Almost Done with the Challenge

This is the second to last post

Of this December Challenge. Since the first one I posted went up on December 2nd even though I wrote it on the first, this is only post number 30. I still have one to go after this. Going forward after the New Year I may not do this every day, just when I need to say stuff. It gets pretty hard to come up with something every day. I'm not sure most people who blog do so every day.

I could write about current events and my take on them but I'm not sure that would be healthy for me. I will however probably tell some of the stories I have from my past. I feel like it will be helpful for me to get that stuff off my chest so to speak.

Just a warning about that stuff. Most of it is pretty shitty and the other people involved won't come out looking good. It's not like I'm going to name people with their first and last names and where they live or anything, but if you have a relationship to me that will come out. I'm not going to obscure the fact that some of the stuff that happened to me was because of my parents. I'm not sure that I could. I haven't decided if I'm going to change names all together, I suppose I should.

Well, it's New Years Eve. Have a save and happy holiday. Make good choices.

I Have a lot swirling today

In my head that is.

It's not like things are actually swirling. 

I read a thing today. It's a angry feminist piece, so if your feelings are easily hurt don't click. Of course just saying that some of you who shouldn't click will. Don't say I didn't warn you.

It hit home for me, because of course it did. She says a lot of things that ring true. Like having be ingrained to seek the approval of men, while also being taught to fear them. It usually played out differently in my head more "Don't upset the men." Because let's face it, they are fragile emotionally while being strong physically. Even the best ones need their ego stroked almost continuously. Laugh at all their stupid, offensive jokes. And carry the emotional load of the relationships. All the while they use and abuse us. 

I'm not even married to a man and I'm tired of it.

So now I'm at a point where I want to stop with this nonsense. I will no longer be coddling men. I will be calling them out on their bullshit. And to be clear calling you out isn't hateful, I'm not PMSing. It's not an uncivil act to disagree with you.

I don't care if how I'm dressed or how I do my makeup gives you a boner. I will not smile because you ask. 

I will tell all the stories of my abuse. I don't care if you believe me. I will not put up with anyone questioning my experience. If I say it happened that way, it did.

I don't hate anyone, but you will be treated how you treat me. I will do everything in my power to protect myself. Emotionally and physically.

Old Games

So...

I've been playing an old game call Pharaoh. Steam has it in a manner that runs on Windows 10. Which is impressive considering it was released in 1999 and the expansion that comes with it on Steam came out in 2000. On my laptop at least I had to slow the speed down because it was going wicked fast. I guess it was still somewhat tied to the processor's clock speed like the old SpaceQuest games, or even the Oregon Trail web emulator I found online a while back. That thing was stupid fast.

Anywho, back in the day when I played this game I would get impatient and frustrated because the learning curve goes steep real fast. These days I have a little more patience, so I just spent the better part of 2 days on one level. Part of the problem is that I started out playing like I always did. I tried to rush building the monument. Well this meant that I was in debt for like 8 years in a row. Do you know what that does to your Kingdom Rating? It was at 0. At 9-11 the interface says that there is a rumor that my presence causes Malaria. At 0 I should be dumped out into the desert. At any rate, it took a REALLY long time to bring that up from 0 to 40. It took 22 years to finish that mission. The monument I built wasn't even a pyramid.

The lesson is kids, don't sacrifice your Kingdom Rating to build the monument faster. It's not worth it.

Trajectory

There seems to be a thing I do

Where I just stay on a trajectory throughout the day. If I get up and jump in the shower, maybe have to go somewhere, I can get a lot of stuff done. All or at least most of my chores get done, I am productive. But if I have nowhere to go and plop on the couch as soon as I get up I don't do anything at all.

Of course there is variation on this theme but it seems to be a general trend. Anyone else work like this?

Sarah's Cold

Sarah's temps are weird

So Sarah came down with a cold last week. One of the symptoms was what can be described as a reverse fever. Instead of getting hot she got cold. Well now she feels better other than the snuffly nose but her temps are still low. She's worried about it because she's as low as 95.3 F which the internet says is almost hypothermic. The thing is though everyone in this house runs cool anyway; like 97.8. Which from what I've read is a genetic protection against hypothermia. Alaska Natives tend to run cooler according to an Anthropology course I took. So really Sarah could get colder than 95 and still not be hypothermic.

