Scribbles

Working from home

scribll — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:22:01 GMT

It's been a year--A YEAR!--since I've posted anything to LiveJournal. I do read every once in awhile, because I've become interested in my Friends, but it always feels kind of voyeuristic, too.

I am doing contract work from home which I'm liking very much. I have very steady work which I charge handsomely for. I'm working for a smallish oil company, privately held, and ride the corporate jet to such hot spots as Metarie and Bakersfield like I'm someone important, which--really, not so much.

My husband helped me build a treadmill desk which I started using this past week. So far I am up to about 2 hours twice a day and stand the rest of the time, without too many aches or pains. It is a little distracting, but I've heard it can take about a month to get completely used to it, both physically and mentally. My hope is to work my ass off, literally as well as metaphorically.

Contract job

scribll — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:25:53 GMT

I just completed and billed for my first real contract job. I've worked contract before, but it was at the client's office and really wasn't much different than being an employee except that I had to pay my own taxes (which is why a few years later they hired almost all their contractors under IRS duress, but that's another story.) This time I'm truly my own employer, leasing the software myself and working at home in my jammies if I so desire. At first I was too easily distracted and it was hard to get started, but after a bit, it was like I was working 24/7. I've taken about 2 full days off in the past month. I feel I'm lacking the balance that I would have if I wasn't working from home.

My old boss still wants me to come work for him, but he hasn't gotten seismic data yet although he calls me regularly with updates. He wants me to go to a meet and greet with potential investors tomorrow. I'm not nearly the shmoozer he is, but he thinks it would be good to trot out the expertise, so here I go.

Make this RIGHT NOW! You can thank me later.

scribll — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:00:59 GMT

Asian Lettuce Cups with Spicy Ground Turkey Filling It is: A) delicious, B) fast, C) easy, D) relatively low calorie and E) delicious (doubly). Everyone I've shared this with who has tried it raves about it and says they now make it at least once a week. While I've never been to PF Chang's I'm told one of the favorite things on their menu tastes just like this. I usually add some finely chopped veggies like celery, carrots, and water chestnuts without changing the flavor very much as the recipe as is is rather light on the vegetables. The only ingredient that might be hard to find is the chili garlic sauce, but I found it in the import food section of my local grocery store (in a jar with all Vietnamese writing except 'Chili Garlic Sauce'). There isn't enough of the fish sauce to effect the flavor one way or another, so I wouldn't buy it just for this dish.

I should plug Kaylyn's Kitchen blog while I'm at it. She has a fine collection of no nonsense recipes that are good whether you follow South Beach or not. I would cook a turkey again just so I could make Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potato Soup Recipe with Black Beans and Lime with the leftovers. Next on my list to try is Crockpot (or Stovetop) Recipe for Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk.

Big Ass Spider

scribll — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:55:07 GMT

There is a big ass spider living on my front porch. I first noticed him Labor Day evening. He had built a big web hanging from the eaves and anchored to the porch railing. He is brown and his body alone is almost the size of a quarter. The first time I saw him he was eating a huge beetle that he had caught in his web. The next morning when I let the dog out about 8am he and his web had completely vanished. Then I started to notice that when I let the dog out just before bed, the spider would be back with a completely new web. Once, instead of attaching the web to the eaves and porch railing, he stretched it out at a 45 degree angle, an 8 foot (or more) hypotenuse to the L formed where the porch juts out from the house. It seemed to float out in space. Mostly he makes his web under the protection of the eaves which worked out especially well in that heavy rainstorm we had a few days ago. I looked for him once during the day to see if I could find where he spends the night, but he must find a cool place in a bush or under the house, because he's nowhere I can find him.

This morning I woke up early, at dawn, and he was still outside, eating what looked to be a fly. I got out my magnifying glass to see if I could see any markings on him and there was an hour glass looking marking a darker brown than his overall lighter brown coloring, no stripes on the legs that I could see. I haven't been able to identify what type of spider he is. Any guesses? I forgot about him until I went to take the dog for a walk around 8 and both the spider and his big ass web were gone. How does he get rid of it? What a neat and tidy spider.

