eseme | Current Wandering

Discussion of the size of my new bathroom in the previous post has revealed my desire for a cat.

And I can have a cat in the new apartment... with some stipulations:

1) Cat must be indoors only. Check. This was my plan anyway

2) Cat must be spayed or neutered. Check. I am a responsible pet owner

3) Cat must be declawed. Abort, abort...

I am not at all in favor of rule number three. Declawing is an extremely cruel maiming of an animal, and it is illegal in most of Europe as well as Australia.

It also results in health problems (spinal issues due to the cat being forced to walk on its heels as opposed to the toes) and some severe behavioral problems (bting due to the lack of claws to defends itself).

Of most interest to my apartment complex, and how I would hope to convince them to change their policy, is the fact that declawed cats often stop using the litter box. Right after declawing, walking of any kind is extremely painful, and walking of a rough surface is doubly so. Many cats then associate the litterbox with pain, and end up preferring to urinate and deficate in locations that are softer on the feet. Like carpet.

I'm also considering offering more than the $100 deposit they ask for to have a clawed cat. However, between getting supplies for the kitty, having the money for a first vet visit, and paying an adoption fee (one local shelter charges $75 per cat)... well it's going to take a few months to save up money and a larger deposit will extend that wait. If I didn't need to pay off some credt card debt from years ago when I was working temp jobs I could work through money issues much faster.

It is not as though I intend to get a kitten- I'd prefer an adult cay anyway. So this is not a question of me having a vet declaw a cat. And there are cats in shelters and in need of good homes who have been declawed by (badly misinformed) former owners.

So I while I want to take a stand on an ethical issue, I could just comply with the complex's rules and take the easy route. I'll have plenty of tiem to decide.

Oh, and the wait for a cat gets longer, because I love cat trees!

Current Mood: thoughtful

I have an apartment!

The hotel I was at was a bit sucky in a few key areas. The one computer available to guests to browse the internet was broken, they were unable to deliver a newspaper to my room on any of the three mornings I was there, and their cleaning staff was unable to follow their "save water, wash fewer towels" policy.

But aside from the hotel, everything else was great. Ruby passed her state inspection with flying colors (Yay! No big car bills!).

I got an apartment. There are two complexes in town, but they only had 2-bedroom apartments. I don't really have enough stuff for a two bedroom, plus I want to save money on rent and pay off loans and debt. So while I made an appointment to look at those (there were hints that a 1-bedroom might become available) I also made nine other appointments to look at privately owned apartments.

I ended up at the complex first, due to scheduling. And they did have a 1-bedroom available. It was in my price range, and I loved the "all utilities except electric included" policy (only one other place could offer that, and it was a studio cottage right next to some train tracks). I also enjoy the convenience of having an easy-to-reach maintenance staff.

So I had them run my application and credit check (I have a really sweet credit rating, apparently) and looked at one other place while they did that. It was horrific and scary. I jumped at the chance to sign a lease with the complex, and canceled my other appointments.

I took pictures. They are in the only gallery here: http://pics.livejournal.com/eseme/ and are locked down so random people can't see where I live.

Current Mood: accomplished

Celebrating the new job.

Made pasta sauce, and decided to add some nice wine for flavor: a Berringer White Merlot.

Dad and I had a glass of that with the meal (I know it will go well with the food- it's in the food).

Dad decided to buy me nice wine to celebrate. I like sweet red wines and blushes. Neither of which can be a "good wine" according to wine enthusiasts. Bah, I say.

He went to Tess's Market, of course. That's the place to buy wine around here. Tess was a guy who really liked wine. So while it has the look of a small corner market, nothing special at all, I've been told that they have the best wine selection in the Mid-Coast area. Sadly, every time I've tried to go they have been closed. Dad was able to get me a nice Bully Hill red, and a blush from somewhere.

He aslo got a desert wine, from a winery here in Maine. He asked for some after our pasta, although we had no desert. I poured a half glass of the blackberry wine, as there is less in the narrow bottle. Dad said that was a good idea, as it had been fortified.

I took another look at the label. Winterport Winery (of Winterport, Maine). The Flying Dutchman. Blackberry wine... and yes, the good people of the Winterport Winery have indeed seen fit to fortify this wine- with grape brandy.

Damn. This is some of the best stuff I have tasted. I really must get more so I can host some sort of housewarming party in style.

Current Mood: drunk

We have utterly excessive amounts of snow. The turkeys were doing fine with the previous amount, but I haven't seen them try to walk after last night.

I got four days off work in a row. Normally, this would be very neat. Sadly, that's when I got sick. So no fun for me.

I have been crocheting. I've made a hooded scarf with a gian hood and scarf bits which ought to be longer (but are the right size according to the pattern). I'm not sure if I am going to live with it or frog it- the chenille I used will be very messy if I frog it.

Once I was done with that, I realized that I'd be stuck in the house with my parents on New Year's Day. This means football, and I find that boring. So a quick trip to Jo Ann's and I have a new project! I grabbed enough yarn to make a bunch of bags.

lissa_dora is right, Sugar 'n Creme is very neat stuff. It is very thin, which can be annoying to work with, but the yarn just feels very nice and soft. Plus the colors I picked are very bright and cheerful (some may argue they are eye-searing, but whatever).

