I feel like I've been driving a Mack truck

...but even a Mack truck probably steers better than BabyDoll at the moment.

I think all that the Beretta needs are the following: power steering fluid and anitfreeze. For right now. Those are things that I can get for her. As I mentioned in the last post, the car needs a lot of TLC. Even I realize that she's probably not long for this world, unless someone wants to help me pay to return her to her former glory (or at least as she was when I bought her in 1999).

The thing with her fuel gauge is driving me nuts! The fuse is not blown. A blown fuse was usually the reason the fuel gauge wasn't working properly. Popular opinion (Daniel and Jeff) seem to think that because the car sat for so long that the electronics that control that and the temp gauge are messed up. After all, BabyDoll is 18 years old!

(I have a car that is old enough to vote and get drafted!)

Then there are other little problems that I need time and patience to work out.

A very auto-centric post today.

(thanx for peeking. hope all is okay with you.)


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

I'm blue (as in it's friggin cold out there!)

I stayed up way too late last night reading a book not related to school.

I am so tired now, but I have a study session at 1pm for two hours, so I can't really go home and catch a quick catnap.

I haven't slept very well since I started school, and it's catching up with me. I go to bed at a decent hour, but my mind is reeling with so much information, so many thoughts, so many stupid little worries. I actually got up before my alarm went off, and still couldn't believe it was time to get started for the day.

And this weather is so crazy, it's maddening. Tomorrow it's calling for snow again. Great. That's all I need.

At least I won't be walking in the snow to school. Hope Babydoll behaves and starts right up like this morning. It's good to have my own wheels again. But she needs a lot of TLC right now.

And, yikes! My birthday is a week and a half away!


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Murphy (of the Law) came to see me this weekend

or, if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!

First off, my POS television, the one I got for free when Saon left it behind over four years ago (before I moved to Oklahoma), finally died. I was in the kitchen doing something when I heard a pop from the living room. That pop was the picture tube getting fried. I had no picture at all, and a lot of high pitched noises.

Well, great. That's all I need.

I called over to Mom's to ask Jeff if I could borrow the one he got for Christmas three years ago that I've never seen him use. I expected him to say no, but he said, "sure, I guess so."

Then he had an idea. He'd buy me one from the Goodwill store for like $20. He just had to see what his schedule for this week at work looked like. Probably won't get today off. I don't know. I haven't talked to him yet.

Next, my cell phone is doing weird things, like hanging itself up in the middle of a conversation when I haven't changed location (in other words, it wasn't because I wandered away from the cell tower) and not putting thru text messages. Jon called me all pissed off because I didn't immediately respond to his text. I told him I never got a text message from him. I ended up hanging up on him because he was being unreasonable ("I did too send you a text, you should have received it!" etc. He's pulled this crap before. He's worse than a two year old sometimes!).

The only good thing is that I got my tag for the Beretta and drove it to school today.
===

If it's going to be cold, then let it be cold, dammit! None of this freezing our asses off one day and 60 degree temps the next. It's a wonder I haven't gotten sick yet with all this weather nonsense.
===




That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Go me!

I made thru the first week of classes. It's been interesting, to say the least.

Hopefully, things will start to look up, money wise. Can't possibly get worse, can it? Wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know.

Oh, and I may have a job. Stay tuned.


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Dash...

This'll be quick because I'm at school and I need to get home.

It's a pain not having the computer at home anymore. I need to get a new one somehow. However, there are other pressing matters that demand my time and attention.

Like sleep.


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Oh, and by the way...

I found my hat. It was still sitting on the sidewalk near my apartment where I put on my gloves after slipping on the ice yesterday.




That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

This shouldn't surprise me, but it does...

I've never even been to prison... but I know someone who has. And definitely not surprised at the New England slang.

Your Slanguage Profile

Prison Slang: 75% New England Slang: 50% Aussie Slang: 25% British Slang: 25% Canadian Slang: 25% Southern Slang: 25%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Raider Dayz and other things

First day of school. I used to dread this when I was much younger. Now it excites me.

However, the following happened to me on the way to school (since I'm walking there for at least this week):

*Woke up later than I wanted to.
*Found that I still had time to at least eat breakfast before I left to hike the frozen tundra
*Didn't even make it out of my apartment complex without slipping on the ice in the parking lot, falling down and cutting my hand in several places on the ice
*Once I righted myself, I got half way to Hudiburg Drive before I realized that I had lost my hat.

