Paw Prints in the Snow

Made me chuckle...

2009-08-12T20:32:04Z

...so I thought I'd share.

I take off from work two hours early for a dentist appointment. I make up the two hours of missed work during the rest of the week. This is a "par for the course" behavior; I always do this, it's always okay. Has been so for 8 years.
Now, this particular time I forget to mention that I will be making up said hours in my initial ~~notification~~ request, but I mention it in my mail a week later that contained my timesheet. In response, I get a lightly repremanding reply from my boss saying that I just need to let him know when I am going to make up the hours.

-_-

[inner bastard] "Well, yes.. didn't I technically just tell you?" [FY grin]

Now, I know, I know... he wants to know ahead of time, of course. Dur.
But it got me thinking... why, exactly? Why does it matter if he knows ahead of time? Last monday or today, what is the difference? What does it effect? What does it change?
I would like to share with you all that it, in fact, changes a big, fat, stunning [echoing, deep important voice] NOTHING.

[little kid voice, finger on chin] Right, if I tell him ahead of time, it means he approved it. It makes him feel important, in charge.

Oh corproate power games, how I bite my thumb at thee.

[inner bastard, pitying tone] Please sir, whip it out and swing it around a little more. It makes it much, much easier to take shots at it when you do.

OH

2007-11-18T21:55:51Z

I'm off visiting my folks in OH - it's a bit cooler here, which is nice. I'm in for a fun week of playing endless scrabble, shopping, and eating my Mum's good cooking. Then I'm off to my cousin's for Thanksgiving - that'll be a whole lot of family all at once. At some point, I'll also be visiting my last grandparent, who is rather unwell. I'm not bothered by it, personally; it is time.
It's always interesting to see how other people deal with the sick and the dying, though. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, though, I'll be thankful I get to see her again before she goes - I do expect this will be the last time.

My folks went to Ireland earlier this year and they brought me a beautiful shawl and scarf set in a lovely green, 100% soft wool. It is quite possibly the coolest article of clothing they have given me.
Weaving Website

For Koress

2007-11-13T15:03:30Z

I was so tickLed when I saw that you are STILL using an icon I made for you years ago, koress. =D
Then I though - maybe you should have an updated version.... so here it is! Icon sized and larger. Style has changed a little over the years.

Scrabble!

2007-11-12T15:18:45Z

For those that are scrabble fans and do not yet know about this:
Scrabble by Email!

Very handy - I play with my mum regularly. :)

Been a long time gone...

2007-11-12T14:31:25Z

I've had a lot going on the last several months of my life. From health issues to moving, it's been exciting to say the least. I am once again going to make a stab at using my LJ more regularly, to keep in touch with some people and to give others a way to keep in touch with me. I've been quite a hermit over the last two seasons and I've enjoyed it thoroughly. Apart from gaming, I've had more time to read and draw - nothing too impressive or fancy, just general fiction/science fiction and doodles, but it has been nice.

I still work from home a few days a week, but I now have quite a longer commute the days I need to be at my office. I'm enjoying the drive, though I expect that will change as the weather gets snowy. For now, however, the 40-60 minutes of twisting back roads through suburbia and farmland during autumn is lovely. The colors are superb and I see sheep, cows and horses every day. animeg, sometimes they are very upclose and personal.
Incidently, I'd never actually seen a real black sheep until recently - they are quite cute.

So, info and links for fun.

In gaming news, I will need to be picking up a DS. There is a re-release of Final Fantasy 4 coming out that I really want to play.
Japanese FF4 DS site
That said, if anyone reading this has a DS and games they really enjoy, let me know what they are!

In gaming news, a large patch is going to be released tomorrow for World of Warcraft - fellow gamers, remember to turn off your mods (unless you enjoy seeing your faction glitchy and nekkid)!

In gaming/anime news, there is going to be a Persona anime, based on the most recent game in the series, set some 10 years after the game events. I am very excited about this one. The art looks pretty damn tight.
Persona: Trinity Soul

Persona 3

2007-08-20T18:18:37Z

Just stopping in long enough to pimp the new Altus game, Persona 3.
Play it. Love it.

Fantastic. Awesome. Delightfully morbid and creepy.

Note: ABSOLUTELY NOT for children OR the simple minded.

Disclaimer: If you play this game and decide to try to summon your own persona via their methods, you've no one to blame but yourself. :)

Barley players, FTW! (WoW post)

2007-04-19T16:07:03Z

To my fellow WoW/Horde players, I have made a startling discovery.
We are actually Barley.

Barley: Hordeum vulgare

=D

Technology FTW, Part II

2007-04-19T15:02:44Z

Update to a post long ago: I now work from home 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. A most excellent upgrade.

makami @ 2007-03-08T08:35:00

2007-03-08T13:41:04Z

Today I will be playing the role of a sentimental keepsake, one kept on a high shelf, looked at only occasionally, serving as an object to invoke a smile and fond memories of a time long passed.
I will do my best.

