Where I've been instead

I've been posting on my other blog, The Tactile Arts Play Group, about a variety of crafty stuff.

So if you want to read about what makes me feel better, come on over.

If you'd rather read my bitching about how much my life sucks, stick around. I'll be back now and then to do exactly that.

I keep meaning to start posting computer tips and such here, but I haven't gotten around to that...

I know I haven't posted very much here

That's because (as usual) I don't have a lot of time to spend online, and what time I do have, I'd rather spend in more cheerful ways than bitching about my life here. It's depressing enough to live it; lately bitching just means that I'm dwelling on it, which just brings me down more.

For example, here are a few highlights of my holiday season:

• Last Friday, I took Honey to see her pain doctor, and we both saw our GP.
  
• $200 for co-pays
• $300 for various medications
• $20 for gas for the friend who met us at the BART station and took us to the GP's office (so I didn't have to push Honey's wheelchair that mile), and then home again
• $35 for a new TV antenna (the old one had died)
• $50 for essential groceries
• The effect of the above is (among other things) that I've had to cancel the two-night hotel stay I'd planned for next week - the first chance I've had in nearly three years to take a couple of days completely off duty and let other people take care of me for a little while.
• This coming Tuesday, I have my annual review, so I figured I'd at least take the afternoon to be out of the house for a little bit, at least.
• Today, I had to take one of the cats to the vet. There went what little money I had, for gas money to the same friend, and a roll of cheap screening to fix one of the windows so we can ventilate the place a little better. So much for my afternoon off. I have enough for the fare to go to my review, and go to the bank later in the week to get the rent check cut (which will take all of my upcoming paycheck, plus advances from two different sources.)
  
• So we're going to be broke for the next three weeks, at least, and then it's time to do it again for the next month's rent. sigh
• We're having grilled cheese sandwiches for Christmas dinner, and probably for at least the next week.
• The guy upstairs has his stereo cranked way up. The good news is that it's some really good blues; the bad news is that listening to the blues is definitely not cheering me up.

So how are your holidays?

It's Almost Over

Tomorrow marks the end of the first whole week I've had entirely off (except for taking care of Honey, that is) in about two years. I had all kinds of ideas for things I wanted to do with the time, but I wound up doing nearly nothing at all. I slept late, I watched TV all day, ate too much of extra-rich food, I read...that's about it.

How have you spent the holiday week?

Reprieve!

I got to the courthouse right on time, and looked at the board to see what room I was supposed to be in, then realized that the listings were for sessions that had ended an hour before. Just as I was looking for someone who could tell me, the plaintiff's lawyer approached me, asking if we could talk for a few minutes. I told him what was going on with us, and offered to negotiate a settlement. After a little while, we'd worked out a payment schedule that worked for both parties. Of course, if I miss one payment, we're out on our asses in no time flat.

Also this week, both the router and the DSL went out, which cost some money to restore, but by the time I went to bed Thursday, we were back online.

Today I got extravagant, buying our Thanksgiving meal. We usually don't do turkey, because Honey doesn't like it (having spent her young summers raising them). What we do instead is indulge in what we refer to as "high-class cold cuts": brie, pate, prosciutto, etc. We sit around noshing that and sipping wine while watching old movies. No family, no stress, just us relaxing together.

Fun Stuff! Crafty Stuff! Free Patterns!

As some of you may know, I'm into a lot of different crafts: quilting, knitting, crochet, needlework, beadwork, etc.

But today I have something very cool to share with you. I've added a new feature to my sidebar:

Free Quilt Pattern of the Day by FourTwinSisters.

These women make a host of quilt patterns of many different subjects. For years, they have offered all of them for free. Now, they are offering a new free pattern every day. Some of them may be published on their site in the future, but many may not.

So check back here every day for a new free quilt pattern!

The Saga Continues...

Let's see...what's happened since my last post?

• We have a court date. On the 15th of this month (yeah, that's this coming Wednesday), I get to go explain to the judge why we shouldn't be thrown out into the street. Wish us luck, because we need all the help we can get on this.
• Honey's holding steady on the quit-smoking project. She's too stressed over our financial situation to cut back any further right now.
• My new assignment's going well. My cohort and I are taking on more responsibility, though she's a little nervous about it, because she hasn't had as much experience with this kind of analysis as I have. Our biggest frustration, I think, is with one of our other co-workers. He's from one of the Big Accounting Firms (BAF's), which I would have thought meant that he'd be an ace accountant. Sadly, this is not the case. He asks us the same questions over and over again, and even when we explain it to him over and over again, he doesn't really seem to get it. Some days we fantasize about doing him some harm, or at least gagging him and tying him to his chair so he can't pester us for awhile. He's a nice enough guy, and we know he means well and is trying to do his job, but damn... Actually, it often seems as if he's trying to get us to do his job and then take the credit for it. But we had been advised already by others on the team that people from this BAF tend to do that. So whenever someone refers to something that he presented, we let them know that we built it for him. We've also decided that maybe we're working for the wrong agency, since his bill rate is so much higher than ours, and we are so much more competent.

Well, that's the news in a nutshell.

Catching Up (aka The Story So Far)

I know it's been a really long time since I last posted here. Here's a synopsis of what I've been up to since then:

• I did so well at the assignment I was on then (test-piloting/creating a new position), that they decided early this year that they needed a full-time, permanent person to do it. I applied for it, but the position went to an inside candidate, naturally.
• I got another assignment in the same office park, so I have a whole new set of puzzles to play with in the same great place. It also means that I can keep in touch easily with my cohorts from the previous assignment. Recently, I asked them how my replacement was doing at keeping up with the pace (she's pretty sharp); they told me that she's managing it, but she's having to work extra hours to do it (I rarely stayed past 5). Hmmm...maybe by the time I finish the current project (in about 12 to 24 months), the powers in that department will want me back. We'll see.
• Meanwhile, Honey's health has been bad. Starting this past May, I've had to take her for an average of three medical visits a month. Each has not only had the direct cost of the copay, transportation to and from, and associated prescriptions (among other things); it has also had the indirect cost of my taking a day off from work, sans pay, to take her there. Part of this increased frequency is because she started having severe chest pains this summer, which means we've added a cardiologist to the mix. He ordered several tests, which showed "a slight narrowing" in one of her arteries. When I told the cardio about her visit to the ER in the last week of September, he booked her for an angiogram the first week of October. Well, the angiogram showed three major blockages in one of her coronary arteries, so they went ahead and performed an angioplasty while they had her on the table. So instead of sending her home that afternoon, they admitted her overnight. But we had planned for that possibility, so she had jammies and such with her. She also had me, because I told the staff from the outset that if they wanted me to leave her alone there, they'd have to drag me bodily from her side. So Honey is now the proud owner of three brand-new stents, and is feeling better than she has in quite some time.
• The downside of all this medical activity has taken its toll on our ever-precarious finiancial situation. So, even though we had kept the apartment management apprised of the situation, the owners served us with eviction papers last week. But this time, instead of rolling over and crying for more time, we filed an answer with the court, claiming (a) medical hardship and (b) they didn't hold up their end of the deal in terms of habitability. So we'll see how that goes when we get to court. Wish us luck, because if we lose, we have nowhere to go.

So, how have you been?