Once I got walking, things were more or less okay. I could rant about the total lack of sidewalks in key places in town, but that would be a whole post of its very own.

So, I'm walking on snow covered grassy areas (due to the lack of sidewalks), and since the snow has started to melt, everywhere I stepped I seems to sink about four inches. I felt like I was walking on those weakened areas in places like Antartica that fall into the sea due to "global warming". I wondered if one of those snow covered grassy areas (again due to the lack of sidewalks) was one that would send me down the rabbit's hole in Alice in Wonderland all the way to China.

(I bring greetings from your honorable brother, Yao Ming...)

My classes are interesting so far. I really need to scrape together the moolah to get my books, because I think that in at least one of my classes, I'm going to need it as soon as Wednesday. I already have a paper in English Comp due Wednesday, which is what I should be doing in the Rose State Library instead of writing in my blog.

Just call me Stef the Coed...

Raider Dayz is what the first two days of the semester is called, where everything from music to free food is offered. I thought I missed out on the music because all the flyers around campus stated it was from 11am to 1pm, and I was in class during those hours. But, I lucked out, because the music ran a little overtime. I don't know the name of the two guys who were playing late 90's alt rock, but they were quite good.

Of course I had to check out the free (with a "Raider Buck") food. You could only get a hot dog or a beef sandwich (i.e. a sloppy joe), and a drink, but free's free, and free is good!

Now I've got to walk home. Oh. Joy.

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

All set...

Just ironed out one of the last things I needed before school starts on Monday: a student ID card.

Books... well those will have to wait a bit until I get my financial aid. Hopefully, I will have it by the time my tuition comes due next month. I realize I may need those books sooner than that! One of them is over $100!

Lord, what have I gotten myself into this time? Is it possible that the cost of books for three of my four classes (that fourth one is a three hour lab type class that meets twice a week and doesn't require books) may exceed my tution? I think they're more than my car insurance payment for 6 months, and that wasn't cheap!

And I do know that I can walk to school, because I'm here now, and the walk back is something I'm not looking forward to. One can only slip and slide on the ice, get splashed by cars whizzing by in the melting slush, and enduring the looks of "is that gal nuts to walk in this?" only so much.

Of course, it's going to snow like a house a fire this weekend, if the weather dudes on TV are any indication. Lovely, just in time for someone to come out and hook up a phone at the house for me. This'll be interesting, to say the least!

Hi Larry! :)



That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

A sign of more things to come?

I'm at the Del City Library and I looked outside and it's snowing.

Not sleeting, no freezing rain, but honest to God snow.

The forecast last night stated that there would be a 20% chance of snow today, with a 100% chance of snow over the weekend.

So there's your 20% chance of snow for today.

And the other snow for the weekend will cover a lot of things (since the forecast calls for 2-5 inches of the white stuff), including the 3-6 inches of ice that is already on the ground.

Since I returned from my apartment from Mom's house on Monday, I've been chipping away at the ice that has encased my car. I'll just get it all cleared off and it will snow. Just my rotten luck.

School starts on Monday, or it's supposed to. I'm all signed up, and I need to get a parking pass and my student ID. Hopefully, my financial aid will come thru soon and I can buy my books. I don't even want to think about how much that will set me back!


Guess I better go trudging back thru the frozen tundra and get back to my warm little apartment. I love living within walking distance of a library (and a college and the grocery store- okay, it's Wal Mart, but I'm not complaining!)

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

It's all very pretty, but please make it all go away

I'm finally back home after spending the weekend of the big ice storm in Edmond at Mom's house.

Daniel was supposed to bring me home Thursday night after he got off work at the grocery store. More on that in a sec.

Jeff and I were running around most of Thursday trying to get supplies and stuff to tide Mom over what would be a very long weekend.

We went to WalMart to do some grocery shopping, and the place WAS A ZOO!!!! You'd think the end of the world was coming, instead of a major winter storm. I've never seen so many people in that place, not even at Christmas time!

Couldn't find half of what we went there for. Bread? All we saw were empty shelves. Milk? Slim picking there, too. And forget trying to find Ice Melt or a snow shovel... those things were gone!