Subjective weirdness

scribll — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:44:39 GMT

How can 5 months have gone by without posting anything? I have been reading others posts, commenting randomly and rarely. I have been feeling ‘weird’.

The weirdness comes from the whole being laid off thing. Since I’ve known it was coming since November of last year, it’s been the longest fucking goodbye which is weirdness all by itself. I’ve been off work for three weeks now. Every day feels like Saturday. I’ve been puttering around the garden. Finished the garden columns (which are awesome Ishouldpostapicture. ) Hosting a garden club meeting. Finally extending the pavers all the way around the pool . (Not a mean feat when it’s 95 outside.) I’ve decided to give myself the summer before I start to look for another job. I’m being paid 10 months worth of severance plus other nice parting gifts so I shouldn’t be feeling as insecure as I am, but that’s me. I worry that because of the oil spill in the Gulf I may never work again. But I probably will.

The last two days I have spent online planning my family’s trip to Montreal and Quebec City next month. It is going to be so much fun. A vacation that doesn’t involve visiting family! I haven’t been out of the US for almost 20 years. They speak French! It’s like a foreign country! 12 days! We’re going to spend more than someone who is unemployed has a right to but I DON’T CARE. Who knows when I’ll get a chance again, especially with my daughters who are 17 and 20. Montreal has an outdoors techno concert series this summer. They are all psyched about that. Meanwhile, my husband and I will have a nice dinner at a jazz bar. I can hardly wait!

What I've been doing lately

scribll — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:00:17 GMT

I'm losing my job. My company announced a few months ago that they were going to sell all of their offshore and international oil and gas properties and just remain onshore North America. That means they won't need the people that work those properties either. Of which I am one. I guess it's the equivalent of a plant closing. But we have to sell the properties first and that's what we're in the process of doing, trying to get the best deal possible for the company that is going to boot us out. Oh well, we must be professional about it.

I haven't mentioned it as I know there are a lot of people on LJ in much worse shape. As long as I stick around until they release me, they will send me off with a pile of money, enough to live on for a couple of years if necessary, but I doubt it will take very long to find another job. Whatever. Been there, done that.

For the first couple months after the announcement, I was very busy as we actually got money to drill a few wells, proven reserves being much more valuable than 'probable' reserves. But now I have nothing to do until the data rooms open to the potential buyers in a couple of weeks, and even then I may not be very busy, I just need to be 'available'. In the meantime I've been playing around with programs that I always wanted to try, but never found the time to. And I volunteered to be a tutor in a program sponsored by my employer at a local elementary school.

Today I met the 2nd grade girl that I will be working with for the next couple of months. She was quite the chatterbox once she got going. I found out her favorite color (red), favorite activity (basketball), and that she lived with her mother and siblings in a shelter. She readily gossiped about the people at the shelter, and recited the shelter rules to me. Between stories of the Superbowl party and playing basketball on Saturdays, she told me about the cockroaches in the food, that a friend of hers was hit so hard by her mother that she lost a tooth and had to go to the hospital to get stitches, and that her 16 year old brother was killed by some people who beat him up, robbed him, and shot him in the head.

Perspective, I haz it.

Dollhouse

scribll — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:56:34 GMT

I've just gotten caught up with Dollhouse and I must say that I am loving it very hard, something I never would have guessed after the first few episodes. Too bad that it's been canceled just as it's getting good. Or is that why it's getting good? Most of the best series have planned expiration dates.

My Christmas gift to my LJ friends

scribll — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:48:33 GMT

We just got back from a week at Big Bend Ranch State Park. Four families stayed in the Big House with overflow in the bunk house and we had the place virtually to ourselves. I hiked in the desert everyday except my day for KP duty where I made my mother's spareribs which are always a big hit. I made 8 racks of pork ribs, but the original recipe is for 2 racks which should feed a family of four quite well. Mom never measured so the amounts are estimates. These come out gooey and sweet and melt in your mouth.

