Restful Metaphor

So I've been obsessing about work the last few days. It's been hard on hubby-Eric, who has to listen to me rant. Last night he wanted a break, and I wanted a break, but I couldn't stop obsessing.

"Ok," said Eric. "Just put all that in a box and stop thinking about it."

So I visualized a box and imagined shoving the big story of the week into it. Bits wouldn't go in.

"Eric," I wailed, "the box won't stay shut. Some of the stuff is trying to get out. It's like zombie arms!"

"I hope you have a flamethrower ready."

"Uh, no I don't..." I said.

"Sure you do, there's one on the wall," he said. I visualized it. Neither of us had moved an inch, just talked.

"The box is wooden, if I burn it, some of the zombie bits will escape," I said. "I need a hammer to pound the zombie arms back into the box. Can I borrow a hammer?"

"Uh, sure."

I imagined a hammer and started pounding the imaginary zombie arms, a pleasant thought. Eric and I started to talk about other subjects. But the zombie arms (ie, the news story) managed to get out again.

"I need to seal the box," I said. "Can I have some nails?"

Bemused, Eric agreed and I visualized some wicked sharp wooden stakes. I told Eric what I was visualizing, and said, "These will do." I pounded the box closed. A single zombie arm hung limply out the side. Eric and I talked about other subjects again, but the story started leaking into my head again.

"I think I need to close the door," I said. "The box is bouncing around and making a lot of noise. Hang on." I imagined closing the box into its own closet, then used the hammer to pound in some more wicked stakes to seal the door. "Oops," I said. "I think I left the flamethrower in there."

"Don't worry," said Eric, getting into the metaphor. "There's a whole wall of them over there, and if you run out, you can always order more from Acme and they'll drop-ship them in an instant."

"Ah, yes," I said. "There's a fuel truck outside, too."

Oddly enough, it worked. For the rest of the night, the story was gone from my active thoughts. Sure, it wasn't far back in my head, and if I needed to think about it I could. But for the first time in a week I was able to stop obsessing and get some rest. It was much-needed.

Now... back to work to deal with the latest twist in the story. Monday is going to be very interesting, but at least maybe I'll be able to metaphor the story away over the weekend.

(For the curious, here's the story, sort of: Monday afternoon's bit published Tuesday and Tuesday's bit, published Wednesday... the next chapter will be in today's paper, I think. I don't want to say more, read the paper for information. My opinion on the subject is something that only myself and poor Eric should ever hear.)

And so it goes...

Let's see... turned in my big global warming story today, it was in today's paper. I'm not happy with it because there is about a billion more things to say on the subject but none of it matters in the least. I'm also afraid some of my bias on the subject leaked through. But hey, Rod made a great graphic for the article. *sigh*

I went out and took a picture of a haircut today. I also visited the high school this morning for an update on what's going on, and now I've got another story to write. I met with some dairy officials today, too. Nice folks, and I'm not as worried about the articles I have to write for the dairy special section now.

I'm going to a conference in about a week, and I had to submit one of my stories to be discussed in it. I can't remember which one I picked now, but one of the ones that my editor told me to put in my "contest fodder" folder. Then I noticed that the WNPA contest deadline is next week, and now I need to pull together my entries. My folder has two feature stories, a photograph and my column. I don't know if anything else has been pulled for possible inclusion by anyone else, but it shouldn't take too long for my stuff to get submitted once we're ready. I do not expect to win anything.

Inkwell is still bored. I try to entertain him as much as possible when I'm home, but he continues to nip me if I try to play with him, then gets upset when I stop playing because he's nipped me. I must be doing something wrong. Either that or Inkwell just isn't that smart.

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day. At 7 in the morning I'm at a local breakfast spot to meet with one of the state politicians. Deadline is 10 a.m. and I have at least five stories to write between the time I get to the office (probably a bit after 8 a.m.) and the deadline. At 1 p.m. I'm due at the high school for a student of the month photo. Then at 3 p.m. I need to be down at the high school of the town south of us to take photos of a softball game. All is well until 7 p.m. at which point I will be back at the local high school for a big dance show. I have to get a photo page out of that, so I need to take a billion pictures, which I'm terribly bad at because I hate getting in other people's way, and a photographer needs to be in the way to get good shots some times. Blah.