Also, new crafty userpic. Yay, felting.

Current Mood: accomplished

Merry Christmas! And Happy Yule! Enjoy Kwanzaa and Hanukkah too!

I have a pile of presents. They include: A painting by Garrett of a spaceship (to go with my spaceship sculpture from last year), three cookbooks from Mom, socks from my sister's university, a stainless steel drinking bottle (it turns out plastic and Nalgene bottles leech chemicals into the water, so Mom got us all stainless steel this year), and the big present:

A GPS navigation unit!

All further travel adventures should not involve getting lost.

I hope the holiday is fun for all.

Current Mood: happy

So, before my semi-yearly Christmas post I must make what is the second (and hopefully final) installment in the Eseme Had a Job Interview series. As usual, there will be very little information on the interview itself, as I don't want to jinx that.

Wacky travel hijinks follow.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: chipper

Yay for fun job interview.

Gah for long drive.

Back safe in the frozen northlands.

*thud*

Current Mood: exhausted

I finished Captain's Fury the other day. Jim Butcher is brilliant. That book is so damn good.

I've also recently read Anne Bishop's Sebastian. Rather unsurprisingly, the main character is an incubus. Happily, he's not annoying. In fact, the book is good, and the setting is really interesting. I couldn't get into the elf/fae/witch/whatever trilogy she wrote after the Black Jewels books, and had started to wonder if she was a one-setting author. I'll have to revisit those earlier books once I get my bookshelves back.

My life briefly turned into an amusing take on a commercial earlier this week.

Me: *stands in front of women's room mirror at work, getting ready to put my wet hair up*

Co-worker: *enters a stall, muttering something about missing Puerto Rico too much*

Me: What was that?

Co-worker: I must be missing Puerto Rico so much I'm hallucinating. I swear I smell coconuts.

Me: Oh, that's me. Sorry.

Coconut Body Wash: $4.00 at supermarket

Coconut Conditioner: $1.00 at dollar store

Inadvertently Altering Your Co-worker's Perceptions of Reality: Priceless

Mwa Ha Ha!

Current Mood: amused

This seems to be the year of bad things happening to beloved authors.

I'm really bummed by this news about Terry Pratchett. It's not like he's going to stop writing tomorrow (far from it) but this means fewer amazing books in the long run.

Darn it.

In happier news, Captain's Fury is a darn good ride (I'm about two thirds in). Jim Butcher writes a really gripping novel. In terms of plotting, the Alera series is better than the Dresden Files in some ways, because of the multiple viewpoints.

Current Mood: sad

I really want a Mac laptop just so I can turn it into a lightsaber.

Full details and a silly story here: http://jesshartley.livejournal.com/335923.html

It is very loud here today, as a bunch of people showed up at 7:00 Am to put in a new floor. And as I cam oddly not working today (my schedule has gone rather weird) I thought I would answer the questions about the trip to Pennsylvania.

I may one day have to be able to spell that state's name correctly, as this was for a job interview. The same thing goes for Massachusetts (where I interviewed just before Thanksgiving). I drove to Northern PA Institution Of Higher Learning (it and the town hereafter listed as Northern PA). No, I'm not going to use the real name of the place, as I don't want to jinx any job chances I have.

The trip from Maine to Albany was fairly uneventful. Albany more than made up for that. I was driving along in the far left lane to allow oncoming traffic to enter from an on-ramp. Ahead of me I saw something very odd. It looked, in silhouette, like a very large Segway. A tall stick-like shape about 6-8 feet high, coming down the on-ramp ahead of a dump truck. As my brain attempted to process this and came up blank, the front end dropped to the pavement.

And I realized this was a motorcycle. Doing a wheelie. On the highway. At speed.

The nutcase then pulled in front of me (I was going 75, so this guy with a death wish was as well).

Nutcase then decided the far left lane wasn't quite right and darted into the 8 foot space between two semis.

And then popped another wheelie while holding pace with me or going a bit faster.

When I stopped yelping "Oh shit, he's gonna die and I'm going to be seeing his entrails!" I grabbed my phone and made my first ever 911 call. Sadly there were no cops running speed traps when you need them.

( The rest of the two day drive )

Current Mood: awake

I am home.

I drove over 1,100 miles in the last 48 hours.

I will sleep now.

*falls over*

Current Mood: tired

It's that time again. Time to be thankful.

Today I'm thankful that I've had interviews lately, and have another scheduled. Do think good thoughts for me- the most recent interview was for an extremely cool job.

I'm thankful that I got to drive two hours out of my way after the last interview and see two friends of mine, friends that I haven't seen in years.

