28 years old

It's my birthday today. I liked being three cubed, but I guess I'll get used to four times seven. For most of this past year, my husband and I were both 3³, my mother was 7², and my sister was 5². With this birthday, we'll have to move on to other age tricks.
Categories: birthday, age

I installed Linux this week

I installed Ubuntu on my desktop using the installation CD that came in my reference book. I had to hunt down a driver for my modem, but got that more or less working yesterday. Next up, sound!

I'll consider this installation successful once I can do all my usual home computer activities (checking email, wasting time on the internet, and watching DVDs) under Linux.

See more progress on: install Linux

Categories: linux, ubuntu

Housebuying update: closing and gardening

We closed on the house yesterday, so now we have a much smaller bank balance and a set of keys we can use on Friday. It’s amazing how many redundant forms we had to sign. For instance, part of the mortgage said that we promise we will be living in the house as our primary residence, but we had to sign an additional document several forms later that said about the same thing. We were feeling a bit goofy by the time it was all over.

Before the closing, we met with the seller at the house to get a quick overview of how to care for all the plants, especially all of the many roses around the place. It mostly came down to water the plants when they get unhappy, prune them when they get in the way, and be sure to pull the bindweed and other pests before they hurt anything. Well, that’s sort of the bare minimum to keep everything going. We could put a lot more work into it if we wanted to, but it is good to know that we won’t have to devote our lives to yard work.

See more progress on: own a home

Categories: homebuying, house, money, paperwork, gardening

Classmates.com is very annoying

I've been trying to connect with my old high school classmates to let them know about the reunion discussion group, but unfortunately, my best bet at the moment seems to be classmates.com. That site annoys me so much I can't bring myself to give them any money, but they won't let one member send a message to another without at least one of them being a paid member. I tried to put a URL in an announcement (to redirect people to my blog, if you must know), but apparently "http://" is an "inappropriate word" on that site. Argh! I have some "inappropriate words" of my own for you, Classmates.com!
Categories: classmates.com, complaint

10 years since high school

We should be having a reunion this year. I've pestered the reunion contact and volunteered to set up a web site and discussion group, but that is about all I can do from over here. Now I just wait until some plans are made, I guess.
Categories: highschool, reunion

Sad news from an old friend

I had an unexpected call from someone in my high school class tonight. She told me that one of our classmates had recently died in a motorcycle accident. It was tragic news, but I hadn't heard anything about him in years, so it didn't affect me as much as it would have years ago. It's strange how you can spend so much time with a group of people, only to lose touch upon graduation. It's also strange how quickly all the intervening years can fall away when an old friend calls. I spent enough time talking with her that my husband gave up and went to bed. Why do we feel compelled to remind each other of our shared experiences? It is somehow comforting to know someone else shares the memories that were otherwise only in my head. I regret losing touch after graduation, but that is a trend I continued after college. I am amazed at the people who have continuity of friendships from childhood until old age. I feel like I leave so much behind at each stage of my life, only to revisit the past unexpectedly at moments like tonight's phone call.
Categories: friends, highschool, memories, relationships

Time to go home

I started the day with an 8:00 meeting in another building, so I had to get up extra early. I'm pleased to say that I didn't have any caffeine, making it a week and a day since the last time I had any. I was starting to think that perhaps I was past any withdrawal symptoms, but I might have been wrong, since I'm starting to get a bit of a headache now. Of course, that might be related to the significant new feature I need to add to the code ASAP. I've made some progress today, but I'm nowhere near done. I hope I have some sort of "Eureka!" moment over the weekend to get me through the upcoming tricky bit, otherwise I'll have to just brute force it. Oh well, I guess I know what I'll be working on come Monday!
Categories: work, caffeine

Housebuying update: Inspections

We had a general inspection and a termite inspection last Friday. Not much wrong on the general inspection, just a few odds and ends. The termite guy found signs of nibbles under the house, but nothing too bad. We'll want them to remove the wood on on dirt next to the house and get the place treated, though.

This morning we had the sewer line inspected. The guy snaked a camera down the line and found roots and shifted pipe. He was surprised that the sellers have claimed they had now backups, since he got his camera snagged a few times.

So, we've filled out the objections form and said "There are signs of termites. Kill them!" and "The sewer line is broken. Replace it!". I'm glad we paid for inspections now, rather than having a nasty surprise the first time we flushed a toilet after moving in.

Otherwise, things are moving along. We filled out some forms for the title company and have a packet from the mortgage guy to deal with tonight.

Categories: homebuying, house, inspections, termites, sewer, plumbing

Caffeine free since Friday

I drank my last can of Citrus Drop to get going on Thursday morning and haven't bought a new case yet. If I make it through tomorrow it will be a full week. Admittedly, I had some root beer on Monday and last night I had a 7-up, but my main weakness is the caffeinated sugar water.

I have an early meeting on Friday, so I won't be upset if I have caffeine that day. Of course, if I don’t have any soda in the house, I won't be very likely to drink it, since most of my consumption happens in the morning while getting ready to face the day.

See more progress on: stop drinking soda

Categories: goals, health, soda, caffeine, sugar, MtDew

We're buying a house!

We went to an open house on Saturday afternoon, made an offer that evening, got a counteroffer on Sunday, and accepted it less than 24 hours since we first set foot in the place. Barring any issues with the inspections, we're buying a nice little place right next to a city park. I'm still in a daze.

See more progress on: own a home

Categories: goals, home, house, homebuying