I love doing little things to help people, especially when they don’t ask and don’t expect it of me. This week my sister is out of town and I went up one day to feed their cat. I noticed that there were dishes in the sink and a light on in the master bedroom. That is wholly unlike my sister, who is as detail oriented and overly tidy as anyone can be. So, I turned off the light and set about doing the dishes.
The faucet started spraying as soon as I turned on the water. I suddenly understood why she left the dishes in the sink after only giving them a light rinse! And there, right beside the sink, was a new Delta faucet in a box. It looks like my brother in law was already working on the problem and just hadn’t had time to do the repair before leaving for a few days of relaxation.
So, it took me a little longer than usual to finish up the dishes, I was able to work with the water at a trickle and get everything wiped down and dry. I still felt good about being able to help my sister. From now on, though, I will trust that everything my sister does (or does not do) is completely deliberate.
Posted on June 30th, 2009 by onecleardot
Filed under: Home Life | No Comments »
I’m sure I’ll be blogging a bit less this summer. My priorities this year are to work on getting another position in the school district and making sure Gigi has the kind of summer any child should be able to enjoy when they are not bound by school every day.
However, I do hope to find the motivation to upload a few of my video clips.
My quest for a video camera has been a long one. When I was married, we have a very high end Sony. I never did feel comfortable with it. My ex did most of the camera work. Everything went on little tapes and even my ex never fully figured out how to get the video onto his computer and into small enough files to e-mail to friends and family. Everything we filmed when Gigi was a baby is lost to me, because he kept the camera and as I said – converting the footage was close to impossible.
Last year I went on the search for the best camcorders and bought a JVC on the medium high end quality scale. I was excited when it finally arrived, but once I started using it I realized that I was done with complicated video systems. I am pretty savvy when it comes to electronics, but I had no desire to mess with all the settings and then go through the hoops to convert the files into something anyone could view. I found myself offended by JVC’s use of a proprietary file format.
So, before we left for WV this year I caved and picked up a fairly inexpensive Flip camera. And, I love it. It’s small enough to tuck in a pocket, light enough o carry anywhere, used just two AA batteries, takes better than decent video, and makes sending files to anyone a job that only takes a minute. The software is right in the camera and the camera plugs right into your computer’s port. Yay.
Posted on June 30th, 2009 by onecleardot
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I have been going through some of my old work files. I am sure I will not need any of them, sine they are all printed designs for various plastic bags customers had been work up for them. I find it funny that I miss that old job so much. I liked the methodic way I was able to approach art on a daily basis. There was a lot of creativity, but then it would be followed up by meeting with the factory guys to make sure the mechanics of the design would work, or going to the warehouse to test a barcode with the barcode scanner.
And, when a project was done, when it was finally perfect – then it was DONE. I like that feeling of accomplishment. You don’t feel that finality in teaching very often. One thing leads to the next and to the next and to the next, with loose ends popping up all over the place. 
Yep, give me some attainable milestones any old day.
Posted on June 30th, 2009 by onecleardot
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Well, school let out at the beginning of the month and we have been in West Virginia for over a week now. Aside from the National Zoo and some dining out, we have tried to stay close to Dad’s and not planned too many activities. Believe me, there is plenty to do right here at his house. We are on the banks of the Shenandoah and enjoying this cool summer weather. I am in no rush to go back down to Florida, where we will typically have mid-90s temperatures with a heat index of over 100.
Right now we are on the way home from a few days in the Ohio Valley. We went to see the rest of my family and it was one of the best parts of our trip. My grandmother is Gigi’s last great-grandparent alive. She is not as fortunate as I was. One set of my great-grandparents lived until I was in my early teens and one of my great grandmothers lived until I was in my early 20s. I was lucky to have been able to really get to know them. I can only hope that Gigi retains enough memories about her Grandma Dot to relish the time they’ve had together.
We fly back to Florida Tuesday. I had to cut the trip short, because there had been the possibility of being able to attend a placement fair for the school district. Turns out I’m scheduled for a later date, but the flights have already been changed, so there is no going back now.
Posted on June 13th, 2009 by onecleardot
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Sometime I think I have had to deal with too many changes in too short a time lately.
My divorce. Several moves. Going back to school. Entering an entirely new career field. Losing a job due to budget cuts. Family illnesses. And so on.
I have some friends who quit their jobs a few years back, sold their house, bought an rv, and spent a little over a year just traveling at will. One of them did find a job that could be done from the road and with the help of satellite internet hookups. Still, they enjoyed a sense of rootless wandering that I have recently started thinking I also like. I can’t, though. I have a young daughter and I cannot up and leave to wander the nation. Still, it appeals to me in ways I would never have considered just a couple of years ago.
I guess it comes as a reaction to the disappointment I feel in not being able to get my life to settle down into normalcy. As a reaction, I find myself craving even more change. I’m sure it’ll pass. The grass is generally greener on the other side, but if you cannot see over the fence you often begin to suffer odd delusion 
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by onecleardot
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I’m not sure how old I was when I realized I actually needed to start using beauty product that had anti aging properties. In my early 30s, I started using them as a way to head off the look of older skin. I knew that one day I would actually start to see the signs of my body getting older and thought getting used to the products would not hurt.
