NorthWitch's Ramblings - Kiri Made Me Do It!

Cold, colder... Frozen solid!

2010-11-27T10:31:00.005+01:00

Stole this from icanhascheezburger.com

Feeling a little along the lines of this, lately. My brain just won't work right, and the inspiration I crave in order to actually write something seems to have gone off to greener pastures.

My new wardrobe is up, thanks to my very kind big brother who spent two days on that project, because he decided on a few improvements that would make it even better and more solid. My hallway is now tiny, but it's worth it.

The Empress is wondering where the hell her look-out spot went, but she's having a blast playing hide-and-seek in the new one.

Eva Cassidy is on high rotation and melancholy seems to have settled in. Yep, winter is coming - as depressing as that is!

Renovations on my apartment building is progressing slowly. They replaced my kitchen window, but failed to finish the job, seem they feel like a half-done job is fine for now. The result is a draft that's sucking all the heat out of my apartment. I'm freezing my ass off!The ventilation system has also been under some maintenance, another thing that adds to the heat not staying where it's supposed to be. Gonna catch pneumonia unless they get their asses in gear and finish the job here. The heating bill alone is going to kill me!

I have a project in store for today. Having to move everything from one wardrobe to the new one, I'll be glad when it's done, but not looking forward to actually getting started. Gonna have to warm up the bedroom a little before I can actually get started, or I'll freeze to death in there...

Here's to wishing me lots of luck in that endeavor!

Went 'shopping' last night...

2010-09-05T11:56:00.009+02:00

... Shopping as in visiting an online store I do some shopping from. Came out pretty good, a pair of new shoes, a new coat, two over-sized jumpers and a cowl that follows one of the jumpers.

I've never really been a fan of shopping for clothes in actual stores, too many people (I'm claustrophobic and hate crowds) and having to try everything on in the store. I prefer shopping online, try it on at home and return whatever doesn't fit.

Shot off a couple of emails to Kiri to show her the shoes and coat, there was purring heard from Virginia over both items. The shoes are wedges and they have the same style as my newest pair of boots that I ordered from the same place about a month ago. I decided I needed the shoes too as boots aren't always the best choice depending on the weather.

The coat is for when the weather gets a little colder than what it is right now. This weekend has given us the best weather in a few weeks. It was even good enough to hang some laundry outside, not bad in itself as I have no room for hanging laundry inside and would have to use the dryer, which draws so much power, it isn't even funny.

These are the boots I bought about a month ago, very comfortable to wear.

These are the shoes I ordered last night. Should be as comfortable as the boots.

I love over-sized jumpers, these are a greyish purple.

Slightly different and Black.

The cowl that goes with the first jumper.

The coat! Don't think I need to say too much about this one...

Not too much else to report. I'll just let Kiri know where she can get the whole shopping-list I put in last night, and leave it at that.

Here Kiri, Kiri, Kiri...

2010-08-23T19:32:00.005+02:00

Sshhh... Be wevvy, wevvy quiet, I'm hunting for Kiri-shaped friend...

Yeah, I found my way back here, too bad Kiri hasn't been enticed to make a comeback yet. I'm not giving up, though, far from it. I'm a stubborn wench, make no mistake about it!

I fear Kiri's work situation remains shaky. This meaning that she's stuck temping again, and unable to keep regular hours. I hate this situation she's in and wish it didn't have to be like this, but with things being the way they are, work-wise in the US, I'm afraid it might be a long while until she can be lured back in here.

I see her on Facebook, from time to time, but never having time to chat. Too busy at work and not allowed to poke her head out of her tasks long enough to say 'Hey!'. Kinda sucks seeing as I miss her and need my playmate.

The Empress has grown to her full size now, and yes, she's a big, heavy girl. Though, she's still able to look kinda on the skinny side. Don't ask me how she does it, I have no clue, but I'd pay good money to learn her secret. She remains playful and attention-seeking and her sable claws are still lethal!

I'm no longer a scratch-post for her to trim them on, but I remain her favorite chew-toy. Thankfully, she never bites down hard, so there's no blood loss anymore.

Summer is singing on its final verse here in Norway. Today was sunny and warm, but the wind told me that Autumn is coming. I'm not ready for that, summer was too short and rainy this year. Not to mention the fact that I spent all three weeks of my vacation-time in bed, sick. No fair!

In other news, I need a new keyboard... again... Keyboards do not like being laced with The Empress' fine fur and keeps locking up. I had to go back to an older one because the newest one just up and died on me. Those keys were still in good working condition, not so much on this one!

My jaw locked up on me one week into my vacation, and have remained stubbornly locked in place ever since. This is week five with that painful condition. I think it's a tendon that tightened itself up, and it's not showing any sign of loosening up again anytime soon.

I should really make an effort to come up with topics to write about, but I'm no newshound, nor am I particularly political. I'm the type that look through the different agendas around electiontime and pick whomever have the most topics I agree with. In a pinch, I'll go with whomever I disagree the least with. I don't follow political debates and I get my news in online newspapers. I rarely go to the movies, so I can't even write about that. I do tend to go for nostalgic walks down memory lane with old TV shows I used to follow. I get my hands on them now to see if they still capture med as they used to. Sometimes, I'm left with an aghast feeling of 'Did I ever actually follow that crap?' Other times, as the case was with the A-Team, I get right into the old groove of it and enjoy every second of it. So what topics to write about?

I still bitch, moan, ramble and complain. Sometimes quite coherently, other times... not so much... I hope I'm not mellowing out already, I was hoping to save that for when I got really old!

Trying to get into Airwolf again, but I don't feel the same about that show as I did back then. It's not a bad feeling, just that it's not quite how I remembered it. again, not bad, just... Not the rush I used to get from that show.

Time to get my attention elsewhere, it seems... The Empress just tried to eat my ring, in her 'Ooooh shiny!' way. Time to give her a little attention again... it's been all of fifteen minutes since the last session!

Oh Sweet Nostalgia...

2010-08-21T19:17:00.006+02:00

Yes! At long last, I've found my way back to blogspot. Now to lure Kiri back to the fold for some more chaos and mayhem... ::Rubs hands together in gleeful anticipation::

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying a nostalgic viewing of all five seasons of the A-Team. This is a series I well remember following on Sky Channel more than 20 years ago. A lot of years, but I discovered that it still appeals to me and brings me back to who I was back then. Yes, I still find myself carried away by this show, no matter how campy and cartooney it was, something appealed to me then and still does today.

I decided a trip down nostalgia lane was required after they decided to turn it into a movie, where new actors portray these characters I loved so much. Sure, Liam Neeson is a great actor, no denying that. But he’s not Hannibal Smith, George Peppard was! I’m even more skeptical that someone other than Dwight Schultz is going to portray Howlin’ Mad Murdoch, my all-time favorite of the bunch. Dwight Schultz left ginormous galoshes that I doubt anyone can fill, no matter how good they’ve been in other movies. I cannot see anyone but Dirk Benedict as Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck., not to mention replacing Mr. T as B. A. Barrackus (sp?). To me, it’s all sorts of wrong to have someone else play these characters immortalized by these four actors. I’m equally sure it’s hard for other fans as well.

That some remakes of old shows and movies come out good aside. Some might remember the uproar when they made the new Battlestar Galactica series, even though the makers made sure it was known that this was set 40 years after the original. Personally, I never saw the original. It was before my time as a sci-fi fan, so I had no problem enjoying the show for what it was, a continuation of the old, or at least, that’s what the makers said it was. But mostly, remakes of tried and true classics spells disaster.

I worry that characters I loved, will be ruined by new actors lacking the necessary range to portray someone as complex as, for instance, Murdoch. Now, Dwight Schultz had that range, as well as the much needed enthusiasm for this character. It takes a lot of talent to portray someone with as many personalities and wackiness as his character on the show. He went all out, and I fear someone else in that role won’t be able to. Now, I’ll never profess that Mr. T was a huge actor, though he was B. A. to a (wait for it) T… Yes, I said it, no pun intended, but it’s hardly my fault that’s the name he’s chosen to go by, now is it? Equally, I have severe doubts someone other than Dirk Benedict will be able to portray Templeton Peck with as much charm and irony as he did. Where Dirk Benedict was charming, I worry that someone else will be sleazy, or worse, shallow. George Peppard was Hannibal Smith, no one else could do this character justice. No, not even Liam Neeson will be able to successfully pull that character off, in my opinion. It’s the original cast that gave their character their charm and charisma, I have my doubts anyone else could do them justice.

After wandering through all five episodes, I’m left with the same impressions as I had back then. Yes, I still adore H. M. Murdoch and his madness, I still get peeved when B. A. is less than nice to him. I wimper in sympathy when Faceman takes a hit to the face and I still enjoyed a game of ‘Spot Hannibal in his latest crazy disguise’. Mostly, those were dead give-aways, but sometimes they were quite elaborate.

It hardly ever happened that someone got killed on this show. Injured, sure, but not killed. At least not that the viewers ever saw it, but it was sometimes mentioned that someone had been killed. The worse we saw was B. A. taking one in the leg in season 1 and needing a blood-transfusion from Murdoch to replenish his blood loss, Murdoch taking a bullet for Hannibal in season two, which almost killed him and Face taking one in the chest in season five, which almost killed him. I hear, in the remake, people get killed left, right and center, which makes it all wrong to me as it’s completely opposite to the original concept.

I’ve also heard rumors about Airwolf. I hope it’s a rumor. This is another show I followed on Sky Channel. I can’t imagine anyone but Jan-Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine as Stringfellow ‘String’ Hawke and Dominic ‘Dom’ Santini. I’ll remain fearful until I get confirmation or a definite denial on that one.

Yep, the nostalgia is in full force this time. I’ll be enjoying my way through the different seasons of Airwolf as well, well, at least up to that point where they went in and ruined it completly.

The DVD box sets of the first two seasons of the A'-Team are on order and on their way to my mailbox, I intend to make place for all five seasons in my DVD library. The other three seasons aren’t available in the web shop I ordered from yet, so I’m considering heading over to amazon.co.uk to get the others from there. I’m not known for my patience when there is something I’d like to get my hands on… I want these boxes last week!

Long time, No see...

2009-04-09T16:58:00.004+02:00

Wow, it's been a ridiculous long time since I was in here.

Let's see, what have I been up to...

I've been busy at my Live Space, doing stuff in my own mother tongue for a change. I've wound up on Facebook and have discovered that it's really not that scary there. We're doing multi-skill at work, which means I know answer questions on all products. That included a pay rise, so I'm not complaining. besides, we have all these sweet guys there ready, willing and able to help when a particularly tricky problem rears its ugly head.

Kiri has not been seen in months... I miss her terribly and hope she gets back into the swing of things soon. This must be killing her, not going to work. It's nice enough to be at home for a few days, but then you start to miss being useful. At least that's how it was for me when I was out on sick leaves.

The Empress has grown even more. Georgia would probably be dwarfed by her if they were ever to meet.

It's Easter Holidays here, so I have five days off from work. Well, including the weekend which I always have off anyways... I have canceled my ADSL and upgraded my cable Internet to the max, which is about 20 MB, have I noticed a difference? Oh yes! All for the better!

I've been visiting ShadowRider's blog a few times, she does write a lot about horses, which is all good, I love horses, even if I haven't ridden in years.

I find myself spending more time on Facebook than anywhere else, these days. Some fun games to be played there, and most of the people I work with are there. But someone is missing... Yeah, Kiri!

So, Kiri, my sweet and wonderful partner in crime, if you happen by... Know that I miss you... Loads!!!

Missing my Kirishaped Friend!

2008-08-28T15:18:00.003+02:00

Wow! That's all I can say, and sorry! Sorry is meant exclusively for Raina i.e.: my Kirishaped friend!

I'm heading full speed into the last weekend of my three week vacation, and I realize that I've been lax about updating here.

Three weeks flew by too fast for my liking, my only consolation is that I have two more weeks to do with as I please before the year is up!

Poor Kiri have seemed so swamped lately, that I have chosen not to initiate conversation in fear of getting her into trouble or distracting her. Figuring that I'll let her initiate if she has the time. Obviously, she's not had any of that for weeks. The result is a two way deal;

1. I miss her, terribly! But feel proud that I'm not bugging her when she's busy...

2. I feel like a bad friend for being quiet!

First week of my vacation saw me and my sister, Catwalk, heading to Sweden for a shopping trip on Friday. We didn't really pay attention to the time, so when we got to my place afterwards, we couldn't believe how late it was, it was well past 9 PM - we had left around 2 PM...

Someplace around 11 PM, I drove her back out to her boyfriend's place for the night. I was home well past midnight...

Saturday saw Catwalk showing up at my place again. In desperate need of a shower, as her boyfriend lives in a modified barn, and therefore lacks said convenience. I had offered her the use of my shower, so it's not like she wasn't expected!

She's as slow getting into gear as I am, so it did take some coffee, playing with The Empress and yet more coffee before she finally headed for showergels and hot water. We'd already decided that due to her boyfriend being even harder to get into gear, we wouldn't be able to visit our Grandmother at the nursing home like we had planned. That sucked big time, as Catwalk had been looking forward to that, not having seen her in a long time now.

My second week of vacation was spent being lazy and recuperating from the marathon weekend with Catwalk. The Empress has been getting a lot of attention, and loves every second of it, and I've been watching a lot of movies!

Only thing I did last week, not designed for laziness, was visiting my Grandmother with my mom, and then taking my mom out grocery shopping, as it's difficult for her to get everything she needs when she has to drag it to the bus, for then to drag it from the bus and home.

This week saw me getting all the bills paid and consequently getting broke before I'd even gotten to enjoy having money in my bank account! Wasn't a lot left when I was done!

Yesterday, it was off to visit my Grandmother with my mom again, and getting some of her shopping done again. I got a sudden inspiration late last night, and wound up scrubbing the kitchen counters and the stove. Today, I have big plans for cleaning the rest of the apartment.

My original plan for hosing down the bathroom fell through. It's been rainy and miserable, so I haven't been able to clear everything out in order to get the scrubbing I planned done.

The Empress has been hard at work, hunting down whatever comes in through the open veranda door, keeping the number of flies and such to a bare minimum. Good girl! She's at it, even now...

In addition to bad weather, I have new neighbors above me and to the side. They've been drilling in the walls, hammering and generally making as much noise as possible throughout my vacation. Not to mention that the roadwork on the old bridge is going nearly day and night, making sure I don't get to sleep in in the mornings. Fun!

So, there you go. My vacation so far, and seeing as it's over as of this coming Sunday, there you have it!

Kiri, my sweet, if you do get the time, let me know there is life on your end would you? I really do miss you!

Example of brilliant customer care

2008-07-23T18:34:00.003+02:00

My sister, she of the legs that goes on forever (one thing we have in common), does a lot of shopping online for pants and jeans. Some of her shopping is done at a web store called Baby Phat.

Now, the process of becoming a customer there is a little more that just a tiny bit complicated. She gave me a run-down of a long list of things they demanded of her, including faxing a copy of her drivers license to them.

Her Internet provider got bought up by a larger company, a few months back. One of the changes is a new email addy. My sister, dutifully, shot of an email to Baby Phat's customer care informing them of this turn of events, and asked if they could please see fit to change her contact information to include this new addy. Their response? She has to call them, as per their routines, they can't do this just from an email being sent (which is usually how everyone else does it), she has to call them, in the US on a 1-800 number in order to make that particular change.

Firstly, she's in Norway! A minimum of 6 timezones away, depending on what coast they're located on, she could be a few more timezones away than that! Secondly, 1-800 numbers are not free to call from Norway. My sister only has a cellphone, and dialing the US from a cellphone, is anything but cheap!

