Adrienne

Thanksgiving Inventory--one of my favorite essays. Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been in grad school for almost two months now, and boy, is it a lot of work. This week I had two individual projects, a group project, and a quiz due. I've gotten everything done for this week, and am taking a deep breath.

I start a part-time (temporary, seasonal) job at Toys R' Us next week. I'll have to use my time more efficiently because I'll be in school and working.

Not much that's exciting is going on.

Twenty years ago, I was at work, walking down the hall to my office, when suddenly it felt like some giant was shaking the building back-and-forth. I was bouncing off the walls and getting hit on the head with ceiling tiles. After it stopped seconds later (but a half-hour sounds about right-;)), I went back to my office, and the phone rang. It was Erik, calling to find out if I was okay. He was certainly quick on the draw; I hadn't gotten past, "Hey, I'm alive" yet. He called back a little while later, told me about the Bay Bridge collapse, and we agreed that he should take his time going home because of the traffic.

A co-worker drove me home. To my surprise, all the bookcases were still standing, and only a few things broke. The worst damage was a sliding closet door that came off its track. The power was still on. The cats were okay, but hiding. They decided that everything was okay now that Mom was home and came out of hiding, and I thought "Ye of misplaced faith". Erik got home about 10(?). We stayed home from work the next day and watched the news. I got sick of the aftershocks really fast; I wanted to scream "Stop it!". Like that would have helped.

My mom came to visit a couple of weeks later. She wanted to feel an aftershock, and I growled at her. Actually she felt two, but didn't realize it: one was when we were on the second floor in Valley Fair Shopping Center, which always felt like an earthquake, and one was when we were asleep.

It took me weeks before I could go down the hall that I was in when the quake hit. It took months before I wasn't scared going under a freeway overpass.

My mom and I went to a folk concert at the local Unitarian church this evening. There were some good musicians, and there were some fun sing-alongs (my fave was "The City of New Orleans"). It went on a little too long though (until 11:15). Tomorrow I'm back to the salt mines.

By-the-way, I don't miss earthquakes. Does anyone remember what day of the week the Loma Prieta quake was? My mom and I were discussing it.

Yikes. I bought the cats a toy that sounds like a bird call when it's shaken. One of my cats loves playing with it, and that stupid toy won't shut up. Maybe I didn't think this one through....

˙dǝǝןs oʇ ƃuıoƃ ʇsnɾ ɯ,ı ʇɐɥʇ ʞuıɥʇ ı ˙ʇɥƃıuoʇ ǝuop ʞɹoʍǝɯoɥ ʎɯ ƃuıʇʇǝƃ ǝɯıʇ ɥƃnoʇ ɐ ƃuıʌɐɥ ɯ,ı 'uosɐǝɹ ǝɯos ɹoɟ ˙ǝƃuɐɥɔ ǝɔıu ɐ sı ʇı ʇnq 'ʎןןɐǝɹ ʇou 'ʎɐʞo 'ןןǝʍ ˙ǝɟıן uo ʞooןʇno ʎɯ pǝƃuɐɥɔ s,ʇı puɐ ʇɹoɥs ʇnɔ ɹıɐɥ ʎɯ ʇoƃ ı

Try it: http://www.sevenwires.com/play/UpsideDownLetters.html

School started yesterday. The online course program, Blackboard, was down, so some people must have been running around frantically. I'm alternating between feeling exhilarated and panicking. The cool thing that I found is an online database from which you can request journal articles to be e-mailed to you. The wonders of technology! Research papers in your PJ's!

I saw two really cute cats at Petsmart yesterday. They were sisters. One was white and one was a tortoiseshell. (She looked like Harlee without the white patches.) They were adolescent and all legs. Yes, I know, I'm umemployed, living with my mom, and in school....Something about these two grabbed me though. I wish I had taken a picture with my cell phone camera.

I just got bifocals. (Yikes. I'm getting old.) I'm wearing them around the house to get used to them, and I think that I've gotten the hang of using the computer with them. No problems with stairs. I still feel a little unsteady though. How long does it take to get used to them?

I just learned how to create a video for one of my classes. No, I'm not posting it; it just contains random babble to practice. I also wish I looked better on the Web cam. Vanity, vanity, etc.

Yesterday, I had an orientation meeting for my Master's Degree program in Library and Information Science. The Dean managed to scare me about the amount of work involved. He said that if you work full-time, be wary of taking two classes (which is what I'm registered for). However, given that I don't have a job right now, it's a moot point.

We had a meeting with the professor for the introductory class, and he told us about some of the papers we'll have to write. After a little Internet research, I know how I'm going to approach the one that involves visiting a library and interviewing a librarian. Oakland University (a few miles away) has an academic library, and its Web site lists everyone who works there, along with their phone numbers and e-mail addresses. They have a couple of people who catalog information (which is what I'm interested in), so I'm going to contact them and ask if I can talk to them. The University doesn't include Library Science, so I won't be taking time away from their students.

I think that I'm going to dump my advisor and change to a new one. My advisor has been spectacularly unhelpful; she's been telling me stuff that I can figure out for myself, and not answering the real questions that I have. Another professor is focused on the area that I'm interested in, so I'm going to contact her and ask if she'd be willing to be my advisor.

The day really fried me out, and I was too tired to sleep. I wound up reading my new textbooks until the wee hours of the night, which is a good sign that I'm going to find the classes interesting. The fact that I was reading after being up for 20+ hours is either a very good sign or a sign of madness.

Heh. I received my bill for fall classes already, and Financial Aid paid it all. That's the good news. The bad news is that I'll run out of Financial Aid next summer. (I'm taking classes all year round.) I'll scrape up the money, but I was hoping to not pay any tuition. The computer and books are bad enough....

I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's about a guy's musings about philosophy while he's on a motorcycle trip with his son. I've been meaning to read it for years, but I'm getting into it now. Before that, I reread the Harry Potter books, and since then I've had dreams about Harry Potter. Yikes.

My cat Harlee was a busy girl today. First, she ate a couple of leaves off of a plastic plant. (It looks real.) Then, she threw them up in front of my mom's bedroom door. She's lucky that she's cute -;)

Well, I've set up my computer for school. A friend of my mom's set up WiFi so I can access the Internet from my room. I've installed software and set up my printer. Also, I was able to enroll in the class that was full. All systems go!

Well crud. One of my fall classes is full. I hope that it opens up (or they let me take it anyway).

Today I took and passed all three sections of the IC3 exam, which tests basic computer knowledge and skills with some Microsoft Office programs. It was a prerequisite for registering for a certain class. I knew some of the material already, but I went through an 800-page book to be sure that I covered everything. Also, it covered Microsoft Office 2007, in which Microsoft changed all the menus (sigh). Anyway, I've finished a lot of work. I have about a month of homework-free time until school starts.

We finally caught the chipmunk after a bunch of mishaps. We let him out in the yard, and I sang a verse of "Born Free" in his honor. All's well that ends well.

Well, I just ordered a new ThinkPad for my online classes. It was a bit pricey, and I got a lot of upgrades, but I should have it for a long time. I usually keep computers until they stop working. I'm surprised that my credit card company approved the sale; they don't like me buying things from new Web sites.

My mom and I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince tonight. They changed the plot and left stuff out enough that it seemed to me that a lot of the emotion of the book was gone. It still was pretty good though. My mom and I are fans of Alan Rickman, and he was terrific as usual.