To quote Pink Floyd....

Is anybody out there?

The good thing about MySpace was that lots of people looked at my profile.
The bad thing about MySpace was the same thing. Lots of people looked at my profile. Some of them were spammers/nut cases/perverts. A few were people I would have actually liked to have met.

It seems technology can bring people together or create even more isolation, as sitting at a keyboard is a solitary activity. There is a person iI see n my daily life who will rarely speak, but will write long, detailed blogs. I must read the blogs to find out what is happening in his world. Somehow, it seems something is wrong with that.

After the holiday Thanksgiving

The official day for giving thanks is past, but here's my two cents' worth. I am thankful for sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures that coincided with my days off. I had the opportunity to be outside everyday and exercise. One day I retrieved the mountain bikes from their winter storage area and went for a ride. Another day I went birding and actually was able to identify some of what I saw. When I returned to my job today, my work-related problems didn't seem so overwhelming, hopeless, and depressing as they had the week before.

Also, I'm thankful that Count Chocula cereal is still available. I just had to try a different grocery store. It's the little things in life that make all the difference some days.

self-image

Or, why there are no pictures of me on my profile.

This really is a picture of "Kia", except that she isn't the one doing the typing right now.
I previously had a blog and profile on a different web site. I had numerous pictures of myself (all fully clothed!) posted. Despite the fact that I am a middle-aged, average-looking and slightly overweight woman who listed myself as "married, Christian and straight", and looking for nothing beyond friendship, I received various lewd offers from both genders. After that profile was attacked by hackers, I deleted the whole thing. So on this blog, there will be no pictures of myself.

Thanks to my loyal readers (you both know who you are).

Yo hablo espanol ( or die trying)

For the past 10 months or so, I've been taking Spanish classes at the local library. It was an easy language to learn, or so I had been told. The spelling is phonetic and because I already had some background in French and the both languages are derived from Latin, I figured this would be a snap. And besides, back in High School I sailed through French class with straight A's and very little effort. Now, decades later, it should still be that easy.

Wrong.

It's true that the spelling of Spanish words is more logical than those in French or even English. It's true that the meaning of many words can be guessed from their similarity to one of those other languages. But there are problems with my learning curve. Problems include the fact that there are at least 14 different verb tenses, many of which do not have an equivalent in English. There are four forms of the word "you", but one of them only is in use in one region of Spain and therefore we don't have to learn it. Apparently I won't be visiting that region of Spain. Probably a good idea, because the verb conjugations for that form look like a hybrid of French and Spanish. Then there are the pronouns, which may be left out entirely in some cases, may be either direct or indirect, or may come before the verb or attached to the end of it. The same word may refer to "his" "hers" or "yours".
No comprendo.
What I have learned is that anyone who arrogantly says "why don't they just learn English!' about recently arrived immigrants....it's not that easy to learn another language. Especially when you're an adult past a certain age.

Bearly Awake

It's November in Indiana and this is what I feel like. The skies are gray, the air is cold, and daylight hours are short. All of my summertime fun activities (bicycling, kayaking) are done for the year and snow for cross country skiing has not arrived (if it does arrive at all). It would suit me just fine to hibernate until spring.

Another one of those weeks

This week on the job lwas another one of those weeks. One of those weeks where my co-worker seemed to despise me for some unknown reason, and won't speak to me about whatever the problem is. One of those weeks when my boss was displeased with my inability to perform some rather streuous outdoor work, despite the fact that I was trying as hard as I could. All of this left me wondering if I should just retire. A great plan, except for a few little details. One problem, I'm way too young for official retirement and SSA/IRA payments. Which leads me to the other detail. a financial situation with a negative cash balance (read: lingering debts from grad school). Credit cards were a quick solution to unexpected expenses (car repairs, dental emergencies, ect) that a grad student stipend didn't cover. When I signed up for a student loan so many years ago, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I'm wondering if the career these loans helped to implement will end before they are paid in full. I keep trying to remediate the situation, but as my friend "George" said-not as easy as I thought-Duh!

And the winner is.....

Election day is finally here. No matter which candidate receives the most votes, the winner will be me. Why? Because I won't have to see any more of these hideous campaign commericials on TV (at least until the next election). An especially nasty series of commercials called one candidate a "millionare", without ever saying directly that he had done anything wrong. The other candidate was shown in photos that made it appear that he had no teeth. These ads were shown during every commercial break. And to make matters worse, these two weren't even in my district. Otherwise, I would have voted for a third-party candidate just to make a statement about the obnoxious commericials.

Roller Blade adventure

There are certain sports activities that I only participate in once a year and then wonder why I don't improve. Tennis. Golf. Snowboarding. And what I did yesterday: Roller blading, aka in-line skating. The reasons for only annual participation in tennis, golf, and skating are that my free time is limited and I use most of it in the warm weather months riding my bike. The snowboarding is limited by lack of snow and hills in central Indiana.

But back to the skating. The fitness advice columns say to participate in a variety of activities to ward off exercise boredom. Sounds like a good idea to me and besides, it's a little too cold and windy to bicycle but still too nice out to hide out in the gym.

So I dug out my skates and headed out to a multi-use trail nearby Let's just say my skill level had not improved any since the last time I skated over a year ago. Let's just say my butt is sore today. Let's just say I probably provided entertainment to the runners, walkers, and cyclists who were on the trail yesterday.

It must be November

It must be November. In my suburban neighborhood, political signs have replaced garage sale signs in yards. The noise from leaf blowers has replaced the noise from lawnmowers. At the grocery store, the Halloween decorations that had been displayed since Labor Day have been replaced by Christmas decorations. I'm thinking that soon it will be time to mail out last year's Christmas cards. It's true that sometimes (most of the time) I procrastinate any task that is not extremely urgent. My rationale is that because I work full-time, I shouldn't over-stress myself during my free time. Last year, I purchased Christmas cards and stamps, but delayed addressing and mailing them until I "had more time and energy". Next thing I knew, it was MLK day in January. I was using Santa stamps to mail bills until at least June. Soon, I'll improve my organizational skills...right after I have some well-deserved rest and relaxation....