Mom's Spareribs

Cut pork ribs into pieces of 2 or 3 bones. Place in a big roaster and bake, covered for 1 hour at 375. Drain accumulated grease and fluids.

Pour BBQ sauce over ribs and bake for at least another hour or so uncovered, turning the ribs every 10-15 minutes to baste with sauce. Cook until the sauce is thick and the ribs are sticky and starting to blacken in spots.

BBQ sauce, mix together:
1 onion, chopped
2-4 cloves of chopped garlic
8 oz can tomato sauce
can of water (the tomato sauce can)
1/4 cup cider vinager
2 handfuls brown sugar
salt & pepper
2 tbsp. chili powder
Worcestershire (couple of dollops)

Irony

scribll — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:31:03 GMT

We have been friends with our next door neighbors for 30 years. They are a couple (couple A) with no children and most holidays they rent a house in or near Big Bend. We've gone with them a few times and we plan on going this Christmas, too. There is another couple (couple B), mutual friends of ours for as long, who live just a few blocks away and want to come along, too. I also work with the wife of couple B. Today she confided to me that she hasn't been spending as much time with couple A over the last few years because when the husband of couple A gets drunk he starts getting handsy with her and tries to kiss her. The ironic part is that I haven't been spending as much time with couple B because *her* husband was getting handsy with me when he got drunk.

Luckily, my husband doesn't drink. ;)

Email

scribll — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:13:21 GMT

I'm back at home again. I've shipped about 7 large boxes of the family relics to my house and they are starting to dribble in. I have no idea where I'm going to put the stuff. My brother and his wife had no interest, so I am the defacto keeper of the family archives. Nothing much of any monetary value except possibly the two double string of pearls I found in an aunt's jewelry box--the aunt who passed away the year before Mom. I have my grandmother's Kitchen Aid mixer which is at least 60 years old and looks it. She made thousands of really good loaves of bread with that mixer. Maybe I will too.

At work there has been an initiative to clean up and reduce the size of our email boxes. My inbox contains hundreds of email letters from my mother from over just the last couple of years. I bought her her first computer 11 years ago just after she had her cancerous larynx removed. I thought it would help her feel connected especially before she got her voice prosthetic. Little did I realize how much our email letters would become such a part of my life. Our letters were very chatty, full of shared interests about plants and cooking, family moments, little things mostly. Not a day goes by that I don't see something or something will happen that I want to tell Mom about. But there won't be anymore email. I miss that the most.

It's done

scribll — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:38:36 GMT

Mom slipped away early Friday morning. She died in her own bed surrounded by the three people she loved most--her remaining sister and my brother and I. We took strength and comfort from each other and with hospice to guide us we surely were more together than the sum of our parts. I have no regrets.

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of activity, but now the memorial gathering is past. My aunt left for her home in Idaho this morning. It is strange being alone in Mom's house. My brother and I have to begin the task of dismantling the bits and pieces leftover of her life. It is like we are setting out to erase her; it seems so final. But it can't be helped.

Thank you all for your kind wishes. I'm sorry, I haven't had time to respond to each one, but I am grateful none the less.

Obama and Me

scribll — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:20:44 GMT

Today is my birthday. So far the best thing—and I do mean it is a VERY GOOD THING—is that my mother didn't die today. That would suck, not just for the usual reasons, but suck for all perpetuity. Yesterday I would not have bet that she would not die today. She is declining that fast. I came here Friday on FMLA leave and I am surprised at how fast she is fading.

I was reluctant to put Mom on hospice, mostly because of what that meant, but they are wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about it. And now that I am here I realize that to have her continue to suffer like this is purely selfish on my part. This is oddly easier than I thought it would be. She needs me now; I can fall apart later. I don't allow myself to think about even two minutes beyond her expiration.

