Category: Blog

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

I ♥ my beard and I’ve found my spirit animal at last.

This is my beard without any product.  I had no idea that there’s quite a substantial “beard” care market.  I already have beard balm and beard oil.  Next, I’m thinking of getting an little beard straightening iron, but I need my bear to get a tad longer first. 😉  I wonder if I’m going to get completely obsessed with facial hair.  I’ve always had some form of scruff, but I don’t think I’ve ever had anything this unwieldy before.

I had a great time with my Boo and our friends in Seattle over the weekend for the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb.  I’m really looking forward to doing it again next year.

I sometimes get sentimental about Seattle; I spent a lot of good years there, but whenever I go back for a visit I realize how amazing my life is and what a privilege it is to live in the Methow Valley.  Life is funny in that regards; sometimes one has to leave a place to fully appreciate it.  Luckily for me, it was just for the weekend. 😉

Thursday, March 9, 2017

After my webcam mishap on Tuesday prevented me from taking my Macroeconomics assessment, I had to purchase a new external webcam and had to fashion a workaround in order to be able and take my assessment last night.

Assessments at WGU are done by having a proctor watch you while you’re taking the online exam to ensure you’re not using any prohibited material (also known as cheating).

Here was my solution.  I ended up taping my new webcam onto the top of my broken one.  The cam had to be elevated and able to rotate 360º so the proctor can see that my test environment is free of any reference material.  I was worried that my cam wasn’t able to give a wide enough field of view, but everything went off with out a hitch and I was able to take my assessment yesterday after work.

I passed Macroeconomics with a score of 73% and have 64 of the 121 credits I need to complete for my BA in Business.  I’m on a mission to get these ALL done before June.

I was feeling unstoppable after passing my assessment and decided to run into the bus garage and see if I could replace the blower motor in my Jeep Commander.  I’ve gone for a couple of weeks without a working heater and thought now was as good a time as any to “get ‘er done”.  I had already replaced the blower relay…nope.  Then I replaced the blower motor resistor…nope.  After eliminating the cheapest items, I finally decided to buy a new blower motor and replace it.

Here’s the old blower motor:

Here’s the new blower motor installed:

Hosanna!  I have heat again. 😉  Next, I’m going to fix my right windshield washer – it’s been busted for the better part of two months.  Tiago can vouch that I’m horrible at keeping my rig in good working order. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

What a disappointing night.  I had everything ready to take my assessment for Macroeconimics and was online with my proctor when, all of a sudden, my external webcam stopped working.  After several unsuccessful attempts, it was clear that my WGU issued webcam was kaput, so I had to reschedule my assessment for today and then went to Walmart (I know) and bought a new external cam.  Hopefully, this webcam meets all the requirements.

The Moses Lake area got a lot of rain yesterday and when I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM the temperature was 36º.  I decided to go out and check roads for ice and almost ended up in the ditch several times in Mae Valley.  When I got into work to met with my supervisor, we decided we needed a two-hour school delay.  Here we are in mid-March and still having late starts – knock on wood this is our last one this school year.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Boo finished installing the floor in our living and dining room and sent me this picture.  I can’t believe it’s taken us so long to decide and rip out the carpet and I plan on stopping by Costco in Wenatchee on my way home from work this Friday to pick up another 20 boxes so we can do the family room downstairs.

The time is almost upon us!  This Sunday, March 12th, is the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb at the Columbia Tower in Seattle and my husband will once again climb 1,356 steps (69 floors) in full gear to help raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and he’s already raised $1,550.  If anyone still wishes to give to this wonderful cause, here’s the link to his page.

I’m on a tight deadline to complete the remaining 19 courses (60 credits) before June 1st.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

…or so they say. 😉

Monday, March 6, 2017

And yet again I allowed the daily distractions of life to interfere with my keeping a journal.  This is a habit that I’ve got to train myself to do everyday.  What I notice about keeping a journal is that I am apt to get a LOT more done, especially in my studies and personal life.

There’s something about stating an anticipated outcome and then working on achieving that outcome and then posting about that outcome.  I think one way of looking at it is that these events act as a type of “filler” for my blog, and, whatever the reason, I get more done when I post about what I’m doing/done.  So, to that end, I’m going to make sure to jot down something, anything, every day.

What a busy weekend!  Our friend Sheila stayed over on Friday night and she and Tiago went out to Arrow Leaf Bistro for dinner.  I have to make the three-hour drive from Moses Lake on Fridays and I didn’t get home until after 9 PM, but we stayed up until almost midnight visiting.

Saturday morning I made us eggs benedict for breakfast.  Tiago and Sheila like having theirs with smoked salmon; I, on the other hand, am a traditionalist and had mine with Canadian bacon. 

I wanted to go see Logan in Wenatchee at the VIP theater (no minors allowed) and Tiago wanted to stop by Costco to look at laminate flooring that was on sale. 

We’ve been talking about tearing out and replacing the carpets with laminate.  We weren’t considering real wood flooring since we have four dogs and want something scratch resistant and while we were at Costco we decided on-the-spot to buy enough to replace the living and dining room area which is approximately 400 ft².  The cost is only $1.36 per square foot and we really like this material since it blends in so nicely with our existing tile that’s in the kitchen and hallway.

