Some of you may recall a really annoying habit of Mouchie's I posted about in the spring. For a while, I had an evening routine of piling 3 cardboard boxes in front of the front door to keep him from peeing there overnight/before breakfast. As the weather got hotter and he became less active, I stopped putting the boxes down, and for about 3 blissful weeks he didn't do it. But then he started again. And then he did it on the floor next to the boxes. Evidently, it's not just a springtime habit any more. We have come to the realization that the only solution is to keep him out of the space all night, every night, no matter what.
I felt bad the first night I shut him up in the laundry room. Everything he needs is in there--dry food, water, kitty carrier/bed, litterbox (and only bare floor), but I felt like I was shutting him in prison for the night. He wasn't too happy at first and tried to bolt for the door. But now that this has been the new routine for a month, he is very accepting of it. And it certainly has solved the problem. As a bonus, overnight yack attacks are confined to the bare floor, making clean-up much easier. Although once he barfed on top of the washing machine, necessitating both horizontal and vertical clean-up, but it was still easier than carpet.
A part of me still feels bad having to restrict his freedom. I had a dream once that I put him inside an empty plastic milk jug which I then put into the refrigerator. I spent the rest of the dream worrying that he couldn't breathe, and that I wouldn't be able to get him out through that narrow little opening.
8.08.2008
Grown-Up Clothes
For all these years, I've gotten away with these three looks for every job I've ever had:
- Weekend/Casual
- Church/Wedding
- Concert/Evening Wear
7.16.2008
Ace
What a great feeling. For my second big math test, I took two days to study. I finished it in an hour and 10 minutes and got 100%!!
We have a project for class in the form of a short play, a murder mystery. The point is to use a formula and logarithms to figure out whodunit. It's not due until the 24th, but I (fortunately) started it on Monday. After 4 hours, my brain hurt. I know I did something wrong because when I plugged in the known times and cooling dead body temperatures that were given to us, it didn't add up with the formula I came up with. So I knew it wouldn't be right to derive the unknown time. My dreams that night were about frustration and failing to get it (not fun).
I was able to get a hint from Mike (my prof) in class, not enough to give me the answer but at least enough to know where I started going wrong. Tonight, in only an hour, I solved it!! (This equation is nothing like anything in the book, so required some thinking outside the box and some trial and error.) Boy, that sure does feel good.
We have a project for class in the form of a short play, a murder mystery. The point is to use a formula and logarithms to figure out whodunit. It's not due until the 24th, but I (fortunately) started it on Monday. After 4 hours, my brain hurt. I know I did something wrong because when I plugged in the known times and cooling dead body temperatures that were given to us, it didn't add up with the formula I came up with. So I knew it wouldn't be right to derive the unknown time. My dreams that night were about frustration and failing to get it (not fun).
I was able to get a hint from Mike (my prof) in class, not enough to give me the answer but at least enough to know where I started going wrong. Tonight, in only an hour, I solved it!! (This equation is nothing like anything in the book, so required some thinking outside the box and some trial and error.) Boy, that sure does feel good.
7.01.2008
MAAATH!
You know how sometimes a funny comic sticks in your mind for years? This one cracked us up when we first saw it in the Funny Times:
We started saying, "Darwin!" "E=MC squared!" "Chaos Theory!" and other assorted silliness, leering at each other at the dinner table, etc. Paul's favorite reference to this comic is, "Maaaath!"
Since June 10, I have been devoting a lot of time to my college algebra homework. The summer session crams 16 weeks worth of material into an 8-week period. That means for a 4-credit-hour class, I need to devote16 or more hours a week to homework and study time, as opposed to 8.
During the 4-week break between school sessions, did I spend any time whatsoever reviewing basic algebra concepts? Had I done any reviewing besides last year's 10 days devoted to improving my score on the math assessment test? Of course not! No one else in the class has gone 27 years since Algebra 2. I was a little overwhelmed by the pace at first, and had no idea where to start when the class was given an example problem to work out. Couldn't remember how to factor a polynomial to save my life. Uh-oh, I thought. Will it even be possible for me to get an A in this class?
By the end of the first week I was hitting the books for several hours a day most days. My math mind is officially back in shape now. When I'm working out a problem, time has no meaning. I occasionally look up at the clock in the middle of my homework, surprised to see that 2 hours have passed when it feels like 15 minutes. Paul will leave to teach his class, saying, "I see you're doing MAAATH!" and I'll still be at it when he comes home.
I have to stop no later than 11:30 pm though. Otherwise my brain is still racing and I can't calm down and go to sleep until after 2 am. My dreams have been full of graphs and functions and numbers. That means it's sinking in.
I spent about 7 hours studying for the first test (last Thursday). It really took that long. There is just so much information, like a foreign language I'm not quite fluent in. We had 2 hours to take the test, and I finished in an hour and 20 minutes. I felt pretty good about it. Today we got the tests back, and I got a 96 on it!