GIP!

2006-11-16T01:45:26Z

I love the giraffe. That is all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGvw6WpHSF4

Technology FTW!

2006-11-15T13:41:48Z

I haven't posted in ages, and this won't be much of one. I just want to publically praise the wonders of wireless internet.
Wednesdays are my work from home days. My car needed to go to the shop. The shop has a wireless internet connection for customers. My laptop and I are now "working from... ho(me)nda."

Damn do I love this technology.

It's a sna~ake, snAA~AAke! (aka: my Slytherin side is showing)

2006-06-15T18:28:12Z

For those that don't know, my office sits on a 5 acre lot of land, on which exists a vast amount of 'wild' life. Grass, trees, tribbles, snakes... well, okay, no tribbles, but today we had a little excitement of a serpentine nature!

The mail lady, scared out of her wits comes in saying, "Ididn'tknowyouhadsnakeshere!!Hereisyourmailbye!" *ZOOM*
I had the fortune and pleasure to meet one of our resident 4+ foot long black snake, looking for a way into the basement of the office/house to escape the heat of the day!
Exceptionally beautiful specimen, I consider myself lucky to have seen her.

But, allow me to rant.

First, for all of you that are of the following mindset, I don't appologize. In fact, I mock you. I laugh at you. You're a bunch of fear driven, irrational nitwits. For others, find amusement in my words if you can.

---
Dear Sissies,

I have absolutely no patience whatsoever for the high percentage of irrational, fear-driven morons (especially women) that feel the need to react in the following manner to our scaley friends:

"OMGSNAKEKILLITEVILOMG*RUN**SQUEAL*"

Yes, you should know who you are. If you're not sure you apply, you're feeling defensively offended right now and are considering ignoring the rest of this post. Go for it, bask in your retarded behavior. We like you best that way, anyway.

Still reading? There's hope for you yet.

Snakes are, for the most part, completely harmless. As it is with most of wild critters, a healthy understanding and respect is all that is required to get on with our useful neighbor, the snake. Only in very rare circumstances is the death of a snake required to rectify what might be a somewhat stressful situation.

I've observed that people, while stuck in the quealing phase of the above referenced response, have an inability to hear the words of anyone trying to explain why snakes are not horrible, evil creatures. So, to all you people afraid of snakes (and are still reading this for whatever righteous reason), go look them up while you're not having one of your cute little irrational spaz sessions over their existance.

They're dead useful, people.
Not useful dead.

Boom shanka, slitheringly yours,
ME

--
So yeah, several of my co-workers and I were out in the yard checking it out. One of my co-workers, a young lady, suggested we get a shovel and kill it. I laughted, saying, "If you do that, I'll take that shovel to ~you~."

Threats at the office are never a good thing. The fact that I prefaced the comment with a noise of amusement didn't much help. The high muckity muck that was right there said in a would-be assert my authority-quelling tone, "People, okay, that's enough..."
That in itself is funny for a number of reasons, but I won't digress here.

Over all, a very laughable experience.

The next 10 minutes were filled with an exceptionally humorous series of attemps to get the snake away from the house ( all failed), and ultimately she disappeared into one of the basement window wells, and I'm fairly certain she got inside.

I'd say good, except if she did, her chances of survival just dropped quite a lot. I wish her the best, she was truly something.

UPDATE
------

Evidently some co-workers saw the beautious snake leaving the immediate house area, venturing across the vast green backyard to locations unknown. I wish her well!!!

Monday's SUCK!

2006-05-15T12:15:44Z

I completely and entirely forgot that I had a training class today at the local CompUSA so I went to work...
%$#(*&@(&%#@%*(&#$@$&)(@*#!!!!!

I could have slept in!

DAMMIT.

EDIT: 09:18am
-------------

SON OF A B!^CH! Class is Friday, not today.
Well, I can sleep in on Friday, then.
%#(*&%($#&%(*.

GIP#2

2006-04-25T14:59:31Z

So, this one is how I feel about finding all these again. :)

GIP!

2006-04-25T14:49:01Z

I forgot about these little animated chocobos I made ages ago! They make excellent LJ icons... I should upload the whole lot of them!
Feel free to use, folks, credit if you want; if I see one, I'll know I made it, so it's all good. :)

(obviously, pulled from Final Fantasy 7, for those that don't know -- I am the chocobo pimp!)

makami @ 2006-02-17T12:51:00

2006-02-17T17:52:59Z

This might be old news, but it's a pretty cool idea. Reno_chan just had me do one for her, so I thought I'd set one up and see what came of it.

Makami's Interactive Johari Window

Those wacky, wacky Belgians....

2006-02-07T16:33:32Z

There's little I can add. Just. Wow.

Watch the clip....