Talking to one of those friends, who has had some very regrettable experiences with a store-gaming crowd (to the point that she is no longer gaming) has made me thankful for the great community in Rochester. I got to game with people who weren't pissed off if I missed a game because something else in my life came first. I got to game with people who didn't mind if people didn't pay strict attention to every aspect of the game (I was teased as opposed to yelled at for falling asleep at game, and

btoblake could be distracted... heck

darkvalor played WoW). Having hobbies other than gaming was seen as normal as opposed to evidence that one didn't take gaming "seriously" enough. I've had the good fortune to have a GM who sometimes noticed "Hey, no one's in the mood for this game, lets do something else" and would let before-game conversation carry on if it was interesting.

I have been very fortunate in gaming groups, and I am very thankful for that.

Current Mood: cheerful

I got home from work tonight and the house lights were on. This is unusual, but then I remembered that the World Series is on tonight.

As I went around the garage, I realized that the lights were on there too, and my mom was in the door.

"Hi Mom. What occasioned the welcome?"

"Look. See the twins?" Mom points out into the garage.

I'm halfway up the steps to the little landing in the garage that leads into the house. I look out, and squint in the general direction she is pointing. I can see a car in Dad's place. Did they get the same brand of car? Dad hit a deer a couple of weeks ago, and as it was a 80's model it was totaled.

"Oh, you you replaced Sluggo? Is it-"

"No, not the car. The deer."

I look again, this time noticing the ropes, the skinny legs pointed at the ceiling, the long brown back, the ears dangling above the ground, and the newspaper stained with blood. "Oh, wow, he got one the first day. That's -"

"Not one. Two!"

Looking yet again, I see the second smaller deer. "Oh wow. He's done then isn't he? Wow, that was fast."

Dad confirmed that it was his quickest hunting season yet. He went out this morning and saw the deer. He shot at one and missed. He went out again in the afternoon, and in 20 minutes he got both deer. These ones are rather dumb, and I'm guessing the local population will do better without their genes. He shot them in the afternoon in the same clearing he shot at them in the morning. The female twin went first, and her brother just stood there, despite the very loud noise. He didn't run til Dad reloaded and shot him. Very dumb deer. Exceedingly poor survival instincts.

We'll have venison this year, although not much. Both deer are very small, we think they were born this past spring. Dad got two doe permits (which allow you to shoot any deer without antlers) this year (the area is overpopulated). So he's done for the season, though he says he will try for a bear when he goes up north with his hunting buddies to the camp they meet at every year.

Current Mood: sleepy

Not sure how I missed this on reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I suppose this is a spoiler, although it wasn't actually stated in the text of the book:

( Rowling Pulls a Character Out of the Closet )

Current Mood: surprised

I've had a very good birthday.

Friday Mom gave me the book I had asked for (Making Money by Terry Pratchett) and something I didn't ask for. It turns out that a couple of years ago she bought some of Bryce Muir's prints at a fair, and forgot about them. She framed two of them for me. They are both of my hometown, one of the little park with the cannon and a view of the Town Landing Place and the other of smelt shacks on the river. How cool!

Yesterday I went to Halcyon with M and made a bag. A very cool bag with a castle on it. I learned you can felt with an electric sander. Not sure how someone figured this out, "Hey, let's add electric tools to this old art form that uses hot soapy water!" but it works very well. Since I had a 10% discount that day, I bought a copy of The Happy Hooker which I'd been wanting for a while. What? It's about crochet.

A co-worker makes candy as a hobby, and broght me in peanut butter cups. Yummy!

And I mailed five packages. You couldn't see me behind the stack of boxes. Whew! Now I just need to finish Lissa's leter.

Current Mood: cheerful

My plans for my birthday are thus:

Read

Mail packages (yeah, other people are getting stuff)

Work

Do some actual celebrating on Saturday when I get to go to a felting course at Halcyon

Lead isn't just in kids' toys. It's on people's lips.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071011/hl_nm/lipstick_lead_dc

Ah, the joys of not wearing that stuff.

Hmmm, no one other than

dihi wants to ask questions. Odd. If anyone changes their minds, I'm waiting about two days before declaring that meme closed and answering her questions.

As mentioned before, I've got that gaming journal. I've decided to post old (read very old) writeups over there. Only for games which have ended (so, not for the LARP in Buffalo which is still running). I don't want to reveal plot details or anything. For those interested, feel free to friend

eseme_games.

I just posted my first LARP writeup EVER. Yep, a blast from the past (2002) to be exact.

Current Mood: curious

haikujaguar wins. Possibly wins everything.

Check out her "Women Game One Handed Too" image, especially if you play WoW. And look at her other pretty pictures too (her style will be very familiar to those who have played or read World Tree): http://www.stardancer.org/send-format.phtml/pics/archive/onehanded.jpg

Current Mood: amused

The Wanderer

eseme

September 2017

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Page generated Mar. 22nd, 2026 09:40 pm

Eseme's Den

In the foothills of the Mystical Mountains

Current Wandering

Pets

Mission was Successful

Wahoozie

Home sick

Christmas

Yet more traveling

More Owies

Reading and the joys of hair

Sad news

Must have the geeky

The long drive

Blargh

Thanks

Well, that was quick

I... wow... cool

Yay, birthdays

So not a normal celebration

No makeup for me

Hello?

Gaming one handed...