HFCS: effika’s blog

Note: I found this in my drafts after last night. I am presenting it without good reason. RESVERATROL’D That is all.

I think I’ve figured out why I refuse to get a new cell phone, even though the one I have is just barely meeting my needs (and soon won’t if the battery continues to decline in performance). Getting a new phone means moving all my contacts over. I don’t dread the monotony of it, or [...]

I sat outside in the sunshine for nearly 2 hours today, knitting while one of the improv troupes practiced. The Bradford pear trees were in bloom but not stinky, the sun was warm but the wind was cool, and the yard was predominately green. I have been happy to see the signs of Spring’s return [...]

Dear Winter/Spring: I cordially request that you figure out what our weather shall be like. I don’t know if the groundhog saw his shadow on the 2nd, but from the way you’ve been acting I think you don’t know, either. Please decide if you will let us have highs in the 70′s and only 15mph [...]

Loose-leaf tea is pretty awesome. I’ve got samples of a bunch of teas from Adagio and one of their IngenuiTEA teapots to brew them in. Here’s what I have so far– feel free to suggest some favorites for me. I’m not the biggest fan of black tea, but I’ll drink Irish breakfast blends if nothing [...]

An electrician came out yesterday and today to fix up the condo. He had to replace a secret hidden outdoors breaker that controlled the hot water heater and the central ac/heater. It had, apparently, burned up while we were gone. Fun! The electrician also got into multiple tiffs with our downstairs neighbor, and it took [...]

The hot water heater isn’t heating water! That’s OK, we’ll get a plumber here on Monday and we have friends who are letting us borrow their showers until then. The thermostat went out a few years ago, what will it be this time? It’s a lot chillier than I think 65F should be! That’s… that’s [...]

Nearly 9 years ago to the day I bought a black wrap from Sarah when she worked at JC Penney’s. I had let Jay borrow it (every winter for the past 3 years) to use as a scarf, and now after 9 years it is no longer in a location I can name. He now [...]

For any interested, I did indeed finish my sweater for National Knit a Sweater Month. Here’s a nice shot of it! Thanks, Jay, for being patient with me while taking photos that blustery cold day. (If it wasn’t for Ravelry I never would have joined Flickr, it being too cool to be cool to us [...]

My 28 year-old coworker wants Twilight for her Secret Santa present. I think I am going to have to pay cash and wear a wig while I buy it for her. Of course, it also is about to be gift-buying season, so maybe if I get a couple of normal books too it will be [...]

To No One in Particular, I don’t feel that I’m wasting my talent in Oklahoma. Part of why this state “sucks” is that capable people are drawn off to more interesting parts of the world. (Luckily we’re not the 3rd-world!) I like the climate, I like the friendliness of the people, and I like the [...]

Since my creative and cool friends are doing Naniwrimo, and trying to convince me to be creative and cool with them, I had to find another NationalXYMonth project to do. Sure, there’s No Shave November, but I don’t have a beard and I hate leg hair. Enter National Knit a Sweater Month! I’ve never really [...]

Remember how a while ago I said I should start writing down scraps of thoughts I had through the day and posting them? Apparently this morning I thought that was a swell idea. I was amazingly tired this morning and had trouble staying awake. I wrote this little note out at work. I walk through [...]

August is usually the awful month for me: the new school year always makes things very hectic. I’ve been out of school and employed for almost two years now, and August has started sucking less. The farther removed from school the less stress it causes me. September this year has been tiresome. I started out [...]

We have another update in the continuing saga of effika and the car keys (which prefer to stay in the car after locking the doors). This morning I’d forgotten my Claritin. Those who prefer it know that unlike Allegra, you can’t really miss a dose and have residual coverage. I decided I’d come home for [...]

I had so many posts ready in my head this month. I would sit, bored at work, and mentally write nice long essays about spray-cheeze art, my longing for Fall, or the beauty of a well-nuanced heathered yarn. I’m trying to dig them out of my memory, but I’m afraid they’re half-forgotten. I need to [...]

I took A List Apart‘s 2008 Survey. I now have 3 different groups that I have various web responsibilities for, so it was a more involved survey for me this time around. If you make websites, you should take the survey too! It helps us all learn about each other and the state of our [...]

3-5 days every workweek I spend about $4 on lunch. This is a lot less than many of my coworkers, but it still adds up. I can’t get home for lunch every day and I’ve got to eat something. I am pretty happy with this arrangement, but I would appreciate that extra cash. That’s extra [...]

I attended a course for work recently. All of the instructors had laugh lines, and it made me smile. It was heartening to see that 20 years from now the people who do my job weren’t just a mess of worry-induced wrinkles.

Laughing at an establishment’s handy-work is never good, especially when I’m trying to get them to fix stuff correctly (in a permanent, easily-cleanable fashion). Today I was in a place that had mouse droppings. The owners assured me they’d found the entry point for the mice, and had plugged it. They pointed to the ceiling, [...]

So as absolutely none of you know, I’ve started lifting weights. I really enjoy running (and will probably start that up in earnest soon once Jay has a regular schedule at work), but I also would like to not look like a bag of skin and bones. One summer in high school I ran every [...]

I’ve locked my keys in my car enough times that I keep my house keys and car key separate. I keep a spare car key in the apartment, which I should be able to get to since my house and car keys are separate. This system worked very well when I was in college and [...]

Finally got myself the spiffy new WordPress (and 22 days late! Shame on me.). The dashboard is a nice update. Very modern. I’m hoping I’ll pick up design again and give the blog a new look. I’ve been all sorts of creative with the fiber arts lately, so maybe my improved color sense will let [...]

I need to get back in the habit of posting. It just seems a lot harder to pour everything out into a weblog when I’m no longer an angsty teen hating my professors. :-) My taxes are done, and for the first time I owed the government money. It will be more than balanced out [...]

Valentine’s Day was pretty good, if spread out over a week due to work schedules. I made us dinner (chicken with a pineapple, ginger, and garlic sauce) and we watched Casino Royale. Later, Jay paid for the development of some of our favorite photos and the frames to place them in. So, as you guys [...]

Well, if Billy has posted more often than I this month something is amiss. I’ve also been yelled at by Canadians to get this thing updated, so I suppose the international fervor is starting to peak. I don’t write much because most of my days are filled with work, which is mostly stuff I can’t [...]

Well, barring anything keeping me from leaving the house in the next few minutes, this is the last post of 2007. My e-resolution (or is it iResolution?) this year is to blog more than once a month. For Christmas the first two presents I opened were a toothbrush and toothpaste. It’s OK, though, because the [...]

Photos of the damage and the beautiful parts of an ice storm. These were all taken either from the stairwell or back door. Larger sizes available upon request— just leave a comment here! Click on the tree to see ‘em.

Jay needed a bunch of stuff from Hobby Lobby for his play for Medieval Drama. We came away with a mini Christmas tree, tree skirt, and a couple packages of ornaments and tiny presents. We have disappeared the broken scanner from on top the desk, and have installed the Chinese-exploiting-petroleum-guzzling plastic tree in its place [...]

Thanksgiving was pretty good this year, although Jay was sick so that put a really big damper on things. How big of a damper? Well, my parents sprung for a hotel room for Jay and I since I no longer had a bedroom at my parent’s house, and my mom felt bad about making a [...]