The Remake Revolution

While talking about The Bionic Woman (yawn) with my mum, I said:
"It's a recent fad to remake old TV shows. Next thing you know, they'll be remaking Gilligan's Island."
That, of course, set my mum laughing.
And then, I said (don't ask where I came up with this line): "Well, actually, they did. It was called Lost."
Hee! Made my mum giggle even more.

400 posts

I just noticed that my post yesterday was my 400th post. Woo hoo!

If I didn't believe the weather reports (which I often don't, since weather in CO is so variable), I did believe the warm front. So I wasn't surprised when I got up this morning and saw snow falling outside. OK, I thought it would be later in the day.
I went to the gym, and when I was done, I was getting my stuff from the lockers and saw a cooking segment on a news show, where they were roasting vegetables. It looked so good (and I've been on a bit of a vegetable kick), I had to stop by the grocery store and get a bunch of veg to roast. Well, I was already planning to stop and get some chocolate chips. One of the fun things I plan to do this weekend is make chocolate chip cookies. Mmm! All they had were Nestle chips (hrrrm... I usually get Ghiradelli), but I bought them anyway. I figured I survived childhood with Nestle, I would probably be able to make decent cookies with them.

Have a great weekend!

Later: As you can see, I made A LOT of vegetables. I included: two yellow potatoes, two red potatoes, a Russet potato, a sweet potato, a yam, a turnip, three carrots, a butternut squash, a celery root, an onion, garlic, two red bell peppers, two summer squash, two zucchini, and three portobello mushrooms. I didn't put a lot of each of these, but obviously, it adds up. It turned out yummy, however. A good thing, since I have a bunch of leftovers. ;)

A Good Day

Today I got up, went and did some errands AND went to the gym. (I know, on a weekend? But I haven't had much time to do so for the last two weeks, so I've been dying to go.) When I got back I started clearing out the garage. I'm throwing some stuff away, but most of it went into the basement temporarily. Because I had to make room to put the bike in a more out of the way location for the winter, I decided I could reorganize the garage and buy some shelving to organize it on. I love elfa shelving (and it's even on sale for $285, 25% off this weekend!), because of its modularity. When I have more money, I could use the same system and expand it. And, because it's modular, I'd be able to customize it to exactly what I need. BUT, that's a lot of money, especially when I can buy a couple of these Rubbermaid Shelves and maybe one of these Tool Organizers ('cause it looks cool) for half the price. [sigh] Practicality, it's hard to argue against.

Anyway, after I finished up emptying the garage, I took my (probably) last motorcycle ride of the year. I went on I-70 to 56 to Golden, then north on 93 to Boulder (where there was a bunch of traffic for a CU Boulder football game, grrr). I did a little bit of searching at that point, 'cause I thought I wanted 157, but I actually wanted 119, but I found it and headed northeast to Longmont. Finally, I headed south on Countyline Road to Lowell and thence to home (with a little jog over to Federal where Lowell doesn't continue through). See the map to the left for my circuit. (Ignore the yellow markers, I just used them to show turning points.)
The weather was gorgeous Colorado fall weather. A storm system is pushing some warm air in front of it, so we had a warm day, with temps reaching the 70s, and tomorrow it will be 39 for the high. It was not too cold, not too hot. (I did wear my chaps, just in case, but took the liner out of my jacket.) The scenery was, of course, lovely. I didn't go up into the mountains, but skirted the foothills and went through lots of farmland. It was a bit windy at times, but not too bad. The landscape was all yellow and brown, very fall. I called my family in the area, but neither Gregg and Amy nor Aileen and Brian were at home when I was in their area, so no visiting. Maybe next time.
I got back with plenty of sunshine and warm weather to spare (though it was getting noticeably cooler), so I let the cats out to play and I did a repeat of the tea, cheese, fig jam, and a good book routine. It was lovely.
Now, I think I'll do some laundry (which has gotten way behind) and watch some Heroes. It's getting very tense here at the end. They did a very good job showing how bad the baddie is and then in the following episode, showed his vulnerability as he was faced with his own death and possibility of mass murder (as opposed to serial killing, which he is fine with). It's very well done. Also, they showed what the heroes might be like if they failed and Peter Petrelli is yummy as a bad-boy good guy. [Grrrrrowl]

Hope the weekend is treating you all well!

Oh, and I survived my first sneeze-while-driving-a-motorcycle! I hate sneezing while driving, so when I had to sneeze on the bike, I thought "uh oh." It was fine, of course. No worse than sneezing while driving a car.

And one more tidbit - I canceled my landline (phone) recently. The gal at the phone company asked if my address would be the same, so they could send me a statement. "Great," I thought, "How much are they going to charge me to turn off the phone?" Turns out they gave me money, 'cause you're always paying for the upcoming month in advance. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The phone company - aka Evil Incarnate -- turns out to be a normal business after all. Wow!

