ghost2 | Entries tagged with rl

I felt like saying the topic line to the people at the animal shelter, but somehow restrained myself. I think I'm a little proud of that.

( With a little luck, the end of the story. I hope. )

Lately I've been checking out a freelance writing site, taking on the odd job there. Guess what popped up the other day? A job to write brief bios, to be posted on a website, about TV characters. Lots and lots of TV characters, including some from Doctor Who. The pay rate was so low that normally I wouldn't even have looked at the work, but come on! Me and writing about TV? Like I wasn't going to at least check it out.

And then I read a few of the bios that other writers put together for DW characters, and it was obvious they were not fans. The terminology was off and so was the occasional fact. The stuff was actually kind of painful to read. So, low pay or not, I started to grab up every DW assignment I saw. So far, the characters I've written up include some of my favorites such as Charley, Evelyn, Jamie, Ace, and Erimem.

I also couldn't resist putting together bios for various characters from other shows. I mean, Myrtle Fargate and Palmer Cortlandt from All My Children? Emily, Monica, Tracy, and Edward Quartermaine from General Hospital? Adam Carrington from Dynasty? I would have written about them for free on a soap fansite I used to run!

Despite the poor pay, the work is fun and that goes a long way with me. At least part of the time, I'd rather write about something I enjoy for not so much money than about something dry and boring for more money. Besides, the cash has added up and it easily covers the amount of income taxes I owe from last year.

Poor Jack had an exciting day on Thursday, by our standards. Remember how I said he had runny eyes and a runny nose on Wednesday, and was supposed to be neutered and have shots on Thursday. Well....

( Good intentions, anyway. )

Current Mood: confused

Cat is lying on my back as I type. Am not quite sure how we got into this position but it has disabled the use of my left arm. Is like a demented game of Twister. Am typing hunt and peck with right hand only as have not the heart to displace him. Am v. weak.

Cat has runny eyes and nose today. Cat also has prepaid, nonrefundable shelter appointment tomorrow for shots/neutering. Bad timing. Since I was not sure if I should take him in under circumstances, I phoned and explained. They said bring him, will examine outdoors and decide if ok to bring inside.

Do you think cat planned symptoms as way to get out of appointment? He really is v. clever.

Today I had to go in for a dental appointment. I had a root canal a year and a half ago, and I was finally ready to get a crown put on that tooth. The dentist said he likes to wait a year after the root canal to make sure the tooth has settled properly. I had the bite adjusted a year ago, so it was just now a year since then.

I had a filling done on another tooth along with getting the temporary crown, so all told today's appointment took about an hour and a half. The procedure wasn't all that awful. I mean, it was not my idea of a good time, but it wasn't as bad as I expected.

For the next three weeks, I have to wear the temporary crown while my permanent one is being constructed. I'm to avoid chewing on the right side of my mouth for three weeks. Oh, that will be enjoyable. The only thing I ate today was ice cream. Okay, so that part was fun. I love ice cream. I just can't live off of it for three weeks, unfortunately. I also hope the temporary crown stays on for the full period.

Try to avoid ever getting a root canal. Seriously. It's inconvenient and annoying.

I have basically no idea of what this new health-care legislation really means, except that in a few years I will required to pay for health insurance (I don't currently have any) and will be fined if I don't. I haven't yet seen a straightforward explanation of its benefits.

Quick aside: Jack the cat came out of hiding after about twelve hours. He's been following me all around the house since then. I never did figure out where he was while I couldn't find him, though. Also, I can't yet share cat pictures because I misplaced my camera, darn it.

The embarrassing Doctor Who moment is:
At ChicagoTARDIS, I bought a keychain that "speaks" six DW-related phrases when you push whichever button. Well, I was standing in line in a department store the other day, and I reached in my pocket for some money. While doing so, I accidentally bumped one of the buttons on the keychain. Out boomed a Cyberman voice: You will be deleted. Delete! Delete! Delete!

You should have seen the expression on the face of the woman standing in front of me. It kind of made the whole thing feel worthwhile.

And at least I didn't push the button that triggers this Dalek voice: You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!

Current Mood: amused

I haven't posted in a while, and now I'm doing it to bitch and moan. I'll come up with a more positive post for next time. Today, though... well, today has sucked, and I've only been awake for six hours.

( Of dog bites, snowstorms, and just plain annoying things. )

Current Mood: infuriated

Friday recap

Again, programming kicked off at 10am.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: relaxed

I got a ride straight to the hotel, so am here a few hours earlier than I had planned if making my own way. That's fine. I get to unwind from the last few stressful days.

The hotel is very nice. My room is on the ninth floor. There's free wireless in the lobby, where I currently am on my iPod Touch. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll do Black Friday shopping next door at Target before the con kicks off for the day.

Current Mood: accomplished

I finished my taxes on Tuesday (the 14th), a whole day early. My lack of enthusiasm directly correlated to the fact that I owed money, though not that much. If I'd been entitled to a refund, I would have figured out the things months ago. Anyway, they are done for another year, and I even remembered to sign the return this time. See, if you don't sign it, the IRS mails you an excruciatingly polite form letter that might make you panic, upon seeing the return address, that you're being audited. Of course, this has NEVER happened to me. ;)

Also! I won a laptop in a contest. I'm on a bunch of survey panels, and usually they hand out gift certificates. This time around, I won an actual prize of note, a laptop computer:

Her name is Gwen. Yes, after the Torchwood character. I figured with all the bashing she gets from certain viewers, something positive named after her would be a nice change. Besides, I had to name the computer. When I was setting her up, a "name this computer" screen appeared. Suggestions were things like "Work computer" and "Office computer." I couldn't name her something so bland and impersonal! "Gwen" popped into my head, so that was that.

She is an Acer Aspire something-or-other. Technical details are lost on me. I started her up and she works, and that's pretty much all I care about.

Current Mood: pleased

I'm still alive. I just wasn't online too much over the last few days because my mother came over for a surprise visit. It was the first time I've seen her in almost a year and things went pretty well. I didn't feel like leaving the country even once.

I also watched a lot of the Olympics, since they had so many great events this week. I especially like the equestrian events, swimming, gymnastics, and some of the diving. Track & field might seem a bit of a letdown after all of that.

So basically, it was spend time with my mother, watch Olympics till late, go to sleep, wake up (earlier than I like to!), repeat process. I squeezed in going online each day but I fell behind on my flist and other things. I'll catch up over the next week.

Current Mood: tired

Apparently, I live in a county that is on the verge of being declared a federal disaster area because of very heavy recent rainfall. In this city alone, the post office got flooded out and they had to evacuate to a different building. Which explains why they failed to deliver mail last Friday; I had been confused when we got nothing in the box all day. At least one school football field is filled with water half the height of the goalposts, many basements have become health hazards with their contents a complete loss, and the police have probably lost several vehicles due to severe water damage.

The only reason I know any of this? I saw photos and articles in the newspaper. I notice no evidence of flooding in my area of town. The basement is as dry as a bone. Our gas, cable TV, and electricity had no break in service.

Well, I always knew this house was on high ground. I've lamented that fact often enough when laboring home, slightly uphill most of the way, on my bike.

What is with this weather anyway? Record snowfall last winter, record June rainfall leading to the worst flooding in recent memory. What's next?

I haven't been on LJ too much in the last week or so. I have to catch up on lots of posts on my flist. Oh, and I get to complain.

( Bitching under the cut. )