Merry Christmas one and all (for tomorrow)

Because there's no way I'll get on the computer tomorrow to say it - what with the turkey and the ham and the cake and the prawns... and the buche de Noel.

In the last two days I mowed the lawn, window tinted the western facing windows in the back room, bought office 7 for a laptop that didn't have office on it, did the very last of my Christmas shopping and had a pedicure (the nail polish was a little disappointing - I was careful with it for 2 hours afterward and assumed it would then be dry - and now I have material patterns in it from the blanket on my bed when I had an afternoon nap.

I also had my first MRI today - loud long and slightly uncomfortable, but at least only the bottom 1/2 of my body went in so there was no claustrophobia induced panic attack involving wild thrashing about and uncontrolled sobbing.

Still to do today
Photograph the bird Susie is getting for Christmas, take a bird over to Dot and wrap those last pesky presents.
I think I'll wait till after Christmas to do anything more on my list.

and so it goes dedunk dedunk dedunk

They couldn't find an error with the computer and suggested it was a USB connection. I pulled everything and replaced my mouse and spent 3 days monitoring, at first I thought it was heat since I still got the error sometimes but then when if was going nuts, I took away the side wall that was just resting against the computer and turned the fan on it. No dice. Then I turned the computer around a bit and it stopped- and stayed stopped. I've had the fan off, the side back on and had it running hotter and still no error. I think there's a connection in the back which is not quite right and moving the computer has got it sitting right ( or a cable that has a dodgy bit maybe). I'm now afraid to touch the computer even though its sitting rather awkwardly.

On other news - the back room is cleaned up, I've been pricing software, I've marked a literature review for work - EVEN THOUGH I'M ON HOLIDAYS!, gone to the graduation (4 hours out of my day) - EVEN THOUGH I'M ON HOLIDAYS!
Tomorrow I'm getting my car serviced and going in to uni to listen to an honours confirmation seminar - EVEN THOUGH I'M ON HOLIDAYS!
I've also had calls and requests to go in to work every day last week. You really need to leave town and lose your mobile to get away from this job. My dad laughed because when I was small he was doing exactly the same (they even called him after he'd resigned and moved on).

I just washed my academic robes today. I figured out since I wear them no more than twice a year, I have to wear them for 70 years to get my $5 a wear rule value out of them. I work on the basis that I can buy any jewelry, shoes or clothing so long as I wear them once for each $5 that they cost - eg $30 pair of shoes must be worn 6 times. It stops me from thinking clothes are too good to wear and leaving them in the cupboard. The better they are, the more I have to wear them.

I've also cleaned all bar one of my bird cages, booked a facial etc for me and Mum and put away the miscellaneous star trek paraphernalia I'd picked up over the last year as well as playing an RPG with C & A, lots of LOTRO and a bit of an online game in beta - but the repeated big downloads, character wipes and limited access time sort of cramps my style.

new comic

Having read this, I feel a bit bad about taking down goblins in LOTRO.

To do done so far

2 days officially off and I've already had to write a long email to a student and have a 10 minute phone call today. As per usual, expensive pieces of equipment break on Friday at 2pm, when the rest of the day is meetings and then off on holidays. Hopefully it will all be dealt with by someone else, though that was what the phone call was about.

So far I have;
* taken my computer in to have a glitch looked at (I'm using my parents to write this)
* taken my DVD recorder in ditto (don't expect it back before christmas - so much for watching DVD's on Holidays) - maybe I will be buying that tivo sooner rather than later
* made Buche de Noel with Dot
* shifted the lounge room furniture around
* made a start on cleaning up my rooms
*taken some 1/2 hour afternoon naps
*Posted Andreas Christmas present and Birthday present- only to have Australia Post go on Strike. You may get it, someday....I also just bought the first bit of the next round of presents.

About to go out and;
*play RPG with A & C

Still to do
*repair tumbler (only been trying to get to this since July)
*get ebay account and sell some stuff (only been trying to get to this since 2 years ago)
* finish clean up my back bedroom so that visitors can actually sleep there
*sew up curtain hems
*look for cool Birthday presents for Dad, Doug,
*play lots and lots of online RPG's - I have done a little bit ;)
*finish scrapbooking my tazzy trip, do skiing trip
*rest - as instructed by Andrea
*convert tapes to DVD - if I ever get the DVD recorder back
*go to the movies - I just bought 6 tickets to use up at Warrina
put the christmas tree up - only 2 weeks behind so far
*hmm I think there's more on my list somewhere - but I'm off now to put the birds to bed and put the Birthday presents for A & C in the car.

I feel strangely sleepy given I'm on Holidays ;D

been galivanting

I've been up in Innisfail collecting soil samples to look for phage. Now I have to process them....still sleepy from filed trip fresh air. I have to finish the coffee sitting beside me and go sort my samples this morning, maybe start processing them too.
Innisfail was nice, I ate out at the RSL and the Imperial tavern & stayed at the Big 4 caravan park with was clean, quiet and well set out. I got to see lots of different banana breeds as well as ornamental gingers, lilipilli and limes. We stopped and bought cheap fruit all the way home...mmm lychees.
Last night I had a meat skewer at outback Jacks. It was a foot long with 3cm cubed chunks of meat on it...double yum

...and now, to work!

Subject to change without notice

This is my list of things to do during my holidays. I will be editing as I remember things, decide not to do things etc

To do
*repair tumbler (only been trying to get to this since July)
*get ebay account and sell some stuff (only been trying to get to this since 2 years ago)
*make Buche de Noel with Dot - this is the "oh we've eaten too much so we'll just have a little slice to be polite....is there any more? perhaps thirds?" cake I have made in previous years
*clean up my back bedroom so that visitors can actually sleep there
*play RPG with A & C
*Post Andreas Christmas present
*look for cool Birthday presents for Dad, Doug, Andrea
*play lots and lots of online RPG's
*finish scrapbooking my tazzy trip, do skiing trip

edit 18/11/09
*rest - as instructed by Andrea

edit 26/11/09
*sew up curtain hems




Wouldn't it be nice to do
catch a flight to brisbane and go shopping for a couple of days

crippled - timing could be worse

I blew out my knee on Tuesday. I spent the evening icing it and the next morning it looked baseball sized and almost as firm - I couldn't bend it far or straighten up completely. Went to work to pick up some reading and then went home and spent the day in bed alternatively icing and compressing. I got a new ice pack whcih is really cool...in more ways than one. It looks like one of those old headache bags with the screw cap that you put ice in - but also comes with a large neoprene thing with straps that fits over it so you can velcro the whole thing to your knee, ankle , elbow etc...and it doesn't slide off!
On Thursday I spent much of the day seeing the Doctor, getting x-rays and making bookings to see the orthopedic surgeon.
Its a lot better today, but the problem I have is that I'm getting injured regularly when walking on flat surfaces in straight lines.
When people say "what did you do?" my response is "nothing". So I want to find out whats really wrong inside the old knee & make sure its not something that 10 years from now they'll say "oh we know whats wrong, you should have got it fixed a decade ago, its too late now."
And the timing could be worse - at least I don't have to run for classes and stand up in front of them at the moment. It might mess up the planned field trip though.