In the last two years or so (at least since my divorce) I have noticed that I actually NEED the products. In fact, I had to go out and find a better anti aging eye cream, because it turns out my eyes are prone to lax skin and making my entire face look a little older. I can see a difference in the skin above my eyes. There is a slight droop, not as much eye shadow shows and my brows seem to sit a little lower.
And, there is that one deep crease between my brows. It vexes me in all ways that something van vex a person.
I point these things out to friends and family and they swear they cannot see what I am worried about. Of course, nobody else in the world aside from myself stares at my face day in and day out, so it is indeed likely that I am just being super sensitive to very small changes.
I never thought I would be vain about showing my age, but with all of the other issues I have had to deal with the past several years, I suppose I take some comfort in looking so much younger than I am. If it helps, I will continue to invest a little in the best anti aging products I can fine. Some of it might be in my genes, but I am convinced that using good products over the years has made a significant difference as well.
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by onecleardot
Filed under: Healthy Living | No Comments »
I just saw in ad in our local Flyer paper for a free drafting desk and a few other items of office furniture. I guess someone just needs to make space in their home. I have wanted a drafting desk for my computer and my artwork for some time now and not wanted to spend the money. Now that I see one for free, the only thing I can think is where in the world would I put it? If I were to go get it, all I would be able to do is put it straight into my storage unit.
I had to overcome my hoarding instinct when I saw that ad! I just kept thinking to myself that I wanted it so bad and would eventually have a place with enough room to set it up. Sick, huh? While I still feel an itching feeling that makes me what to dial the number, I am beginning to feel better about my decision to only take on what I actually have room to accommodate.
I’m not so sure I’m a fan of my new, more logical way of thinking.
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by onecleardot
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The kids at graduation last night came in various stages of formal dress. The boys had to wear ties and the girls had to have bare legs and dress shows. Some kids had on glittery gowns and heels so high I thought they were going to fall over when walking on the turf at the Phillies stadium. A couple of the guys had a full tux going, but it was so hot that by the time I saw them afterwards they were down to their tuxedo shirt, having ditched the jackets and ties.
It’s such a different scene than my own graduation 20+ years ago. I had to wear all while, since the girls wore thin white robes. I wore a very conservative dress and flat shoes, despite the way I dressed the rest of the time. I guess there was just a feeling of respect that we all felt when it came to graduation and I remember all of the 675 students in my graduating class dressing quite conservatively.
Oh, I just remembered one of the girls I saw last night. I kid you not, her dress ended right below her butt cheeks. It was form fitting and I had to wonder if she had ever worn that dress in a situation where she was required to sit. Last night while she was sitting at graduation she at last had a gown on over that train wreck of a “dress”.
I know we all like to bandy about the phrase, “oh how times have changed”, but they rally have! I was not a high school graduate so very long ago. Twenty years seems like a short time for so much to have changed in terms of what is acceptable for formal wear and respectable clothing for important events. But then, when I was in high school we would have been a in a world of hurt if we talked to teachers the way kids do now. Making a full list of everything that has changed would just take too long.
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by onecleardot
Filed under: Life in the U.S. | No Comments »
Gone are the days when a good Father’s Day gift was a wallet or a belt. Everything is about electronics now. I’m looking at iphone accessories for my dad. We will be up at his house by Saturday and stay for about ten days. Although we come back home before Father’s Day, I still want to take him out and celebrate.
One of the gifts I got him in the past that he really liked was this rotating hunting stool. That was a LONG time ago now, and he does not hunt very much anymore. He never hunted much before, either, but he liked to have all the gear so he could go out in the woods in comfort. We did not grow up eating much game meat, so I never got used to it. I guess he has it in his freezer all of the time now, but that has more to do with him living near family who hunt than him doing the hunting himself.
Anyway, back to the electronics issue. I figure a cool iphone accessory will do the trick, be a gift that actually gets some use, and be ultimately affordable for me in light of my recent unemployment. I know he already has a nice case, and the easy stuff like a screen protector. I’m thinking about getting an iPhone cradle. They are not expensive and I like having cradles for charging via my PC, so I imagine he will too.
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by onecleardot
Filed under: Gadgets - Toys - Technology | No Comments »
I spoke too soon. The letter from the district came today. It’s worse than I thought it might be. Not only does my job end this coming week, but my insurance also ends in June. Technically, I had paid out of my checks toward health insurance through the summer, but they say I have to move to COBRA and will just be reimbursed for whatever I have paid ahead on.
Inconvenient. Very inconvenient. Thanks goodness the federal government put that thing into place where the first none month of COBRA are offered to me at a reduced rate. It makes it affordable until I can find a new job.
Now, additional things like life insurance won’t carry on at all, so I need to look again for life insurance quotes and a few additional benefits I was paying into from my checks.
It’s not just me. Another assistant who started a couple of months after me is in the same boat. And, although the teacher in my department who was hired last did not mention she has heard anything about losing her job, one that was hired before her did lose his. It’s rough out there for everyone.
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by onecleardot
Filed under: Business, Education & Learning | No Comments »