My Saturday has apparently been pre-planned by hubby-Eric. I hope he remembers to fill me in on what I'm doing at any given time, because I've started to learn that reporter's skill of dumping anything that isn't right in front of me as something that needs to be done for deadline out of my head. I have very little memory anymore. If it's not on my task list or my Google Calendar, it might as well not exist.

Well, I guess I'll go play with the cat again. He looks a little sad. But then, cats apparently evolved with that trait to make you want to be around them despite their obnoxious little quirks.

Seventeen Years

Here's to the next seventeen!

Happy Anniversary, Eric!

Gjovaag Face Plant

On February 5th, Hubby-Eric called me from school to tell me that he'd been hurt in a "teaching accident". Well, no, actually it was in a pep rally adventure in which teachers and student did some kind of race.

When he got home, I found that his injuries consisted of two skinned knees, one skinned elbow, a bruised nose, a cut lower lip, and a badly wrenched shoulder that still hasn't fully healed.

A few days later we learned that a student had recorded the fall, and Eric asked if he could have a copy of the video. She asked if it would be ok to post it to YouTube, and he agreed. So, finally, here it is!

The fall happens about a minute in (56 seconds). Eric is the one in tan/grey in the farthest pair from the camera. Unfortunately, the video ends before all the students realize how hurt he is and start chanting his name as he's led out of the gym.

You'll have to ask Eric what he's doing in that first part of the video. Eating something while his partner in the game chugs a cola, I think.

My First Prom

Back in High School, I had two big things going against me on the dating scene. The first was that I was emotionally immature to the point that I had no interest in guys (or girls) at all. Oh, sure, I had the occasional crush, but never seriously, and never reciprocated. It bothered me a lot at the time, because I didn't understand why my friends were going ga-ga over guys and I wasn't. In retrospect, it probably was for the best. The second was a severe lack of money. If I was going to spend money, it wouldn't be on a dress. So, in High School, Prom was pretty much meaningless to me. I didn't want to go to yet another boring dance, and I certainly didn't want to pay for a dress. So I didn't.

Thus, when my husband asked if I wanted to go to the Prom of the High School he's teaching at, I was ... less than impressed. I almost said no, but then I decided it might be amusing. And so, on Saturday night, I found myself leaving Churchville to go to the even smaller town that holds hubby-Eric's High School. We got there a little early, and went in to make sure everything was set up. Total folks in the building: three photo team members, one DJ, one of Eric's fellow teachers, and three Juniors who were doing the set up for the Italian Soda stand. Eric immediately pitched in to help with the set up and such, and I wandered around trying to stay out of the way in my frumpy skirt and blouse.

Around 7:30 pm the couples started arriving for pictures. I was drafted to check their tickets. I was amused to see it start raining *just* as the couples started arriving. It's unusual enough for it to rain around here that rain on Prom night was a piece of cruel fate, particularly for the poor girls. You could tell which guys were gentlemen by whether or not they used their jackets to shield their dates. One guy (who arrived with three girls) actually had an umbrella.

The dresses were fantastic. It was clear that a lot of effort went into this promenade. Later on when patrolling the halls and bathroom I witnessed just how much this beauty cost some of the girls, as one girl showed that her side was already bruised from how tight the dress squeezed her, and another girl had an impressive blister on her foot from walking around in brand new high heels.

The couples came to get their pictures taken, then most of them immediately left. When I asked one of the Juniors about it, she said they were off to dinner. Because the Churchville area is a restaurant wasteland to a large extent, most of them were driving 30 to 40 miles away to the nearest "nice" restaurant for Prom dinner. Then they planned to return for the dance. Accordingly, the first two hours of the dance were dead.

The security guy and his wife arrived not long after I was drafted, and it turned out that the wife was the official ticket taker, so I let her take over and started patrolling the halls with hubby to make sure no students were hiding in a corner being bad. They weren't. The students were completely well behaved, almost disappointingly so.

The rain eased off as the night wore on, and the couples returned and danced. One of the Juniors and I counted the votes for the Prom King and Queen, and after the announcement a lot of the couples got ready to leave... but instead of rain the sprinklers had come on, blocking the way out of the building unless you were willing to get completely soaked. The boys were ready to dash for it, but the girls were wearing high heels and didn't want to for obvious reasons. The security officer took at least one couple to let out via the front door, which didn't have the sprinkler problem.

