Monday, September 22, 2008

The EPA

While I generally agree with the ideals of the Environmental Protection Agency, I think sometimes they overstep their bounds.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

"Excel"ent?

I have spent this weekend trying to stuff my brain full of the workings of Microsoft Excel in the hopes that I can ace an exam tomorrow which will qualify me for a super job here in Winona in a field that I've never worked in before. I have no idea what will be on this test, so I have no idea how prepared I am or should be. I am feeling a little tense, and a little brain-dead.

The nice thing is that Excel is, for all intents and purposes, pretty damn easy to figure out - especially since I cut my technological teeth on Microsoft Works spreadsheets, databases, and the like; it isn't as though the programs are drastically different, I've just not used them in some time. Luckily, tutorials aplenty can be found on the glorious internets; the main problem there, of course, is some tutorials only take me so far, some rehash stuff I already know but throw in cute little tips in the middle of the rehashed stuff, and some teach me things that I can't imagine needing to know, like how to make a pair of die in the program that can be rolled for random numbers...

I am tempted to break out the AD&D program we've got and roll up a monster treasure list to enter in and play with in Excel. See if I can calculate total gp values, xp, and whatnot.

All I really know is that doing well on this test means that I stand a good chance of not having to work in a factory again, and that makes my little heart go hoppity-skip. I really really wish I had a better idea of what was going to be asked of me on this test.

And here comes a headache... Let's see... a glass of wine, or a pair of ibuprofen?

And now that I mention it... Living in Brookings set me up for a state of extreme culture shock. It's not the people, it's not the way that the streets are arranged, or anything like that.

This place has liquor stores. STORES! Many of them! There are five that I can think of just off the top of my head, and I haven't even explored that much! I feel like I'm in bizzarro alchy land.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Squee!!!

I have a new obsession.

The Daily Puppy

Pictures of puppies every day forever and ever. Nick is quietly laughing at me as I'm going through the archives making squeaking noises over all the cute puppies they have here.
Soooooo much cuteness!

I don't know why Nick is surprised at my behavior. He and I have both agreed that we're not interested in having children in our lives, but when the time is right, we can get ourselves a dog (or four...). Obviously, this is going to be many years down the road, when he's got himself a nice cushy teaching job, probably on a tenure track, and we've got a house with a yard and the time to actually train our little guy(s). We're both enthusiastic about Rottweilers, Huskies, and German Shepherds.


I've got a special place in my heart for Welsh Corgies (see first photo).

I'm almost on cuteness overload. I have no idea how people can want babies more than puppies.