My poor sister is now frustrated beyond belief, and at her wit's end. She has commandeered me to help her compose an email that she can paste into whatever replies she gets from them, because - and this is a doozy that is strictly forbidden at most customer care departments - they delete the entire mail history when they reply. Everything she's put into the mail, is gone when the reply arrives. Result? She has to rewrite her entire request and their responses in order for the next person at Baby Phat to understand what the request is all about in the first place.

If anyone at my work (which is customer care) had deleted email history, they'd be in trouble. That's a huge no-no. If not a written warning, then at the very least a verbal one would be the result of such stupidity. At Baby Phat, it seems to be par for the course and 'as per their routines'...

Kiri sits in VA, shaking her head over this, and had this observation on the faxing of the drivers license; 'That can't be legal.' and as for the rule about changing an email addy over the phone, only;'That's stupid!' and 'But then again the chick behind Baby Phat is a moron so I believe it.' And she rounded it all off with this; 'Love stupid American companies.' Also she said, and I quote; 'You need to blog that example of brilliance.'

So, here it is. In all it's blogged brilliance, for everyone to see...

Holy crap I'm lazy...

2008-07-05T12:58:00.002+02:00

Isn't it amazing, just how lazy one can get when it's hot and sunny? And when it's raining so much you get depressed? Doesn't matter, really. When you're lazy, you're lazy, and there are a multitude of excuses. 'It's too hot, I can't be bothered doing that...' 'It's raining so much, it's depressive, I don't wanna do it now...' I openly admit to being lazy, of late. Too lazy, even. So today, I've made an effort to get some shit done.

I've laundered two machines worth of clothes. They're swaying, oh so, gently in the mild breeze, almost dry, already. I've updated both my Live Spaces with new posts. And I have a clear plan to get the vacuum out. Today, I plan to be efficient, without stressing too much, I don't want a relapse of yesterday's migraine.

The Empress has been knocked on her ass by the hot weather, today. She's passed out on her platform. She went for a 'daredevil' run on the veranda yesterday, in the shower we got. Huge raindrops, heavy enough to knock her silly. She left it at that one run, thankfully, as she sprayed everything shaking the rain out of her fur.

She's posed a little in front of my new webcam, in order to let my sister see her. My sister, in turn goes nuts wagging her finger back and forth in front of her own camera, going 'Kitty, kitty, kitty.' The Empress ignores her every attempt at seduction. 'If you ain't here to pet me, you don't exist!' So, she proceeds to investigate everything on the desk, exept the image window on the screen, showing her aunt trying to get her attention.

Earlier this week, before the new camera was hooked up, I activated the old one in a chat with Kiri. I was planning to scare her, a little, but she was anything but intimidated. She did get a couple of eyefulls of Her Furry Highness, though. So all was good in the land of Kiriness.

For some reason, I keep getting error messages when I try to visit Kiri's blog, here on blogspot. I have no idea why, but it's put a dampener on my mood and willingness to blog, as of late. We'll probably figure it out, eventually. It's not as if this is the first time this has happened.

It's vacation time at work, leaving me swamped. Don't get me wrong, I like being a little busy! It makes the day go faster. But there is busy, and there is too damned busy for words. It's the latter, that's been the fact this week at work. And my own vacation time seems too far away to be any comfort.

I've been back to working full time, again, since May 25. There are days when I feel it more in my hands than others. I prefer the days when it's not quite so painful. Gee, wonder why?

Well, if not for anything else, today has seen me updating three blogs. Not a bad days work, if I do say so myself...

Aaahh... Blogspot!

2008-05-25T12:30:00.003+02:00

I kinda feel like I've been neglecting this blog. Been so busy over at Live Spaces and getting into blogging in my own language, this place has seen few updates lately.

Come tomorrow, I'm back to work 100%. About freaking time, is all I'm saying. The arm is far from 100%, but I don't care anymore. 80% has been going good enough that I don't wanna wait anymore.

Kiri has opened up a Space too, but she hasn't done much with it. She ran into some of the same problems my sister did, though she did manage to snag the horoscope service that my sister is still in hot pursuit of. Told my sister, she was aghast that Kiri had managed in one try, what she has been trying to do, but failed at for weeks.

I kinda feel like I've neglected Kiri too, seeing as my blogging at Spaces is in Norwegian, which she doesn't understand. Maybe I should start a second space, in English?

I didn't get to see Def Leppard Friday. The plan that most of the team at work was going dwindled out into nothing, and for some reason, I wasn't informed. They all thought I knew, which I didn't until two weeks before the show. Too late for me to nag anyone else into coming with me, and I really don't like going alone. Too bad too, as the show had raving reviews!

As it turned out, one of the girls was invited to a wedding this weekend, and felt that the wedding had to take priority, which I totally agree with, don't get me wrong. But as she was the one that insisted she'd get all the tickets together, I'd have liked to be informed sooner than I was. I really wanted to go...

After that, one by one fell off the 'wanna go' wagon, and I was the last to be informed. Sucks!

In other news, I've put in an application for another job. This would be a new field for me, but one where knowing customer care can come in very handy. It's at the local consumers office, and there's nothing I like better than solving problems. I really hope they'll consider me, it'd mean better pay and more challenges in my work. I crave challenges, these days. There's really not a whole lot of it where I am now. Occasionally I get a tough case, but they are few and far between, these days. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. It's pointless calling them to ensure they got my application, as it was done electronically, and I've already received confirmation they've got it.

Received an envelope from FedEx, Friday. Four packs of Ranch dressing for my enjoyment. Thank you Kiri, I haven't gotten around to mix any up yet, but I plan to! And now my sister is demanding a taste too...

I need to get a care packet ready for Kiri soon. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I'll think of something. I know she likes my preferred brand of coffee, so there'll have to be a couple of packs of that too.

The Empress is relaxing out on the veranda today. She got no joy yesterday as it was pouring down with rain, but today, the sun is back!

Oh well, time I got my ass moving a little. Things to do, even on a Sunday...

Aah, I so love a Monday off...

2008-05-12T14:57:00.004+02:00

A day off is always welcome, especially when it's a paid day off! Today is the second day of Lent. In Norway, that translates into a 'Red Day'. Red days on our calendar means a day off... With pay, as long as it's not a Sunday or a Saturday that went Red for some reason like Christmas Day or some such. If it's a weekday marked red, I get paid to park my ass at home!

My sister and I have been busy over at Windows Live Spaces for the last couple of days, she's building and cussing like a drunken sailor, and I try to help as best I can. It's really not helping matters that their galleries are down for maintenance at all hours, or that the Horoscope service she wants doesn't wanna hang out on her page. I've had it from the get-go, she wants it, we have trouble!

This weekend has been very hot and sunny. Summer temperatures all last week, today it's still sunny, but with a cold wind. I hope it lets off soon, so that I can keep the veranda door open and The Empress on a leash. Not that it isn't more trouble than it's worth, what with her getting herself tangled up in knots all the time!

Just a quick little update today, as my sister is still toiling over at her page with that darn horoscope service that won't!

I'm happily playing around on my space, creating music- and book lists, and blogging in Norwegian for a change. I'll be over there most of today too, I think...

Kiri, you need to get Messenger Live, and a space to play with. It's fun!

Live Spaces

2008-05-11T10:31:00.005+02:00

There's a nifty new thing I've discovered, thanks to my sister. Windows Live Space, or Spaces for short.

Found an invite in my mailbox about someone named Pia wanting to 'be my friend' at this place. I suspected my sister, but she's been anti-everything along the lines of MySpace and Facebook. As have I, I'm not on either community. Shot off a mail to my sister, to make sure this was from her, and true enough... It was.

So, in I go and set up shop just to pass some time. It's kinda fun, if you overlook all the frustration my sister went through not finding what she wanted. Easy, this place is not! For some reason, my space wound up with a really cool horoscope service. I didn't select it from the list (because I didn't notice it), but now she wanted it. Then we find out that her version of spaces is in Norwegian, my template is in English. Okaaaay, I'll switch my language to Norwegian and set about guiding her to the place I found the horoscope on my list. No go, she found everything I told her to look for, but no horoscope. darn! Then I hit 'save' to make sure I don't lose anything, and my theme is gone! WTF? I go in search of it, and find that it's not available in the Norwegian version. I loved that theme! Fine, change the templates back to English, I can still post in Norwegian. The only thing a lingo change does is change the language of the menu's and content. Finally, I find my theme again, and all is well. Well... Not so much, my sister is now on a mission, she WANTS(!) that horoscope service and has gone off to the galleries in search of it. She's gonna have to look at 88 pages of content! I head over there to see if the search can be narrowed down. I spot the search bar and enter 'horoscopes' and hit the appropriate button to search the gallery, not the web. I get 19 matches. I tell my sister, she speeds off to make her search, typing exactly what I did, hitting the same button I did... 0 matches! WTF(?) again! She did everything I told her to, down to last detail, and where I get 19 matches, she gets 0? Spaces must not like her for some reason... She tried searching in Norwegian, she switched her lingo to English, no matter what she did, she got the same result... 0 matches! By this time, she was furious! So she headed off to the gym so she could get her workout done before they closed the doors, with a solemn promise to return to the hunt when she got back. I kinda felt sorry for the gym...

My space is set to a certain privacy, meaning I have to approve whomever wants to stop by. As it's kept in Norwegian, I don't see non-Norwegians getting too much out of it... Though, there are photo albums... and one of them is dedicated to The Empress...

As it was my sister who lured me into spaces, I've chosen to keep it in Norwegian, just as I decided to keep this spot in English, as it was Kiri who made me start blogging here, and she's American! Not to say that English speaking visitors can't leave a mark in their own language, of course they can. But they'll sadly not be able to read the blog I'm keeping there... so now I have two... and I still blame Kiri, what's up with that? Oh yeah, she made me start in the first place. At least I beat my sister to blogging. She's a creative woman, and she does have a lot of opinions (sound familiar?) but she's not been able to break this barrier she's had about blogging. She made her first post late last night, I doubt it'll be the last!

Meh...

2008-05-10T12:00:00.007+02:00

What a rough last couple of weeks...

For a while there, I was worried my ME had come back to bite me on the ass. I've had no energy aside from crawling out of bed and going to work. I've been hibernating every chance I had to save up strength and energy. This has, of course, pissed The Empress off to the point where she took dumps outside her litter box, just to get some amount of attention. Kiri hasn't 'seen' me at all, aside from a tag here and there on her blog, explaining my absence. I think it's getting better now. I can honestly blame a lot of the lethargy on my cough medicine, which is laced with Morphine, leaving me with a morphine hangover for nearly two weeks. Even though I only had to take it at night to be able to sleep through all the coughing. I've had a couple of nights now where I've been able to sleep without it, and I can feel the lethargy peeling off. Bliss!

The Empress is now seeming to forgive my lack of attention and willingness to be her favorite chew toy, and has been visiting her litter box, dutifully, again. She's currently hanging out on the veranda soaking up the summer temperatures. I know, she's staying in the shade, but still. She does take regular trips inside, to make sure I'm still here to serve as her chew toy. Then, satisfied that I am, she heads back out again.

My mother and her siblings (two younger sisters and one little brother) have been busy cleaning out my grandmothers apartment. With the blessings of said grandmother, seeing as she's not going back there. At 99 and in her weakened state after her illness last winter, she's finally agreed that she's no longer capable of taking care of herself.

I drove my mom to pick up some of the larger stuff she was keeping, pictures and paintings and whatnot, then I noticed that no one had claimed her lemonade set. It's a lovely green set, that I have loved since I was little. My mom got one of her sisters on the horn, and was informed that if I wanted it, I should grab it, no one else had said anything about keeping it. So, now it's sitting pretty in my cabinet!

Glasses, plates, a bowl and the pitcher. Oh
and some of my crystals...

I did get a scare last week, when on the very day of Kiri's day off, three (yeah, not one, not two, but three!!!) twisters hit Virginia. As I'm not quite sure of the geography of Virginia, I have no idea where on the map Kiri actually is, so I had a near panic attack. Day after, she was back at work and could tell me over the IM that they hit nowhere near her and to start breathing again!

I've had two weeks at my new desk at work, and I can only say... I freaking hate it! I want my old desk back, I get no peace where I'm seated now, and the distractions are twenty times what they were back by the wall. Also, I miss my three sweet boys! They kept the distractions to a minimum and only bothered me when they truly needed a quick answer. Bless their hearts, they kept me entertained with their constant (good natured) bickering, and they were easy to tune out when I needed too. The noise level where I am now is harder to tune out. There was no noise by the wall, just a hum... At least my team leader said it wasn't permanent and that there's always a chance I can get it back, just not yet. They needed my desk for the two new ADSL boys that came over from the other call center, y'know, the one I was at before? Yep, they came over from cellular solutions, private market and wanted to learn ADSL. Hence, I had to vacate my desk.

Even here at home, I don't get to keep my desk to myself... As evidenced by this:

Take note of how carefully she blocks my access to my keyboard!
This was taken just last night, so it's the most recent picture
of The Empress.

I've also been preoccupied with the online newspapers, covering the Incest scandal in Amstetten, Austria. I'm just horrified that a father can do something like that to his own child. It angers me that it happens, and I feel a sense of hopelessness that I have no power to do anything about it. It's been a heavy topic at work, I think we all feel the same way about it.

Today, I have big plans to do some cleaning. I've been lax about it during my flu and the last couple of weeks worth of morphine induced lethargy. Just to avoid temptations, I'll turn the computer off and get to work... Later!

Gah!

2008-04-25T15:48:00.005+02:00

Gah, indeed!

I'm finally starting to feel alive again, after a couple of weeks of pure, undiluted hell. My doctor's not too sure about what exactly I've been having. I've described it as the Spring cold from Hell, my doctor thinks maybe a flu type of thing and was worried about possible pneumonia in the makings. All I know for sure is, I have cold sores all over my bottom lip, and my right nostril is completely scabbed shut with two or three more. Hurts like hell, too! Seems the tip of my tongue has also gotten somewhat of a cold sore, as it's constantly stinging and in the words of Jar Jar, 'my tongue is fat!'

I'm pretty sure it was one of the boys at work that gave me this nifty little pressie, he's very truly sorry and have apologized profusely. I know for a fact that I then handed it over to my brother. Then my mom told me that my uncle, who I haven't seen at all for a looooooong time, had something similar, so she was thinking virus. Lends credence to the doctors belief that it was the flu. The fever has subsided to a point where it's no longer noticeable unless it spikes violently, but the coughing is about to do me in.

The only thing about this last week that's been any good, is the arrival of true Springtime. Yes, capitol 'S' for this one. The sun's been shining, it's been nice and warm and The Empress has spent everyday outside on the veranda on her leash. She'd only come inside when her ears were cold sometime during the late afternoons. And yes, her ears were cold! Today is the first this week where there is no sunshine, cloudy and gray, but no rain! ::knocks on wood::

Keeping to my doctors orders, I haven't been to work this week. Not that I've actually been able too. I've strapped The Empress into her harness and tossed her out to the veranda (door open, I'm not heartless) and crawled back into bed, exhausted.

I've been mostly too tired to bug Kiri this week, don't think she's minded the least bit, just imagine how much work she's been able to get done, without me breathing down her virtual shoulder.

So, considering I've spent most of this week under my covers and only coming up for air for a few minutes at a time, I really don't have much in the way of a true update. Sorry about that, I'll try to do better, I promise...

Thank all good forces, it's Friday!

2008-04-11T06:30:00.005+02:00

Early Friday morning in Norway. It's raining again... Heavy fog too. Hope it clears up like it did yesterday, which turned out sunny and kinda warm seeing as the icy wind let up.