One fellow returning to the building after running an errand managed to completely avoid the sprinklers somehow, I'm still not sure how. Another couple decided to make a dash for it, and I watched as the boy led the way gingerly... too slow, one of the sprays caught up to them, and the girl made a sudden lurch into him and the two slalomed across the lawn to his car. I'm ashamed to say that I started laughing my head off, and in the next moment I laughed even harder as the sprinklers finally turned off.

The couples left and the security guy warned them as they left to be careful on the roads as his police scanner was picking up a LOT of activity. When the last of the students were gone, the DJ started to pack up. The photographers had left as soon as the Prom King and Queen were photographed. The DJ's assistant arrived to help him pack, and Eric and I started to do some preliminary clean up. The other teacher left Eric in charge and left, and Eric and I did a last check of the school to make sure nobody was hanging out then we went home, arriving home at 1 am.

Based on this experience, I don't think I would have enjoyed my own Prom at all. In fact, I would have hated it. Being on the outside made this one easier to endure, and I wouldn't mind helping out again sometime, as long as I remember to bring a book next time. But I'm glad I never was in for the dresses and make-up and high heels and such. It wasn't my scene. I hope the kids who came enjoyed it more than I did.

Counting M&Ms

Apparently I get to count some M&Ms to help hubby-Eric work on a proportion assignment for his class. They counted the green M&Ms in a small bag, and predicted the number of green M&Ms in a large bag. Eric and I get to count the large bag together, and he's promised me that I can eat the results.

Homecoming!

Just got back from the Homecoming football game at Eric's High School. It's fun to be a teacher's wife! I met the superintendent and the band director, who convinced me to visit the band a bit to help out. I think I'll be volunteering a bit at the elementary library as well, if the superintendent has anything to say about it. It was a fun game with lots of bad-for-me food, but our team lost.

I've known since the interview that I really like the people in this school district. This event just reinforced the feeling. Despite the complete change in weather, the stress of moving, the terror of culture shock... I think this place is becoming home.

Friday, Saturday, Busy Busy Busy Days

On Friday hubby-Eric and I took a little road trip out to Eastern Washington. I can't really tell you much about that, except the weather was gorgeous and I got carsick. Besides getting carsick, I really enjoyed the trip.

Bright and early Saturday morning, Eric and I went down to visit my evil twin, and together we all went to the Race For the Cure. We met a friend or two down there, and walked the viaduct along with thousands of other people. Evil twin Lisa took a picture of hubby and I while we walked:

After the walk, our group, now five in number, went back to my parents' house. We played on Lisa's Wii Fit, were fed a wonderful lunch by my mother (THANKS MOM!) and ran some errands and such. We also made sure we had... um... the latest Doctor Who.

After playing around on the Fit (which I want even more now, if that's possible), we all piled into the car and drove down to KBTC where we volunteered for the Doctor Who pledge drive.

Hubby-Eric was "talent" at the pledge drive, as he's been before, but this time he got to anchor the pledge breaks with William. Here's a pic of him once he'd been gussied up a bit by a fellow fan:

Both Lisa and I did our usual behind the scenes work. I monitored the "green room" and made sure nobody walked off with a computer or somebody's bag. Lisa helped tally the totals on the breaks. Before the drive started, we all sat down and watched "Turn Left" (the newest Doctor Who) as a big ol' group of fans.

While we goofed around between breaks, Lisa took some pictures of me, including this one which I altered slightly from the one that appears in the photostream. You can see a lot more pictures, including some fairly embarrassing ones, over in that Flickr stream, by the way.

