Members' News

Holy cow, it does!!!!

Very cute, Tamyra :smile:

**spanks Mal with a giant snow-kipper**

Dey ain't silly, dey's mah bunnies !

::does her best Raving Rabbid impersionation::

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

It sure was fun spending time with my brother, The day after we did this he brought the trike he rides around his house up to race Connor, of course Connor won. I'm not sure if he won fair and square, but it made him very very happy. I got up early( 5 am) this morning and checked out Parking Wars, on Facebook, three tickets from Chris Avellone, that man must never sleep.
Mimi looks so sad in that picture, she had a very stressful day being around people she didn't know yet, at home she is a much happier little dog, and she is about the wiggliest pup I have ever seen.

I'm suddenly so f-ing sick of my job and my country and my life and I've been saving up money for the last year and I'm gonna go away! Stupid codependant nurses who look down on you just because you don't overnurse patients like they do.
I'm going to Edinburgh in a few weeks for a short vacation,am gonna do some groundwork there for a new chapter

I got a job interview for a job I sent my CV to yesterday. It’s not the best but it’s not my current job. It’s in Edinburgh, which means commuting, but since my dad works up there I can get a lift up with him. My interview is on Thursday so I hope it goes well.

Sunna I wish you good luck in getting a new job and moving country.

Thanks!Good luck to your job thingy too

Good luck Sunna, hope it works out as well (or even better) for you as it did for us, we're loving it, and well glad we made the move...

Good luck Sunna and Peapod!

I spent this weekend puppysitting my neighbours poop machine. I swear, I don't even go as often as this little fella does. He was really cute, though, and he didn't cry all night so he's alright by me. I'd upload a pic of him but I can't work out how to downsize any of the photos I took of him. Just picture a small white stuffed toy that yaps and you'll have him*. He went to sleep on one of my furry cushions last night and I couldn't find him for ages.:lol:

*For those with no imaginations, google Eskimo Spitz. That's his make...

I convinced the sig other to go to the pund on the weekend cos I want a dog and he's less keen. He's a cat person and considers any pet to be too much responsibility... There's one dog we both liked but he wasn't available for adoption yet so I'll just have to keep bugging him to go again to see if it comes up.

Fingers crossed I get myself a dog soon and that I can handle the responsibility

Good Luck! That's the only reason I don't have a dog. Weekend is fine every once in a while, but I don't have the patience to have something dependent on me 24/7...screwed if I get pregnant...

In more than one way.

Ok, sorry for the horrible attempt at humour, but I just got out of a six hour play rehearsal.

I hope the play doesn't go for 6 hours. I'm pretty sure even the most rabid theatre afficionado would struggle to stay awake that long...

Unless you're Japanese... They have plays over there that last for a whole day. Uh.

I laughed (even if no one else did):lol:

Meh, I did too, just didn't want to be the first to admit it...

Continuing the bad joke theme:

'Noh' they don't.

Boom Boom.

Randy, I would have laughed at yours, but I had to look up "noh" to make sure that it meant what I figured it did. Me and my small vocabulary.

The play only lasts around 1:45. Yesterday was just a massive rehearsal. Wagner had the opera that you didn't want to sit through. "Der Ring des Nibelungen" was a horrendous undertaking. Four days to complete the whole show. The whole "Ring Cycle" is around 15 hours long.

ALthough I can't find the reference the full Ramayana goes for a week and apparently its the shorter of the two epics...

Thats why the version shown to tourists is only an hour long. Although you probably would only get Rama brushing his teeth on day one in that version.

...Gotta love those real-time epic plays :smile:

Yeah but even the real-time epics seem to skip the boring bits. e.g. the movie 'Nick of Time' which was filmed in real-time doesn't show anyone needing to go to the toilet. I mean its 1.5 hours and theirs lots of people in the movie but no-one needs to take a wizz. It's all highly suspicious if you ask me.

No great news. I'm going to Adelaide next week to spend the whole week with the sig others family. It should be fun the best part is that we'll be sleeping in separate bedrooms in separate beds. Oh the romance.