I've been doing my tagging duties over at Kiri's place, and now I'm just sitting here, wrapping myself around my second cup of coffee.

I'm up to working 80% now. First day was yesterday. Told my esteemed team leader right off of bat; 'I'll be taking it nice and easy today. Just so that you know. I'm easing myself into this.' That was no problem for her, she expected me to and would probably be annoyed with me if I went full steam ahead after adding 20% to my workday. Not that any of us saw much of her all day, anyway.

I made it through my day, avoiding doing myself more harm, so that's a good sign. At least I hope it is.

Kiri is going gaga over the Iron Man movie about to come out. I'm eagerly awaiting The Forbidden Kingdom starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Should be interesting. From the trailers I've seen, it looks like old school Kung Fu, movies. With magics and fighters flying gracefully around. As I adored Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and loathed Kung Fu Hustle, this will be more to my taste.

After watching the Iron Man trailer over at Kiri's, the one thing that stuck with me was; I could hear Ozzy towards the end saying; 'I Am Iron Man!' Sweet.

Well, no time for more ramblings at this time. I really need to get ready for work, later!

Sweet Relief!

2008-04-09T19:47:00.004+02:00

Seriously, it's a relief - and it's sweet!

Got our tax returns this week, well, mine arrived today. Last year hurt like a bitch, wound up owing back taxes for the first time in my life. I've always gotten refunds, what gave? The arm thing, that's what did it. So I wasn't very optimistic about this years returns. I even debated with myself whether or not to open that damned envelope. 'I'll just take it over to my mom, let her open it and break it to me gently!' Then thinking better of it, 'Nah, she'd never let me live it down. Take your damn medicine and open the thing!' Obedient as always, I did what I was told and opened it... Jackpot! I'm getting a refund!!! ::Does a happy dance::

I've been carrying a giant knot in my stomach, waiting for the tax returns - convinced I was going to end up owing back taxes again. I felt the knot loosen up as I was calling my mom to give her the good news. I was wiped by the whole thing. Maybe tonight, I won't be plagued with heartburn, as I have been every night since last Thursday, when they started sending these things out...

Yesterday, Kiri posted a message of concern, I'd been quiet again, no bugging her on Monday. Well, I was watching the Triple H - King Of Kings DVD, and completely forgot to turn off my IM's invisibility setting. Dang! Off it came and I gave her a holler. Turned out she'd gotten a little too much work done, and wasn't having any of it!

Wrestling, you say? Yeah, I'm a bit of a fangirl at times. My inner geek comes out to play watching the action. Of course, my inner geek comes out to play a lot at times. Movies, comics, TV shows I can't do without... and wrestling!

Work has been good, my arm is getting a little better, I think. Could be because my two main areas have been fairly quiet, so I've been on the phone a little more. I like being on the phone at times, especially when I can actually provide assistance and take care of a problem for a customer. I hate getting yelled at for no reason other than being the poor sap that got the caller, but I'm no different than anyone else on my team, in that respect. Good thing for me, I don't take crap, and I let them know; 'Wanna yell, fine! It's not gonna get your problem fixed. Wanna get the problem fixed? Fine, shut up and let me ask the questions!'

Fortunately, on business solutions, we have very few screamers calling in. Though, we have noticed that there are a lot of people so stupid, they shouldn't be allowed to own a freaking business, least of all a cellphone or a computer!

My hellweek, week after Easter gave some interesting feedback from my team leader. She'd been getting feedback from the other team leaders about me, as they had gotten it from just about everyone that had been at my desk asking questions about this and that. Turns out, I'm just so cheerful and nice all the time, they had to tell their team leaders, who in turn told my team leader when she got back from her Caribbean cruise. And here I was worried I had been bordering on crabby from the giant workload I had to take care of alone. It was, it seems, all in my head. Good, I hate being crabby when people ask how to do something correctly. I'd rather tell them how to do something right when they ask, than having to fix the mess after they bungled it because they didn't ask in the first place. So, I did manage to be nice and friendly at all times - Yay me!

Well, I'm gonna bask in the glow of getting a tax refund and go bug Kiri now... Later!

Saturday Morning Reflections

2008-03-29T13:03:00.006+01:00

This last week at work was nothing, if not stressful. Talk about cramming a shitload of work into 4,5 hours. Got the results for Wednesday, a whopping 109% efficiency delivered. Acceptable results are actually 65%. Yeah, we get measured on efficiency at my workplace. Unless we deliver, the client can fine us for not doing a good enough job.

Apparently, no one had anything to say about my performance, in the face of, apparently, unbeatable odds. I worked my ass (and arms) off, and they knew it!

I was fortunate enough to be allowed to hide under my headphones, with my own choice of music blaring in my ears. Thursday was all Korn, Friday was a little bit of Korn and a whole lot of BLS. Yep, I love working with music in my ears. I work faster, I'm not bothered by chatter around me and the only thing I have to fight is the urge to get up and dance...

The other veteran was back at work, yesterday, meaning I had a normal day again. It was heavenly! I only had my own shit to worry about, as he was up to his eyeballs in his, as usual. I still had to take whatever came form the main office, though, as he was pressed enough for time. Thankfully, it was only one case that required my attention, so it was dealt with accordingly.

Kiri was extremely quiet yesterday. But then, so was I. I opted not to bug her too much, and wound up not bugging her at all. See? I can be quiet and considerate!

Today, I plan on staying off the computer, mostly anyway. I have a load of new DVD's that's been begging for my attention. I'm gonna have to answer that call and declare a movie marathon, of sorts. I'll just have to step outside and get some more Ginger Ale (only sugary beverage I drink) and a new batch of microwave popcorn... Preferably buttered! I'm already set with chocolate...

I know I'm gonna be watching the Transformers movie. Also I should probably watch Extreme Justice, as I had a hard enough time hunting it down. Even harder to Find was Striking Range, had to get them both from the US. Thank the makers of zone free DVD players! Or in my case, Harman/Kardon. Punch in a code and off we go on zone 1 movies, punch the code in again, we're off on zone 2 (Europe) movies. I love my DVD player, it's old and trustworthy. This is the first DVD player I bought, and I dread ever having to replace it. It's a player, not a recorder, so in that respect, I'm way behind the rest of the DVD world. I'm still happy with the quality of sound and picture it offers, so until it goes on the fritz, it stays where it is!

It started raining yesterday, just a light drizzle. It must have intensified during the night, because there's no trace of snow any longer. I'm not complaining. The snow came late, and had everyone groaning. We were so ready for Springtime, it was almost ridiculous. It's still raining, though...

My arms are still angry with me for the punishment I put them through this week at work. Another good reason to stay off the computer today.

Well... Duh!

2008-03-27T18:32:00.006+01:00

Obviously, I have discovered that white writing on black background, is boring. So I'll do mine to brighten things up around here by using all sorts of colors.

Today was, thankfully, calmer at work. Still more than enough to do, but our beloved team leader had returned from her Caribbean Cruise and gave me the 'all clear' to take refuge under my headphones in order to better concentrate. Korn blaring at top volume, kills every other sound around, quite effectively! Also, the beat and drive in their music, makes me work faster, for some reason. I try to work in rhythm with the music, and it ain't slow, I'll grant you that!

I woke up this morning to a horrible noise. Seems The Empress had decided that the heavy glow ball I had bought her more than a year ago, was suddenly the new 'in thing'. She was busily batting it around on the floor making a racket. I hoped it was almost time to get up, that way I could let her keep it and I could stay in bed till the alarm went off... One quick look at the time, no joy! It was 6 freaking AM and I didn't have to get up for a loooooooooong while, yet!

I stumbled out of bed, stubbing my toe in the process, muttered a few choice words under my breath while trying to get my bearing. It was kinda dark and very cold! Got my bearings and headed out to the living room to hunt down the offending racketmaker. The ball, not the cat. Hunted around a little and found it, wrestled the cat for it and returned triumphantly to my nice, warm bed, glow ball in hand.

This means disrupted sleep, my favorite, as it means I'll be dead on my feet, even though I took an earlier night than usual.

The alarm went off on schedule, and true to form. I was dead on my feet. Took me a while to get up and the coffee started and even longer to actually wake up!

Got to work, and had no sooner parked my mitka on my chair, then a team leader from private solutions taps me on the shoulder and orders me off to an information meeting with our client. Gah! I told her, 'No! I don't have time for shit like meetings, I have a shitload of work to do.' She just gave me her shit-eating grin and told me to go. 'Everyone has to go this thing, it's not your fault if something gets left undone today, it's theirs!' Fine, I huffed over to the meeting room only to discover that the prior meeting was still in session. 'Great! They're running late, and I get an even more hectic day because of it.' Finally getting into the meeting, and now we discover that team leaders everywhere had sent people, too many people for that tiny room. Then there was hunting around for more chairs. Took me an hour from when I came in till I could actually get any work done. These things happen, we all know it, but it's still inconvenient.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the team leader in question, she's hilarious and I get along with her, just fine.

An hour later, I look up and see our beloved team leader. 'Hey? What are you doing here? Weren't you off until Monday?' Apparently not. She's brought loads of chocolate for everyone and were handing them out within five minutes of arriving. Told me to stay under my headphones and ignore everything else. Got to love her!

Came home, did the dishes, taqgged Kiri's blog and decided to make a little post. Now to get some dinner started, girl's gotta eat before she keels over, right?

The Gods are CRAZY!

2008-03-25T10:50:00.009+01:00

The weather Gods, that is...

Late March, and now we get all the snow they forgot to dump on us all winter.

I did mention in my post yesterday, the blizzard of Thursday. Well, it started up again yesterday evening, in full force. It's still snowing... I have to say that this is not amusing. I was ready for springtime, and so were the little birdies that had started to come back from their winter migration. Poor things are freezing their little tail feathers off!

My living room looks like a dumping place, right now... The old kitty toy stands in it's corner, demolished. No more than half a minute after my brother and I had finished putting the new one up, she crash landed on the old one, breaking it once and for all!

Old toy...

Meet new toy!

It was the darnedest thing, almost as if The Empress realized that the new toy was all hers and she could get rid of the baby toy. She took one look at the new toy and attacked the old one without abandon. Result, demolished baby toy and pieces of wreckage all over the kitchen and living room area. Oh well, at least my mom and brother got a kick out of it...

Downside is, and yes, there is a downside... The box that made all sorts of funny crinkling sounds is no more. She took a dive into it, as she's been prone to do, and went straight through to the bottom. The contents that had kept her on top of it was gone. All we saw was a silver furball that disappeared into a seemingly bottomless pit. Then the crinkling noises started, louder and wilder than ever before as she rummaged around another new toy. Boy, was she insulted I collapsed the damned thing later that night. I think she's gotten over it this morning, as she's spent the majority of the morning in her new bed on top of the new toy.

Aaah, this be the life...

Wonder if this spot is just as comfortable as the penthouse bed?

Yep, just got to keep it steady, I can totally snooze here!

Mine, ALL MINE! Muahahahahaha...

What can I say? The Empress is spoiled rotten. She knows she's a beauty and she knows how to get what she wants, when she wants it... Belly rubs, butt rubs, tail rubs... a hand, foot, finger, toe, arm or leg to nibble on... Oh yeah, she wants, she gets! I really have minimal say in the matter.

Well, better get ready for work. A new week starts today!

That went by fast...

2008-03-24T21:10:00.006+01:00

... What did? Easter! Five days went by so fast, it made my head spin!

Thursday was probably the calmest day. Never even got out of my pajamas. Spent a big chunk of my evening tagging with Kiri and really not thinking about anything else.

Friday I headed to Sweden with my friend. We spent more than four hours wandering around the mall there. Having our 'shopping trip dinner' was also nice, but my how my feet, hips, back and tush were hurting by the time I got home. Yikes!

Saturday, off and running. Had to shop for a few more groceries as everything would be zipped closed tighter than Uncle Scrooge McDuck's wallet for the next two day. I had to have milk and such before that time! So, off I went.

Did I mention we had a blizzard Thursday? Yay, after the warmest winter anyone can remember, we get snow! Lot's of snow... and wind, gale force winds that kept it up all through Friday and Saturday.

Sunday, the wind lets off a little, but it's so cold I didn't want to leave the apartment. I had to, I had told my mom I was coming over for Easter dinner. It was nice, and took the opportunity to ask my brother to swing by today to help with a few things.

He arrived today, with our mom. They'd visited our Grandmother at the nursing home before arriving. We got my carpet mostly sorted out. Something that's gonna have to be a work in progress, as it's curled itself behind my recliner. Seeing as the recliner is heavy, I can't move it alone and fix it, so it's been that way for some time now. The he installed the second DVD burner into my cabinet, as it's been eluding me how the hell to get the freaking front off. We managed, and I'm happy to announce, It was actually me that figured it out! Yay! I'm not so dumb after all!

Then, the coup de grace, if you will? The Empress got her new toy put up!

Yay, this is so much better than the old one...

Hmmm, what's down here...?

You dastardly mouse, I'll get you yet!

Shhhh, this is snooze time...Zzzzz...

This doesn't mean that she's about to surrender her other hang-outs to me, heaven forbid I'd actually be allowed to use my kitchen windowsill for anything so mundane as a flower pot or anything else decorative...

Yeah? And I should care because...?

End of the day, The Empress really loves her uncle. He even took time out of busy schedule (well, her new toy was most important, y'know) to play with her. So now, she's snoozing on top of her new toy, all played out!

Well, that was my update, back to bugging Kiri on Yahoo! messenger...

Oh Happy Day!!!

2008-03-20T16:47:00.006+01:00

Yay! Not only do I have a long weekend, what with Easter and all, Kiri is back!!!
::Does another happy dance as The Empress looks on... unimpressed::

My new keyboard arrived last Saturday, along with my new cellphone. Way earlier than I expected either. So, more joy. And the real kind, not the kind Kiri's harping on about... The kind that's, y'know, not?

I need to snap off some more pictures with this new phone, 5 mega pixels as opposed to the 3,2, that the old phone gave me.

Gonna let Kiri explain herself on her own blog, about the absence and all. Seeing as she only gives cliff notes when prodded.

I had to go the way of Yahoo messenger to get her back, though. Something I had chosen not to install on this computer, what with having Live Messenger and AIM loaded. But alas, it was Yahoo or no joy. I chose the joy part.

Ylva have come back down from her refuge on top of my wardrobe, where she enjoys some quality time with my various bags, boots and shoes. Now she's trying to tell me how to type... sheesh.

Keeping a close watch on her domain from her vantage point atop the wardrobe-tower.

I keep having to swat her grubby little paws away from the keyboard. Seems she's miffed it's not completely covered in her fur yet.

Today has been a day of complete relaxation, tomorrow there are plans for a trip with my friend. We're heading out on a shopping trip to Sweden, again. We always have a terrific time when we do.

Kiri tells me (quite proudly) that she's made not just one, but two entries on her blog. So I should just stress down and quit bugging her about it. Gonna have to go have a look-see, so I'll wind this babblefest up right now.

Unfinished Work...

2008-03-08T16:27:00.003+01:00

... of which I seem to have a lot... ::Shuffles off::

In the absence of having Kiri available online, I have been going through several back-up CD's. Seems I do have a penchant for starting something then abandon it. I have three or four stories that I started on, then walked away from. I tend to start of strong, with a vivid idea in my head, then my interest dwindles and I forget about it. Pulled one out yesterday and started looking through it. The idea still strikes a chord in me, so after rewriting some of the paragraphs, I've decided to try to get back on track with it. Which is hell, right now, as The Empress saw fit to destroy my old keyboard. I've hooked up the keyboard that came with the computer from the store, and I can honestly say, I HATE the freaking thing. They keys are hard and uncomfortable, so typing can no longer be done as I'm used to as the keystrokes don't register. I practically have to pound on the keys to get anything. It's tiresome as well as painful, as my Carpal Tunnel inflammation has come back with a vengeance.