Some idle final thoughts... Friday's trip could very well change our lives, and in some ways already has... I loved playing on the Wii Fit, especially once it told me my Wii age is 28 instead of 40-something like last time... One of our group made a Mii named "Killer" and the Wii said her Wii age was 61, Ouch... Mmmmmm, sloppy joes for lunch!... The weather for the Race for the Cure was perfect... I ate too much over the weekend and need to be really good the rest of the month to stay under my weight limit... Killer was the only one of the five of us who had trouble walking the Race for the Cure route... Elmo and Big Bird destroyed my little remaining innocence... Watching new Doctor Who in a big group was both fun and annoying... I really like the Wii Fit step aerobics, but the jogging was also great... While I am Lisa's Evil Twin, she's apparently my Evil Twin as well. I'm not sure either of us is the good twin... Once again, many thanks to the people who donated for Race For the Cure! Our little group raised a decent amount of money... Regardless of what happens, I hope to do the Puget Sound Race for the Cure again next year... If you didn't get a chance to donate on Saturday, KBTC is still accepting pledges. I recommend the TARDIS mobile phone charm, it was cool (even if it doesn't work with my phone)...

And lastly, my Evil Twin will be trying to ride her bike 150 miles for charity thie September. I'm going to try to post a reminder about it every week or two until the date. If you want to help Lisa in the MS 150 then donate here. She's trying to get $500 in donations so she can get a jersey, but needs at least $250 in donations to be allowed to ride.

This... Is... Jeopardy!

Hubby-Eric was just informed that, once again, he's in the contestant pool for Jeopardy (after the screening/in person test in late March).

Frankenhaus

Note: Boring personal stuff ahead. Fanboys and people looking for links can skip this entry.

So, here's what's been happening.

Yesterday, hubby-Eric and I took his car to his usual auto-shop. Neither of us are particularly good with engines, and we wanted the folks who are familiar with his car to mess with it. Unfortunately, the shop is in Ballard, and we live in Bothell. The shop is about 14 miles away through heavy traffic.

Now, as you may recall from my previous post, the car was dead in our garage. The second tow truck driver assured me that it would go fine once it was jumped, but remember that he also followed me home just to be sure. So Eric and I decided that I'd better follow him in the van, just in case the car needed another jump along the way. As one of the symptoms of the problem was that the car would die unexpectedly at stoplights, Eric was not happy about driving the car that far. I wasn't keen on trying to figure out how to get the van in position to give the car a jump if it died. In short, we were both a wee bit tense and panicky.

So yesterday morning, after a clever parking job with the van, Eric got in his car and I pushed it (yes, me alone) out of the garage into the driveway. We jumped the car using the van, then we were on the way. I followed Eric as closely as possible, through heavy morning traffic and construction zones that seem like they will never be finished. The car drove fine, never dying, but both of us were stressed for the entire drive. Once we got to the shop I couldn't find parking for some time... and eventually parked in a no parking zone that several other cars were parked in.

I was under the mistaken impression that it wouldn't take long to fix the car, while Eric seemed to think it would take a few hours. So, tense and cranky, I suggested we stay in Ballard while Eric wanted to go home. Eventually we found a Starbucks so I could get some hot cocoa and calm down. I don't much like the smell of coffee (which makes me some kind of mutant) but I endured it just to get some chocolate. Eric then talked sense into me, and we went home.

Our next problem was that Eric had to go to work at 4 pm, and the car wasn't ready... and wasn't ready... and wasn't ready... He called in to see if he could stay home, but they really needed him. So I started calling family members to try to get some help. Eventually, we arranged with the shop for me to come out this morning (in a couple of hours, actually) to get the car. But since Eric needed to go to work, I still needed a ride to Ballard. My mom is coming to the rescue (thank you MOM!).

Ok, so that's the car. Let's move over into Frankenhaus.

As you know, this house has some problems. The nervous system (electrical system) is pathetic and needs to be rewired. We desperately need a new stove (the current one flames when I try to broil something... and it's an electric stove). We've had a pest problem (which seems to have been dealt with, thank goodness). And the digestive system (the plumbing) is... well, it's acting up again. In short, the house is constipated. And I need to call a plumber today. I decided to wait a bit until I'd calmed down, but as we're having a party at the house on Saturday, I can't wait long.

So it never rains but it pours. We couldn't afford the new battery (thank you to the person who helped on that, by the way). The credit card is groaning, but it's the only way we can pay for this. And, worse, we really need to make a major renovation in the plumbing system to prevent this problem from occurring in the future, but we can't afford the $2000-5000 to do it.

If I had about $100,000 (HA!) I would totally renovate this house. It's got the best feeling of any house I've lived in, including the house I grew up in. It's a good house for all its faults. It deserves owners who can give it the attention it needs.

