...not according to the book. But they're pretty cool, anyway.

Mar 30, 2007

Since last week was dedicated to negatives, I decided to switch my focus this week. (I'm also hideously late posting this list, so I'll honestly be surprised if I get many visitors.)

Thursday Thirteen 86::22: Fortune Presents Gifts

1. I have no allergies to plants, pollen, seeds, or spores. Since today's pollen count is at 8, and expected to hit 11 tomorrow, this makes me very lucky.
   
   Everyone with pollen allergies can now send nasty thoughts in my general direction.
2. My back is much better. It's still a little sore; but it's no longer so sore that I have to be very careful when laying down or rolling over.
3. My last day at my job is next Friday. I notified the agency last Friday, and they immediately thanked me for sticking with the position for as long as I did and set about looking for a new position. I will be away from there before the trainwreck...and thus will not be forced to clean up an entirely predictable and avoidable mess.
4. I'm continuing to look for contracts on my own, both full-time and freelance. I'm versatile enough that I can apply for jobs in many different industries, and I've got the setup to be able to take offsite contracts and know that I'll be able to deliver precisely what the client needed.
5. My airconditioner is ready for installation. It was a bit banged up (warehouse damage); but since I bought it so early and since it's essentially last year's model, not only was the price a goodly chunk lower, but I'm not rushing to get it installed before I pass out from the heat. (I'm *really* glad I got it when I did. Who knows how much prices will increase due to higher transport costs?)
6. I own three cats. Another brand of cat food, Hill's M/D dry food, was found to be tainted and recalled. I haven't ever fed my cats any of the recalled foods; and none of them are showing signs of illness (so if any other foods are also tainted, there's a higher-than-average chance that they didn't receive any of the bad stuff.)
7. I'm confirmed to work registration day and opening ceremonies again this year for the AIDS Lifecycle. I worked both days last year as well, and actually had a lot of fun. (I'll be sponsoring Juan Carlos Fernandez again this year...he's promised to shave his head if he reaches his donation goal of $10,000 for biking — for the third year in a row — from San Francisco to Los Angeles.)
8. Yesterday, I booked my plane tickets to Seattle. I'll be headed up in four months to tour some apartment complexes, do some job interviews, and possibly having a miniature vacation with some friends. So both my huge summer trips' air tickets are bought and paid for!! (Now comes the hotel stuff...which will not be cheap, for either trip.)
9. My three-month supply of my anticonvulsant medication shipped yesterday. This is the first time I've ordered my meds in bulk, and if I'm going off of the insurance in April, I really wanted to get a three-month supply to (hopefully) tide me over until I get another gig where I can purchase group medical insurance. The order was processed and shipped out today. *whew* - made it!! This stuff will be name-brand-only until at least July 2008 - that's when the exclusivity patent expires. It's fairly costly stuff. I'm glad I have the option to purchase in bulk.
10. I have a weekend staring me in the face. A weekend of relatively springlike weather, too: temperatures will be cooler this weekend as some cooler air comes south, but it won't be as chilly as last week. (One night it got so cold I had my sheet, comforter, heavy blanket, a pair of thick socks, and yoga pants in addition to my normal long-sleeved tunic-thingamajig.) I can get out and walk!
11. Which reminds me...I need to recharge my MP3 player. For the longest time, I would have looked oddly at anyone who suggested that my life would be incomplete without one of these devices. Okay, I'd still look askance at a person who made that suggestion with any sincerity. But I am glad that I got one this past winter. What started out as a way to keep myself from going nutso at Le Job has been nice and convenient. I don't consider it essential to my survival, but it's a very nice extra. I'm also glad that, despite all the hoopla, I didn't get an iPod. First, they're far more costly. Second, I like having an MP3 player that's the size of a box of matches. It's easy to stow, easy to carry, and it makes people stop and stare and ask questions.
12. I've got a book on the way! I scanned she's shelf at bookcrossing when she announced that she'd done some more cleaning out, and did anyone see anything they particularly wanted. I did. I've been mildly interested in acquiring this book for some time, but in a fairly casual way. I've never found it in the used bookstores, and I've not wanted to buy a copy new, just because anthology series are always kind of iffy.
13. I've signed up to win a gig being paid to blog for a year. I've already sold small business articles to magazines, but have never really known how to go about becoming a columnist (which is what a blogger is, essentially) without some kind of background in journalism or English. However, I've been told repeatedly that I'm a good writer - so why not give it a go? (That's one of the more interesting Web 2.0 ways to raise business capital I've seen, though. The company sponsoring this contest gets half of whatever people donate to the “pot”. Ingenious way around the traditional VC pitches...)

Other Participants

• The Screaming Pages with plans for her first week of unemployment
• Whiskey Talking with search engine strings that lead people to his site
• The Story of Me with popular TV shows she's not watching
• Tennessee Text Wrestling with times when inspiration strikes and she can't (as yet) capture the idea because she's otherwise occupied
• The Song of my Soul with shows she never thought she'd like
• Lifecruiser with the crazy hat parade (just as long as none of those hats were processed with mercury...)
• Joystory with items vying for her attention, just days before the library closure
• Wylie Kinson builds another dinner party list

Keywords: | Thursday | tech toys | memes | luck | health | books |
Posted by Laughing Muse • 654 views • Share this link • Newer • Older