I have ordered the new Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Laser keyboard and mouse set, but they won't get it in stock until 19 March, then I'll have to wait a few days longer for delivery. My old keyboard was Logitech wireless also, so it will probably be more comfortable than this thing I'm pounding on now. Making a split second decision, I also ordered a new cellphone. I've been drooling at the SonyEricsson K850i for a while now. Only reason I haven't bought it, was because they only had the blue light version in stock. I've been holding out for the green light version, as I'm really not too fond of the color blue... I know, it's only a cellphone, but I want my choice of color, or I'll wait! Can't wait till I get my hands on the thing.

Work has been a weird combination of hectic and calm, this week. Calm, because I had the later shift which meant more sleep, hectic because we're plagued with absent people. Illness and vacation robbed us of half the unit this week. No fun for those of us left to pick up the slack. Not that I have any reason to complain, I'm one the 'sick' people working 60% because of these damned arms. And yes, I do feel guilty about it. I know I'm not supposed to, but I do. It means more work for the others when I'm not there.

Apparently I'm getting a nice bonus this month, as I raked in a bunch of sales in February, and that was without even trying! I lack the selling gene. I hate feeling like I'm pushing stuff on customers, so instead I make suggestions that will save the customer money. No lies, just information and they tell me to sign them up seeing that I'm right. It's what a customer support person is supposed to do, anyway. My team-leader agrees that I'm not actively selling, so she was quite happily, floored by the size of my sales bonus. I nearly fell out of my seat, myself! It'll come in handy, no doubt about that!

Crap, I miss Kiri. I have so many ideas I need to fly by her. I can only hope she gets her tush back online soon.

I'll wind this up now, need to fix myself something to eat before I fall over...

Apologies

2008-02-14T10:51:00.010+01:00

Wow! Not having Kiri around online, sure put some syrup into my blogging.

Kiri and I both made our last entries within a week of each other. How's that for weirdness?

So, what's been happening in the lives of the two girls in Norway? Well, The Empress has finally been neutered! She fell sideways into massive heat right before Christmas, let me rephrase that... The Great Grandmother of all H E A T! The heat to end all heats, literally! She was going under the knife first thing after Christmas, that much was certain. And she did, first week of January.

Poor little thing, she was so wobbly and pathetic I didn't have it in me to film her for future reference. I did take a couple of snaps, though. Poor baby, she wanted so badly to jump up onto her platform, but her hindquarters wouldn't cooperate. She kept landing on her back, all four feet in the air.

The wool on her tummy is growing back, the cut was so small it's not even visible anymore. The vet was very pleased with it, mentioned it was probably the smallest incision he'd ever made on a neutering.

I asked him beforehand to take the opportunity of having The Empress out cold, to trim her sabers. Which he did, bless him. He also gave her the one year shot and chipped her, good and proper. So now, if she falls over the ledge on the veranda, she's at least neutered and ID chipped! No bastard kittens to be had, and a fair chance of getting her back should the worst happen.

It haven't calmed her down much, yet. She's still as hyper as she can be. But at only a year and a half, she's still very much a kitten at heart.

She's putting on weight, though. Not that she was fat or too heavy before. The vet put her in the weighing basket while she was out cold, as I had told him to not even bother while she was still conscious. She weighed in at a moderate 2,5 kilos. I'm in Norway, remember? We don't do pounds and ounces, we're metric! Anyway, he told me she was at a decent weight, but putting on half a kilo, wouldn't be too bad. He recommended it. I think she might have heard him, because she does feel a little heavier now.

First snapshot after she fell face-first out of her box. Super-drowsy!

Face glued to my leg. 'I need love and support, 'kay?'

Slightly different angle.

'Mommy let the evil vet at me...'

The incision.

Later, the hated cone came on.

Two days later, seriously hating mom at the moment.

I'm up to working 60% now. I can feel the difference between 50 and 60% in my hand, so the doctor wants to keep me on this level for a bit longer.

It helps a lot that I have my old tasks back, as Business Solutions is now also in charge of Retailers Support! I'M HOME!!! This is what I do best, and it shows on my performance level. My Teamleader is happy with what I put in, I'm happy with my work and the bosses are happy everything is working out as well as it is.

Well, need to get myself ready for work now. I'll try to post more while I wait for Kiri to get back online with me.

The Empress' New Toy

2007-06-09T10:35:00.000+02:00

The Empress got a new toy, this week. A Dream Catcher for cats.

It took her all of two hours to decide to chew through the string holding it.

As it turned out, she loves playing with feathers - my own Dream Catcher being evidence with it's missing feathers, but the real attraction was the actual string! I know, I have a weird cat...

Ignore my messy desk in the background, and behold the Kitty Dream Catcher!

Ah, what's this? ::Nibble, Nibble::

::Munch, munch:: A little dry, but sure tickles the taste buds!

Hey! No fair, get back down here so I can devour you!

Gotcha!

Well, the string's been re-attached, and the Dream Catcher lives on. The string is getting a little worn from excessive chewing, but - fortunately - it's a long string, so I can keep re-attaching it as she gets through.

I believe I have mentioned before, how rules doesn't apply to the Empress;

* Catnip? Never heard of it!
- Spray form; 'This works on 80 % of the cats it's been tested on!' Well, they forgot to tell Ylva about that survey. She was not impressed.

- Dried form; 'This works on even the cats that were unresponsive to the spray!' Again, No one told Ylva. She remains unimpressed!

* Cats land on their feet!
- Huh? What's that? Someone forgot to give Ylva a copy of the rulebook for cats, as she lands on her back, her head or her tail... Oh, and once in a while - if the descent is planned - on her feet.

* Cats are light footed.
- ::THUD!:: What was that? I didn't hear you over the sounds of Ylva jumping down from the desk!

* Cats are cleanliness personified!
- Eh, I'd like to take a picture of her eating place, but I'm afraid you'd faint... She takes her food out of her plate, and sends it all over the place. Also, she's very good at lifting the carpet up and pushing her dry food underneath it. Makes all sorts of funny, crunching noises as I walk over it.

This reminds me that I need to get the vacuum cleaner out. She's been at it again, and now it's almost like getting a foot massage walking over the carpet in the hallway.

This is not a DVD, what is it doing here? Better get rid of it!

Has it really been...

2007-06-02T10:39:00.000+02:00

... more than a freaking month, since I posted anything?

Sorry about that.

So, what's been going on around me lately? Not a whole lot, to be truthful.

My partner in crime (y'know, Kiri?), dropped off the face of the earth without notice. I waited, patiently for her return, figuring she was up to her eyeballs in work. Turns out her tower at work died on her, and her boss promptly sent her home on an unpaid vacation. How stupid is that?

Seems to me, every time something goes wrong at their office, he blames poor Kiri... and she's the only one actually doing her job around there!

She was back briefly yesterday, on AIM, after I had sent an email to her cellphone, Wednesday evening (my time). Seeing as The Empress Ylva of Bulldozers had been forthcoming and actually posed for a whole of twenty seconds, I sent her some new pictures to cheer her up.

On my end, things are going good. Still loving the new environment at work.

We, of the cellular solutions knowledge, are now also getting fixed line solution calls. This after getting a day's worth of training. Not that it gave us much knowledge, so we're forced to 'fake' it. I keep telling the customers "I'll look into that and call you back, shortly!" Then I head over to one of the Fixed Line guys and pester him with questions. Getting the answer from him, I call the customer back and present the solution to his or her problem. Yep, I'm faking it!

We're also to be given training in ADSL solutions, I hope that'll be more than one day. The fixed line and ADSL people were sent for training on cellular solutions, last week, they were given four and a half days worth of training. Not fair! We got a day and are expected to know everything we need for any calls coming in on fixed lines, while they got four and a half days? I just keep faking it, and agree with the rest of 'my' unit, that we know zip about this, but will do our best.

The Empress has been through her first 'heat'. No fun, serenading all night - snoozing all day, going nuts whenever the Forest cat boy from the next building were sitting outside our kitchen window... Ok, I get that she wanted to get to know him, he's a good looking cat with his turtle markings and all... but trying to claw her way through the window glass? ::Shakes head::

Here she is. She agreed to pose for all of twenty seconds. And this is the best picture I managed to snap, last Wednesday.

She kept me awake, most of last night. Not due to being in season, but because she was bored and wanted me to come out of my bedroom and play with her. I mean, who needs sleep, right? Better to play with The Empress, who has no problems sleeping through the day, if she so chooses. It's not like I need any sleep at all...

I have come to the conclusion that it's better to use the video function on my phone, rather than snapping stills of her. With the video function, I can just keep her in line of sight regardless of what she does. I haven't figured out how to put videos up here, though, perhaps we can swing that on the website, if we ever get going on it...

Joy... NOT!

2007-03-31T11:32:00.000+02:00

Woke up yesterday, and just knew it was going to be a bad day. How? Well, waking up with a headache, centered around the forehead and the eyes are a sure indicator that my sinuses are acting up. And sure thing, fever sets in about an hour after I get to work. I didn't go home, as I was the designated coach for the last hour of work. Result is, today I feel like shit!

I haven't posted in a while, so let me catch you up...

February 28, I get a message from our Business Manager that I'm heading to the 'other' call center. Which is cool, I asked to be moved along with Retailers support. Only two of the people in that group wanted to go, so I asked to be included.

March 2 I'm told that I'm to pack up my equipment at the end of the day. They don't have the kind of keyboard that I've been given (due to my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome), and that I was also to bring my 'Mousetrapper', which is a cool device that let's me work without the use of a conventional mouse.

Monday, March 5. We're at 'the other call center'. Same firm, two call centers - and this one is a five minute walk from my mom's apartment building.

So far, we only deal with business clients, no private customers, they get sent over to customer support at the old center. We deal with business clients, only!

No retailer's support, as of yet. Now they're not even sure if it's to be moved. I no longer care. I love it at the 'new' place, which actually was the first call center they had.

Three of us are delegated to be coaches for the six newcomers. Two of us have been put into shifts with two newcomers, and the third is in a shift with one of them. It's all day work, two shifts start at 7:45 am, and work until 4:05 pm, and the third shift comes in at 9:45 am and goes until 5:05 pm. We have a three week rotation. Two weeks we start at 7:45 am and the third week we're in at 9:45. No weekend work, no evenings... It's heaven!

Also, the three of us are hardly on the phones as we need to be available to coach the newbies. Bliss!

The three of us came to work Friday last week and found tiny little flowerpots on our places. The newbies had gotten us flowers to thank us for our patience and our support of their efforts. It was really sweet.

Another bonus is that I now have a ten minute drive to get to work, as opposed to the 30 - 40 minute drive of earlier. Why the variable? Roadworks! They're a pain and they'll be going on for a few more years.

It's a more relaxed atmosphere at the new place. Less stress, less nagging from team-leaders etc. Our new team-leaders are relaxed. All female, and nowhere to be found when you need 'em ;o). Not too bad, either you go hunt 'em down, or you wait for them to return. No big. See? Relaxed! We could never do that at the old place. Team-leaders disappearing at the old place, if you waited for their return, they'd be pissy about it. I love it at the new place!

Spring arrived with a 'bang' two weeks ago. Lot's of sunshine, warmer weather... Life's good again... until a sinus infection ruins my weekend!

The coming week is a bonus, what with Easter we'll only work three days, then go on to have a five day weekend! Lovely!

What's been happening on my end...

2007-02-12T21:03:00.000+01:00

Well, once again my ADSL connection has gone down, and that seems to be when I feel like posting to my blog… ::Sheesh:: You’d think I’d learned by now, right?

Came home from work to find the little Dsl light blinking, rather hyperactively, I might add.

I called up the boys at the ADSL department, only to find that I couldn’t hear a word he said, so I told him (as he heard me better than I heard him); ‘Screw this! I’ll call back from my cell phone!’

Got through once again, only to be told that it was probably my landline (phone line) that was shot. Too much ‘noise’ or static can actually kill the Internet connection. So, my landline works, although noisily, but no Internet!

For those following Kiri’s blog, you might have seen a comment from me about my Empress and something dubbed the ‘Sink Incident’. In reality, she really did wash her mouth out with soap.

Lately, the little Empress, Ylva of the sharp claws and even sharper teeth, have developed a fascination with sinks, the kitchen sink being her new favorite hangout spot. She does follow me into the bathroom, and has discovered that there is indeed another sink in there. After a lot of fussing, I have started to lift her up (too slippery to climb the tiled walls) and let her sit in it. There’s another kitten living inside the mirror, so she needs to check up on her. This has been going on for a couple of weeks, now, no incidents – she’s been on her best behavior, up until yesterday.

As usual, when I got home, it was into the bathroom to change into my ‘comfy clothes’, the Empress tagged along, as she usually does. She starts fussing under the sink, trying to stare a hole in it, or trying to persuade it to come further down so she climb into it, I have no idea as she’s still not mastered ‘human speak’ and seems to have no inclination to even try.

I lift her up, into the sink, and she checks up on the kitty in the mirror. The other kitty is still not feeling up to doing more than mimic the Empress’ movements. Feeling a little miffed, who knows, she goes about exploring while I finish changing my clothes.

Getting ready to leave the bathroom, I notice some strange behavior from the Empress. She’s making sneezing noises; she’s literally scrunching up her entire face and making grimaces at me. Then I notice she’s foaming at the mouth. I first think, ‘toothpaste’, she did investigate my toothbrush, nope; a quick examination of the toothbrush tells me that it’s clean. No residue. I look around, and then I see it. The business end of the soap dispenser. There’s usually some residue there, now it’s polished clean! She didn’t even wait for me to threaten her with that corporal means of punishment, she went ahead and took care of it herself!

I grabbed a Kleenex and tried to wipe it off of her tongue and from around her mouth. No dice! She was having none of my feeble attempts of interfering. Took her a couple of hours to get rid of the taste, all together. Sure gave me something to snicker at for the rest of the evening. This morning, she did NOT want to go into the bathroom sink, the kitchen sink is still her friend, but not the white sink in the bathroom; it’s now officially her enemy!

With my internet connection on the fritz again, okay – it’s really the landline that’s messed up, but I’m not on the phone all that much, being online is more important – I get bored, easily. I have no idea what to do with myself, now that the dishes are done, the cat is all played out and conked out on the couch, no cleaning to be done and no dusting to be done. I might just curl up and die of boredom!

Well, at the very least I’ll be getting an early night with no Internet to keep me up. Who knows, I might feel up to giving a damn at work tomorrow…

Once again they need someone for Retailer’s, once again, I made my interest known… once again – no doubt – they’ll choose to ignore me and my experience from that unit. We’ll see, no decisions are made as of yet.

Sunday 21 January

On Friday, I had minimal connection to the Internet, but it was, oh, so fragile. I managed to get Kiri on AIM and let her know what was wrong, before the whole thing went down again.

Seeing as I had taken a look at the error message made by the home phone unit, and seeing as I realized she’s probably misunderstood me, I dialed up the boys at ADSL again. This one updated the error message with the actual information that I had passed on to the phone girl and that she had, somehow managed to get wrong.

I had mentioned that when it all began, all I had to do was make a phone call from my landline and the Internet connection would be restored, for a little while, at least. She had made a note that it was probably the ADSL causing the noise on my line. Not correct, and he agreed, thus correcting the error in the error message.

He told me that a line-check had been performed, but they hadn’t found anything. This had happened Thursday while I was at work. So I told him that I had shut off the modem because I was so sick of the damn blinking Dsl light. He asked if everything was turned on now that I was on the phone with him, I confirmed and he told me to stay off the phone for the next hour, he was going to start a new line-check with correct information.