Update (about 11am): Got the car. Mostly not painful, except for the payment (about $200). The problem wasn't the battery itself, it was the cable leading to the battery. That got loose, to the point where it wouldn't hold onto the battery anymore. Every bump in the road caused it to jump away from the battery. This lead to the battery "working too hard" to try to connect and failing to recharge. The cable killed the battery. They replaced the cable, then the battery. If Eric experiences power losses, like before, they said to check that the clamps were firmly connected to the battery. The good news is that the battery was near the end of its life anyway, so we would have had to replace it soon regardless.

Now I'm just waiting for the plumbers to call back and tell me when they will most likely make it out here.

Update (about 12:15): About 45 minutes ago I decided to walk down to the library, as I figured the earliest the plumber would show up would be at noon, and it usually takes me about half an hour to go to the library and back. So I loaded up the books we needed to return and headed down. About halfway there, I got a call. The guy could be at my house in a half hour. Part of me wanted to turn around, the rest of me just said "I'll just hurry and it'll be fine." So I hurried. And as I walked up to the house, the Roto Rooter truck pulled into the driveway. He's now in the bathroom, pulling the toilet.

Did you know you can request a Roto Rooter appointment on-line? I was able to specify that I needed someone who not only knows how to pull a toilet, but is able to reinstall it properly (as we've had troubles with that in the past, waves and gushes and little smelly streams of troubles). I was assured when they called to let me know he was on the way that I was getting a guy with plenty of experience.

Update (about 1:20): And... he's done. $300 for the rooting, and a couple of small repairs to the toilet. The plumber they sent agrees with me that we ought to rip out the whole bathroom and start over. Unfortunately, I haven't got the money to do that. I certainly would if I did. I'd love to do right by this house.

So, today we're out $500 in various repairs. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch.

And yes, I'm sure that all this has contributed to my most recent bout of depression. Which I'm only now barely recovering from. Such is life. Now I need to go clean up after the plumber (he didn't leave much of a mess, but there's still stuff to be done) then reward myself by going to get the comics.

Thank Goodness for AAA

So hubby-Eric and I went out this morning. He noted that his car had been having odd power-loss problems recently, but neither of us thought it was serious enough to worry about. Ha.

While we drove down a long straight road, the car lost power twice. Not huge losses, just ... twitches... Right up until we got to the stoplight at the end of the road. Then the car died. Eric managed to get it going, but halfway into the intersection it died again, and he couldn't get it started. With the help of another driver, I pushed the car out of the intersection, then I got in the driver's seat and kept trying until the car started up again. I got us through the intersection... then into a tiny parking area after the car died again.

We didn't try to go further, we just called AAA.

While we waited, I called a few other people. The only one I got a hold of was my brother, who offered to come and help. I thanked him and let him know that we would call back if AAA stranded us somewhere we needed a ride from.

It took awhile, but we finally got a tow truck. The driver played with the battery and showed us that the cable leading to the battery was loose. He thought that maybe it wasn't getting charged properly, so that was the problem. He used a penny to tighten up the cable, and hopefully that was that.

We left the car running and signed a bit of paperwork (and I called my brother back to let him know we didn't need help), and the tow truck took off for his next call. By the time we got back to the car, it had stopped running. I didn't think anything of it, but Eric was a bit flustered. He tried to start the engine. Nothing. Just that annoying clicking you get when the battery is completely dead.

The tow truck was far enough gone that we couldn't wave him back, so we made a second call to AAA. A short while later the same tow truck called to find out what had happened. Eric explained. The truck was on the way to another call, but he said he'd send a different truck.

We were about 2 miles from home, where the van sat. Rather than sit and stew, I suggested to Eric that he walk home. Then, if I ended up having to be towed, he could come and pick me up at the dealership or autoshop. He finally agreed after I talked him into it for awhile. Thus I got to sit in the car, next to the freeway, waiting for the tow truck.

After a good long wait, the new tow truck arrived. He was perplexed by the problem, but after I described the whole series of events and he used a mobile jump box to start the engine, he told me the battery was not holding a charge anymore. I chose to drive it home, where I could get another jump if needed, and not worry about it. The tow truck followed me home, and I got home just before Eric. As expected, when we tried to start the car again once home, it wouldn't start. The tow truck driver said the battery and its cables need to be replaced.

