it’s all mine…

…and it’s soooo pretty! Came all charged up, ready to run, which was good, since I needed it for meetings on Saturday (which is when I picked it up). At the Coordinating Committee meeting I stroked it lovingly, in full view of everyone, and made MusicianMan sputter a laugh as I mouthed, “My preciousss…” The chair of SoCal Grassroots even made mention of my new acquisition, since I opened it and worked on it while at a meeting at his place earlier in the day.

Later that night, while at HSTeacher’s home, I loaded up some nice programs. The next day the two of us sat in his living room, quietly working on our respective laptops (his is a 15″ Apple Titanium PowerBook) much as another couple would read the newspaper on a Sunday morning. The extent of our collective geekiness made me laugh.

Next step in entering the 21st Century: getting high-speed intenet. Then a cell phone with Bluetooth (which may end up being a hand-held).

*sigh*

fun with photos…

I have a nice little digital camera that ModelGirl gave to me a few years ago. I carry it in my purse, because I never know when I’m going to see something that I think is picture worthy. Like this:

(Good to know, Person-Who-Lives-In-My-Neighborhood. I’ll look you up if I’m ever in need of sadism or masochism.)

Or this:

(All hail the Three-Eyed Simpsons Fish!)

Or even when in San Diego for the recent California Democratic Convention, catching the oh-so-dreamy John Edwards winning delegate hearts all over the damned place:

Disclosure: I was heavily leaning towards Edwards before the convention, because I agreed with his positions and because, while in Washington, DC a couple of years ago, while sitting in John Conyers’ office with MusicianMan, Mimi Kennedy and one of Conyers’ top aides, the aide told us that Edwards was the one to watch, should he decide to run.

On the Sunday of the convention, I made sure I was in the main room for Edwards speech, because I was really interested in what he had to say. I had caught a few minutes of Hillary and Barack the day before and wasn’t all that impressed, although the electricity in the room with Obama was palpable. Somehow I ended up near the stage when Edwards came in the room. He started off on the opposite from me and just walked the aisles, shaking hands with everyone he could, and next thing I knew there he was in front of me. So I stuck my hand out and it got shook. And I tingled. Yea!

So I maneuvered myself and found myself sitting on the floor right at the velvet ropes and heard every word. When I wasn’t taking pictures, that it. His honesty and sincerity connected with the audience. Forget Obama. Forget Clinton. There was no substance to their speeches. There was plenty of substance in Edwards speech and I believed every word, which is amazing, considering I’m one of the most cynical mo-fos you’ll ever meet.

Edwards is the man.

now-now-now-now-now…

That’s when I want it.

I’ve been waiting for it forever, or so it seems. It would have been mine two weeks ago, were it not for accidental holds on bank accounts and PayPal moving slower than slow. Not in time for the California Democratic Convention the last weekend of April, when it would have proven incredibly useful. Not in time for the Communications Committee meeting this past Saturday, where I’m still serving as Secretary because no one else will, even though I’m vice-chair now, in addition to being Tech Committee Chair and Endorsements Committee Secretary, because I seem to be more than a little bit masochistic. Communications between the main parties have been ongoing, making sure that progress is being made, but still.

I want it NOW.

Tuesday, tomorrow, it should be mine. Possibly Wednesday, depending on how slow UPS decides to be. Maybe I should have had it sent to my work address, but these things are tricky, receiving packages at a high-security workplace. I should know better than to work on government property.

Still, I’ve waited this long. Surely another couple of days won’t kill me.

Will they?

Before the weekend. I will have it before the weekend. In time for Saturday’s Coordinating Committee meeting.

I will, won’t I?

Soon I will have my lovely new (to me) 12.1 inch G4 iBook, with 1.2 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB drive, Airport Extreme and AppleCare.

Then, all will be right with the world.

Well, all except for wars and hunger and poverty and cruelty and…

Surely my iBook can solve those ills.

Only time will tell.

she’s a man, baby!

Or at least I bear a strong resemblance to one (or several):

http://www.myheritage.com

How weird is it that my first match (at 78%) is a guy? I just don’t know what to make of it.

wanna hear a joke?

How many JPL employees does it take to figure out how to use an IKEA can opener?

Five: one deputy program manager, one engineer, one administrator and two secretaries. For over twenty minutes. And it was one of the secretaries (not me) that found the hidden lever in the handle.

BTW, the can opener was brought by yours truly. Leave it to me to cause a ruckus in the work place.

wanna hear a joke?

How many JPL employees does it take to figure out how to use an IKEA can opener?