After we hung up, the Internet connection somehow managed to restore itself again. Then, less than ten minutes later, it was down again.

Yesterday (Saturday), my mom called me up. We chatted for a little while, then hung up. Then my eyes drifted towards the computer, and wouldn’t you know it, the Internet connection was back up! I hurried up and restarted my Azureus to see if I could get some torrents going, and managed to snag en entire episode of one of my favorite shows, that are not aired in Norway. Then it went back down again. Dialed up my mom, told her it was restored after we talked, and so now I’m checking to see if I can fool it back up again. We talked for two minutes, then hung up again. Ten seconds later, the Internet connection was back for a grand total of 30 minutes! It’s been down ever since…

Oh, and yesterday, we had a blizzard. Lots of snow now, as it’s been snowing all night. I’m not a happy camper right now, my Internet connection is down and now there’s a pile of snow outside. Did I mention how much I hate snow? I do, hate snow, that is… I’ll just be over in that far away corner, sulking now…

Later, Sunday evening.

Still no Internet light on my ADSL Modem. This has got to be one of the most boring weekends I’ve had, for a long, long time.

Oh well, at least I’ve got a sparkling clean apartment to show for it… Yesterday I was vacuuming and cleaning the floors, today, massive cleaning of the kitchen and bathroom. The Empress seems confused; she hasn’t done this much sniffing around since the first couple of days she moved in here. I’m taking the hint, she’s so subtly giving me; ‘It hasn’t smelled this clean here, since I first got here, oh lowly subject. Why such effort now?’ I’m bored, that’s why! I have to do something, not to lose what little is left of my mind. Cleaning is one thing to keep me occupied, when my Internet won’t let me play…

Not that my apartment’s been known to be filthy, it hasn’t! I keep it clean, but not to the excess that I’ve put in over this weekend. I keep it tidy and clean, without going overboard, I usually get the housecleaning out of the way on Fridays, unless I work the evening shift, which leaves Saturday for housecleaning. Never more than a couple of hours, as the place is kinda small. This weekend, I’ve been at it since Friday! My mother was chuckling at me, yesterday, not that she doubts my abilities to keep a clean home around me, but because I’ve been at it all weekend. That’s what an Internet deprived Witchy has to do, to avoid losing her mind.

Oh well, I can only hope they figure it out soon…

Monday February 12

They did figure it out, at long last… Only took them a couple of weeks, but they figured it out… Or rather, a tech guy from Relacom figured it out.

I got a call on my cell phone at work, didn’t realize as I was busy with customer mail and had Korn blaring in my headphones.

I called him back and asked him if he was waiting outside my apartment, cause if he was, then nobody told me, and I was at work in the next town over.

Nope, he wasn’t.

‘I was up in a central node on your street, found a loose screw (yes, you read right) in a switch box. Man, that line of yours must have been murder!’

YESSS!!!

Everything have been Kosher ever since!

Why no post, since then? Work, lots of work. Overtime, even! And feeling so drained when I got home, that not even Kiri could get a word out of me.

The Empress has been on a destruction raid, since last report. My beautiful Inca patterned flowerpot bit the dust, I came home and found it in pieces. One of my favorite mugs (not to mention one of the most expensive mugs I have ever owned) has been demolished also.

She’s expressed a dislike to having her fur blown on; she turned around and gave me a straight right, the other day. No claws, she kept them neatly tucked in, but the ‘pow’ of her paw hitting me in the temple, was heavy enough. She’s a sucker for a good ‘butt-rub’, though!

I worked the evening shift all week, last week. In theory that meant I could sleep a little longer in the morning… In theory… The Empress started at 7 am one morning, ‘serenading’ me with her meep’ing sounds, whining and complaining. The next morning she was at it at 6 and on Friday, yep, you guessed it, 5 am!

Long story short? I’m back! A little tired, a little worse for wear, thanks to the Pugilistic, Bulldozer of an Empress that have so successfully taken control of everything around here…

Oh, Food!!!

2006-12-27T20:32:00.000+01:00

Yep, spent Christmas at my mother's place, with my brother, my sister and my nephew (big sis' son). And yes, the Supreme Empress, Ylva of the Sharpest Claws, was very much present as well.

And that means food, and lots of it!

Poor thing's been pooped out on the couch, since we got home Christmas day. She's only made token appearances at my feet or on the back of my chair, before heading back to the couch to continue her impression of a rug.

I made sure she got some of her 'yummier' food on Christmas eve, while we feasted on our traditional Christmas dinner. Didn't last long before the little Empress was present and accounted for, circling the dinner table and the occupants of it, like a smallish, silver tabby shark! Making puppy eyes at anyone that would look in her direction. My brother had to make his feelings known... 'You're a cat? You're sure you're a cat? You're begging worse than a dog!' His meaning was that at least dogs gave up, after a few fruitless attempts. The Empress would do no such thing!

Oh, but all the plants... Oh, all the plants... and all the dirt she kicked out of their pots! And the really big plants, she loved those, she fit right into the pot with the plants. You better believe she moved into the pots!

And all the playtime and attention she kept getting, she lapped it up!

My sister discovered, to her absolute horror, that she might be allergic to cats. Not that it did anything for her to keep her hands away from the furry Empress, mind you. So, there my sister was, blisters forming, hive breaking out, itching from head to toe, cuddling the furball! Or trying to, that is, Ylva does, as usual, not enjoy being held in any way, shape or form. That's just the way of things.

She did make for a shy, almost timid kitten, but she warmed up. Though, she ran like the Devil himself was chasing after her tail, whenever my sister stood up, or came walking down the hallway. Not really sure why... On Christmas day, she'd warmed up enough that we kept having to fish her out of the pots, meant for plants only! And playing, playing with anything that moved... or not, as the case was with my brother's poor toes.

We got home around midnight, she took a token stroll around the apartment, then pooped out on the couch. She's pretty much remained there, ever since.

That's it for me, for now... I'll be taking Ylva's lead in a little while, and go search for my bed...

Another week...

2006-12-14T16:16:00.000+01:00

... a few new scratches... Good news is that Kiri's back! Bad news is that Kiri's back and more swamped than ever...

We'll never win, will we?

Ylva has been a little more agreeable to pose for pictures, not very agreeable, but she's stood or lied still long enough for me to get some less fuzzy images to show the world.

Hang on... hang on... I just need to pull this frickin' mouse out of my ear...

Aaah, there it was!

Wanna see if it can fly?

Another hard days... play?

Kiri has already been given ample opportunity to coo over the new pictures (don't deny it! I know you were coo'ing, I heard you all the way over here!), so now it's time for the public to get their opportunity to lavish their attention on her.

Go ahead, lavish her with praise and admiration, she laps it up, oh so eagerly!

One more day to go before the weekend, I've made it through another week without my arm falling off or losing my mind. Though, it's not that far off. Then I'll have one more week before my vacation. No more work until January 2. It's going to be wonderful!

I tried lying down on the couch when I got home today, trying to entice Ylva into joining me for a pre-play cuddle. Not having it! Ylva wanted play and rough-housing immediately! I gave up.

My hands are a mess, and I have five perfect punctures in the side of my neck. Those she gave me when she was about to fall off her perch behind my head a couple of days ago. She hung there, claws dug into my neck for a few seconds, before giving in to the inevitable and allowing herself to fall to the floor. Me? I was bleeding from five tiny holes in my neck, how do you think I was feeling? I'm still hurting!

She's snoozing on the couch again, so I'll just get into the kitchen and make myself some dinner...

Later!

She’s Alive!!! Oh, and some pictures of the Wonderkitten...

2006-12-08T23:47:00.000+01:00

Who is? Kiri, of course!

She finally checked in. Swamped, overworked – but alive! Ye Gawds, I’ve missed her!

My ADSL connection remains unstable. An error report have been filed and closed, citing they can’t find anything wrong with my line. An hour and a half after I got that message on my cell phone, it went back down again. I called and they re-opened it.

Funny thing is, it seems to come back up every time I call customer support, then it goes down again a couple of hours later. It’s frustrating as hell, especially since they’re testing for errors while it’s up. That’s not gonna make them any wiser as to what’s the what.

I shared some pictures of Ylva with Kiri, as she’s grown a lot since the last pictures she saw. There was a lot of Aaaaw’ing coming through the AIM after that. I suspect there was also some Coo’ing at the pictures that she didn’t let me in on.

In mommy’s bed, playing with one of her favorite toys.

So very, very tired. ‘Lemme sleep, would ya?’

Queen of the world! Well, the recliner, anyway…

YOW! Bright light, BRIGHT LIGHT!!!

Some of the pictures I managed to snap off are a little fuzzy. Told you she’s a moving target, didn’t I? She’s got no patience for posing, that’s for damn sure.

My vacation request went through. I get the week between Christmas and New Year’s off. Cool beans, that means I can actually be a little social when my sister and nephew arrive. Only two more weeks, then I get a whole week off. I’m counting the days.

Wow! It took nearly an hour to get the pictures uploaded. Told you my ADSL line is behaving badly.

Time for bed, Good Night.

My weekend... and then some!

2006-11-28T19:09:00.000+01:00

Friday evening;

Well, so far, it looks like my weekend took a downslide. Why? Seems my ADSL modem has decided to wimp out on me.

When I got home from work around 6 pm, my Internet connection was down. ‘Limited connect ability’ is what the error message said. I rebooted, and for half an hour or so, I was back online. Then it lost connection again. Three reboots later, I called my ISP. Twenty minutes waiting later, ‘Nope! Nothing wrong with your line as far as I can see. Most probably, it’s your modem that’s shot.’ ‘But, but… I just a got new farkin’ modem a little while back?’ ‘Hmmm… Still, I’ll run a full line check to be sure… Nope, still nothing wrong with your line. I say you’ve got yourself an unstable modem.’

Funny part is, we were talking about these things after my modem decided to connect again, I knew, he knew, but still. We went through everything seeing as my connection shouldn’t have failed at all. When did it come back? Just as I got through to customer support ;o)

I told him that, but then I also wanted to know if the service was unstable, that’s how we got into the whole unstable modem conversation.

One and a half hour later (after customer support had closed). It went down again and has stayed that way ever since! It’s a little after midnight now.

I’ll keep an eye on it during the weekend. If it’s not back up and stable for more than an hour, I’ll take the modem with me to work on Monday and get a new one. I do have one advantage working for the cell division at my ISP. I can grab a modem while at work, not having to wait a whole week for the darn thing.

Tomorrow, my brother is stopping by to get some work done for me. Two bookshelves are going up in my bedroom. One two shelved thing goes above the foot end of the bed; the other is a three shelved corner thing. It’s going up in the corner above the head of the bed, beside the window.

That’ll be the first time my brother meets the kitten, too. This will be interesting. My brother does like animals. He won’t have any pets of his own, but other people’s pets treat him like a new favorite toy. They adopt him, almost making their owners jealous with the affection they lavish on his poor person. Ylva loves company; she adores visitors… Well, of course, they’re there to see her, right? Of course they are!

I’m typing out my blogentry in a Word document while being cut off from the net.

Saturday;

No Internet! :o(

Sent my brother a text message asking if he still had his ADSL modem. He’s not been able to get ADSL where he lives now, but he still had it. Could I borrow it? Sure! He’d bring it when he came over to get the shelves up.
He showed, sans modem, of course. That was at home, on the hall table right next to his copy of my apartment key!

He did bring our mother along on the ride, however, and she ended up giving me the biggest surprise of my life, not kidding!

She tolerated the cat. She hates cats; they give her a major wiggins! But she wasn’t too bad around Ylva. My mom was a little fascinated by how Ylva would play ‘fetch’. I’d throw a ball, and she’d go get it and bring it back to me so I could throw it again. She loves this game.

About an hour after they arrived, she told me that my sister and nephew (big sis’s son) were coming to visit for Christmas. Oh, and I’d have to bring the cat. There’s no way she can be all alone while you’re at my place spending the night, and all… I was floored! The woman whom has spent her entire life hating cats, were inviting Ylva to come spend Christmas??? Yep, that’s what she said, wasn’t it?

She didn’t want Ylva too close, though. She got up on the armrest on the recliner my mom had parked her ass in, and got shoved off in a hurry…

Well, the shelves came up, but my brother forgot about the wall lamp. Oh well, I’ll give him a yell about that one too, in time.

Sunday

Picked up my mom and took her across the border to get some shopping done. We live about half an hour away from the border to Sweden, and they’ve got way cheaper prices on just about everything.

We did our shopping and headed home, stopping at my place to unload my stuff before heading to her place.

'Does she have water?'
'Yes, mom. She’s got plenty of water.'
'Does she have food?'
'Yes, mom. Plenty of food, look.'
'Oh, okay.'

She, of course being Ylva. ;o) My mom seems to be starting to care about the little wonderkitten.

My brother was at my moms place when we got there, and he’d brought the modem.

After dinner and being sociable for a little while, I grabbed the modem and headed home.

The modem? Didn’t work! I plugged mine back in, and for some strange reason, I have no idea how this happened, I was online again. Wow…

Monday

Didn’t bother with the modem, hell everything’s okay now.

Had another dull day at work, stopped on my way home for some shopping. Got home only to discover that the cat had had a blast on the sofa table. My lovely new candles were broken as she’d managed to shove everything off of the table. I was not happy.

Getting in front of the computer, I discovered a new episode of my favorite TV show was available for download. This show isn’t aired in Norway, so this is my only means of following it. It was downloaded in a hurry, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

And then, suddenly at 8:30 pm, the connection was gone again. Screw this; I’m taking the modem to work with me, tomorrow. And I’m planning on pestering one of the guys to help me check what else could be wrong. I’ve had it! I was in the middle of a really good story over at Twisting The Hellmouth, too… ::Sighs:: I kinda like going there. I’m not registered as I don’t write fanfiction, but I do love to read it, and they have some awesome talents posting over there.

Getting late here, so I’ll just turn everything off and head off to bed. I’m bummed, is what I am!

Tuesday

Well, got a new modem… so far, so good… So what? (Sorry, couldn’t help a tiny little Megadeth reference there.)

Finished the story, and got into another one. I keep doing that, but there are so many good stories to follow!

Tomorrow, I’ll be getting another dose of heaven, courtesy of my friend Kari-Anne, the massage therapist.

I’m in the process of sneezing my head off, but you probably didn’t need to know that. Fine cat hairs are everywhere, and I think one of ‘em got up my nose and is busy tickling me… as Ylva herself is way too busy snoozing on the couch, to do the deed herself.

Still not heard anything but crickets from Kiri’s general direction. What the heck is she doing, that gives her no time to gossip with a bored Witchy?

I’ll just hurry up and post this, before my connection decides to go belly-up on me again. No, I really don’t trust my connection or my modem at the moment… And besides, this post has gotten lengthy enough as it is. Bye for now.

Mmmmmm... Vacation!

2006-11-14T23:49:00.000+01:00

I’ve taken out a vacation week. And girls, let me tell you, it feels good!!!

My birthday came and went quietly, last week. Only one person at work knew, and he also knew what was best for him, he kept his mouth firmly shut about it!

For my birthday, I got a few brand new bite marks and a few new scratches from the ever-present Ylva. She’s getting big, trust me. She’s almost as big as my friend Kari-Anne’s cat, Cindy, and Cindy is a fully-grown kitty lady!

On the subject of my friend Kari-Anne, her birthday gift to me is two full hours of heaven. That means; two full hours of massage! It pays to have a friend, who’s a licensed massage therapist, let me tell ya!

This week is my birthday gift to myself. A week off!