Beyond DOWN with the Sickness

2006-02-06T15:41:36Z

So yeah, WoW has eaten my soul. Utterly and completely. I am one with the WoW. I am WoW. learan, you NEED TO PLAY. :)

Ah. Worlds of Warcraft. Should be Worlds of WarCrack. I didn't want to get into the visual online games (knowing what would happen if I did), and instead hugged my beloved Tele-Arena Gold (BBS text/D&D like game). But, the the time had come. I had a shiny new laptop that was built for gaming, and I wanted games. My roomie's man (he rules) was talking about it one casual afternoon, and a week later, I owned it and started playing.

It is addictive. It is an obsession.

I SPENT 3 HOURS OF MY LIFE VIRTUALLY FISHING. /3 HOURS/.

Enough said. I need to make a WoW icon for my LJ for posts of this nature...

Summary!

2006-02-03T21:17:01Z

Ganked from Reno_chan again. Yup.

You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything.
You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life.
You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you.

Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace.
You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life.
Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times.

At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you.
You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others.
You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?

I always thought they were innard-coloured.

2006-02-03T20:56:05Z

Haha. Okay, sure. Ganked from Reno_chan.

Your Heart Is Purple

For you, love is about establishing and developing a deep connection.
If it's true love, it brings you more wisdom and inner strength.

Your flirting style: Sincere

Your lucky first date: An afternoon at a tea house

Your dream lover: Is both thoughtful and expressive

What you bring to relationships: Understanding

What Color Heart Do You Have?

New Year Goodness!

2006-01-30T17:31:56Z

Stolen from.. lots of people. It says I'm a snake, but I was born so early in '77 that I really fall in dragon. So maybe I'm a very snake like dragon, smaller. Like Muushu!

You Were Actually Born Under:

Popular and crafty, you are a master at the art of seduction.
You are intelligent and intuitive - and make a savvy businessperson.
You live life to the fullest, even if it means maxing out your credit cards.
Many people are secretly (and hopelessly) in love with you.

You are most compatible with a Rooster or Ox.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You have both a fiery energy and a warm heart.
Your charisma and charm makes it easy for you to influence others.
Lucky in life, you also have a reputation of being lucky in love.
Power hungry, you are determined to get what you want - no matter what it takes.

You are most compatible with a Monkey or Rat.

What Year Were You Born Under?

Such a goob!

2006-01-14T04:04:43Z

I found an awesome book while I was out tonight - A Field Guide to the Wildlife of the Star Wars universe. It's a large, all color book, broken down by planet, containing pages upon pages of cool sketches of the wildlife in the universe. It's truly like a field guide -- little behavioral sketches, annotations, the works. This thing makes the inner artist and the inner SW goob thrilled. So cool. :)

Nocturne under the belt...

2006-01-12T16:27:30Z

Well, I finally finished Shin Megamie Tensei: Nocturne last night. I put it down when Digital Devil Saga came out, and didn't pick it back up until after I finished Digital Devil Saga 2 (which came out about 4 months after the first).

Replay Value: High. There are different endings, loads of demons to recruit and I'm sure I missed a lot, since I didn't use the guide for all of the game. For Philemon's sake, it's the best damn(ed) RPG ever made, of COURSE it has good replay value.

Best Replay Bonus Feature: (1) bonus stats at start (2) 1st person perspective is now available (this brings me back to the early days Shin Megami Tensei: Revelations (Persona 1)).. I *heart* first person perspective dungeon crawling.

My first game through I ended it with no Reason affiliation, siding with Yuko ultimately. I think this time I'm going down to the bottom of the Amala Network.

So very cunning...

2006-01-08T15:39:44Z

So, those of you familiar with the Sci-Fi series "Firefly" will know what the cunning hat is. Jayne's mom's infamously hideous hand knitted hat. I'm currently making a mock version right now, to see if the pattern I have for it is acceptable. So far, it's pretty cool. I'm knitting on the round with size 10 needles, with two strands of yarn at once for bulk and thickness. All around, a new experience; I have never knitted with needles so big, nor have I knitted with two strands at once. Knitting on the round, however, is common place for me (I Harry Potter style scarves on the round).
All in all, I'm feeling very cunningly about the hat so far. It's a quick knit, because the stitches are so large. I'm looking forward to making a pompom - I've never done that before either.

UPDATE: Hat is done. I finished it in one day. SO COOL. I can knit hats!! *squee* I must try a more complex one now!

Back to Work....

2005-12-27T15:27:11Z

Well, back to work after a slightly extended weekend. Didn't want to come in, but I'm here. I have a lot to do since a co-worker is still on vacation (until January) and I'm doing all of her work in addition to my own.

I realize I need more LJ icons; now that I have this paid account, I've got so many spaces to fill! I want to make/draw my own, so maybe a project for this week - I've been wanting to draw anyway, now I can draw with a purpose.

It's only 10:24am and I'm already looking forward to a) lunch with learan and b) being done with work for the day. I get to pick up s1ncer1ty from the metro today, which is cool! I sit at the station and work on Sudoku, which is a delightful wind down from a day of semi-mindless work.

And speaking of which, time to get back to it. More later, I'm sure.