Nathan

Dallas sucks

2008-08-02T04:11:33Z

We're up in Dallas to look at more houses.

Will's driving makes me nuts. Especially city driving.

Waiting almost an hour at Mattito's in Uptown in 85degF heat INSIDE the fucking resturant makes me angry. The food being so-so just made it worse.

All Anglos here are blond.

Dress shirts with shorts and sandals are wrong.

Men wear a lot of hair product here. It's very spikey.

Update-y goodness.

2008-07-15T17:15:25Z

Bullets since there is just too much:

Canada trip was pretty darn cool. I did more fishing than I have ever done in my life. Schedule on average was: breakfast at the lodge at 9am and pick up bag lunch, fishing from about 10am-6pm, dinner at the lodge at 6:30-ish, fishing from 8pm to 10pm. Bed at 11pm. I caught 5 small fish over the week. Will was the big winner, caught a 12 pound pike, 35 inches from nose to tail.

Will got a message once we arrived in Montreal that AT&T is moving it's corporate headquarters to Dallas. So, we're moving to Dallas. Will has to be up there by September 1st, and I'll join him in December after I finish my semester. Last week was a blur of planning, starting to work on the house to get it ready to sell. Weekend was up to Dallas to look at neighborhoods and houses. We didn't find anything, but we have narrowed the search area a bit more. We're thinking about around White Rock Lake, but we'll see. There are some lovely homes that are more centrally located between Central and I-35E, but they may be too inconvient for Will's daily commute downtown.

No GALA. Haven't been singing with the chorale since I started school. I'll miss going, but then again, the choral isn't going this year, so I would have been on my own.

No Pennsic. See moving comment above. Plus, a 10 day drip to Canada, followed closely by Pennsic just wasn't realistic. Next year perhaps. And perhaps next year I make Will go.

That's about it in a nutshell. There are tons of details, but I have to get back to painting, and hiding the house's flaws. We have appraisers coming next Monday, so the house has to be ready.

Cleaning like mad

2008-06-26T21:05:55Z

Kitchen cleaned. Living room picked up. Toilet fixed. Tub scrubbed. Shower scrubbed.

Need to finish the vanities in the bathroom, and then vacuum the house and I think I'm done cleaning. Will will be the judge of that, however, since cleaning isn't really one of my talents. We pack tonight, then get picked up at 7:30am by a friend. Breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus, flight to Montreal at 10am. In Montreal at 5pm. I'm going to try to talk Will into a trip to Le Stud tonight, but it probably won't happen. We probably won't be able to get away from family, and they will want to head out to the fishing camp early on Saturday morning.

Did I mention that we're going on a week long fishing trip to rural Quebec with his family? It will be fine. No, really. Should be fine. Did I mention that it was rural Canada? Like, really, really rural?

It will be fine. :)

Literally laughed out loud with this one.

2008-04-27T12:49:56Z

omg, the boring...

2008-02-28T20:08:32Z

So, I'm in nursing school, right? But, as our instructors continually harp on, this is a bacculaureate program RN program, not just an associate's degree or diploma program. Which basically means that I have to sit though a class called "The Role of the Nurse as Leader." It's horrifically boring. Today, we are learning about budgets. There are maybe 20 people here, out of the 100 in my class.

Thank god for wireless interweb.

I am officially getting old(er)

2008-02-18T21:55:00Z

Got my new glasses today. Yes, with bifocals. I am old. On the other hand, I am thrilled to be able to see clearly. :)

I got lots of bells and whistles on these glasses, so they were kinda expensive, what with no vision insurance. But I went ahead and splurged, since these will probably last me two to three years. I have the bifocals as progressives, which are cool, and pretty easy to get used to so far. I also have the Transition lenses, for some sun protection. Anti-glare, which is a racket, but I went for it anyway because I am a sucker for sales pitches. Lovely plastic frames, with a "stone" grey tint and little behind the ear thingys so they don't fall off my face. I'm loving them so far.