Right before she got sick she had eyelash extensions put on for the first time. But now she keeps thinking that maybe her temps are low because of a possible reaction to the glue, even though her eyes aren't irritated or anything. 

I think her temp is hormone related.

So that's why this is going up late, I was trying to help her take off her eyelashes. Except they won't come off. She soaked them in olive oil and eye makeup remover, they are all still attached. The glue is oil based so the olive oil should have dissolved it. 

Maybe there's actually a remover for this sort of thing.

* Edited to correct Sarah's low. At 25, she would be icey.

A PSA For Your Safety!

Turn on your flurbin headlights!

There are far too many people in my area driving around with no headlights on! At dusk, in the fog, sometimes when it's straight dark. Do they think that because there are street lights they don't need headlights?

The thing is Anchorage in the winter time could use headlights at all times. Even when it's sunny out, the sun doesn't get very high. While the sun is up it's pretty much in your face if you're driving south and reflecting into your face when driving north. It helps everyone see you if you have your headlights on. You see, in town where there are street lights, headlights are more for others to see you than for you to see the road. Just turn them on from Oct. to May.

While we're on the the subject of driving, ABS is not a substitute for pumping the brakes! ABS is for being able to steer your way out of an accident. It is assumed that if the ABS is kicking on, you won't be able to stop in time anyway and you can't steer in a skid. ABS actually makes your stopping distance longer in the snow. I learned this from a textbook, don't argue.

This has been your "driving in the winter" PSA. Your welcome. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I Hope

Everyone's day is a pleasant one.

Happy Hanukkah if you celebrate that instead or as well. 

A Thing I Really Like

If you like Sci Fi

A cool thing to go get is Lightspeed Magazine. I subscribe and almost always a fun read. The only time it wasn't was the November issue. The 1st couple of stories were pretty dystopian and I was reading it on election night, not cool. I'm not a huge fan of dystopian stuff anyway.

Anywho, it comes out monthly and you can get it auto delivered to your Kindle, so that's cool.

I'm not being paid or anything, just needed something to write about real quick so I can get back to reading December's issue. You should check it out though. They also have Nightmare if you're more into horror. I haven't read it yet so if you read it, you should report back.

This is dragging on a bit.

22 Days in...

I think I might be running out of things to talk about. Writing something for 31 days straight is harder than it looks, you try it. It has gotten especially hard when I don't have somewhere to be every day. All I did today was take Isabelle to school and pick her up. She had a full day at KCC and was unsure of what bus to take since usually she just goes in the afternoon.

I cooked a new thing in the slowcooker, only 2/3 of us liked it; as usual. Maybe I'll try a story, or part of one.

The Adventures of Patch the Guinea Pig

Patch the Guinea Pig was running for her life. Dodging left and right as she ran, avoiding the grasping hands trying to slow her down. She had to get the keystone away from Bunglesnerf's henchmen so he couldn't start the Doomsday Machine.

As she got to the top of the ridge, Patch noticed the steam boat in the bay below, preparing to leave. "I need to make that boat!", Patch thought, "I can't afford to be trapped on this island." Patch leapt down the trail that lead to the shore.

Hideo Bunglesnerf was angry! He almost had possession of the keystone; the final piece to his latest invention, the Doomsday Machine. But of course, Patch had struck again and snatched it before his henchmen could carry it through the jungle from the ancient ruins.

"How does this keep happening?", Bunglesnerf wondered to himself. Maybe he should have sprung for the more expensive henchmen from the "Villain Mail Order Catalog". Oh well, can't be helped now. Maybe if they fail to catch that infernal Guinea Pig he can get a refund.

As Patch careened down the mountain path she looked behind her. The Henchmen were gaining! "Oh moldy hay!" Patch yelled, "Guess it's time to use my teeth!" She then jumped toward a tree, grabbed on with her teeth and swung around the trunk. Then she let go and flew on toward another tree. Patch zigg zagged down the mountain using her teeth! Now that's Rodent Power! Of course, the henchmen, who were mere humans couldn't keep up!