Spiky! What part of "let no man put assunder" don't they understand? Well it is your life, but maybe your s/o needs to have a chat with his folks. On the other hand absence can make the heart grow fonder and there is all that "sneaking around" fun to be had. You'll probably survive. It might end up being romantic after all.

Good luck with that spiky, but as Tamyra said, the fact that you have to sleep in different rooms may just add a bit of spice top the whole thing...

I phoned home yesterday, as I hadn't had any news for a while, and my mum told me our cat had died, and she hadn't had the heart to phone and tell me... Wimble was quite old, 16 is a pretty good age for a cat, and as cat lives go I think she had a pretty good one, but it's still sad. Up until a few months ago my parents have had 3 cats since we got Wimble and her 2 brothers back in 1992, and over the years they have lost and gained a few, Wimble was the last of the old guard, and now they are catless. This is kind of weird, we have always had cats, just the one at a time when I was tiny, and then more... They are taking it as a sign that they should be moving on, moving out of their house and into somewhere else although they don't yet know where. It's disturbing enough to have that decision to make when you're young and active, it's one Reg and I made only a few months ago, but when you're 70 and not all that comfortable for money, it's a bit of a worrier. I hope they'll be ok and work things out soon, I'm kind of feeling guilty about not being there, but then I know that this is where I have to be right now, so... :neutral:

Their rule just says "sleep in separate rooms" it doesn't say anything about having a little hanky-panky together before going to your individual rooms to retire for the evening.

Kat, sorry to hear about the cat.

its not even the rule. I mean we're married for christ's sake. The bedrooms simply only have single beds in them... they are still decorated in the style of teenage boys too. Have you any idea what its like to sleep in a single bed with rocket ship sheets and surfing curtains, with a snakes and ladders rug on the floor, knowing that the person who used to live in the bedroom is 25 years old?

Creepy.

Well that does clear things up. The decor does sound a little creepy, at least not very restful and the last thing from being romantic. It could be worse, at my folks house I never even get a room anymore, I'm lucky to find a spare bed in the basement.

Meh, you're lucky to find a basement... If I wanted to visit my parents for more than one day, I'd have to get a hotel room.

Edit: although it wasn't necessarily all that better when they had a big house with loads of rooms, none of which had locking doors, especially when you're a young couple. Having your mum walk in on you in the middle of it is NOT nice.

OK, I know I am fairly new and well known, but my news is I am heading home to do a sponsord walk with my kids in memory of my Mum who died in July. Its a bit scary in a weird way.
But on a positive note, I get to sleep in a double bed at my in-laws! The down side is that I share it with my DH!

Does DH mean the same thing in England as it does here in the States? The only thing I know it to stand for is "designated hitter".

In other news, I suffer for my art. I have blood seeping from abrasions on my knee, my hip is a nice yellow/green colour, and the bruise under my arm is finally going away a little. The character I play in the musical is a very physical comedy character. I die very dramatically twice during every show and when I fall I get bunged up. I don't mind it too much though. Me and my cohort steal every scene that we're in.

Tonight is our first audience. This is our sponsor night, when the companies that put up money for the show bring some of their employees. We've been told that there have been tickets for 90 people given, but that generally only half show up. Still, 45-50 people for our first audience isn't too shabby. The theater only holds around 110 people, so a half house should give us lots of feedback.

If you ever go to community theater engagements make sure that you do your part as a participating observer, make noise. Nothing is as frustrating as trying to perform your guts out with the audience behaving like a brick wall.

As I step off this soap-box I would just like to say thank you for all those little people who made this possible. Especially the guy that threw a bitch fit when he didn't get the part he wanted and therefore I got his spot. Yes, I was a second round pick for my part. I'm just glad the guy I'm playing opposite of is such a lively actor. It makes my part extremely easy.