Snow Day!

2008-01-31T22:47:02Z

Okay, not really a Snow Day, but rather a "Microburst of wind blew the roof off the school" Day!

I was at the nursing school, looking at some pictures on my friend April's computer when we hear a loud rattling. We look out of the window into the atrium and see some debris falling. And what is the natural reaction to any sort of catastrophe? We immediately go investigate (kinda like our own "Cloverfield"). A burst of wind (in an otherwise sunny, beautiful day), peeled back the atrium roof. About 20 feet of roof and plexiglass panels were folded up and over the rest of the roof. AWESOME!

There was some running about, some debris on the atrium stairs going up to the second floor, but no one was hurt. Folks called the campus police, we blocked off the walkways that went through the atrium, and tried to divert traffic around the area. Once campus secruity, facilities management, and so on got there, it became like our own disaster area. Police tape, a guy with a baton who tried to clear the area, the university President on site. Very cool. We were shooed away from the immediate area back into the student lounge, then they closed off more hallways, then decided to evacuate the entire first floor. We were told to wait in the other nursing building until they made a decision on whether to cancel afternoon classes. Which they did. They cancelled all classes for today and evacuated both buildings.

No word yet on if we have class tomorrow. I would like to think that we will, however, with one of our buildings closed, that doesn't leave many large classrooms available for tomorrow. And I suspect that they may have trouble borrowing rooms from the medical and dental schools on such short notice.

And how was your day?

Pilates is the suck.

2008-01-30T02:07:28Z

ow.

ow.

ow.

Best cat toy evar!!!

2007-11-30T02:40:44Z

I loves me some AirZooka! The cat hates it, and I bet the dog will hate it as well. That makes me happy. *sigh*

I let the cat in after I got the AirZooka put together, and almost immediately she jumped on a chair and started clawing. It was a beautiful moment. She looked up at the sound, and then a moment later got the blast directly in the face. She levitated and ran outside. She hasn't been the same since. She also hasn't clawed anything since either. *sigh*

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/60b6/

Post-Pennsic blahs.

2007-08-18T15:15:55Z

Okay, so I went to Pennsic this year. (it's an SCA war for those not in the know, Wikipedia it.) It was my fourth Pennsic in ten years, the last being in 2000, pretty much right before quitting my job up in Tulsa and moving back to San Antonio. I had a lovely time, despite the weather, which was pretty awful. It alternated between wet, wet and steamy, and hot and steamy. Except for the last two days, which were just fantastic.

The driving though, was hellish. I went through Oklahoma so that I could stay with family one of the nights and save a bit of money, and visit a bit. It took three days of driving to get there. On the way out it was San Antonio--Miami, OK--Dayton, OH--Pennsic. On the way back it was Pennsic--St. Louis, MO--OKC, OK--San Antonio. OMG, I was so tired and sore when I got home. I'm getting old. *sigh*

I've decided that I want a yurt, which, btw, is more properly called a ger or gher. They are incredibly roomy and much cooler than modern tents. I think it would be much more enjoyable than oher styles of period tents. It doesn't fit my personna at all, but I just don't care. I'm looking into what it would cost to make it myself versus buying.

...with new improved scent!

2007-08-18T00:10:32Z

I had to Febreeze the dog, he was stinky. And this was after a bath.

Modern Dentistry

2007-08-02T22:18:40Z

Had my dentist appointment today. The left side of my mouth was worked on, with the upper and lower quadrant getting a root scaling and #14 (which is a top left molar) got a filling.

Over all not a terribly unpleasant experience. Not fun, but not as bad as I feared. I didn't have quite enough novacaine (or whatever they use now) on the upper half of my mouth, so the descaling was sometimes a bit rough, but I got a booster before the filling, so it was no problem.

I got one of the resin fillings, which was absolutely cool. I wish I could have watched what they were doing. It was nifty. It involved packing and sculpting eposy resin, and then firming it up with the UV gun, and then more shaping and layers. then testing my bite with a dye bite strip and then more shaping. Very nifty and cool.

