fever here. Like, its common. I bought more DEET.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I have stories...
Ever so many stories; sadly I keep running out of time to type them.
*sigh*
I shall try to update ya'll soon.
*hugs*
-H.
*sigh*
I shall try to update ya'll soon.
*hugs*
-H.
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