calmer waters

I've calmed down a bit since my apple rant. my job is a bit tiring, but as the weekend approaches, things are looking up. make no mistake, i like my job still. it's just tough and sometimes i'm not sure if it's where i'm supposed to be. especially the last few weeks.

i'm still not really excited about my apple experience. i am toying with the idea of returning my ipod and speaker and saving my money to purchase the same things after i get a new computer. i also may keep the ipod and put my music on my work computer and just sync it there. but those two options mean i lose my $140. so maybe i will buy a little memory and speed my computer up a bit. this weekend, i think i'll go to the apple service place and see what that would cost and if it would solve things.

i do think i may be learning a little lesson on materialism. i think it's time to do some purging of belongings and refocus myself so as not to be so attached to the material. simple living was something i was aiming for at one time, so maybe this is just a reminder of that.

p.s.

i'm sort of overwhelmed with my "calling" and if i'm supposed to be where i am right now career-wise, so big irritations like this are EXTREMELY big right now. and also i'm poor and can't afford to throw away any amount of cash, especially when it has 2 or more zeros at the end. why does stuff like this always happen to me and not to the people who can afford it?

i know my blog readers won't judge my emotional outbursts. thanks for listening.

i hate apple

i hate apple. they are taking so much money from me. i got an ipod for christmas and i still can't use it. i have ordered an upgrade of software so that i can upgrade itunes, and then it came as a DVD. some people don't have DVD players because your computers are actually good and last long and some of us didn't think it was important to pay an extra $600 for it in 2001.

so there was this software exchange deal to get CD-roms, and after finally getting my CD-Roms that I paid an extra $9.95 plus postage to get, i now find out i don't have enough free memory to install it. so now i get to spend, what, $500 or more to get 3 GB of memory so i can install OS X Tiger and get the upgraded itunes. and i don't even know where to get memory if i could even afford it. do i have that money? no. do i want to use my expensive christmas present that was so thoughtfully and kindly purchased by my parents? yes. would i rather get a new computer than spend little amounts on upgrading? yes. can i afford that? no. do i want to just chuck and break all of this stupid technology that rules our lives and makes us all materialistic? YES!

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have converted like 5 people into Mac users and now i am pissed off and want to tell them all to change back, that they're just going to get robbed in 5 years after they have been all loyal to them.

Snow Day

Snow Day 1
Originally uploaded by schmann.

Today was a snow day. Or, for me, a Work-from-Home day. It only snowed about 3 inches, but here that's the equivalent of when it snows about 10 inches in SF. You should see the video online of cars that just can't stop. I'm thankful my manager called and told me to work from home--I didn't want to try getting over the bridges to get to work. I didn't even know it had snowed 'til I turned on the news to check the traffic.

I have to say I'm very thankful for this job. My last job, I would've been expected to come in to work. And it's in a hilly area that ended up being closed down because the roads were so bad. I'd have been stranded and likely my car would be smashed. Yay for a different job!

I did spend record minutes on the phone today, so I was very very productive. And thank goodness for Instant Messenger--most of my coworkers were working from home, but we still could talk to one another over IM.

Anyway, here's a pic from my patio. It's my car, though you wouldn't know it.

KG

Kathy Griffin
Originally uploaded by schmann.

Here's a picture of Kathy Griffin. Brad and I went to see her on Saturday. I had to take a blurry, flashless pic because otherwise my camera would've focused on all the heads in the rows immediately in front of me instead of on KG. I'm a pro at photography, I know.

Anyway, she was WAY FUNNY but if you are easily offended or don't like dirty jokes, you should not see her uncensored. She mainly jokes about celebs, but she does use a lot of f-bombs to do it. Brad and I, of course, loved every minute of it. We're going to hell, we know.

I'd highly recommend seeing a comedian of some sort like this if you can. Ellen Degeneres is nice and clean if you prefer that. You may want to stay away from Andy Dick, though. From KG's story, he's a junkie and you never know what you're going to get. ALLEGEDLY. :)

Parents Remodel 2

Remodel 2
Originally uploaded by schmann.

Here is the view of just the living room. Isn't it way cute? The color is a green, a very warm tone. You'll notice this is before we opened presents on Christmas Eve, because Mark and I gave my mom a diptych (2 canvases) to go above the couch on the blank wall. The room is so cozy--I love it. This view is also from the stairs.

Parents remodel 1

Remodel 1
Originally uploaded by schmann.

I took a couple of pictures of my parents house remodel to show people who remember the old look. Before, the kitchen was a little box, but a couple of years ago, my parents knocked out the wall between the kitchen and dining room to open things up. This fall, they remodeled the living room to get rid the of VERY 1990 mauve and grey wallpaper. Here's a pic of the rooms side-by side (the line in the middle is the wall between the kitchen and living room. View is if you're walking down the stairs.