Patch left the forest and dashed toward the docks. She jumped onto the ship just as it was pulling away. As she got farther from the shore, she waved goodbye to Bunglesnerf's henchmen.

Off in the distance Bunglesnerf could be heard bellowing with rage.

Patch was my Guinea Pig. She liked to watch TV with us. I liked to think she went on adventures when we left the house. Kind of like Perry the Platypus. Maybe if you guys like the story, I'll write more.

Christmas Trees

Ok, so in yesterday's post,

I talked about the fact that we don't put the tree up because of naughty kitties and space issues. Well, I think we may have found a solution: a Portal tree.

If you don't know (or remember), Portal is a game that you could shoot a portal onto a surface and walk through it to where you shot the exit portal.

It was a cool game.

So I know the idea of a Portal tree is an old one but it's still cool I think, and I've found a blog with a how-to. Now that guy has only the top of the tree on the ceiling but to keep kitties away from my shiny balls both halves would need to be up. And there are pictures out there where people have done this, mainly to keep pets from destroying the thing.

At this point it's a little late to execute this plan this year, but maybe next year!

I'm excited!

 

Who's NOT in the Christmas Spirit?

I'm not.

Usually it would have hit by now. It's late these days because of the stress of school. I just can't focus on anything else. 

Well this year school ended a week later than previous Fall semesters. Also we haven't put up the tree for the last couple of years. We got a 2nd printer that had to go somewhere. Also, the first year we had the cats I don't think I slept much just trying to defend my ornaments from kittens. I'm not heartbroken about not having the tree up. Maybe one year we'll figure out how to hang the tree from the ceiling. Might need a shorter tree.

But all of the sudden it's five days before Christmas, and Isabelle is getting over being sick and Sarah is sick today. 

I guess I should get to wrapping presents.

I Almost Lost My Shit

I made Chicken Pot Pie

I bought the stuff for it because it's really good, but put it off because it's a real pain in the ass. Unfortunately, I didn't remember why it was a pain in the ass. It turns out that I lost my shit last time because I only have one pie pan. I have like three cake pans, and four spring form pans. One pie pan. The recipe makes two pies.

Good thing I had an expired Graham cracker crust I could steal the pan from. But that won't work again. I've run out of expired pie crusts. Well this time I've put a new pan on my shopping list. 

Maybe next time I won't lose my shit.

Sitting at my desk for 8 hours

When gaming..

It doesn't seem like a big deal to sit at my desk for 8 hours straight. In fact I've gone much longer only getting up from my chair to get food or go to the bathroom. But yesterday I worked that long! I never thought I'd need to get away from my desk. I mean, I worked so long I finished one audio book and got halfway through another.

Sure there's plenty of times I don't want to sit at my desk, but those are usually just about totally being in love with the idea of the couch. After all, I have a laptop there.

It seems weird to complain about working for 8 hours straight. I used to do it all the time. The difference I think was that that job was a lot of driving around. I spent at least half the time driving. Even on the day I mostly stayed in the office, I still buzzed around the office in the morning and still had to deliver a thing. And I had to print a lot of stuff which meant getting up to go to the printer.

Doing computer maintenance for 8 hours straight was "woah".

Rogue One!

Just saw Rogue One..

And it was AWESOME! Great characters, great effects. All around great movie. I think if I say anymore, I'll spoil something.

So we watched Rogue One in 3D so the trailers were too. And the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer was so cute and funny. That baby Groot is the best thing ever and it seems like the soundtrack will be great again. So cute!

Isabelle got sick waiting for finals. She had a math final today that she had to take while sick. I'm sure that sucked. The sad thing is she doesn't have time to take off since next week is finals week. Hopefully she can do most of her recovery tomorrow and slog through the week. At least she has Friday off.

That's it for now. (Go see Rogue One!)

Ella

Christmas Party

Had a company Christmas dinner

And we had fun. It was Sarah's turn to get drunk, and did she ever. The margaritas were pretty big and she had two. Now I must put her to bed. Got things to do tomorrow too. 

Might talk more about it in tomorrow's post. Until then, goodnight.

My Anniversary

Today was my Anniversary!

Well it was yesterday for those of you reading. Sarah and I have been married for 18 years! That is literally half my life. I was 18 when we got married. Best decision I ever made. We've always had each other's back, especially when no one else did. All through my random bouts of depression and her transition, we've stuck by each other. 