I'll have the other side done in about six weeks, and it's in worse shape. More extreme periodontal disease and three cavities, but they are supposed to be small. Today's was not small, nor shallow. It was pretty much the whole surface of the tooth, and fairly deep, but not to the nerve. Yay for coming in when I did!

I got done about an hour ago, and my face is still coming back to life. The teeth are back, the tongue is back, but the cheeck and chin are still out. Bottom lip is 3/4 back.

And I didn't get no toy. :(

weights and gyms and things

2007-08-02T14:50:18Z

Soo...I'm thinking of taking advantage of the free gym at the school and starting some weight training, along with cardio stuff. My goal is to increase muscle mass to help with my diabetes, but honestly, I don't know where to start. I'm pretty intimidated by the machines and weights, and the total ignorance I have about the topic in general. So, I'm looking for some advice to educate myself, and maybe get some sample workout routines, so I don't go in like a complete noob. So, I'm looking at you, slothel, dizzi_d, and backrubbear. You guys post about going to the gym, so pony up some knowledge. :)

Rubbins

2007-07-31T21:14:25Z

Just got back from my first massage. I'm feeling all warm and tingly in the shoulder area and it's a good thing.

I just finished a summer class on Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Nursing, and one of the therapies we went over was massage. The girl who presented on the topic was one of my classmates who took massage classes in the evenings during her first year of nursing school. I can't imagine doing that. If I had been single, then it would have been fairly easy to fit in, since I have horrible study habits anyway and never really do much work outside of class. But, I can't imagine how she had time to be with her husband and do both programs. Obviously she managed it, she's due to give birth in about two weeks. Some people are just so organized.

So, as part of her presentation she talked about the school she went to, which also operates a day spa as well as massage. One hour massages are $25. Can't beat that with a stick, so I thought I would try it out. I've never had a massage before, so I was a bit nervous. But then I also thought, how can I recommend massage to patients if I've never tried it? I had a relaxation massage, which was quite nice, but didn't really go into the "therapy" mode that I think I would need to address my pain issues with my back. I need to investigate trigger point massage to see if that might be better.

So, the massage was done in the spa area, which had low lights, candles, scents and crap. It was actually so dark that I had a bit of trouble adjusting to the low lighting for a few minutes. I had a nice private massage room, which I enjoyed because I had heard that some massage schools use a larger room that is just subdivided by screens. So, I am definately a fan of warm massage oil (although it was a tad disturbing when some would splatter on me instead of in her hand), and OMG, warmed moist towel massage on the feet! I have to do that at home. And, what a classy and relaxing way to clean off nasty ass feet before massaging them.

I didn't fall asleep, I was thinking way too much for that. I was tryign to concentrate on breathing, but then I would forget. Not to forget to breathe, but forget to deep breathe. There was a brief moment when I flipped over that I thought would be awkward, but it resloved and was no big deal. In a way, I think I would have almost preferred a more clinical setting.

Overall, excellent experience, and one that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to friends and patients. I'm thinking that people might be seeing gift certificates for Christmas this year.

Now we are 37

2007-06-27T14:18:22Z

So...it's my birthday. :)

Birthday season started last Friday night when out to dinner with the guys. Since Will and my birthdays are so close (23rd and 27th), we tend to just celebrate them together. So this year we wanted to go tubing on the Guadelupe. It's something we've talked about doign with the guys for a while, but just never got around to it. A good time was had, despite some mishaps. It would have been better if Jay (jaybear) had been there, but he set out for Boston on Friday morning. :( I'm excited for his great job opportunity, but bummed that we are losing one of our gang here in San Antonio.