This week is dedicated to spoiling the kitten, a little more. She’s already spoiled rotten, if you ask me…

Try as I might, though, I can’t seem to convince her that the flap-door to her toilet is supposed to be down. I have to keep it propped open, or she’s convinced it’s closed and she can’t possibly get in. That’s when she decides to leave a calling card on the floor. I’m just happy she’s decided to stay off the carpet, when the flap-door falls shut on her. She just can’t get it through her head, that if she’ll just push her face against the flap, it’ll let her in to do her business. I’m going to try to teach her otherwise this week.

That whole pushing her face against a door, thing, She’s already found out that she can easily get the bathroom door open, if I push the door almost closed on her, when she refuses to leave the hamper alone and get her furry butt out of there. Funny how she’s unable to apply that same logic to her own toilet isn’t it?

I’m going to have to take a few pictures of her, and share it with my two readers, Kiri and ShadowRider. Trouble is, every time I try, I fail. She’s a moving target, and she’s faster than the camera on my cell phone. By the time the camera click the picture supposedly taken, she’s way outside the frame… Like in another room or the other end of the living room.

Tomorrow, I’m getting the driver side window on my car fixed. Something snapped in there a while back, and the window keeps sliding open. Forget about closing it, the damn lifting mechanism is shot. That’s what snapped. So, lately, I’ve been freezing my ass off to and from work. I opt not to do any driving unless I really have to, because of it. My mom’s decided that she’s picking up the tab for it, seeing as she’s not helped me with any car expenses since I bought the car, and she’s had nothing but advantages of me having it. Getting driven back and forth, for about six years now, for free. Guess she’s thought about it, and decided to help me out now that I really needed it.

I did catch Kiri, for about three seconds the Monday after I got my ADSL up. She was so swamped with work; we decided to keep it quiet for now. Haven’t seen her at all for about a week, now.

I didn’t get to go back to Retailer’s Support, though. Bastards decided to get three people with zero knowledge about it, so they’ll need full training, before they can actually do any good there. Makes me wonder if anyone there’s actually using their brains for anything at all!

Well, it’s late here in Norway. 11:35 pm. The cat’s conked out on the couch, again, and I’m yawning so much, I feel like I’m about to separate my jaw. I’ll better head off for bed, as I have to get the car to the shop early in the morning. They’re going to get it all done as fast as they can. We delayed it a couple of weeks so that they’d have time to get a new lifting mechanism delivered, that way I won’t have to wait too long for the car to be finished. I can hardly wait to get it fixed, no more freezing drives to work, yay!

Good night from me.

More fun, while we wait...

2006-11-09T10:58:00.000+01:00

Wait for what? Wait for Kiri, of course!

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack,
I've been too long, I'm glad to be back"

Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos.
But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

You Have Good Karma

In general, you like to do the right thing when it comes to others.
Your caring personality really shines through.
Sure, you have your moments of weakness - and occasionally act out.
But, all in all, you're karma is good... even with those few dark spots.

How's Your Karma?

You Should Drive a Corvette

You don't just like to drive on the road, you like to own it. You live to intimidate other drivers with your car's muscle power!

What Sports Car Should You Drive?

Your Career Type: Conventional

You are orderly and good at following a set plan.
Your talents lie in working with written records and numbers in a systematic, orderly way.

You would make an excellent:

Bank Teller - Bookkeeper - Court Clerk
Mail Carrier - Post Office Clerk - Secretary
Timekeeper - Title Examiner - Typist

The worst career options for your are artistic careers, like comedian or dancer.

What's Your Ideal Career?

You Are Apple Cider

Smooth and comforting. But downright nasty when cold.

What Part of Fall Are You?

You Are a Prophet Soul

You are a gentle soul, with good intentions toward everyone.
Selfless and kind, you have great faith in people.
Sometimes this faith can lead to disappoinment in the long run.
No matter what, you deal with everything in a calm and balanced way.

You are a good interpreter, very sensitive, intuitive, caring, and gentle.
Concerned about the world, you are good at predicting people's feelings.
A seeker of wisdom, you are a life long learner looking for purpose and meaning.
You are a great thinker and communicator, but not necessarily a doer.

Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Your Element Is Earth

You excel at planning and strategizing.
You could be a champ at chess or Survivor.

Well grounded, you are able to be realistic and rationalize.
On the inside, you have a hard core. It's tough to phase you.

You are super productive, and you are able to think anything through.
Focused and super charged, your instincts are a good guide for your next step.

What's Your Element?

Your Hair Should Be Red

Passionate, fiery, and sassy.
You're a total smart aleck who's got the biggest personality around.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

You Are Grape

You are bold and a true individual. You are very different and very okay with that.
People know you as a straight shooter. You're very honest, even when the truth hurts.
You are also very grounded and practical. No one is going to sneak anything by you.
People enjoy your fresh approach to life. And it's this honesty that makes you a very innovative person.

What Color Purple Are You?

Peace out... For now!

Yay! I'm home!!!

2006-11-04T12:00:00.000+01:00

Finally! More than two months after my move, I'm back online... from home, that is!

It's taken my IPS two frickin' months to move my ADSL/Broadband subscription to my new address. Must be a new record, of some sorts.

Bad news? Yes, there are bad news... Kiri seems to be MIA, I tried sending an email to her cellphone, still no response. She's not answering mails sent to her hotmail account, either. I'm starting to worry. No new entries on her blog, no comments to my last post... somethings afoot, and it might not be all good, seeing as how her work-situation was going downhill, fast.

I'll just try the home phone-number I have written down in my address book. But that's for a lot later in the evening. We're a few timezones apart, wouldn't be too nice to call too early (her time).

My apartment is still smallish, but good enough for me and my kitten. Yes, my kitten is here. She's been renamed from Elva to the more correct spelling of the old Norse name Ylva. Not that she answers to either. She's more inclined to answer to 'Screwball' or something else, entirely inappropriate.

The move itself, was exhausting. It's not until you move, that you discover how much junk you own. I did most of the grunt work myself. My brother helped out with the furniture, which was the heaviest lifting, but other than that, I managed on my own. And yes, I'm darned proud of that little fact.

I have things, more or less the way I want them. Still feel like I need a microwave oven, but I have no place for it. My kitchen is really that small. Also, I've a new cupboard for the wall above the stove. I have no cupboard space as it is, and have come to the conclusion, I need another one. My brother has refused to show his face, until I have the second one in house, seeing as he's the one that's gonna put them up for me.

Frost has arrived, we've had snow a couple of days in the last couple of weeks. Not that the snow stayed, but the cold certainly did. I'm officially starting to freeze my tush off. I'm at the point where I'm envying my kitten her luscious fur!

I'm working full time again, and I must admit that I'm feeling it in my hands and arms. Mostly the right hand and arm. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome sucks! Mine is chronic, which means that I'll never have the full use of my right hand, ever again. That's according to my doctor. But as my sick pay is up, I have no choice but to return to work, full time. One month into it, I have no idea how long I'll be able to keep it up.

I used to work at the Retailers Support unit, but was removed due to working only 50%. Now, apparently' they need more people again, and I have made my interest known. It'd be easier on my hands as there is a lot more keyboard work on the first line, where I've been these last few months. I wanna go back to Retailers, not just because of my hands, but because I really loved working in that area. So, now I can only wait and see what happens. One week until I know if I can go back to it.

On another note, only one more week of work until I get a weeks vacation time. I can feel my arms could use that break.

Oh well, until I get a hold of Kiri, I'll just sign off from here. I'll keep you posted on how that works out, too... If there are actually anyone reading this blog.

I'm Alive... I think...

2006-09-16T17:03:00.000+02:00

Oh lookie, I still live! Yay for me!

I've moved into the new apartment, everything is a mess and a half, my brother felt generous and shared his nasty cold with me, I have no computer (it's in a shop for repairs, the CPU fan broke off, completely), I have no internet (I've placed an order to have my ADSL moved to my new address), it's going to take up to a month. Yeah, things move fast here in Norway...

I've tried mailing my best gal, Kiri, but so far, I've not heard back, so I don't know if I remembered her mail addy or not. No Mailer Daemon, though...

Things are finally starting to come together at the new place, I do see the light at the end of this fricken' tunnel, that's for damn sure. The place has been a disaster area, ever since I moved in, now I've managed to clear out most of the clutter, but there still remains a lot to get into place.

I'm borrowing my best friend's computer, to get this post in. No telling when I'll manage to get another chance like this, until my ADSL is back up and my computer's been released from the Computer Hospital. That's why this post is shorter than usual (for me, anyway). No ranting or rambling, I just don't have the time... I plan to make up for it when I come back to stay, though. Count on it!

Be afraid, be very afraid... ::Walks off while giggling madly::

A little fun while we wait...

2006-08-24T20:47:00.000+02:00

I've really not felt like writing anything lately. Been too busy running myself ragged, getting the mortgage thing out of the way, before I head back to work.

Today, I decided to have a little fun at a place I found elsewhere. Tons of different personality tests, to pass the time while waiting for Kiri to get her tush into work and online with her AIM. These are some of the results, even though, I didn't try them all. I have every intention of trying out more of them, though. ;o)

You Are a Bloody Mary

You're a fairly serious drinker, who's experimented a lot with different drinks.
You're a drunk, but a stable drunk. You don't ever let your drinking get out of control.

What Mixed Drink Are You?

You Are: 40% Dog, 60% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common.
You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude.
However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person.
However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways.
You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order.
You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

You Should Rule Mercury

Close to sun, Mercury has very long days - and is rarely visible to the rest of the solar system.

You are perfect to rule Mercury, because you live for the present - and can truly enjoy a day that goes on forever.
Like Mercury, you are quick and elusive. Your wit is outstanding, and you can win any verbal sparring match.

Some people see you as superficial, but in truth, you just play many roles and have many interests.
A great manipulator, you usually get what you want from people. And they're happy to give it to you.

What Planet Should You Rule?

How Sarcastic Are You?

You're Totally Sarcastic

You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny.
Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it.
And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitutde, then too bad. So sad.

How Sarcastic Are You?

Your EQ is 133

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

You Are 36% Control Freak

You have achieved the perfect balance of control and letting go.
You tend to roll with whatever life brings, but you never get complacent.

Are You A Control Freak?

The Movie Of Your Life Is An Indie Flick

You do things your own way - and it's made for colorful times.
Your life hasn't turned out how anyone expected, thank goodness!

Your best movie matches: Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

You Are Beer!

You don't need to get totally wasted when you hit the bars.
More of a social drinker, you just like to have fun with your friends.
And as long as the beer keeps flowing, you're a happy camper.
But don't mix things up: "Beer Before Liquor, Never Been Sicker!"

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

You Are 23 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer

You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.
A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways.
In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.
You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.
You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?

Your Taste in Music:

Classic Rock: High Influence
80's Rock: Medium Influence
90's Alternative: Medium Influence
90's R&B: Medium Influence
Heavy Metal: Medium Influence

How's Your Taste in Music?

Mocha Frappuccino

Hyper and driven, you'll take your caffeine any way you can get it. Frappuccinos are good, but you'd probably chew coffee beans in a crunch!

What Flavor Frappuccino Are You?

You Are A Walnut Tree

You are strange and full of contrasts... the oddball of your group.
You are unrelenting and you have unlimited ambition.
Not always liked but always admired, you are more infamous than famous.
You are aggressive and spontaneous, and your reactions are often unexpected.
A jealous and passionate person, you are difficult in romantic relationships.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

If you don't like my driving - stay off the sidewalk

What Bumper Sticker Should Be On Your Car?

You Are Storm

Exotic and powerful, Storm descended from a line of African priestesses.
Emotions can effect your powers, but you are generally serene.

Powers: controlling weather, creating winds that lift you into flight, generating lightning

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Your Driving Is is: 53% Male, 47% Female

According to studies, you drive both like a guy and a girl.
This means you're a pretty average driver, with typical quirks.
Occasionally you're frustrated and or a little reckless, but that's the exception - not the norm.

Do You Drive Like a Guy or a Girl?

You Are 20% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm.
Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

How Evil Are You?

You Are 48% Brutally Honest

Honesty is important to you, but generally, you try not to be brutal about it.
You'll sugar coat the truth when you need to... and tell a white lie when necessary.

How Brutally Honest Are You?

You are an Atheist

When it comes to religion, you're a non-believer (simple as that).
You prefer to think about what's known and proven.
You don't need religion to solve life's problems.
Instead, you tend to work things out with logic and philosophy.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

Your Stress Level is: 60%

You are somewhat prone to stress, especially when life gets hard.
When things are good, you resist stressing over little problems.
But when things are difficult, you tend to freak out and find it hard to calm down.

How Stressed Are You?

You Are 90% Weird

You're more than quirky, you're downright strange.
But you're also strangely compelling, like a cult leader.

How Weird Are You?

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest:

You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary.

At Your Lowest:

You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in.

In Love:

You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated.

How You're Attractive:

Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room.

Your Eternal Question:

"What else do I need in my life?"

What's Your Power Color?

Finally!

2006-08-18T10:23:00.000+02:00

Sarpsborg town finally had their meeting. I get the 90% financing I applied for. Good thing too, I signed the papers for the apartment today!

I go back to the nice lady that helped me Wednesday, to sign papers there as well. They'll need a copy of the signed contract and I have to sign on the mortgage they're giving me, so all is cool. Finally, a huge load of worry have left me and I can concentrate on the rest, like measurements and the like.

September 1, I take over the keys and start moving in. This will be so much fun, now that all the worries are over.

Kiri was a little upset with me yesterday, as you can tell from the comments she made to yesterdays post. I hadn't written anything about the behemoth I met while visiting my kitten, so here goes!

When we arrived, the welcome wagon outside the house included a large, adult castrate. He was huge and very friendly, not the behemoth to be known as Biggest Red, though, we met him inside. This fellow was an exile from the house. As far as he was concerned, the kittens were dangerous, they had to be, every time he had tried to make friends, mommy and daddy had beaten the holy hell out of him. So, as a result, he stayed outside - refusing to come in.

Once inside, we were accosted by a huge red furball. I swear, he was the biggest thing I'd ever seen, even though our outside welcome wagon had been bigger. Biggest Red Behemoth just seemed bigger as we were down on the floor, to be within easier reach of the tiny kittens.

Biggest Red was losing his baby teeth and getting the bigger ones in. So he was nibbling at any part of us he could reach, but not violently in any way. He immediately decided that he wanted my lap for his very own, and plopped himself down across my thighs accordingly. Talk about getting your circulation cut off, it was an immediate response. He refused to move until the breeder forcibly hauled him up and downstairs, locking him away. She informed us that he was perhaps a little jealous of the kittens, as he was only ten months old himself. Silicone Valley and I were shocked to total silence, for a whole of a minute. Only 10 months, and bigger than a brick outhouse? Yow! The breeder calmed me down a little, saying that Elva's not getting that big. She pointed over to her mom and said she'd be more that size. Looking over at mom, I had another slight shock. I have always known that Norwegian Forest Cats gets a little bigger than ordinary house cats, but Elva's mom was bigger than the average Tomcat! Cool, I like big cats, and when they're as calm and friendly as these cats, not a problem.

Now, Biggest Red were not allowed to play with the kittens either. Mom and dad were very careful to keep him at bay. He wanted to play with them, same as Welcome Wagon, but as the breeder said, seeing him rolling around on the floor with the tiny babies was brutal. Add to the fact that the babies were literally screaming for help! Needless to say, Biggest Red was another one that would get the holy hell beat out of him quite regularly, though, it seems, he's starting to learn his lesson now... But as a result, he feels he's in competition for attention with them, so he constantly steals the show! And as friendly and beautiful as he is, he's quite successful!