We're clearly in this for the long haul. Here's to another 18!

Acceleration and Falling

Why is it

That in Sci Fi, when someone falls but doesn't hit the ground they can stop just before hitting the ground and live? What I mean is, if someone stops suddenly they should still feel like they would if they just hit the ground. After all it's not stopping that kills you, it's the rapid deceleration (or negative acceleration if you prefer).

Think on this a minute. If anti-grav tech is going to save you it will be because you stopped slowly, not just avoided hitting the ground.

Don't let your guts fall out people.

Finals Done!

Well sort of, mostly.

I've still got to go to class tomorrow, even though I've taken the final for that one. I suppose I could skip out but I suspect the professor is holding out with the participation grade until she sees who shows up tomorrow. I'm pretty sure most of my friends will show up anyway, and there's food.

So today I had the Calc final at 7AM. Good thing I'm a morning person. I think I did alright with it but won't be sure until the professor posts grades. He sent an announcement this afternoon to tell people that he doesn't have our grade yet. Duh, it takes a bit to grade stuff that isn't multiple choice. I understand why they are anxious though. Calc 2 is one of the hardest math courses and it's a prerequisite for a lot of things. I'm eagerly awaiting my grade too, I just expected to wait until official grades were due at the end of next week.  

Well now I've got a month off to fart around and learn Python. Maybe I'll clean something and finish the macrame plant hanger that's almost done.

Python So Far...

Is a little boring.

I guess this is what I get for not jumping ahead in the book. The author warned me (sort of) that the beginning was just talking about what Python was or wasn't and what it can be used for, but I thought I should be thorough and read the whole thing so I don't miss anything.

I'll get through it.

But today I had to focus on studying for my Calc 2 final so that maybe I pass that class. I feel good about it for the most part. I actually get sequences and series. I'll just have to remember the revolution of solids part. I wasn't the best at that the first time around.

Now to change the topic...

It's interesting to me looking at the statistics for this thing. I mentioned yesterday the international readers. Today I noticed that the post so far with the most page views is the one where I complain about Windows. Does this mean I should do more bitching about IT? Maybe. Or maybe I'll continue writing about what I feel like writing about. 

I could tell the story about when my boss kept texting "I don't know what I'm looking at!" on a Saturday. It was funny but at the same time, uhh. 

I mean the guy supposedly has a degree, although it is from ITT Tech so....

Well, next time I talk to you I'll be done with most of my finals. I'll have to give a presentation for Astronomy Research but that's mainly to share my end of the findings with the rest of the group, no big.

Ella

My Eyes...

...Tired.

My eyes are so tired right now. It's not even time for bed. Not sure why. I've read a lot  today but it's not like I haven't read all day before. I don't think I really read read all that much. 

I suppose some have figured out I write these the night before they go up. I write better at night it seems. And living in Alaska means that night time for me is very early morning for most of you. So I schedule them to go up at 8 AM my time, which turns out to be Noon East Coast US. A shout out to the few in Europe who read my blog, I have no idea what time it is for you when I post. I see all you non-US people on my traffic map, thanks for reading. 

In other news, I hear Rogue One is really good, says people who went to the premiere. So that's exciting! Considering this is coming from people who didn't like the prequels, it should be really good.

I'm not sure I understand what the hate is about for those movies, or the Matrix sequels. If it's about there being less action, so what? Was is that nerd boys didn't like the romance? Oh well, nerd boys aren't the only ones who watch movies. Yes Anakin is a whiny bitch, but so was Luke. Like father, like son I say.

Well I guess I should go rest my tired eyes, or not. It's not even bedtime yet.

Python!

I've Decided..

I've decided to learn Python rather than HTML/CSS. My astronomy professor forwarded an announcement email that listed the intern opportunities at NASA. Yes that's a thing! One of the opportunities I glanced at happened to want someone who knows Python. 

It helps that I don't really care that much about web development. I'm not sure why I keep trying to care; there are plenty of websites that provide templates for that sort of thing. Hell, Blogger is kind of that sort of thing as well as Wordpress. Granted, Blogger is just for blogs but we all tend to specialize anyway.