Well I had my job interview today and to tell the truth I had so many nerves I could hardly concentrate when I was doing the application form and it’s hard enough with my disabilities. Well it’s a nice place but I would have to move to a bedsit or something like that but I guess that if it’s for a job that will relieve most of my stress then ill jump at it. There is a really good job going at a hotel in a town closer to home. In fact I could live with the other half if I got it, which would be fun. I may love my current job but with the stress at the moment I just want out and if that means I have to move from my parent’s house then so be it.

Well it was my birthday on the 1st and the other half has been teasing me about getting older. He has no right to say that as he’s 4 years older than me but I would miss it if he didn’t pick on me.

Hey!

I'm nearly done with tax season. Which means I'll get to spend more time here. Wooo.

Plus, my boss just bought new comuters which are....*idiot brain* super duper fast and stuff.

Heh. I miss you guys.

Whooo!!!!! The Yogini is back ! Welcome back, Om!

<--Keeping fingers crossed for Peapod!

<--Was about to wish "break a leg" to Redneck, then decided it wouldn't be appropriate under the circumstances :wink:

Thanks, Inna. The show went well tonight. Next weeks show will more than likely be a lot better. So if you were planning on coming to the show, then I would schedule it for next week. We're all a little tired from around 21 straight days of rehearsal. We will have a little bit of a break at the beginning of the week, so our energy should be good and high by show time.

Not to say that the energy level hasn't been high this week, but everyone does seem a little fagged out.

Good luck peapod and Om.

Well it was my birthday this week and I got some cheques so I thought I would pay them into my account that I hardly use. I went in and went to the desk. Well the girl at the desk asked me what my address was so I gave it to her. Surprisingly they had an address that was not mine as in it was 30 miles at least from my real address to say I was annoyed is an understatement. It took me 20 minutes to do some banking that should have taken 5. I nearly missed my bus over to the other half’s. It was cold and I just wanted to get there. So I'm going to write to the banks HQ and tell them what I think. Someone could have stolen my identity. This has given me more stress that I don’t need.

Well I hope next week goes better.

Hope everyone is well - apologies for this.

The cast:

Interviewer - The person who interviews potential candidates for the job.
(Recruitment)Consultant - The go-between between Interviewer and potential candidate.
Me - Me.

Interviewer : Yes, he was everything we were looking for to fill the role.
Consultant : Well, that's good.
Interviewer : We were all quite impressed by the range of skills he demonstrated, his humor, and his communication style.
Consultant : Excellent.
Interviewer : Certainly on a personal, technical, and professional level, he definitely ticked all the boxes.
Consultant : Great.
Interviewer : But we're going with someone else for the job.
Consultant : Oh.
[Later]
Me: AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHWHATELSEDOTHEYFUCKINGWANT?BLOOD?THEBASTARDSAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH.

Apologies again but job hunting really really sucks.

R.

Job hunting most seriously sucks. As do interviews. An hour and a half of sweating your ass off for an internal job you would really like just to be told in the feedback session that you weren't 'hungry enough' and you had paused before answering some of the questions (a thing that any Human Resourses person (bastards) always tell you to do in an interview) and because you hadn't applied for the job before, even though you clearly stated in the interview that all the other times the job had been advertised you were a) not confident enough that you were ready for the job and didn't want to waste everyones time and b) not in the country!

Going for the job 2nd time round next week. If they tell me again I'm not hungry enough I'm going to stick the application form down their throats and ask them why am I not good enough when last time I apparently did a very strong interview. This time though, I have extra ammo. I've technically been doing parts of the job for the last six months. It's all office politics and I hate it. E. got the job last time because she'd applied for it so many times and she'd been licking every single managers butts for the last 3 years.

Randywine, call it fate, that wasn't the job for you or you would have gotten it and an even better one is waiting just around the corner!

Well I'm back from single bedsville... Had a pretty good time and stuff...

Although i have discovered the following: Even though I took a legitimate week of holidayand should have been kicking back and enjoying myself, I spent the week with a sinking, stress feeling in my belly that I should be doing my PhD. It really put a dampener on my enjoyment of the week.

Interviews are like exams that you can't study for but you will flunk if you haven't prepared.