As big as Elva's gonna get, there is no way I'm letting her get used to being in my bed, she'll have her own, as I have no intention og being smothered in my sleep!

Well... This is fun... NOT!

2006-08-17T17:30:00.000+02:00

It's stupid, is what it is.

I got an 'Okay' on my application for a loan though my home town. Now that loan have been taken away, because I had the audacity to find an apartment in the neighboring town. And this after I asked what would happen if I didn't find an apartment in my own town, but in the next one. Answer I got was, 'That shouldn't be a problem.' Well, as it turns out, once again the woman whom helped me with the application gets NO information, whatsoever, from the Housing unit. The Housing unit are the ones that decide who gets the loan, and how much. Seems they don't want the people that are helping applicants to know the rules.

So, off to apply for a loan from the neighboring town. I was told to be there on Monday, they would have the meeting on Tuesday, and I'd get an answer fast. No letter in my mail today, so I called. They didn't have the meeting on Tuesday, in fact, they've had no meetings this week. I was told not to panic, she'd try to get it through today, and then she'd call me as soon as it was done. I've heard nothing, and City Hall in the neighboring town has closed for today. And tomorrow I have the contract meeting at the real estate agency. This sucks!

On a brighter note, I have gotten my kitten. She's a Norwegian Forest Cat. They get kinda big, pretty fluffy and are loyal as heck. Even though they pack a lot of fur, they shed far less than a regular house cat. They need their fur, so they usually only drop a lot during the spring, in preparation for the summer. She's nine weeks old now, born June 13. I'll get her home in the second week of September.

Grabbed Silicone Valley, and we were off to visit the kittens last Monday evening. The breeder has seven adult cats, and nine kittens in the house. Add to that a third litter that is being fostered at her friends house.

We got in and parked ourselves on the floor, better for the kittens to reach something to nibble on. They're so tiny, still. We got to meet the parents of the litter, and they're big! I've always wanted one of this breed, so it was fun to see how big they really gets. Pictures are no substitute for the real thing. I loved them all! They're big and lovable. Also, I've been around cats belonging to friends that are incredibly talkative. These cats were mostly silent, except for the purring.

I can't wait for the confusion around the loan for the apartment to be sorted out, and for the move. One week after that, my kittybaby is coming home!

Here's to hoping for bliss, right?

Well, that didn't take too long...

2006-08-09T18:37:00.000+02:00

Wow, that's all I'm saying! WOW!

Real estate agent called today, seller takes my offer. The apartment is mine, all mine!!!

Needless to say, I went furniture hunting with my dear friend, Silicone Valley. All the furniture that I've already seen on the store's website was there, at reduced prices! More luck, I can hardly believe it.

I'm calling 'bank-dude' tomorrow to set up a new appointment, then I have to call the geezer at City Hall to hash out details of the buy with him, might have to go down there. I did stop by today, but they closed two hours early, summer hours have been extended an entire hour from when I was working at their switchboard!

Next week, will be contract signing at the real estate agency, September 1, I'm moving into my own home! I can hardly wait, it's gonna be so cool.

::Witchy does a happy dance and skips off into the distance::

Happy Hunting... Or maybe not...

2006-08-08T20:34:00.000+02:00

I've been caught up in apartment hunting, lately. There's been this one apartment that's been advertised since this winter. Grabbed my brother and went to take a look-see. Well, I sure know why it's still vacant!

It's a two bedroom apt. All floors except the bathroom needs to be replaced. All doors inside the apt needs to be replaced as well. All ceilings, except the bathroom and living room needs to be ground down, sanded, speckled and re-painted. All walls, except the bathroom, are painted in the same sickly, pale blue shade that makes me want to vomit, violently!

Seller claims, in the prospect, that the apt was remodeled in 2004. Yeah right! The doors and walls that have been painted, looks like they've just thrown the paint on, no need for brushes there, another expense for them to cut.

I did not put in a bid for this one, lemme tell you!

While at the real-estate agency, I looked at a couple more places. I signed out a key to a another apartment, not far from the first. This one was heavenly, in comparison. The bathroom was recently remodeled. Everything new! New sink, new shower, new drains, new toilet, new tiles on floor and walls... Did I like it? Hell Yeah!

It's smaller than the first one, it's only a one bedroom apt. Bedroom is a little on the small side, too. No matter, it's perfect. Nothing that needs to be done with it, the price is right, the view is terrific. I put in a bid! Now to see if the seller accepts, or if he wants to wait for a bidding war.

I'm not doing bidding wars, mind you. My bid is a 'take it or leave it' kinda bid. If he doesn't, or he's too slow (got until next Friday), there's a third place I'd like to check out. Also a one bedroomer. This one also have a new bathroom, new shower, the works. Also, and this is a kincher, this apt has a brand new kitchen! If seller of the apt I have made a bid on doesn't take it, or is too slow, I'll ask to see this third place. Also, brand new floors in all rooms. Same kind of floor everywhere but the bathroom. That's cool too. A nice, reddish shade of wooden floors. I'll lose the 'free' view though.

Let me explain what I mean by 'free' view. Free view to me means, no looking into the neighboring building's walls or windows. Instead, I'd prefer to look out and see no people looking in on me! Not many such places to be had around here, we're kinda cramped for development space. With the apt I've placed a bid on, I'll get the free view. I'll be looking out over the river and the very long bridge I already need to cross in order to get to work. No big, I'd be living almost underneath it. From the kitchen window, I'd get to see the next apartment building across a rather large lawn. That's the only place that I'd get to watch people from, and that's cool by me!

The third apt doesn't give me a free view. It's in a housing area, and they're kinda tightly put together. It's something I can overcome, what with a brand new bathroom and a brand new kitchen... I'd have to paint the bedroom, though... It's a dark, royal blue that grates on me.

I don't like the color blue, don't ask me why, I have no idea. My mom took great pleasure in dressing me in dark, royal blue when I was younger. I wanted a black jacket, coat, sweater or jeans, she'd go get the dark, royal blue instead. I didn't like the color any more then, than I do now! I frickin' hate it!

Oh well, we'll have to wait and see now. If I don't get the second apt I've looked at, I'll try for the third. If I end up with the third, I'll cut my commute almost in half too! And no need to go over that boring old bridge, that everyone and his granny seems to think you'll need to go waaay slow on...

I'll get an update in about the apartment hunting as I go...

My sister? She's been too busy having the perfect summer, to update me with her situation with 'Kvinnesiden'. She's been out sailing, several times a week, sunbathing and bathing and frolicking... Am I jealous? Yes, I'll have to admit, to a certain degree I am. I can honestly say, that I'm happy on her behalf, that she's been having such a wonderful time, this summer. Goodness knows, she deserve it. It's just... I'd like to get to do some of that too. If it weren't for the fact that I need to stay out of the sun, as heat and sunshine gives me bad rashes on my hands. Itchy, ugly little blisters that burst and turn into small sores that itch even more and then stings. Nope, power to my sis, she's having a well-deserved and certainly well-earned summer this year!

Later!

My week was...

2006-07-30T12:16:00.000+02:00

... Not all that bad, actually!

Monday and Tuesday went along without much of a hitch. Went to work, did my work, and went home knowing I had managed to help 99% of the people that was sent to my extention. The remaining had to get an error report created, so there was really nothing I could have done for them. Not for lack of trying, though, but there comes a time in any conversation with a customer where you have to throw the towel in and admit defeat!

Wednesday was much the same, but this day, I got to do a whole lot more wheeling and dealing as I was famous for on retailers. It started when I decided to order myself a new cellphone from our online store. I've been drooling over this model since the producers (SonyEricsson) presented it last winter. It wasn't available until recently, though. I've been looking, drooling and counting my money. Then, on Wednesday, I caved in and ordered it! Talked with one of my TeamLeaders, and he asked me to find stuff out for him. Prices etc. Yep, he be wanting that model himself! At the end of the day, I had secured a deal for him too, he'll be getting their demo model at a lower cost, when the guy currently playing with it, was done. No saying when that would be, but TL didn't care, He was happy!

In true form to myself, I emailed one of my contacts at the webshop, telling him that I had ordered said model, and that he was free to mail it out ASAP. His reply was something like this... 'Hey you! No order in yet, slow systems today. But it's you, and I will do!' He mailed it out the same day! Friday I held the phone in my hands! I did check one minute before going home, though. And at that time my order was in the system. My contact had sent the phone out for mailing three hours before that!

Thursday, my brain continued on it's path to total meltdown. I swear, my brain is melting and coming out of my ears! Good thing I didn't have any plans for that day, other than sitting on my ass bugging Kiri on AIM. It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it!

Friday, I had planned on taking my mother out shopping for groceries. We had to put it off for Saturday, when my best friend called and needed someone to keep her company. She was high on morphine after surgery, her boyfriend was at work and she didn't want to be alone, just in case something happened and she needed help. SURGERY????? I never heard of any surgery?

Turns out, this is something she had decided a year ago. And also decided not to tell me about, as she was afraid I'd spend the entire year trying to talk her out of it. She went and got herself a boob-job! Okay, I knew she was unhappy with her lack of boobs. She actually had quite nice boobs up until she was 25, then she dropped in weight rapidly and lost her boobs, they never came back. So, on the one hand I understand her and only wish she had gone with saline implants, on the other hand... She could have gotten mine for free! She haven't gone overboard, though. She went for a sensible size, as she wasn't looking to get BIG-UN'S, just to firm up what little was left from the jailbreak her boobs had made some 15 years ago.

She's my best friend, and I love her dearly. So I will not berate her, not any more than I already did when I was screeching at her on the phone, 'you did what?????'

And yesterday, Thunder! was heard overhead! And I don't mean in the sense that AC/DC suddenly showed up to hold an impromptu concert just for me (one can only wish), kinda thunder, but the rumblings of our good ol' pal TOR!. It was a mostly dry thunder, though. As we got all of three raindrops. But the noise was kept up for about three hours. The lack of rain, however, made it a little anti-climactic for me. The air didn't clear up as much as it should have. It's cooler today, but not by much. Me thinks there will be more thunder, but there's no knowing when. It's less humid, but it's still humidness enough to make your brain melt... Or in my case, keep on melting!

I stopped by Kiri's blog, she haven't posted the entire week, well, neither have I, but she usually post several times a week, sometimes, a couple of times a day. Guess she's been swamped since her 'Partner in Crime' JGA quit over at Swirling Toilet Productions. I really loved the name he came up with to describe their workplace.

Also I stopped by my friend Icey's blog. At least she's updated with a couple of musings. Interesting reading material, so I commented on the last one. Especially since it was something that I, too, have an interest in.

Hmmm, that was quite a bit of name-dropping, wasn't it? I'll get you one more! If you haven't seen this (no, not mine!) blog before, and you'd really like a good snicker... Go to check out 'Go Fug Yourself'! It's not here on blogspot, but it's a funny place to visit when you're in a funk. I sent Kiri there, she spent the rest of her day going back in to get some more snickering in...

That's it for me, for now. Peace out!

Mmmm... Silence!... Or the joys of replacement ADSL modems!

2006-07-20T10:50:00.000+02:00

I didn't mention this, my last post here. But I have been having some trouble with my ADSL modem. An old Thomson thing. It started whistling to me a couple of weeks ago, for no reason whatsoever, or so I thought.

I spoke to the lady in charge of sending out replacement modems at work, on Monday, and she told me that she was sending out more replacements, than new subscriber-modems, lately. Turns out, the old modems have a weakness that will show up after a couple of years. 'It's not really whistling', she said. 'You're actually hearing the electrical current going through it!' Oh, okay... Am I supposed to hear this? 'Nope! Come over to my desk later and I'll get you a new one!'

She then told me a funny story of one error message she'd received from ADSL customer service (she doesn't talk to the customers, she's only sending out the modems). A man had called in and told the guy at customer service that his modem was whistling, a very high pitch whistling that he could barely hear. Seeing as he could barely hear it, it was no big deal for him... But his dog was going apeshit!

That's the pitch of the sound, almost un-hearable (if that's a word) to the human ear... But boy, can the dogs ever hear it?

We have a rule when logging error messages both at Mobile/Cell and at ADSL. We take down what the customers say, word for word! You should see how some of those error messages look, or maybe not. *Sheesh* Some of the guys even take down the swearing, word for word. Others, like me just adds a little < Insert string of profanities here > thingie. Error messages usually makes for some funny reading too, especially when it's the customer who's not really understanding the most basic elements of their cell-phones or computers/modems/routers. It's entertainment, is what it is. That's why we have the (un-official) rule to take everything down, word for word!

So now, my new ADSL modem being in place (I had it replaced early Tuesday morning), and it's blissfully silent in the hallway, again. So much so, that when I came home from work on Tuesday, my mother was waiting for me. She had a pretty worried look on her face, and went; 'The whistling noise stopped! Is something wrong? I didn't touch anything, I swear!' Naw mom, I replaced the modem before I went to work, didn't you notice the size difference? 'Nope, I never paid much attention to what was there in the first place!' Oh well. I'm pleased, and she's happy it's quiet again.

Aaahhh, Sweet Relief... Almost!

2006-07-10T13:53:00.000+02:00

So, did we get any rain this weekend? Yeahsureyoubetcha! No thunder, unfortunately, but we got some heavy rain. It started early Sunday morning, just as I was borderline awake. Needless to say, I fell right back to sleep. I always go into a deeper sleep when the weather is bad. Don't know why, even if I'm already asleep when it starts, I just go into a coma-like state. Waking me, is almost impossible!

When I finally managed to crack my eyes open (two or three hours later), I donned a big tee and shorts, and ran straight out onto the balcony. Yes, I danced! Said I would, didn't I? Hard, heavy rain. The rain itself felt cool, but the air was still hot and humid. This was nothing more than a momentary relief, lasted for as long as I could stay outside in it.

Today, the sun is back, the air is still humid as heck... And I'm still eagerly anticipating rain. More rain, that is. Thunder is a must! Without a good thunderstorm, the air will stay humid and my brain will keep on melting! Hardly anything left in there as it is, still, I've got to save what little remains of it!

I can only hope that Kiri's weekend was less humid than mine.

I'll be working three full days this week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Not today, due to having had a doctor's appointment. My Dr is doubtful that I should stay in this job, she's not the only one! But I do need to remain employed if I'm to get my starters loan so I can get an apartment. We'll just have to wait and see.

The new shift plan is a joke. No one that I have spoken to at work, are happy with them. They do not allow for a life outside of work, and that, my friends, is just plain wrong. They don't pay us nearly enough to expect us to embrace this newfangled plan of theirs. 'It works wonderfully in Sweden!' Is what they tell us, it's a flexi-time type of workplan. Flexible? Where? There is no room for flexibility! There is no room for a life outside of work, at all! If you're unfortunate enough to have a significant other and/or kids, you'll bankrupt yourself paying for babysitters, as kindergarten closes at a set time... Trouble is, you're still at work and have to stay there for another few hours. Your significant other, will see even less of you than usual, might put a strain on relationships, is my opinion. I do not live, breathe and bleed my workplace. Not really. As I said, they don't pay us enough to demand that sort of commitment. I am committed to do the best job that I can, however, but that's within reasonable workhours. I still haven't received mine, as I'm not working 100% yet. My teamleader needs to do a little math on the hours, to make sure I'm not there longer than I'm allowed. When I do get it, I'll post it here, so you can see for yourself!

Eagerly Awaiting Rain...

2006-07-07T22:25:00.000+02:00

... And preferably, thunder!

It's too damned hot to form a coherent thought, not to mention saying it or even typing it.