Five: one deputy program manager, one engineer, one administrator and two secretaries. For over twenty minutes. And it was one of the secretaries (not me) that found the hidden lever in the handle.

BTW, the can opener was brought by yours truly. Leave it to me to cause a ruckus in the work place.

on and off…

Yesterday I went and done got myself a Holter monitor strapped to my chest:

Five lovely electrodes were taped to several strategic points, including under my breasts. It’s always kinda funny when electrodes have to be placed there, because the nurses – all female – are always a little hesitant, especially since I possess rather large breasts that tend flop a bit, what with them belonging to a plus-size 40 year old and all. I always just grab them and hoist them out of the way, which they appreciate (the nurses, not the breasts – I don’t think the breasts like to be hoisted much).

I wore the monitor until 11am today, whereupon it automatically switched off and was unstrapped. It looks so innocent, sitting there, all turned off:

But it’s not, because the tape that was used to keep the wires from moving and catching and dislocating the electrodes itched like a mo-fo. The itchiness got so bad last night that I had to take melatonin to fall asleep, even though I was exhausted.

And it wasn’t just that the itchiness nearly drove me out of my mind. The electrodes marked me for life:

Or at least for several hours afterwards. That mark was near my left clavicle.

I’m going back to the second clinic on Monday morning for a follow-up, but I did have a few episodes yesterday. Not bad ones, but there was definitely some dizziness and palpitations. One was on my way to the hospital, but the rest should have been caught by the monitor. However, unless something serious is found, I won’t hear the results for another couple of weeks.

I really hope I don’t hear from them for another couple of weeks.

expecting new electronics…

…too bad I’m not excited about it.

Things have been going far too well in the World of Carol, so I’ve kinda been expecting the other shoe to drop any second. It seems like it just might have done so.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a clinic to have tests run on my heart and blood and the like. Everything tested normal, including my thyroid, so there should be nothing to worry about, right?

Not so much.

On Saturday there was a moment where I got into HSTeacher’s waterbed and laid down, suddenly short of breath with some pressure in the chestal area. It lasted for a few minutes, but HSTeacher was sleeping at the time and I didn’t want to wake him, and it went away. I started to think, however, that maybe I should go back to the doctor’s, especially as I had I’d recently read that symptoms of heart disease in women are different than those in men and almost every symptom listed has been experienced by me. The only one that I haven’t experienced were the cold sweats or clamminess, but I have had a few moments where I’ve been unusually cold. Then again, the weather has been cold as of late, so who knows.

Yesterday I had an episode of my usual symptoms: feeling a bit faint, heart palpitations, chest pressure, a little short of breath, inexplicably exhausted. I even experienced pain in my right arm, which was new for me. I was merely sitting down at the time, attending an impeachment town hall and not expending much energy. It subsided a bit, but the rest of the evening I felt off.

So this morning I went to another clinic in my network, one that is closer to home than the previous one and is actually on my way to work, so I could possibly get into work in the afternoon (which is where I am now). ECG, bloodwork, more fun tests, whee!

The upshot of the consultation? On Thursday I get to go to my local county hospital, which is affiliated with UCLA and, I believe, has a good cardiology department – I’m doing research on them now – and pick up a heart monitor. I don’t know yet how long I’ll have to wear it, but i hope it’s not too long – I’m not supposed to shower while wearing it. I don’t know about y’all, but I tend to get a little stinky if I go more than one day without showering.

And here is one example of the type of monitor I’ll be wearing:

Pretty, no?

Okay, no.

Still, it wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that I may have to wear it strapped across my chest with a shoulder strap:

Yep, that’s how I’ll look with my lovely new electronics. Except I expect to be wearing clothes over the monitor. And to look less masculine. Most likely I’ll still have breasts.

I’ll go back to the clinic on Monday for a follow-up. Oh joy.

I know I’m a bit of a gadget geek, but this? This is one gadget I could definitely do without.

Okay, damnit, who dropped that damned shoe?

my ipod is psychic…

Every morning I wake up with a song running through my head. While sometimes the genesis of the song is a puzzle (Afternoon Delight? WTF?), usually I know why a certain song has turned into earworm, including this morning’s song, which I’m positive came about due to all of the news about the Iraq Study Group over the last two days.

A few minutes ago I plugged my iPod into my computer and set it to shuffle, which is my default play mode. The first song that was played? The same one I woke up humming this morning: Dear Mr. Bush by Wil b and The Political Power of Hiphop.

Uh oh, my Nano is reading my mind. Spooky…