At least they didn't ask you "If you were an animal what would you be?" I mean what kind of question is that to spring on someone?

I'd say "I would be a mermaid!" and hope that in my profession it actually helps to be a bit out of touch with reality :smile:

And out of touch with trousers, standing upright, and going to the toilet.

Did they ever consider the anatomical impossibility of the mermaid form?

I'm in the job limbo situation- graduated in November, started a temp thing today (I feel bad for hoping it lasts a while, because I'm replacing someone who's ill- I keep correcting my prayers to "and I hope she gets well tomorrow but decides she wants a long holiday"). And I'm tutoring, and hoping to get some more students soon.

I had a job in the deli of my supermarket. Went to the first day of training today (I have done this before, same company, same exact store- just been away too long so they needed me to train and join the union again). I walked out. I stayed for about an hour and a half, including one of the stupid videos they make you watch, and a session with the handbook which the trainer insists that you read aloud, he takes turns with you but its still horrible. Especially when he stopped me constantly to remind me to say EVERY WORD on EVERY PAGE. Including the numbers for numbered lists.

The real last straw was the quick tour of the actual deli- the smells, of meat and cheese and those horrible vinegary salads and the disinfectant...I was nearly ill. I just couldn't bear the thought of it. I feel really good that I decided not to do that job. Now I need a good second income, which is where the tutoring comes in, of course.

Realizing that I am pretty close to "grown-up", or at least functionally adult, and still have no real idea what I will be doing for a living is kind of scary. I need to start saving money for when I finally move out of home (to who knows where- it may even be England at the rate the boy and I are going- he works for Jaguar starting this fall).

The last production of the play was Sunday. Then I auditioned for another on Monday. Call-backs are Friday. I think I enjoy punishing myself with acting.

The next one is, "All My Sons". It is supposed to be a very serious play. I've not read the script yet, but the director told us to be ready for some very deeply emotional readings. There are a number of good actors auditioning, so my chance of getting a role are a little slim. It will all depend on chemistry and body type. The bad thing is, I several of them are much better actors than myself. I'm still going to go for it though. Win, lose, or draw I'm in it for fun.

Today was made excellent because it's the last day of classes for the semester! Also I had good intentions when a friend and I went to a professor's office to ask questions about the final, but we picked up my boyfriend along the way and then the professor wasn't in his office so we ended up going down by the lake and throwing rocks at the melting ice. The ice was weird, there were sheets of it floating around and they were made of two inch long ice crystals all stacked vertically next to each other. I found a cool rock with some copper stained calcite crystals (I'm a geology major so this is exciting). I ended up skipping physics, but we weren't doing anything important today anyway. All that's left are 4 finals next week and I get to go home on Wednesday.

"would you be", not "are"...

I still think Rinso's answer of human is valid. He would be human if he could be...

I'm on post traumatic stress recovery. I had to run survey collection at a fottball game on Friday night and it was traumatic to say the least. I hate approaching strangers to get them to do stuff and I particularly hate doing it when there are thousands of people to try and get to fill in the survey and I had to coordinate a reluctant group of ring-ins to help collect them. the pressure, the anxiety. However I got just enough surveys to make it worthwhile...

I now have the fun task of inputting hundreds of survey answers into statistics software and then figuring out if the whole thing makes any sense.

Sometimes doing a PhD really sux.

His answer was Monkey, he suggested that your answer should have been "human", which comes down to the same thing...

pffft.

Rabid rabbits and there smart mouths.

Well if you must know my answer was that I should say something like tiger or lion cos I'm strong and cunning but to be perfectly honest I'm probably a toucan, colourful, loud and funny looking...

Although if you say human the reason for it could be, your a slow developer, prone to genocide and have a superiority complex. That'll get you the job for sure.

Hey everyone!

I am back in Athens for my week off, which coincided nicely with the Greek Easter. I like my job in England, but I so not like the fact that I can't get a landline with some proper broadband. So, you'll hear of me more now that I am in Greece.