So, Friday night Alex and Matt gave us this really cool crab painting by Ryan. I need to go out to Hobby Lobby today to find some framing for it. I'm thinking it's going in the TV room or the study. I'm goign to have to put it several places until I find the right spot. I would put it in the bedroom, but the walls in there are peach, and it doesn't go well with the red in the painting. :/ But the rest of the house is a yellow, so it works fine.

Saturday we got up early and the guys came over about 8:30. Scott and Ryan gave us season one and season two of "Arrested Development", which I started watching when it first started, but never kept up with. I kept reading that it was a great show, but for one reason or another I was watching other stuff.

We headed up to New Braunfels about 9am, got to Rudy's and had breakfast tacos. Then started for the tubing place, but didn't have the map that I had printed out at home. So, after a false start, and a call to the company, we found the place. Got on the bus and after a short ride were dropped by the river. We got our tubes, secured our coolers, and got in. And about 100 feet down was the first drop. I went down, lost my sunglasses, and lost my tube. I fared better than Alex, he lost his driver's lisence, debit card, and cigarettes. :( I swam around for a while trying to find another tube to use, and finally found one, but it didn't have a bottom. (They attach plastic bottoms with cable ties around the tubes to protect your bottom from rocks.) I get back from my treck and the group has split up a bit. Alex was asking around for his stuff, and Will had gone in search of my tube. He swam back about ten minutes later with a tube with a bottom, and with beer. A cooler had tipped and beer went floating downstream. Will had found about four cans. So, we drank some beer until we were ready for the next part.

Gently float for a while, until we come ot the next set of rapids. Several sheriff's deputys were standing in the river checking coolers. The law says no glass, no styrofoam, and no coolers larger than 16 qts. He just askes us to life the lid as we float past. We move the bungy cords holding the lids down so he can see and then go past. Go past immediatly into the fast water. Will and I try to re-secure the lid on the large cooler, but the bungies slip and we can't get it tight. Meanwhile, we are right on the next drop. I frantically paddle to the left and make it okay, most of the group goes right. Alex takes a dip, and the beer tube capsizes. And our beer goes floating downriver. We were able to catch some of it, and we got a couple of beers from a random group that we passed that took pity on us. Taking in the free beer from earlier, I think the net loss was about three beers. Not too bad really. I think this set is where I got the intensely painful leg cramp. Which, cramped so hard, my calf still hurts a bit.

Gently float, then the next drop. There is debate about going around this set, but we decide to float through. Most everyone survives. Ryan gets stuck on a rock for a while, but eventually frees himself. I go down, spin, and slam into a rock. Right in the small of my back. Intense pain. There may have been screaming. I hit so hard that it dented the plastic bottom. So, I float the rest of the way in pain.

Last set was pretty uneventful, thank god. It was right at the stopping point, so we were free after that. The entire trip took right at about four hours.

It was fun, but painful. I'm glad we went though.

Oh, and Will gave me an i-Pod today. Yay! Now I have to figure out how to put music on it, and then transfer my music from the laptop to the desktop. Yay!

Good-bye Kitty

2007-06-16T05:55:22Z

So, I said good-bye to Kitty at about 11:55pm. It was time. Past time probably, but she was ready. Kitty was probably the "Jan" of my pets, getting regulated to a backseat to the bird, and then the dog. But she was a great cat who I had for 14 years. Here are some pictures of her back when she was still a youngish girl of 8 or 9. Karen and I enjoyed dressing her up. Here Kitty is as a bee, and in a lovely striped sweater.

proof I was on a horse

2007-06-04T23:51:16Z

It's a crappy little picture cropped from a larger one with the girls. But it is indeed proof that I was on a horse when I was in Chinle, AZ, at Canyon de Chelly. His name was Dynamite, and he was a mustang or mustang/quarterhorse mix that they ride out there. He was tiny, but sturdy. He nary complained for the whole three and a half hour ride. Two hours of enjoyment and an hour and a half of "get me off this f-cking horse".

Journal entries to follow, I promise.