Annals of the Former World

scribll — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:17:19 GMT

I have just finished reading 'Annals of the Former World' by John McPhee. It is about a 20 year journey along Interstate 80 which roughly spans the center of the U.S. from New York to San Francisco, but also a 4600 million year journey through geologic time. For some time now I have been so involved in the minutia of modeling hydrocarbon signatures in seismic data that I had forgotten what drew me to geology in the first place. When I started college in the mid-70's the Theory of Plate Tectonics was just beginning to be widely accepted in the geologic community. The Theory of Plate Tectonics was as great a breakthrough to geology as the Theory of Relativity was to physics. It profoundly changed our understanding of the transient nature of the surface of our planet.

I had not been keeping up with the latest developments. That new radioactive dating techniques were expanding our ability to more accurately and precisely map the ancient history of continents prior to the Cambrian Explosion (when life seemed to burst forth in the fossil record) 600 million years ago. It allowed the reconstruction of the supercontinent before Pangea called Rodinia in Pre-Cambrian time. I didn't know that Mars and some of Jupiter's moons show signs of active plate movement in their past. And progress has been made on understanding some of the drive mechanisms for plate techtonics--that plates are not pushed apart at the mid-ocean ridges, but dragged apart at the subduction zones.

Mostly though I was able to regain that little bit of a glimpse of understanding of the vastness of geologic time. If one were to stretch their arms as wide as they could and that were the extent of Earth's history, a snip of a fingernail would erase the history of mankind. It makes one humble.

Hospice

scribll — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:22:50 GMT

My brother called last night to tell me that he'd arranged for hospice for our mother. I know we had discussed it when I was there a week ago, but it seems to underscore the fact that our mother is really dying and it's hitting me hard. He said that he had applied a morphine patch which means all that we can do is to try to make her comfortable. She's down to 74 pounds. I don't know how much more weight she can lose before her organs start shutting down. It killed me to see how fragile she's become. I have arranged for FMLA leave, but I still need to try and time the leave for when I'm truly needed. The hospice nurse is supposed to do an assessment today, so maybe I'll know soon. I hate being 2000 miles away.

African Thunderstorm

scribll — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:25:42 GMT

This video is by Perpetuum Jazzile, an cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. They are singing the well known Toto song 'Africa'. At the beginning they simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands.

LOST

scribll — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:01:38 GMT

Somewhere around the middle of season 3 I got tired of being jerked around by Lost. If they had just solved a few of the 1500 mysteries that they introduced, I would have stayed, but instead it seemed as though the questions piled up for no reason whatsover and I finally said to hell with it. Then last season I saw few teasers that they were going to get off the island and I thought, OK, finally some answers, and I tested the waters again. I'm a sucker for time travel stories, so now, here I am, full blown, head over heels in LURVE again. I have no ship interests in the story, but I am 'in like' with Lafleur.

Goodbye 2008

scribll — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:11:17 GMT

There's something wonderful about being at work with only a handful off people on the floor, none of them asking me for anything. I'm getting tons done and will probably skive off early. My friend C has invited us to an impromptu dinner after which we will drive to the county limits, buy fireworks, and C and I will drink champagne while watching the kids and our husbands set them off. This is one of those times that being married to the perpetual designated driver pays off. And we'll all be snug in our beds by 11pm.

I hope your New Year's Eve will be as delightful.

A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year

scribll — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:24:35 GMT

The family and I have just returned from a glorious week at Big Bend Ranch State Park in west Texas. We hiked the desert canyons, rode horses, star gazed and ate. No phones, no TV, no internet, and an hour and a half from the nearest town. My youngest daughter thought the whole idea was horrible until she discovered her inner mountain goat. Did I mention there were rocks?The friends we went with were all non-geologic types, so I was the defacto rock "expert". They never guessed when I was bluffing.

Vote!

scribll — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:22:53 GMT

This is my 10th, (count'm) 10th presidential election. The 26th amendment passed in 1972 giving me the right to vote at age 18 in the 1972 election. I voted for McGovern who ended up getting 14 electoral votes. Total. Pretty much every presidential election has gone more or less the same way since. Today I think I finally got it right. But I never gave up hope. I always voted.