...or not really, I have a lot of catching up to do starting from grannies and going all the way to tax forms.

Well I had my meeting with my manager today. I’m getting assessed by an outside assessor. It’s taking place later this week and will take a full day. Well I find out next Friday if I still have a job in a couple of week and I have a big staff meeting in Muselburgh. I don’t know what its about even though the boss did say but I’ve forgotten.

I’m still looking for work and applied for a couple of jobs up in Edinburgh. They where for an interactive tour guide. Its where you get to dress up and play a part as you show people around and with my background of amateur dramatics during my high school life I would enjoy it. The other job is at the same place as an admissions assistant they both look fantastic I would love to get one of them.

Well after months of talking about it the sig other and I got a dog today. He's a 1 year old labrador that we got from the pound. He's a bit clingy but hasn't even uttered a bark yet so there is an upside.

All we need to do now is teach him how to sit, drop, stay and come, and strangely what the hell a tennis ball is for.

But we did change his name from a lame Duncan to an uber cool Jackson after Danial Jackson in Stargate. All smouldering looks and intelligence (we hope).

In that case, don't worry if he dissappears for a whole season with no plausible explanation...

Hey! He had a reason! Can't remember what - ascended...dead...something like that...mmmmh, Daniel.:smile:

Sorry, back on track - Puppy! Cool.

Congrats on the Puppy Maz. A dog will change your life but we must see a picture you realise. Since we got Bonnie every bit of furniture has taken on a kind of Avant-Garde chewed look - but it's all good. Just hope folks don't think you've named him after Michael...:razz:

Got another Job interview tomorrow so hopefully there wont be any of the 'what kind of animal would you be questions...':smile:

R.

Randy

Pup = Spiky

Lack of Pup = Maz

I love dogs...but I think I'd be more suited to get a cat.

And Spiky, Randywine is right. We need pictures of Jackson!

Randywine, good luck with the interview!

Here he is...



And after discussing it last night we decided that his full name is Jackson O'Neil Carter Wolfington. It seems dignified enough.

He looks a little like my Wolfy would have, he should improve in the smarts department shortly, it takes labs a couple of years usually. They can be the finest dogs ever and I hope your guy is one of those.

I like the shape of his head. Some labs have a very narrow head, but Jackson's head is nice and square like our Toby's was. He was a very smart dog. Still miss him.

We were cutting a tree today. A big tree. Where the tree went into the ground it was between 9.5 and 10 feet in diameter. At about chest height it was still almost six feet through. The bottom log was 8'8" long and weighed 7500 pounds. That was a big tree.

But that wasn't the most noticeable thing about today. Charlie was cutting into the tree with our 42" saw, I was getting the 60" saw ready, and my dad was talking to the guy that got us the job (Bryan) and another fella (can't remember his name, so it's Joe). As I was walking over to the truck to finish getting the saw ready I saw a foot kicking around on the ground. The tractor was blocking the rest of my view.

I thought that my dad and the two other guys had sat on the ground and were just messing around about something. Remember, this is the south and speaking is a full body workout. As I went around the tractor I saw Bryan on the ground shaking. His face was contorted and his eyes were rolled back in his head. It was pretty easy to see that he was having a seizure. My dad and Joe were patting him and trying to get his attention back. I was right beside Charlie, so I told him to kill the saw and went over to see if I could be of any assistance.

After I found that they had everything under control I went back to doing what I was doing, but remained close in case they needed me. I couldn't do anything else to help and didn't want him coming to with everyone standing over him, so Charlie and I got the saw ready and just waited for everything to settle back down before we went back to the tree.

I hate that he missed seeing the tree fall, but his wife told us that this was one of his lesser episodes. He was only out for a little over a minute and was sitting up again before five minutes. I was glad to hear that he was ok, but that really scared the crap out of me for a while. I'm really glad my dad and Joe were there to bring him back around and to know what to do. I generally don't panic, but I would rather have someone else be the one to take charge.

I'm hoping for less interesting days for the rest of the year.