B-Day and Arizona

2007-06-03T01:36:15Z

Semagic says it's Chris' (gullinbursti) birthday. Woohoo! Happy Birthday!

Also, I'm not sure if I mentioned it publicly, but I just got back from a trip to Arizona, where I spent 10 days up on the Navajo reservation for a class. It was awesome, and journal entries will be posted later.

Grades

2007-05-10T22:55:02Z

Two grades in so far. An "A" in Research and a "B" in Chronic. I was expecting the B, but was plesantly suprised by the A. One more to report in: psych. If I calculated it correctly, it should be an A. :)

And Semagic says that it's Paul's (knepbear) birthday. Happy birthday!!

Kitty update.

2007-03-19T21:49:03Z

Eh, she's alive. She's eating almost a can of food a day, and seems to be feeling okay. She spent the day outside yesterday or maybe Saturday, but I brought her in for the night. But the important thing is that she is eating. So, it's still wait and see.

Kitty update

2007-03-15T02:41:12Z

Okay, I know this is only the second time I've mentioned this, but it has been on my mind so much in the past 30 hours or so that it is like one of those local news crises. Earlier this year it froze, so we had "ICE CRISIS!!! 2007!!" 24/7 on the local news. It's feeling right now like it's Kitty Crisis 2007!! and that I should have a little icon for it. *sigh*

Soo...Picked Kitty up from the vet after getting more IV fluids. The report came back from the radiologist about the x-rays that the regular vet sent over. The radiologist doesn't seem to think that there is a tumor shown, but she does agree that Kitty has an enlarged liver, most likely due to fat infiltration, and she also was very concerned about the fluid on her lungs. The regular doc pulled out more fluid from her pleural spaces, to make a total of about 1 oz yesterday and 1 oz today.

Kitty seems to be perking up a bit. She's eaten a bit, she's escaped past the child gates twice, and she seems to be acting pretty normal.

Had a little excitement after dinner though. The area where her IV catheter is places has some blue vet wrap around it, encasing most of the leg, but with the foot sticking out the end. She had gotten out of the tv room and joined us in the living room while we ate dinner. I looked at her, and noticed that her right paw was swollen to about twice it's normal size. I unwrapped the leg and saw that her whole leg, past the IV cath, was swollen to about twice the normal size. So I spent about five minutes unpeeling tape trying to take the catheter out. By the time I got down to the last layer, it turned out that the catheter had some out by itself. Joy. So it was probably the tape that was causing the swelling, so I'll check it in the morning.

And that's the latest update for Kitty Crisis 2007!

Wait and see...

2007-03-14T20:07:09Z

"Wait and see" is the phrase of the day.

My cat, Kitty, is ill. Like, may be dying ill. I noticed that she has been losing some weight, but when I picked her up this past weekend, she was skin and bones. She went from 18 pounds to 7.7 pounds. Not good. So, took her to the vet and she has all sorts of stuff goign on. The highlights are fluid in the pleural space around her lungs and either an enlarged liver, or perhaps, a mass (which is a polite way of saying tumor). I spent a ton of money yesterday, and am spending a bit more today, and was goign to spend more tomorrow. I had an appointment with an animal radiologist to interpret the x-rays and to possibly do an untrasound. But, honestly, I really just can't justify spending the money. I spent more yesterday than I probably should have as it is. I feel horrible, but throwing money at the situation isn't really going to help in this case. What I've decided to do is treat her for the dehydration and malnutrition, and hope for the best. I'll re-evaluate in a week or so. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but then, I'm not a psychic so how can I tell? It's horrible having to make end of life decisions based on money. :(

Life is sweet.

2007-03-10T05:41:37Z

Our regular dinner and a movie night was movie-free. We wanted to see 300 on the IMAX screen, but it seems that it is sold out until midnight tomorrow at the earliest. I'm not sure I care so much that I can't wait until next weekend to see it.

