Figment of Your Imagination

Well after vacation I went to work for a couple days, to save some hours. Next week gone again than, for my trip of a lifetime.

Work was work nothing new or exciting really while I was gone. We were busy so many little projects were put on hold by largest call queue that I have ever had. Yeah great way to come back and remind me of the things I don't care for. Such is life though. Beyond that really not much to talk about.

Alright so guess who gets to move...again. I'll update on exactly what may be happening when we get everything set into cement but things are going south here even further than before...so we have to go. Where? We're not so sure yet! But I will let you all know when we do.

This is why I fell in love with QC. #1445: The perfect comic. :)

I think I need Dora's shirt.

When did she put pants on? I thought they were still having the same conversation.

Two other families got their USCIS I-800 approvals today. The I-800 is the child's immigration application. That means the United States is giving their thumbs up and agreeing to let the children become adopted as US citizens.

Now their documents are headed back to China. China has already approved them in a previous step. Once China sees they've been approved in the US too, they'll make an appointment at the consulate in Guangzhou for a legal adoption.

So. Yup. Two families. Got theirs today.

How's everyone doing? Nice night, huh? Anybody got some wildlife sightings, cute cat stories, bad jokes? Anything worth noting on the news?

The internet is evil, and also, the things I say should really remain private, so I'm going friends-only. Those of you who read this and do not have a Livejournal: I'm sorry, but I've had anonymous posting disabled for a while, so you'll either have to make a Livejournal account (it's free) or go without reading my posts.

If you would like to be added, comment to this post. It's likely I won't be friending anyone new, but you can always try.

Well the convention was amusing and enjoyable, my roommates wonderful. The convention as expected was what I expected, well 'cept less efficient for something that's been around for so many years, I was amazed at a number of small failings but the surrounding folks and the general feel was great.

( The more disheartening under here. )

The convention otherwise was good, but one of these is probably enough, maybe I'll come again it all depends. People there were wonderful both civilians, and attendees, and staff. Sure the management can improve, but I fear many of them are like me old dogs, with few new tricks to show, but there are some clever ones that know how to save the best. It is the stories we have together that hopefully will endure, and creativity will hopefully continue.

I am probably a bit too melodramatic for folks tastes but I have to share it somewhere, rather than repeat the story over and over again.

There will be a memorial service for Angel " Inqy " Yates Sat July 11, 2009 at 11:11 am at Faith Lutheran Church
7750 Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34238-2848 - (941) 924-4664. Her family, friends, and co workers are invited to the service.

The Dragoncon's Brittrack schedule has been posted. See the website here:

http://www.brittrack.org/

for links to the Schedule itself and also the Events page for full descriptions of the panels themselves.

( Cut for spoilers.... )

On June 22nd, I started rereading the comic from the beginning during slow times at work, and to amuse myself I wrote down every set of specials that appeared on the chalkboard at Coffee of Doom :)

Here are the specials - it's a long, amusing list( Read more... )

Tonight was an attempt at a Gaming Night. We've tried this at least every year for the last few, just to have it run into real life issues that make it difficult to get together. I'm hopeful we'll be able to do this again soon.
( Tonight's Meal: Italian Beef Recipe )
( The Games: LotR Monopoly (trilogy edition) & Flux )

In no way related, I have 2 Dreamwidth invite codes available. I haven't had any takers among my f-list, so message me if you are randomly wandering around the internet and want them.

http://www.shadowfist.com/node/2129

GenCon Indy 2009 Shadowfist Schedule:

THURSDAY, August 13
Demo Event 1000 – 1200
The New Heroes 1300 – 1900

FRIDAY, August 14
Whirlpool of Blood 1000 – 1600
Dueling Worlds 1700 – 2100
Dueling Worlds Finals 2100 – 2300
Demo Event 2100 – 2300

SATURDAY, August 15
Multi-Player Worlds 1000 – 1600
Multi-Player Worlds Finals 1700 – 2100
Comrades in Arms 1700 – 2300

SUNDAY, August 16
Faction Wars 1000 – 1600

See everyone in August!

http://www.shadowfist.com/node/2121

A great time was had by all at last weekend's Origins Game Fair. With four official Shadowfist events, the weekend was packed with butt-kicking awesomeness!