So this will probably be how I spend my winter break.

I don't have a new moon picture yet (even though the sky was clear); it doesn't look much different than it did last night. Hopefully it will be clear when we get to full next week.

Here's another cool picture though:

Planetary Nebula

Here is a planetary nebula. In this one a medium sized star has run out of fuel and sputtered until the outer layers came off. The nebula itself is the outer layers. In the center is a white dwarf which is the core of the dead star.  The nebula will eventually dissipate while the core will glow on until it cools off.

That's it for today,

Ella

Windows Is Fun!

Windows is not fun...

Ok so contrary to everything else that's going on in my life, I actually do have a small job. By small I mean not very many hours. 

Most of this job entails performing maintenance on the computers of other small businesses. As a lot of you I'm sure know, most people and businesses run Windows in it's various forms.

This is a giant pain in the ass!

Between Windows needing frequent maintenance because it's just generally buggy and Microsoft actually breaking things with their own updates; it can be frustrating. And that's not even talking about all the issues with third party software that can't keep up with all the new (needed) security protocols that Microsoft pushes. Half the time when someone calls third party support they don't know what they're doing.

And there's actually people out there that think proprietary software is better than open source too. Nope!

Grr. Just had to vent. Have another Moon pic:

Moonrise 12/9/16

Couple Of Things

First Off...

Tonight Isabelle had a choir concert and it was really good! So proud of her! She had a solo and everything. 

Second, I was thinking of learning some coding over the winter break. I already know a little Java, I had to take a class. But I was looking at Code Academy and they have a few things to learn. I was thinking about either HTML and CSS (they go together) or Python. I don't know what to choose. Maybe one of you could tell me what you think in the comments.

Ella 

I'm Done

I'm Tired

I learned recently that previous Fall semesters ended a week earlier than this one. I'm not sure exactly why they have extended the semester a week, but I'm tired. I'm ready for this to be over already.

I gave my speech today. I did decent. Now I'm having trouble giving a shit about the rest of it. Maybe I just have had a tiring day and I'll be better tomorrow. That will be too late for my Calc take home quiz, but my professor drops the worst two grades. So I can afford to only get it half done.

Anywho, here's to hoping tomorrow is better. 

Ella

YAY!

I'm Almost Done...

Counting down the days at this point. I just had my last lab class. I'm done with labs for a while. There's no final in this lab. 

By the time this goes up, I will be on my way to campus to present my speech. I'm as ready as I'm likely to get. If I had another week to practice I probably wouldn't, so there's that.

After this week there's finals. The only one that remotely worries me is Calculus, but the more time goes on I think I'll do alright with it.

On that note, here's a cool space pic:

I didn't take this one, the address where I got it is at the bottom (I did take the one of the moon from yesterday). This is the Crab Nebula, which is a supernova remnant. There is a pulsar somewhere in the middle. The light from the explosion first got to us in 1054 AD. It's 6500 light years away which means that it actually exploded about 7460 years ago. 6500 light years is actually relatively close. Space is HUGE!

This has been a random space lesson.

See ya next time,

Ella

Everything is OK

We're Going to Make It!

Everything is going ok today. I practiced my speech in front of the family today. I still say 'umm' too much. I'll try again tomorrow I guess. I give the thing on Wednesday.

I finished my Calculus homework, it wasn't too bad. I had to 'trial and error' the last problem, it was fine though. I might actually pass this class, in no small part to my wonderful wife/tutor Sarah. It's a good thing she remembers this stuff.

I also got a lot of codes written for astronomy research. At this point I have the base code written, I just have to change file names and small details. Every galaxy is different you know.

That's all for now, I'll leave you with a moon picture.

Public Speaking

It's Not That Bad..

I guess. The next hurdle I have with finishing the semester is in my Communications class. I have a speech I have to give on Wednesday. I should feel prepared at this point But I don't really. 

I do feel more prepared today than I did yesterday since I practiced, which is good. But it's not perfect and it will go over the time allotment if I freeze at all. 

No pressure.

This semester has been lousy with public speaking though. It was expected in the Communications class, but I thought I'd only have to do one. It turned out that I had to do one group presentation and one solo one. I've already done the group part. What was unexpected was the presentation I had to do in my astronomy lab course. I had to find an asteroid, see if it was ever going to hit Earth, then present my findings. It was mostly fun. 