It's been hot and humid for the last couple of weeks, now. It was so bad, Sunday night, I couldn't sleep at all. Needless to say, I was anything but coherent at work on Monday. Monday night, my mother fed me one of her sleeping pills...

... I don't remember getting out of bed to start the coffee machine, I don't remember turning my alarm clock off and I sure as Hades doesn't remember turning my cellphone alarm off. Yep, I overslept! I got in to work an hour late, my Teamleader took one look at me, and said; 'No phones for you today!'

I spent all day Tuesday in a daze. Oversleeping is bad enough, throws me completely off track. Add to that, the lingering effects of the sleeping pill... I'm not much for medicated sleep. Non-prescription painkillers are enough to make me drowsy. A trip to the dentist, with work done... I'll sleep for a couple of hours due to the tranqs. I don't do well with medications, I usually opt to stay away from them. But there is no way my dentist gets anywhere close to me with the drill without a shot of novocain!

Weather has been a little easier today, windy, even. I'm not complaining, though. I like it! Might see some rain during the night or tomorrow, one can only hope! I plan to get out on the balcony and dance in it, if I'm awake for it! Too much wind for thunder, though. I'd love a good, loud thunderstorm about now. Makes the air all clean and fresh and smelling really good.

Yes. I have been wearing my new sneakers, and let me tell ya, they're even nicer to wear, than what they look. And they do look good, Kiri said so! She'll be hunting for a pair like them, herself. I'm not buying them for her, here... Postage to send them to her would be too painful on my wallet!

Four weeks to go, until vacation time again... Three weeks, this time. I can hardly wait! Should probably try to plan something, but the heat and humidity has melted most of my brain!

Later 'Gator!

YESSSS!!!

2006-06-30T22:51:00.000+02:00

I can't believe I've actually had some kind of luck today. Usually, if it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all... But today, today I finally had a little thing go my way!

My best friend called me up, and we agreed to meet up at the local mall. It's not big by US standard, not even by Norwegian standard, but it's close to home, and they have most stores there. We were just gonna go 'round, browse a little maybe. None of us were planning on doing any real shopping.

The thing is, I always find stuff for her! I can hardly find anything I want to wear, but I can sure find her an entire new wardrobe without any trouble. As per usual, I extended her wardrobe again. She's not complaining, she seems to have problems finding stuff on her own. I have no idea why, I find stuff for her all the time.

She was looking for some new shoes, that was the only thing she was looking for. She's a sneaker wearing gal, it's usually the only shoes she's comfortable in. Today, she wanted to find a pair of ballerina type shoes. She did find them, and she was very pleased with them. As she was trying them on, and getting ready to pay for her purchase, I find what I have been looking for, for the last three or four months. A pair of sneakers for me! I don't have a pair of sneakers, to be honest. I have a lot of boots, but no sneakers. I had seen a pair I liked, but they never seemed have my size, whenever I was there (other stores, mind you). Today, not only did I find a pair of sneakers in my size, by that manufacturer, but they were waaaaay nicer than the sneakers I had planned on getting, if they could just get them in my size. Did they have my size? I checked the rack, nope, not there. I asked the very friendly girl that works in that particular shoe store, and she told me to sit tight, she'd check in the back for me. Yay! She found ONE pair in my size!!! And at 30% off, they're in my custody now!

Aren't they pretty?

To you, this might not be seen as much luck, but for me... It's a farkin' miracle!

VICTORY!!! ...Or maybe not...

2006-06-29T17:20:00.000+02:00

Well, I've had a conversation with my sister. She's getting all sorts of advice lately. First one being to be as vocal as possible about her situation, then to be mostly quiet, not act out. Which means, she's now worried about making comments here. That's really a shame, I would have preferred for her to present her case, in her own words (albeit in Norwegian) to help her out as much as I can form here. I'll still comment on what goes on in her battle against Kvinnesiden and so forth, but I won't be able to get her to comment. At least not yet.

My brother moved last weekend, I did not have to go help with anything! He did most himself, though, I suspect at least one og his buddies helped him with the heavy lifting, etc.

More good news... I bought myself an external harddrive, yesterday. I now have 400 Gigs more to fill up with music and movies. And I do love my music! Just ask Kiri!

And the bestest news for last...

After coming home, yesterday, I saw that Kiri had tried to contact me on MSN IM. She wasn't there any longer, so I just shot her an email explaining where I had been and what I'd been doing... Then today... Today!!! She's back on AIM!!! I'm currently sending her one of the new tracks I wanted to share with her, all is golden!

Yes, a whole week without Kiri on the other end of my AIM have been hell, especially since it was forced upon us by an outside force, her Fearless Leader, as it were. I have no idea what she's been filling his ears with to get it back, frankly, I don't care. I care only that she's back! Welcome home, sweetie!

Slow Days Ahead

2006-06-22T16:21:00.000+02:00

Seems like I'm looking at some slow days ahead. I have a week off from work (Yay!), it's pissing down with rain (at long last) and I have no emergencies to deal with. Bliss!

Got a text message from my sister, last night. She had nothing new to report, which means I won't be updating my blog on her case... Yet!

My friend, Icey have opened up a new blog as well. Good thing too, I'd lost the link to the old one. Her blog is called The Balancing Act, and I found it refreshing. I read it, and I will go over and leave a comment... Or five! *Waves at Icey* Missed you, babe!

Kiri's situation, on the other hand, just goes from one extreme to the next. Read her blog to see what I mean. ::Shudders:: I'm so happy I'm not working where she is!

My brother just made an appearance, it'll be the first time in a few weeks we've actually seen him. He'll start moving during the weekend, and our mother have volunteered, not only her assistance, but mine as well. No asking me about it. No checking to see if I had other plans... It's the worst part about still living your mom. You'll do whatever she decides, or it's the stonily, silent treatment for weeks after. Been there, done that! And, of course, it has to be the weekend my friend comes home from two weeks vacation in Bulgaria. There won't be any catching up, as we had planned, if my brother decides that he needs help. I've been unwillingly volunteered, so I'll have no choice but to help out, regardless. Not sure how much help I'll be. My right arm is a mess, strengthwise (i.e.: I have none!) and my left arm isn't all that good either. We'll just have to wait and see.

::Waves:: Later! I'm out of Pepsi, and will need to rectify that error...

Been doing some thinking...

2006-06-16T13:54:00.000+02:00

Hey! Don't scoff, I do that sometimes y'know. It's confusing as heck, but I find that my brain has a will of its own.

I have decided that I will continue to follow up on my sister's situation. I will have her report progress on her case to me, and I will post it, and my take on it, right here! Why? Because I want justice! I want what's right, and someone stealing other people's creative work isn't... Well, right.

My sister read my last post, her feedback was all positive, she liked what I had communicated, and didn't want anything changed... With the small exception, that I should have mentioned Kvinnesiden far more than what I did.

Apparently, she has managed to suss out our brother, and have had him read this blog too... Hmmm, how did she manage to unearth him? He's been incommunicado, or so it seems for the last week or so. Our mom's not even been able to get hold of him on the phone. I had actually suspected him of having taken off to get some quality angling in. Yep, he loves that stuff, especially if it results in a large, fat salmon that he can hand over to our mom (he never keeps 'em to himself). I am, however, pretty sure he's not out angling, he needs to find a new home A.S.A.P. seeing as his former landlady have sold the house. New owners intend to modernize the house, and they have no room for a tenant. We're still in the dark about his process in this endeavor (sp?).

Oh, nevermind the spelling, I'll shoot it past Kiri later, I still haven't found my beloved dictionary. Wonder what I did with it, where did I put it? I'll have to do a methodical search for it, it's gotta be in this room, somewhere!

I haven't heard back from sister today, though... I suspect she might not be conscious at the moment. She's like me, a nightowl. She functions best at night and prefers to sleep through the day, if she's not in a work situation. Oh how I relate!

So, if anyone actually finds this blog, in the least bit interesting, check back for semi-regular updates. We will find a way to break The Creature, we'll just have to!

www.kvinnesiden.no

2006-06-15T21:55:00.000+02:00

After getting an earful from my sister, I have decided to name names and places.

The place? www.kvinnesiden.no

The name? Siw Ødegaard.

This place is run by a person completely without morals or scruples. She has no creative genius of her own, so she steals the genius of others.

She holds 38 articles, written by my sister, hostage. Either through anonymizing them, or claiming them as her own.

My sister was assigned a training post at Kvinnesiden, as a trainee (unpaid) 03.01.06. This was an agreement reached between Siw Ødegaard and the unemployment office, so that my sister would get the training and job experience she needed, as well as a resume for this type of work.

As you might have gathered from my previous post, 'A Little Bit Of Ranting...', this was not to be.

As it is now, Ms Ødegaard, henceforth known as 'The Creature', is well aware that the most damage would come from a civil lawsuit. She is also well aware of the cost of such a lawsuit, and that my sister, being unemployed, does not have those kinds of resources. As of this moment, it's a Mexican stand-off. My sister couthreatenhen to go to the press, but that could hamper her chances of getting a job in this line that she is pursuing. The Creature knows this too, and takes full advantage.

She has even gone as far as to claim that the articles, written by my sister, that she has wrongfully put her name to, were created in tandem. Not true! My sister has done a lot of this work from home, researching facts and figures, on her own spare time, in order to write these articles. They are products of my sister's creativity, my sister's work ethics and my sister's genius. All without getting paid!

My sister sent me a list, asking my help in determining which articles were still unlawfully published at Kvinnesiden, 56 in total. Of those 56 I found 38, still with original titles, but having had my sister's name removed and anonymized or plainly stolen by The Creature. There could be others, where the titles have been changed, I have no idea.

I was on the phone with my sister, just now. I told her about the other post I made, and she told me it was something wrong with it... I didn't name names or places, I'm correcting that error. I did tell her I was afraid I'd get her into trouble by being too specific, my sister's reply? 'Screw it! And screw her too!!!' Okay, fine. She's screwed, I'm outing her lying, cheating stealing @$$ right now. My only concern now is... Who's got my bailmoney? And Kiri just logged off to go home... Dang!

A little bit of ranting...

2006-06-14T16:22:00.000+02:00

Yes, I did say a little, you heard me right!

Rant Mode On
My sister have been attached to a Norwegian website forum thingie. I have no idea what to call it, but they have this website aimed at women. All sorts of stuff to do with us wimminfolk (yes, I know what I typed, this time). My sister have a lot on her resume, she has degrees in marketing, leadership, text marketing and public relations of some sort, don't ask).

My sister was sent to this place by her local unemployment office, to get some experience, and training in this type of environment. Unpayed, she would draw unemployment checks as usual.

After a couple of months there, after having worked her ass off, 'round the clock, the boss there hires an editor. Now the trouble starts. My sister have been in on every decision made up until now. Every meeting with the IT tech boys, my sister have been included. Not so, anymore. When my sister made a mention to the boss, that this was a violation of the agreement they had with the unemployment office, things soured even further.

In the beginning, when it was just my sister and the boss (female), they didn't put their names on their articles. Decided by the boss, seeing as it was only the two of them, and against all rules and regulations pertaining to creative ownership, or whatever. Editor comes in, and yes, another female, and they keep it up for a little while longer, then start to add their names to their work.

After my sister called them on their breaking the terms of her being an apprentice there, she's out in the cold. Litterally! So she goes home, thorougly depressed, and makes a call to the unemployment office to make her report. Next thing she knows, her name is removed from all her articles (and they were a-plenty!), the boss and editor had divvied them up between themselves, in effect stolen her work.

Now, my sister have hired a lawyer to get her work back. A clerk at the law office called the bosslady, and was disgusted by the behaviour of this creature. She refused to listen, kept talking over the clerk and just kept being disrespectful of everything decent. She have, however, claimed that all of my sisters articles have been removed. NOT!!!

I have spent a few hours today, going through their entire website. And lo' and behold, there are most of my sisters articles, still in place. Some, the bosslady have put her own name on, and some have been anonymized as being by the staff. I'm disgusted in general by such behaviour, but when this is done to my own blood, I see red! I have cross-checked all articles on my sisters list, with those still published at the website. Only a handful have been removed. I have noted which of them are still there, and mailed my sister copies of a bunch of her work, that she hadn't done from home, but on a lap-top belonging to the bosslady. My sister needs her articles, I'm getting them for her!

I will not mention the name of the site, it's all in Norwegian, and if I do... My sister might get into trouble from me ranting about the unfairness of her situation.

The real kicker? This place is supposed to benefit women. Raise awarness on their situations, and promote respect... WHAT??? Respect? They don't know the meaning of the word!
Rant Mode Off

Kiri, I need chocolate now... by the truckloads!

Kiri Made Me Do It!!!

2006-06-13T22:32:00.000+02:00

She really did!

Who?

Kiri!

Slave Labour!!!

So, what to write about? ::wheels starts turning::

I could write about my work, but, nah. I'm overworked, underpayed and totally overqualified for what they have me do.

I work in Customer Support for a cellphone company. In Norway, that is. I started in Customer services, was moved over to Retailer's Support about a year after starting with the company, and now, two years later, they send me back to the customers. They're animals, I tell you, Animals!

Why is it that us poor schmucks that work at customer support (in any field) is supposed to be mindreaders? From a distance? No one seems to be able to tell me the answer to that one. If any one knows, please tell me.

I might use this blog to chronicle my desperate search for a new, better paid and more meaningful job... Yep, that might do it. I have been hard at search for a few weeks now. Jobs are not easy to come by in Norway, so the search must continue. I can't settle for temp positions, seeing as I'm in the process of getting a mortgage. I do need a place of my own, where I can get a little peace and quiet... and some privacy!

I'm educated in Travel. I have a fancy diploma titling me as a 'Travel Coordinator'. This means, in theory, that I can start my own hotel (if I get someone else to take care of the books), I can start my own travel agency, as long as I can get my hands on an accountant, said accountant must be lisenced, though, and they won't work for peanuts! But that education was a while back, a few years, even, and I no longer want to go in that direction.

I have done some translation work, that could be fun to try. Hmmm, no such work to be found, at the mo'.

Kiri gave me a trainwreck-type crash course in HTML a few years back. Yes, I have known li'l ol' Slave Labour a few years now. Met online in '99 through common interests, and have remained friendly. We do share a few obsessions, y'know. Andy Serkins... He's not one of them! LMAO @ Kiri.

We have been in the process of putting an obsessions website together... for the last two or three years. It's still not going anywhere. But, alas, I'm not qualified to the same kind of work she does.

I have taken classes in accounting [yay me ;o)]. Business economics, even. But, alas, I have done no such work, so they'll rather have someone who's actually done it for a while.

Mmmmm... Obsessions....

Eh, where was I? Oh yes, background...

I'm every bit as addicted to music as Kiri. I have a list of all time favourites as long as my... leg! Hey, I'm leggy, nothing I can do about that... And the list really is that long!

I draw, when inspiration hits, I make wallpapers for my computer, using Corel PhotoPaint, I paint on wood and I read an ungodly amount of books. Dean Koontz, is my hero, in case you were wondering, which you probably weren't. ::Shrugs::

My posts will probably never make any records for length or intelligent content. I ramble, I grumble, I bitch and I complain. It's what I do, and I'm darn good at it too! Just ask Kiri!

Later, I'm heading back to AIM to torment the dear one, as she puts in overtime... ::Snickers:: Did I mention that my work week is over? My weekend has begun? Am I gloating? Yeahsureyoubetcha! I gotta get my kicks somehow...

Due to chronic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I'm not allowed to work more than 40%. Doctor's orders, and the main reason I got bumped from Retailers Support to Customer Support... B@st@rds!

Ps. Disregard any typo's you might come across, as it's late in Norway, and I really don't give a hoot at the moment. ;o)