We got up early Sunday morning and started tearing out the old carpet and padding.  We then went through removing the molding and pulling all the staples and cleaning the sub-floor surface before installing the laminate.  Tiago and I worked on the installation until 5:30, but I had to iron my clothes for the work week so Tiago worked on it by himself until he went to bed at 8:30 and he was able to get around two-thirds of the floor installed.

The $8.00 off a box sale continues through this Sunday and we might have to make another run and get an additional 1,200-1,400 ft² so we can save around $500.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Almost two weeks since my last post, ugh!  I need to keep on top of my little blog; I find that it’s a great help in keeping me focused on my studying web development (which I’ve done none of over the course of the past two weeks) and it helps by gently nudging me to complete tasks.  I remember an idiom that went something like

You’ve got to pursue your dreams because your dreams are not going to pursue you.

This turn of phrase is one of my favorites along with

Q: How do you eat an elephant?

A: One bite at a time

and

O.H.I.O. – Only Handle It Once

This one is more about getting things done…in a timely and manageable manner.

Well, if I’ve got to “name it” to “claim it” I think getting myself  back on track with my blog is one of the best ways to do it.

The Moses Lake School District’s bond vote to build a new high school and elementary school and remodel the existing high school was last Tuesday, February 14th…Valentines Day.  

Bond votes require a super-majority approval of 60%.  As it stands right now, the bond is failing by 0.04%; out of the 9,355 votes cast, 5,609 (59.96%) were “yes” votes and 3,746 (40.04%) were “no” votes.  THAT’S ONLY 4 VOTES DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS BOND PASSING OR FAILING!  

We’re told that there are additional ballots that remain to be counted and also a number of ballots that are being challenged, either because the ballot was not signed or the signature does not match that on file, and Grant Country will release the final figures at 3:00 PM this Friday, February 17th.  This is a real nail-biter.

Regardless of the outcome, it’s been a real pleasure working with all the bond committee volunteers throughout this process.

Tomorrow’s a half-day at work and then a three-day weekend.  I’m am really looking forward to the weekend.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Up again at 4:30 AM and two-hours at the gym.  Slowly but surely I’m seeing results.  I wouldn’t say I’m a patient person, but as I’ve gotten older I seem to be more willing to let things unfold gradually.  I think this has been one of my biggest flaws all my life; the want of instant gratification.  Going back to school has done a lot to re-train my impulsiveness…and knitting…and sewing…and weight-lifting.  

One of the things I’ve done is I no longer weigh myself.  I know I’m firming up  and losing weight, but I’m not starving myself and working towards a constant “weight” goal.  I figure that if I’m consistent, don’t shove a bunch of crap down my pie-hole (Tiago will undoubtedly say I do when I’m home on the weekends) and be fairly consistent with an exercise regimen, I should get into better shape.  

I’ve also decided that my spirit-animal is a bearded walrus. 😉

https://flic.kr/p/RLFCup

My admissions mentor at Gonzaga got the results from my transcripts that I had sent up from WGU and I only need to complete four more course (all finance related) and I can start Gonzaga in the fall.  Now, it’s just the waiting game to see if I get accepted and this can take up to two months to find out.  I wonder if it’ll be via letter or email.  But, aside from that, I have a TON of school work to get done this next term to complete all my courses and get my BA in Business by August and college algebra remains my albatross, or as I call it, my mental block since I have not gotten the muster to really apply myself to studying it as thoroughly as I should.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Not exactly sure why, but I’m being drawn to the writing of Dylan Thomas. I think, from time-to-time, I’ll post an excerpt or two.  Everyone seems to be familiar with his poems “And death shall have no dominion” and “Do not go gentle into that good night“, so I thought I’d post something from his drama “Under Milk Wood“:

“Now behind the eyes and secrets of the dreamers in the streets rocked to sleep by the sea, see the titbits and topsyturvies, bobs and buttontops, bags and bones, ash and rind and dandruff and nailparings, saliva and snowflakes and moulted feathers of dreams, the wrecks and sprats and shells and fishbones, whale-juice and moonshine and small salt fry dished up by the hidden sea.”
― Dylan Thomas

I know my husband will kill me because he thinks I always want to copy him (and in this respect, he might be right), but I’ve been giving very serious thought about getting two full sleeve tattoos; one arm depicting the Northwest Coast aboriginal myth about “Raven steals the sun” and the other arm depicting an octopus.  Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be much as far as myths surrounding the octopus in aboriginal lore; the only real story I could uncover has to do with a parable called “the devil-fish’s daughter”. 

I am going to design these tattoos to be an amalgamation of Haida-inspired form lines using the primary- and secondary-color scheme of red and black, and meld those design elements with modern interpretations of the same subjects in a modern interpretation and in a muted sepia tone.  My idea is to have two separate, but complimentary drawings be superimposed on each other.  I want to create something bold, intricate and balanced.  This will be a long-term design project, not to mention expensive since a good tattoo artist charges anywhere from $150 and up per hour.

I’m drawing inspiration from one of my all-time favorite books “The Transforming Image” by Bill McLennan and Karen Duffek and the art work of Susan Point, a Salish artist whose minimalist interpretation of the art form I find appealing.