Also I'm going to have to present in my astronomy research group. I'm not even totally sure what I'm supposed to present on, I guess what I've done all semester, which isn't much. It turns out, writing code for a language you've never seen before takes a bit when you only work on it for 3 hours per week. For the record, it's a one credit class so I'm only supposed to work on it for that long.

Anyway, hopefully my itchy skin will calm down when I get all these speeches done.

While we're on the subject, why is speech spelled with 2 'e's when speak is spelled with 'ea'? Even while knowing how to use English, I'm not sure I'll ever understand it. I even know when to use 'whom', though I don't always use it when I should because I'm afraid to sound pretentious or something. We live in strange times.

Anywho, catch you later,

Ella 

It's Fine Until It's Not

AHHHH!

So just to make everyone is up to speed, I'm a college student. We're coming up on Christmas so that means we're also coming up on the end of the semester. So it stands to reason that I'm stressed out. The problem is I never really learned how to deal with that.

I just stuff it down in an attempt to forget about it. The problem with that strategy is that of course it never really goes away. At this point I have varying physical manifestations of the stress. 

It started at 18 with psoriasis. I have various spots of skin that look red and irritated that flakes. THey get worse when the stress amps up. When I quit my job last year it got better but didn't go away. Now I'm getting them on my forehead, not cool.

Sometimes I have gastrointestinal distress. No need to elaborate on that further.

The newest thing is hives. Weird itchy bumps on my skin. My new best friend is Benadryl cream. it was a few here and there at first but today I noticed my whole shoulder is covered in them. This is why I'm writing about this. 

Growing up I was told that I had to be strong and strong women don't complain. I'm not sure if all that was expressed in words or just inferred, don't complain; complaining is a weakness. So I did what I thought I had to do; I stuffed all the wrongs and hurts and injustices into a little ball and put them away for later.

Except later never came.

Mainly because no one ever said what to with it later. So it adds up. At this point there is 36 years of stress bottled up inside. Well maybe not that much. I'm sure I've gotten over some stuff. 

The problem is all the things people say to do to destress hasn't worked. I've talked about this before with my wife but I'm not sure she knows how to help me. 

So I'm writing about it. Hoping it will help. Maybe tomorrow I'll talk about my impending speech, or impending Calculus final. AHHHHH!   

It's Been in There a Year!

The Dark Recesses...

So I was out doing the weekly shopping, (groceries and stuff) and I needed to get contact lense solution and I thought I had a coupon in my purse. So I pull over to the side and start digging. I happen to feel something like paperboard in the bottom. 

"What's that?"

It was a refill for my Cross pen. I haven't used that pen since I quit my corporate office job a year ago! That has been in my purse for a YEAR! I forgot it existed.

Apparently I need to clean out my purse.

I think I bought that thing on my trip to California last October so I'm thinking I've never cleaned it out.

So I will ask this question: If you carry a purse or messenger bag, when is the last time you cleaned it out? Leave your answer in the comments.

Wil Wheaton's December Challenge

December Challenge!

So I was reading Wil Wheaton's blog today and he had decided to challenge himself to blog about something once per day throughout the month of December. I guess to tell his brain that, "Hey, blogs can be more than just a soapbox for big heavy stuff!" 

And you know what? He's right. I think I will do it too!

I had basically abandoned my old blog because the title had my old name in it and it was kinda lame anyway. I'm not sure the title to this one is much better but at least it's not 'Stuff that fell out of my head' like it's ear cheese or something.

So I decided to call this blog...you can see it at the top of the page, why do I need to tell you what it's called? So I called it that because as a math student the Buzz Lightyear catch phrase is funny, because it's so wrong. Infinity is not a place you can get to and go 'beyond'. Infinity is a concept of going forever on a number line. You can't get to forever, sorry about that.

So I'll probably use this space to talk about the random things I'm interested in, stories about my dolt of a boss, and probably things that go on at school or home. Maybe the occasional moon picture. I just figured out how to take pictures of the moon and have them come out looking like the moon instead of a blob of light on a black background! I'm excited about it!

Anywho, until next time.

Ella