So we headed over to the grocery store where Daniel works, and believe it or not, it was WORSE than WalMart! We waited in line to check out with our two or three things for a good 40 minutes. Just looking around the store, Jeff and I knew that there was no way in hell that Daniel was going to get off work at 8:30pm.

And he didn't. At around seven, he calls and says he's going to stay late; real late. I knew then that I would be spending the ice storm at Mom's house.

We here in the Oklahoma City metro were lucky: we just got a lot of sleet (which is bad enough when there is 3 inches of it on the ground), but other parts of the state got ice and power outtages and a messy clean up. It's the thawing and refreezing of the stuff we did get, and that salt loses its effectiveness as a melting agent in really cold temperatures (which I didn't know). So the Oklahoma Highway Patrol was discouraging travel on the highways because it was dangerous.

So, when the storm was over and the roads were somewhat clear, Daniel brought me home yesterday around 1pm.

I had prepared for the storm days before the storm hit, so I still have all my supplies and stuff. Good thing because they're calling for another storm this weekend!

Great. And with school starting next week too. This'll be fun...


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

The more things change...

the more they... you probably know the rest.

I'm in Edmond, at the library here, checking my email and other stuff since my computer (still at Mom's house) is barely hanging on to life (I can get to my Word files and a few pics, but that's it. No internet...).

Mom did go to the doctor at long last. My sister went with her and asked all the right questions I guess, because Mom got a check up, some new breathing meds, and a follow-up appointment for six weeks from now.

When I got here last night, Pinky was so happy to see me that I thought she was going to wag that little stumpy tail right off her butt! She's so not going to understand the the scent of the service-dog-in-training I met at the post office. She seems to think if I'm around other animals, that I'm "cheating" on her.

My cats were the same way, so I guess it's not just a "dog" or "cat" thing.

I talked to the ex hubby this morning. He really should quit telling me that he's going to do something for me if he has no intention of doing so. Of course, it has to do with money, and as his M.O., is pleading poverty after I called him on the fact that he said he'd do something for me.

Silly Stef, you never learn, do you, grrl? Isn't this one of the reasons you're no longer married to the guy (among many).

And the storm is still coming... oh. joy. Now it's lots of ice on the roads and a little snow. In November when the last time this happened, it was lots of snow with a healthy layer of ice underneath.

I better get what I need while I'm up here in Edmond, because I'm not going to venture out anywhere for the next 4 days once I get back to my apartment this evening.

At least, I did get some things done today.

Go me... :)


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Impending doom, or a winter storm?

The way that the weather people are talking around here, you'd think we were about to be snowed in for the rest of the winter.

C'mon, I know it doesn't snow here all that much, and yeah, two big storms this year are a bit unusual, but blame El Nino... it's all his fault!

I've plenty of everything to take care of myself until at least the end of the month, but the weather guys on TV are squawking about ice and snow and "you need to get this all done by Friday!"

By "all this" I think they mean make sure your car works (it does but it's still not tagged), you have plenty of gas, check on family, get something called "ice melt" (in Massachusetts, that's what salt was for), and have plenty of food on hand (check, check, and double check).

At least it's not the blizzard of '01 in Massachusetts... although that was fun at first.

And dammit, if I am going to be snowed in for the winter, I'd like to be snowed in with someone other than me, myself and I.


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

You graduated from high school when?

(blush) twenty five years ago this June.

I hope that there isn't a reunion planned. I think that someone from my class who contacted me via myspace.com is looking to see if there's an interest in one.

Count me out. One, I can't afford to fly out to California and stay in an overpriced hotel in my hometown for a week(end); and two, high school just wasn't memorable enough for me to celebrate a quarter century since I graduated. If the truth be told, I couldn't wait to get out of there.

My sister went to her 20th a few years back, and she had a good time. She enjoyed high school. I didn't.

High school for me was a colossal bore. You were either popular or a troublemaker, and I wasn't either. I tried to be a troublemaker, but it just wasn't in me.

So here I am, 25 years later, going back to college. It seems I did everything in my life backwards. Too late to change the past, so I'm going to change the future instead.

Better late than never.
===

Had a nice visit with a friend who came to see my apartment... all 600 square feet of it. I hope said friend won't be a stranger. They have an open invitation to visit whenever the mood strikes them. I don't hand those invitations out to just anyone... (family doesn't count).
===





That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Seems I've been tagged

Thanx duff---

First, the rules:
1. Players start by listing three things he/she got for Christmas.
2. Then they list three things he/she definitely did not want to get for Christmas.
3. Then he/she tags five friends and lists their names.
4. The ones who get tagged write on their blogs about their Christmas wishes, and state the rules clearly.
5. Then tag five more victims.