Here are the winners for each event:

Comrades in Arms: John Merrill

Dueling Nationals: Daniel Griego

Whirlpool of Blood: Tim Linden

Multi-Player Nationals: Tim Linden

Many thanks to all attendees!

We were headed over the Sagamore Bridge to visit some friends when we came upon this (minus the emergency crews):

By Doug Fraser
dfraser@capecodonline.com
July 04, 2009

BOURNE — A 63-year-old Brookline man was cited with two motor vehicle violations for allegedly causing a four-vehicle collision that closed down the Sagamore Bridge yesterday afternoon and sent three people to the hospital, police said.

According to a Bourne police report, Stephen Woodman drove up the entrance ramp near the Christmas Tree Shop plaza at Exit 1, crossed both lanes of traffic heading off-Cape over the bridge, then drove head-on into traffic traveling east to the Cape, triggering a series of crashes. Woodman hit another vehicle head-on, went airborne and flipped over, landing on the hood of a sedan driven by Lily Ng of Brighton. The force of the collision pushed Ng's car into another vehicle.

Woodman's SUV came to rest suspended three feet off the pavement, it's rear bumper hanging over the edge of the bridge, wedged between the hood of Ng's car and the low concrete and granite wall that lines the highway leading up to the tall cement pylons marking the bridge entrance.

Police and fire department officials were alerted to the crash at 2:30 p.m.

State police, Bourne police and fire, and Sandwich fire crews responded to the scene. Although the crash was confined to the two lanes coming onto the Cape, police had to shut down all four lanes to get their trucks and equipment close enough to the mangled vehicles.

Firefighters used jacks to support Woodman's SUV and keep it from crashing to the ground as they cut away the cab with hydraulic shears to remove the Brookline man from the vehicle.

At one point during the rescue effort, traffic was backed up about four miles to Exit 2 on Route 6 westbound, and for about 10 miles back to Exit 3 on Route 3 approaching the Cape. It took a little over an hour to clear the bridge and restore normal traffic flow.

Woodman was taken to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, where he was still being evaluated at press time last night. He suffered injuring in the crash that were not life threatening, fire department officials said. Lily and James Ng were treated and released from Cape Cod Hospital.

Woodman was charged with driving to endanger and a marked lanes violation, according to police.

(Article and photo are copyright Cape Cod Times.)

We didn't quite see it happen, but we must have missed it only by seconds. There were barely five cars between us and it.

Be careful out there, okay? Take it easy on the alcohol and the cell phone, and don't drive while tired. It looked like this guy was not particularly impaired, but for some reason he drifted over the double yellow line. It could've happened to anyone.

Happy American Independence Day!

Yesterday's root canal went well, except for the part where he didn't crown my tooth and simply told me to be careful what I eat until my crowning appointment. Awesome.

However, the infection is back, and I'm trying to head it off somehow so that it doesn't regain its previous epic proportions over the weekend. (It HAD to be a weekend, didn't it?! My original appointment had been for a nice, safe Wednesday, but somehow I STILL ended up getting my root canal on a Friday. Frustration!)

So. Liquid diet, swishing with warm salt water.

*sigh*

Sux.

And I'm thinking of skipping out on the cookout, because I'm in a very foul mood and do not relish the thought of staring at a huge spread of delicious foods I cannot eat.

So i dont know how many of you read my last entry but... here's what this is pertaining to:


My roommate just came home with two lethal white Dane puppies. And they are the saddest thing I have ever seen. They are seven weeks old and nearly starved to death. The poor things are completely deaf and have not been eating properly since they were born most likely. I really want to go and beat the shit out of the breeder who owned them before the rescue came and got them. We have a very hard uphill battle for the next week to guarantee that these two sweet and loving animals can make it past the abuse they saw at the hands of their "respectable and caring" breeder. From what Beth tells me they were about a fourth of the size of the puppies that were not lethal whites. Which means that their condition is from neglect. I will post pictures later so you will see what I am talking about. This is the saddest thing I have ever seen. Take a normal sized puppy at seven weeks, and then give it the appearance of the thestrals from Harry Potter and that is a glimpse of the condition these two are in.

Well we have had the puppies for a little over 48 hours... and we had to put one of them down today. The girl was more energetic of the two and began to eat and drink the first night after a bit of coaxing from us. But the other, a boy, just wouldn't eat. So we tried to force feed him a little bit at a time with an eyedropper... but it just wasn't enough. His muscles were seizing and he was not wanting to move...just would sleep all the time. And so after checking his pain response levels... we had to put him down. It just wasn't fair to him to let it draw out any longer.