Will and Peter were pretty happy because Texas won their basketball game tonight. Texas was down by 18 points at the half, but was able to pull it out in the second half. Scott, Ryan, and I dedided to head to Starbucks instead of watch the second half. Talked, had coffee. It was very nice.

Scott and Ryan were being all sweet and lovey, and holding hands and stuff, when this guy who had been at the table across the patio walks over and then tries to ask something. Ryan at first thought he was asking to bum a cigarette, but that wasn't it. He motioned to Scott and Ryan's hands, and then wrote on his PDA screen, "gay", and pointed at himself. My first thought was that this gentleman was deaf, but that was just because he used some gestures that I thought were ASL. Turns out it was just plan old gesturing. He had expressive aphasia due to a stroke 11 years ago.

Now, I was facinated. I've never enteracted with someone with aphasia before, so it was very cool to talk with his gentleman, Bill. Turns out that he had his stroke 11 years ago while in the Navy and stationed in Italy. It happened very suddenly, and was mostly likely due to his cholesterol being over 400. Which is pretty damn high, for those who don't know. But he's got it under control now, but had to take a lot of pills for it. He totally scolded Scott about not taking his cholesterol meds. He has a daughter who is 21 who is attending UT in Austin studying physical therapy. Very cool, I wish him all the best.

Very tired now, must sleep.

A little fiddle is good for the soul.

2007-02-09T05:38:15Z

I felt the need for music today. First I went to Boarders, and stocked up on Dixie Chicks and some other cd. What I was looking for was a cd that I could maybe get a new song from. It's been forever since I've learned a new song for performing, and I really need some. But I mostly struck out on that front. But I got me some Chicks.

So, then I realized that it was Thursday, and the celtic music session is on Thursdays down at the Radius building downtown. It's the same building that the Alamo City Men's Chorale rehearses in, so I know it well. I haven't been to session in years. I stopped going regularly in about 2004, but I was a regular for about four years. It's something that just sort of faded away from my life, but I'm thinking of taking up again. Especially since now it's only about goes to about 10pm, where it used to go to midnight. And since Radius doesn't have a beer and wine license, they have an honor bar. They have a mini fridge stocked with beer, and it's a $2 suggested donation. Pretty good deal. They had Bud, Shiner, Guiness and six types of Sam Adams. I got there too early, so I had a beer and checked email. Oh yeah, the building has wireless. Sweet!

While I was there a couple of guys from the board of ACMC came in, they were supposed to have a meeting to discuss hiring their first full time employee, but only two were able to make it. But it was nice seeing Bobby and Jess for a little bit.

The session group started arriving around 8pm. It was small, but nice. There were eight musicians and about an equal number who just came to socialize. There were lots of new faces, but some were there that I knew, so it was nice to talk and get caught up. I was convinced to sing something, and I sang "The Fisherman's Song" by Andy M. Stewart. It went well until the thrid verse, and I blanked. Made past that to the chorus and then blanked after the first line of the fourth verse. After a minute or two I was finally able to remember the line and finish. Not my best performance, but it was a very understanding audience. It is just session, not a gig, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

I wound up having two beers and got a bit tipsy, but it was very nice. there is somethign about celtic music that touches my soul like no other music. I love it all. Except pipe and drum music. *shudder*

I will be definately be going back, I think I want that to be a regular part of my life again.

I lika da fish

2007-02-06T01:16:09Z

Okay, so I've been indulging in non-Will approved foods lately. Like mayonaise based salad spreads. I made a fantanstic chicken salad the other day (with egg, onion, apple, celery, and pecans), and an equally fantastic tuna salad (with onion, celery, paprika, garlic, s&p). Will was repulsed. I was estatic.

Today's non-Will approved food was Kipper Snacks, a.k.a. smoked herring. I love them. I don't know why. It's a combination of taste and texture, I think. Oh, and salt. But, they are extremely fishy and stinky.

So, I had some about three hours ago, and I keep burping herring. It's like burping up cat food. It's disturbing me. And yet, it will not keep me from eating them again.