Last of the Graphic Exams

I took the Building Planning Exam today. I was nervous, 'cause I wasn't sure about getting part of it done in time. I only recently started completing it within the time limit, and I wasn't sure if that was just because I was seeing the same ol' program with my own changes in it, or 'cause I was actually getting better.

I apparently prepared enough. The interior layout went like clockwork. I even had time and space in the drawing to decide what looked best and how would they actually want it in the real world. Wow. Didn't think I'd be able to do that.
The building design went fine as well. I had time to fiddle over requirement interpretation. I had the time to put in very literal interpretations, so the resulting design is not as clean and simple as I would like, but it fulfills all the requirements. (I hope!)

I think I did everything right, but of course there's that nagging thought of "what if you left out something vital?" So, I wait. And start studying for the first of the multiple choice exams. After I take the weekend off. Yippee! :D

(A co-worker tried to joke that ignorance is bliss, but I had to correct him. NOT when you're waiting for test results!)

Nervous Nellie

I'm taking the Building Planning Exam tomorrow morning.
I've been a bit nervous all week about this one because I was having trouble getting one of the parts (Interior Layout) done in the time allowed. I've been trying to practice a couple times per night, but then I was getting nervous that I was ignoring the other section (Schematic Design), since I had only practiced it once. Tonight, I practiced that neglected section and got done with plenty of time to spare. I forgot a couple things, but that's a good thing, 'cause now I'll know to be extra careful about those items. I also practiced the one I'm nervous about a couple times. The first time, it seemed a little too easy, so for the second one, I put a few more requirements on the program. That was good, because I spent the last twenty minutes of the time trying to squish in those last couple items. I say that's a good thing because it forces me to think creatively. Not to arrange furniture in pretty and realistic configurations, but to cram in every stick of furniture, no matter how ugly the solution. As long as has the required clearances. I did just fine and was able to come up with several creative solutions. The fact that I had time to fiddle with it means that I'm getting faster at the initial layout. That is great news.
I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be, so now it's time for a good night's sleep!
I'll let you know how I did tomorrow!

Blog Bites

Fred Willard (aka "Paul, Paul, the... pig on the ball") is in a new show called Back to You, with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. The show's your typical sitcom (so not worth watching) but it was nice to see him and remember the good ol' days with Fairy Tale Theater.
He was also the announcer in Best in Show, which Aileen finally saw recently and enjoyed.

I'm a little bit nervous about the exam on Friday. I kinda wish I had planned it for Monday, so I'd have the weekend to practice, but I had wanted to have a weekend "off" to celebrate finishing the graphic exams and I couldn't really do that if I finished them on Monday. So, I'll prepare as best as I can and then enjoy the weekend! The weather is supposed to be gorgeous on Saturday, so maybe I'll go for a motorcycle ride, go up to visit Susan or Max (and Jenn) or stop by Gregg and Amy's on the way back to Denver. And, I'd love to do some baking. And I need to organize the garage. And maybe I'll see a movie (though I don't know what's on right now). We'll see. Right now, I should be studying, so... cheerio, folks!

Later: Yeesh. I need to practice that interior layout stuff some more. The time constraint is killing me on that one. I've done the building layout once and did a decent job, but I'm definitely planning to practice that at least once more. The interior layout is just not as easy for me as the other stuff was. Practice practice. I think I'll skip the gym tomorrow and do a practice test instead.

Another One Bites the Dust

Almost went to bed without reporting how the second exam went...

There were three parts, one long one (site design) and two short (site zoning and site grading). The two short were easy (I hope -- they sure seemed easy). Site design, however, was a nail-biter. It took me a while to find the solution -- the right relationship between all the pieces -- and then I drew it up. Then, I went through my checklist and found that I had one of the buildings turned the wrong way. Oh s*%^. I metally freaked out for about 5 seconds (it had taken me over an hour to put together the solution I had, and I had 20 minutes left), and then I got a hold of myself. I turned the building the way it needed to go and pushed a few pieces around a bit and presto, in a few minutes, I had a workable solution. I double checked my checklist and everything seemed OK, so I said I was done. There's nagging doubt, of course, that I messed it up, but I think I did OK. I hope. Eeep! :\

Ouch (or, To Stacey)

Got my second tattoo today. Damn, it hurts like a m***** f*****. I had forgotten (like a woman forgetting labor pains, I suppose). It makes me sad that I missed sharing my friend Stacey's experience (I forget why now -- all I remember was that it was a stupid reason). Having a friend with you makes it go much better. :( Sorry, Stacey!

Coincidentally, Stacey gave me a really fun t-shirt today. The front says, "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel." Heh. :) Thanks so much!

Later: Per matriarchal request, a photo of the new artwork. I'm showing it upside down because that is how it appears to me. My first tattoo is on the right-hand side. The first one was "upside down," because it was for me. This one (and the next one) are more about me and the outside world, so they will be "right side up." Also, I thought it would be cool if they switched orientation.