Rest in Piece Nikol. May you watch over your sister from the after life.

151 icons - (18) Doctor Who, 2x01 New Earth - (30) 90210, 1x24 One Party Can Ruin Your Whole Summer - (50) Gossip Girl, 2x25 The Goodbye Gossip Girl - (34) Grey's Antomy, 5x20 Sweet Surrender - (19) Private Practice, 2x20 - Do the Right Thing


see all at noyoucantdothat

People have been poking me to do an update, but I have not really had much to say really. I thought I would give it my best shot. Some of my longest posts were just me rambling, and I don't often get a chance much to do that. Probably because I don't bother to set aside the time. Shooting myself in the foot... something that never goes out of style.

Anyways... what to report.

The kids are doing well. Happy and healthy. They still love getting to visit with me and spending time with me. I dearly hope that is something that never gets old with them. They will be going on a camping trip with my parents about mid july. Some time up in the woods and away from the desert a bit. I hope they have fun too. I probably won't be joining them, but I don't see why I couldn't. I guess I am still on the fence about that. I will decide eventually, but there is alot of logistics that goes into at the moment. I am not the only one to consider anymore.

My social life...

Well... back int he beginning of summer roughly, my friends Cristina and Stephen moved in with me. Shortly there after my girlfriend from Georgia also moved in with me. It's a full house again. For the while anyways. These guys are my best friends. I love them all dearly, and I knew being in cramped quarters would likely to make things a bit difficult. I won't pull any punches... things get strained at times. Yet we have more or less made do. There are times when I worry that my friendship with Cris and Steve will get strained to the point where we may end up hating each other. I certainly don't want that to happen. On the plus side, they plan on moving on by the end of the year. Pretty much no matter what. I think it would be good for all of us when that happens. They are a family that certainly needs their own space which is fully under their control. I can't give that in my house, because at the end of the day... it is still my house. Thus where some of the tension springs from for a few different reasons. Still... so far cooler heads have prevailed. Hopefully that is the way it will be till they move into their new place.

My school life...

It is coming up fast. Mid august. My schedule will have me up all the time. Anywhere from as early as 8am (which is early for me) to as late as midnight. (Thanks to astronomy class) I am truly not sure what to expect of this semester. I am doing some very different things in each class. There is little to nothing in common between then. I wonder if that will make things harder or not? I don't know, but I do know for this semester that things will be hard. Partly because I have a full house, and also partly because of having a girlfriend again. I don't know why, but habving a girlfriend always makes me a bit scared to go to school. I know where this stems from, because my ex-wife cited being in school as a reason why our marriage failed. I didn't spend enough time with her in my attempt to get through school. Made my family a second priority instead of a first. So it often makes me afraid that my time away will somehow do in my relationships with significant others. Thanks Laura! I love that gift!!! *sighs* In any rate... I have to make school truly my first priority. It is my future, and it will determine my success. If I ever want a good job doing what I love to do... then this has to be done. Just some pangs of fear that my single minded dedication to this goal will leave me all alone once I get to the finish line. I guess if a person wasn't willing to stick with me through the hard times, then that kinda indicates that perhaps they weren't meant to be anyways. Yet I do hate being alone.

General other shit...

I hate the economy. Finding a job is for shit unless you personally know someone who knows someone, or you are extremely lucky. The thing that often surprises me is the fact that the unemployment rate is pretty good here in arizona that it is most anywhere in the country. This makes me feel kinda scared and bad for those less well off states that have people who can't even beg to get money to get by. I keep praying for the turn around, and hope greatly the upswing starts as I get out of college. My degree for IT is still pretty much in high demand, but it is no less a challenging market. Last thing I want to do is get out of ASU and flip burgers because it is the only thing I can find as a job. That would suck in all kinds of ways... and none of them fun or happy. :P

Bottom of the line?

I am doing ok. Yeah sure things concern me. Yet they are all manageable, and hardly a problem. I am happy and doing well so far, but that doesn't mean I don't need good luck and well wishes. :)

I wish you all well, and hope for happiness for you all. In times like these, we needs all the positive thoughts and happiness we can get.

x Jeremy M.