Hurricanes, Haircuts, Apartment Hunts - oh my! We started our day taking a peek at two more apartmens. Gotta squeeze these things in as we can you know? One we had looked at last year (has a loft) but none available until November and way expensive. The other wasn't bad and had a good special on their 2 bedroom (no lofts) but...when it comes down to adding in $40/water and $40/month for W/D, the place that we saw last weekend and really liked is actually cheaper. So, despite being $100 more a month then we're paying now, it's the best deal and one of the nicest places we've seen. All they want (at the moment, before they see our credit - eep) is $200 to hold the apartmemt. So I think we're going to put in the app and see what conditions it will take to move in. For example, they're not doing a security deposit as part of their move-in special, but, they'll probably want one from us. Pending how much it is, we'll see if we can swing it. Here's to hoping. Of course, we can't put in the app tomorrow because they'll be closed and Monday most likely will be closed as well for the holiday. But...I think that's what we've narrowed it down to at the moment. Wish us luck.
Hair cut! On the way home, we stopped at the mall and I got my hair cut. Oh it's so short now! But it feels light and bouncy and I think it will help it get healthier again. Ok, it's not really short short, but it's short compared to what it was.
Cute, hu? You should see how little of a ponytail it makes! Cracks me up. Anyway, thoughts? I'm considering dying it red again, but I'm not sure.
And, last but not least, Hurricane! Bah. It's getting windy and rainy out there. Apparently this is the kind of weather we can expect for the next 24-odd hours. We'll continue to suffer it's squalls. Though the maps look pretty menacing at the moment.
This is the projected path. Yellow arrow is me. We're under Tropical Storm Warning right now (the blue).
And this is just a scary satellite view of just how large it is and how much of Florida is being affected by it. Scary picture, hu?
Frances has pretty much stalled out just offshore. It's going to slowly start up again and move in a north-northwest direction. Meaning everyone in its path is going to be enduring long-term winds and heavy rainfall. Because it's not moving quickly, we're going to all get drenched in the state. It will prompt a lot of flooding. Hopefully though, since it's so slow moving, the one good factor is that it will have plenty of time to weaken before it gets over to my coast where it's projected to exit. By then, it will have long become only a tropical storm; albeit one that's flooding out the state.
I'll keep updating as the next 24 hours go on so everyone can see what's happening. Pending that the storms don't knock out the power. And I'll snap some photos if it looks especially stormy out there. Right now, it's windy and gusty and the rain has started somewhat, but nothing different from a normal rainstorm.
Anyway, just an update. Hope everyone else is safe and dry too!
How They Name Hurricanes and 2004 Name List Because you simply can't have enough useless posts at almost 3am, here's another. I was thinking about the names and how they go male then female then male. And I was trying to figure out if "Frances" was supposed to be a male or female name.
So I found the 2004 name list: Alex Bonnie Charley Danielle Earl Frances Gaston Hermine Ivan Jeanne Karl Lisa Matthew Nicole Otto Paula Richard Shary Tomas Virginie Walter
Based on the fact that Earl is clearly a man's name (at least gods I hope it is), Frances is supposed to be a woman's name? But yeah, according to various baby name places, it is.
Name: Frances Gender: female Origin: Latin, Old French Meaning: from France, free Similar Names: Fanchon, Francesca, Fran, Franny, Fanny, Frannie, Francine, Franchesca
For several hundred years, hurricanes in the West Indies were often named after the particular saint’s day on which the hurricane occurred. For example "Hurricane San Felipe" struck Puerto Rico on 13 September 1876. Another storm struck Puerto Rico on the same day in 1928, and this storm was named "Hurricane San Felipe the second." Later, latitude-longitude positions were used. However, experience has shown that using distinctive names in communications is quicker and less subject to error than the cumbersome latitude longitude identification methods.
Using women’s names became the practice during World War II, following the use of a woman’s name for a storm in the 1941 novel "Storm" by George R. Stewart. In 1951 the United States adopted a confusing plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie), and in 1953 the nation’s weather services returned to using female names. The practice of using female names exclusively ended in 1978 when names from both genders were used to designate storms in the eastern Pacific. A year later, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The name lists, which have been agreed upon at international meetings of the World Meteorological Organization, have a French, Spanish, Dutch, and English flavor because hurricanes affect other nations and are tracked by the public and weather services of many countries.
The Tropical Prediction Center in Miami, FL keeps a constant watch on oceanic storm-breeding grounds. Once a system with counterclockwise circulation and wind speeds of 39 mph or greater is identified, the Center gives the storm a name from the list for the current year. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not included because of the scarcity of names beginning with those letters. Names associated with storms that have caused significant death and/or damage are usually retired from the list.
Now, they come up with these things in advance. And they actually recylce them every six years. But, if a storm does major damage, they retire the name and replace it. You can actually see the list through 2009 right here. In fact, there's even a page dedicated to the retirement of names. They take this stuff seriously.
And if all that was too boring, here's a lovely new projection from the National Hurricane Center showing how close the exit point is going to be to me now. *sighs*
yellow arrow = me
What really stinks is that my mom lives just north of me. Pretty much right around the exit point itself. Stupid hurricanes.