My oldest daughter is 18 and this is her first election. She jumped right in and became a delegate for Obama to the state senatorial primary. I couldn't be prouder.

scribll — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:02:08 GMT

Just when things seem to be getting back to normal, my brother calls and tells me mom is in the hospital and they just moved her to critical care. She breathes through a stoma because she had cancer of the larynx 10 years ago and has emphysema on top of that. I've been worried because she hasn't been feeling well lately and I booked a flight to visit her next month (she's 2000 miles away) and a just few hours later I get the call from my brother. That was last night. He said to wait until today to see how it goes before I rush up there. All her ailments make her susceptible to respiratory infections and in the end I know she'll probably die of pneumonia. But not today, damn it.

My brother is not answering his cell phone. Why won't he fucking call me?

And on the 14th day God made electricity!

scribll — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:49:34 GMT

Well, it wasn't really God, but some linemen from Virginia. The lights came back on at 4:45pm Friday. I had the day off because workmen were going to be working on my floor to evaluate the extent to the water in the walls and we were told to stay home. I couldn't stand the pile of laundry so I finally found a laundromat that was open. When I got home the linemen were swarming the neighborhood. 3 hours later the power came back on. My daughter and I did the happy dance! My neighbor opened a bottle of champagne. For the next two days every time I flipped a switch I had a shit-eating grin on my face. Nothing like doing without for awhile to make us appreciate modern conveneinces.

Still no cable TV or internet and I can't get through by phone to Comcast. There's an argument here for Direct TV.

Day 13 without power

scribll — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:40:27 GMT

Centerpoint took down the maps that estimated when power would be restored because it's obvious they can't meet their projections. Now they're talking about having the main transmission lines restored by Sunday. The fuse and transformers come after that. I'm realizing that it could possibly be another couple of weeks before we get power again. I should have gotten that generator when I had the chance, but noooo, la-la-la, I can last until Thursday, la-la-la. Generators are so fucking noisy, though, and the noise is driving me crazy. With all the windows open it seems all I've heard for the last week is chain saws, generators, sirens, and helicopters and with the windows close you suffocate. Even at work there is a giant fan running drying out the carpet in the office next to me. I'm tempted to go in there and turn the damn thing off.

They did post pictures of the damage to the top three floors of the building on the intranet here at work. For obvious reasons, they didn't want anybody going up there. The roof was pealed back and there was 4 inches of water on each of the floors that was slowly leaking down to the other 30 floors. There were big recycling bins completely full of water. Those enormous wooden conference tables and fancy visualization hardware are trashed.

Day 11 without power

scribll — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:56:58 GMT

Centerpoint is saying that the power will be restored in my zip code by Thursday, but if you read the fine print that means that they estimate 80% restoration by Thursday, not 100%. I may have to break down and buy another battery operated light. One is not enough. At least it didn't seem so muggy last night which made sleeping tolerable.

My husband (the traitor) is leaving tomorrow for his farm in Washington State. His rentor skipped on him last week and he thinks he needs to check the place ASAP. I have to work and the kid started back to school today, so no escape for us.

I want POWER!!!

scribll — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:02:54 GMT

As in electricity, the thing that makes light and air conditioning and ice cold drinks. TV and internet would be nice, too. I'm tired of camping in my own house. Day 10.

Ike damaged my company's building so today is my first day back at work, luckily in my own office. Many people have been shuffled around to other offices. But there's AC!! I spent my Ike vacation making a big pile of tree limbs in my front yard and raking 20 bags of sticks and leaves, just like everyone else in Houston.

Beginning of the long good-bye

scribll — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:57:26 GMT

WE spent the last couple of days moving our daughter into her dorm. I'm very excited about the school and I'm excited for all the new experiences my daughter will have, but at the same time, I've been in such a funk since we left her. Not setting her place at the table, not buying her brand of yogurt at the store, her empty parking spot, the empty drawers in her dresser remind me how much I miss her, never mind that she's called four times today and emailed twice. I hate to think what it will be like when the other daughter leaves and she's only a sophomore in high school. They're pains in the butt, but they're MY pains in the butt.