The tagger needs to leave the tagged a comment that says you have been Christmas tagged! And tell them to read the tagger's blog.

1a. a cat shaped massager thing
1b. calligraphy set
1c. hair stuff

2a. makeup
2b. box of candy (it was awful! ewwww!)
2c. hair stuff

3a. Keith (you can do Hanakkah stuff)
3b. Apostol
3c. Hannie
3d & e. any one else who wants to do this and post it on their blog. Just tell me who you are so I can go peek.





That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Stocking the larder

This time next week calls for a "major winter storm", including, I'd assume, snow.

Well. That's just... great. As if winter couldn't get more bizarre this year.

We're getting Boston's weather and they're getting rain. Perhaps, just this winter, it's just as well I'm not there. Let them be jealous of me for a change. Unfortunately, there isn't anywhere to ski here in Oklahoma. Most people go to New Mexico and Colorado for that.

Even though I'm sure I've bought enough groceries for the entire month, I still have a little money left over to stock the larder, um, my pantry. I wish I had a big dutch oven to make some stews and chili in. Those are great cold weather foods.

Daniel and Jeff just better not get any ideas about going to Barnes and Noble next Friday night. Jeff really needs to save his pennies and buy a car of his own, instead of having Mom or Daniel take him everywhere he can't walk or bike to.
===

It just dawned on me that Scott will be 16 in May. Scott... driving? Help?! (just kidding... he hasn't had the driving course yet, so he will have to do that first. It's only offered during the summer, though). I'm sure he'll be a good driver...



That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

do you ever peek from home on the weekends?

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzpt!

I really don't like all these automatic machines, like the ones that give you paper towels when you walk by the machine, flush the toilet for you (even if you're not quite finished) and turn on the water for you so you can wash your hands.

Okay, I like that last one. Now if they could just come up with the mechanized thingamabob that makes one stay long enough to wash their hands!

And a little lotion for your hands would be nice. But I guess that is an awful lot to ask of a public entity like the library.

BTW, who used this computer keyboard before I got here?

I need to get my old hunk of junk fixed, or a new computer like yesterday!


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Dude, are you going to ride that thing, or just push it all the way to Downtown OKC?

I've met some interesting characters in the month I've been in my new apartment, and have seen some interesting things... such as:

A woman in the back of a police car who appeared to be handcuffed. A wrecker had just arrived to tow her car and an attached trailer to wherever they tow those things to here.

A mentally challenged man who was pushing a three wheeled bike down SE 15th Street behind me. He told me that he was going to Downtown Oklahoma City. I said that's a long way to ride a bike.

And a number of people who have honked at me and waved from their cars as I walked to places like Wal Mart and the library. I don't recognise any of them in the quick glance I get as they motor on by.

Maybe they realize that I'm new in the neighborhood, I don't know.
===

When I came home from Mom's house the other night, Daniel (who thinks this part of the OKC Metro is akin to "da hood") barely gave me time to get out of his car and get into my apartment before he went roaring off into the night, radio on full blast, bass thumping away.

That boy's gonna be deaf before he's 35 if he keeps that up!


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Watch your back...

This scares me.



That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Happy New Year!

I spent the last three days in Edmond helping out Mom because she's not feeling well.

My sister kinda bullied Mom into calling a doctor in regards to her always not feeling well. Mom has COPD, and it's obvious that Mom isn't feeling well, but she keeps putting off going to the doctor. Tori said she was going to go with Mom to her apppointment (it's next week), but Mom doesn't really want her to.

I think Tori should go with her. I wouldn't know what questions to ask the doctor. And I can't keep running up to Edmond every time I turn around. In less than three weeks, I go back to school.

Sometimes, I get the feeling that Mom wishes I hadn't moved out.
===

New Year's was okay. Nothing earth shattering or anything. Same old jazz we do every year.

And no, I didn't make any resolutions. I have things I want to accomplish in the next year, but I wouldn't call them "resolutions" per se.

If I called them "resolutions", I know that I'd never get them accomplished.
===

2007: a whole new year to...




That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--