I sure like MAAATH a lot more than English Composition.
We started saying, "Darwin!" "E=MC squared!" "Chaos Theory!" and other assorted silliness, leering at each other at the dinner table, etc. Paul's favorite reference to this comic is, "Maaaath!"
Since June 10, I have been devoting a lot of time to my college algebra homework. The summer session crams 16 weeks worth of material into an 8-week period. That means for a 4-credit-hour class, I need to devote16 or more hours a week to homework and study time, as opposed to 8.
During the 4-week break between school sessions, did I spend any time whatsoever reviewing basic algebra concepts? Had I done any reviewing besides last year's 10 days devoted to improving my score on the math assessment test? Of course not! No one else in the class has gone 27 years since Algebra 2. I was a little overwhelmed by the pace at first, and had no idea where to start when the class was given an example problem to work out. Couldn't remember how to factor a polynomial to save my life. Uh-oh, I thought. Will it even be possible for me to get an A in this class?
By the end of the first week I was hitting the books for several hours a day most days. My math mind is officially back in shape now. When I'm working out a problem, time has no meaning. I occasionally look up at the clock in the middle of my homework, surprised to see that 2 hours have passed when it feels like 15 minutes. Paul will leave to teach his class, saying, "I see you're doing MAAATH!" and I'll still be at it when he comes home.
I have to stop no later than 11:30 pm though. Otherwise my brain is still racing and I can't calm down and go to sleep until after 2 am. My dreams have been full of graphs and functions and numbers. That means it's sinking in.
I spent about 7 hours studying for the first test (last Thursday). It really took that long. There is just so much information, like a foreign language I'm not quite fluent in. We had 2 hours to take the test, and I finished in an hour and 20 minutes. I felt pretty good about it. Today we got the tests back, and I got a 96 on it!
I sure like MAAATH a lot more than English Composition.
6.22.2008
Finally!
Yesterday afternoon we finally were able to bring our new car home, as the check came on Friday. It's been 18 years since I've financed a car, and boy, how things have changed. It took us over two hours to apply for credit, get our credit checked, fill out paperwork, and swim through a mind-boggling array of extra options related to extended warranties, maintenance plans and various anti-theft coverage. Suffering from information overload, we said we would need to take a couple of days to talk it over as far as the extra stuff. I've always heard that extended warranty coverage is a ripoff, and I want the chance to do some online research so we can decide if it's a good use of money. We already own half of the car outright. Not as good as buying it with cash, but we think it's important to leave something in the savings account.
The car is beautiful. Paul let me be the one to drive it the 4 miles home, while he followed in the old car. It's so brand-spanking new, the odometer was still in the single digits. I drove like a little old lady, gently and carefully. Originally I had planned to drive it to my restaurant gig in North Royalton, where I was subbing for someone, but I hadn't added it to the insurance policy yet, and I just felt like it was tempting fate to drive it on the freeway in the pouring rain when I'm still learning my way around it. (I did have time to add it today, so we're free and clear to drive it now.)
We sure are a couple of cautious old farts. "So what's the first thing you did with your new car?"
"Well, we drove it home and then left it in the garage for 2 days." Well, better boring than sorry.
The car is beautiful. Paul let me be the one to drive it the 4 miles home, while he followed in the old car. It's so brand-spanking new, the odometer was still in the single digits. I drove like a little old lady, gently and carefully. Originally I had planned to drive it to my restaurant gig in North Royalton, where I was subbing for someone, but I hadn't added it to the insurance policy yet, and I just felt like it was tempting fate to drive it on the freeway in the pouring rain when I'm still learning my way around it. (I did have time to add it today, so we're free and clear to drive it now.)
We sure are a couple of cautious old farts. "So what's the first thing you did with your new car?"
"Well, we drove it home and then left it in the garage for 2 days." Well, better boring than sorry.
6.16.2008
Car Purchase in Progress
We did get a chance to test drive the Fit last Tuesday evening. The dealer had one base model in stock in Tidewater Blue (our first color choice). It has a tiny, but zippy engine, and has the feel of a high-quality entry level vehicle, comparable to a new Civic but a little less low-riding. The only thing we don't like so much is the small view through the rear window. Compared to what we're used to, it's like looking through the small end of a telescope. Because of this, the blind spots are slightly bigger. Everything else about it is so much just what we want that we are willing live with that and rely a bit more on turning our heads and using the side mirrors.
They have installed the options we've asked for, a keyless entry system and a cargo cover for the back. The car is all ready to go. We're just waiting for the check from our investment savings account to be processed, which we will use as our down payment. Since this involved selling some securities, it's not exactly instant access to our money. (I sent the authorization form last Thursday morning and the check couldn't be processed until today.) Patience, patience. We are so fortunate that our schedules allow us to share my Civic without much inconvenience in the meantime.
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