So we have a dead car in our garage. We're down to only the van working. And Eric's shop for the car is in Ballard, which is a good long drive away. We haven't really got the money to repair the car, but we have no choice. It's always the way, though. You aren't allowed to get ahead, just less further behind.

Someday, when I'm rich, I'm getting a new car. An actual new car, not a used car that's just new to me. Preferably a hybrid or a smartcar or something with great gas mileage that doesn't have too much nasty emissions. Someday. When I'm rich. Yeah.

Morning Linkdump

Still playing catch-up. At least I now know why I've been so miserable for the last few weeks. My ear still hurts. I hope the medication kicks in soon.

Amelia Rules: The Things I Cannot Change. More information here.

Thursday, August 9th is Miracle Treat Day, and hubby-Eric and I plan to get a Blizzard at DQ that day.

Speaking of food, can dieting make you fatter? Well, yeah, if you diet for awhile and then rebound. My current "diet" is permanent, I plan on sticking to it for the rest of my life. In similar news, Obesity is contagious. Unfortunately, the reverse doesn't seem to be true.

Bob Harris recommends a 1987 movie set in 1856 Nicaragua to explain 2007 US foreign policy.

Although I missed the Fourth of July in linking, really, I still want to shout out Bully's wonderful entry for the day. Way cool.

Tammy talks about men in feminism. This relates to Dark Horse comics reprinting an incredibly disgusting misogynist work.

Vintage Seattle looks at The Bon Marche.

Yes yes, it happened some time ago, but I still want to glee over Ichiro's All-Star inside-the-park home run, the only highlight of the game for me.

Science Fiction Writers Have No Sense of Scale.

New Olympics for youth?

Ken Jennings mentions my husband on his blog. Ok, so Eric wrote to him, but it's still cool.

Follow San Diego through text messages at San Diego Dreaming.

Pics from Preview Night.

To Hubby-Eric

Happy Anniversary, Eric. Thirteen years is barely a start.

Coupla' Links and Hubby-Eric on Video

A new Blogaround Challenge has been issued. Get yer browsers fired up, folks.

Apple's Next Product Photoshopping Contest.

Here's hubby-Eric at the KBTC Doctor Who Pledge Drive, being harrassed by a mad penguin. It's three minutes long, but the most fun moment happens in the first 30 seconds. In case you are wondering what Eric's shirt says, it's the Russell T Davies is my master now T-shirt from my Zazzle shop.

Happy Birthday to Eric!

Yay! Hey look, your birthday present! A TiVo! I love you hubby-Eric!

Clearly I was unable to post a Ripples yesterday. I will post one tonight. I also plan on using that YouTube account I made to post some of the Pledge Drive from last night. You'll get to see hubby-Eric as "Talent", and Monty the Penguin lose his scarf. I just have to get the vids downloaded and see what we caught on the TiVo.

Many thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, and to the folks who donated to KBTC through the website during the pledge drive (yes, we noticed!), and especially to the people who called.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yay! I'm 27 again! And spending my day away from the computer. My birthday present from my wonderful hubby-Eric was a TiVo (and that's my present to him, since his birthday is tomorrow). Today I'll be off across the water for the afternoon, then down at the Tacoma PBS station tonight for the Doctor Who pledge drive (we're TiVo'ing it!). I don't know if I'll get home in time to post a Ripples Through Time, so maybe I'll try to get it done in the next two hours before I leave... hmmm...

Doctor Who and Eric Gjovaag

In Doctor Who Magazine #377 (cover date 3 Jan 2007), on page 51, in the 2006 Season Survey, under "Greatest Contribution", there is a quote from my husband, Eric Gjovaag!

Yes, we filled out the survey and sent it across the pond to England. And Eric got quoted!

What did he say?

"The Greatest Contribution?" asked Eric Gjovaag Washington, in the USA, "I considered David Tennant, Russell T Davies, and even Paul Kasey for all the creatures he's played. But I finally picked Billie Piper for showing everyone just how important the role of the companion is, how much the companion can contribute, and for being so good at it. Billie, in all your future roles, I'll be looking out for you."