I swear I'm not blonde Ever have those moments were you feel like you have to actually protest that you're a natural brunette and not a blonde under hair dye? Yeah, so I just had a really big, dorkus moment. I can be such a nitwit sometimes, I swear!
Just to give this topic a purpose, I have six, count 'em, six gmail invites to give out. While I'd love to use this as a money-raising campaign to help me have enough money to move, I know these things aren't worth much. So, while you're more then welcome to toss some change in the get me the fuck out of dodge apartment fund, you don't have to. You just have to ask. First come, first serve.
I need a first name, last name and email address to send the invite to.
Beyond that, this pointless entry ends here! No soup for you!
Things still not working out So, we're still not finding anything in our price range that's not skank. Yesterday we went to look at another place but they weren't running any specials; no wait, I take that back, they were giving a whopping half month free. Please. Everyone else is offering 1 - 2 1/2 months free for fuck's sake! And they were way overpriced. They were like $900 basically after their "special." For less then that, we can have 2 roman tubs, cermaic tile, or a loft for crying out loud! (i.e. there are much nicer places that we've had to put on the "can't afford" pile that come in less then they were) *sighs*
And of course, we have a hurricane heading our way. Which, you know, makes things fun.
the yellow arrow is me. each updated path brings it closer to our side of the state. joy
So....still no idea where we're going to live. Running out of places to look at. Running out of time to find a place because dammit, I am miserable, I can't breathe and I don't want to keep living in toxic black mold hell! And our 3-day weekend will be taken up by a goddamned hurricane! Why the fuck does this have to be so damned hard???
Cat Drama Gracie continues to want out of her room and into the rest of the apartment. She doesn't seem to comphrend that there is a cat twice her size and twice her weight that hates her. She doesn't seem phased in the slightest that massive Mika hisses and growls at her every moment she sees her. I'm not sure if she's just not scared of Mika or just too dense to realize she should be scared. Heh.
What I don't get is why Mika is so hateful towards her to begin with. She's TWICE GRACIE'S SIZE. Why is a cat that sleeps like this:
...afraid of something the size of this:
We continue to slowly try to get them around each other but oy. It's hard. Add to it Gracie's utter lack of understanding of the concept of "no" and it makes things fun. (What cat hasn't learned what "no" means? I mean, many of them just pay it lip service and go ahead and do what they want when the humans aren't looking, but she doesn't even do that. You tell her no, swat her butt and she immediately does it again! Bah.)
Hair Hair Everywhere So.....I'm going to be cutting my hair. Hopefully this weekend. Not because I want to mind, but because I have to. It's gotten extremely long:
...but it's so unhealthy. It's continuing to fall out in large quantities so it looks really thin. And it's all dry and broken into uneven levels. Which sucks. Because I was happy to have it so long again. This is about the longest it gets and I haven't had the luxury of having it this long very much.
I figure if I take a-few-to-several inches off, bring it closer up to my shoulder blades, that maybe it will get a chance to get healthy again. The ends are shot and hopeless at this point, so maybe if I start again, I'll get some good months out of it again. Sad though.
Anyway, things are a mess. I'm frustrated as hell. And I don't know exactly how things are going to resolve or what even to do next. Hell, I can't even find a place for us to hit tonight because we've looked at so many places already, there's not much left.
Who wants easy So much for the place we went to look at today. Bleck. Fucking ghetto-fabulous, that place was worse then our current one. Both of us immediately got a nasty vibe from it and quickly proceded to do the bare minimum tour (just to see it through) and hauled ass.
*sighs*
Who wants life to be easy? So, we're going to re-vist a few places we had looked at last year when we were wanting to move and see what specials they have now and hit one each a day this week after work. Hopefully, we can find something that we liked before with good circumstances now. Even if we don't love it, if it's nice, clean and not ghetto, we're open to possibilities.
A Plethora Of Updates So let's see where to begin....
Gracie Ok, so Gracie has these cloudy spots in her eyes. Took her to the vet last monday, spend $55 for an eye dye test and drops. Questionable what it was. Questionable whether it was a hazard to Mika. Finally, today, we took her to the rescue woman (Pat)'s vet for a second opinion. Took her to Pat's vet because we damned well weren't going to pay for it a second time. Her diagnosis? Florida Keratopathy.
Florida Keratopathy Corneal opacities apparently unique to tropical and subtropical climates. Multifocal, round, gray to gray-white, fluffy, cottonlike opacities of varying size are commonly seen in the corneal stroma. These opacities occur in warmer climates and have been referred to as Florida keratopathy, Florida spots, and Florida fungus.
Clinically, this disease is characterized by anterior stromal opacities of variable sizes. The corneal lesion is visible as a large, light-scattering opacity, with a dense center and a less dense periphery. These opacities occur at varying levels throughout the corneal stroma; however, most appear in the anterior stroma.
The condition appears to be self-limiting and does not seem to respond to topical corticosteroids and antifungal drugs. The corneas are devoid of any evidence of inflammation, and the eyes exhibit no discomfort or irritation. The corneal epithelium is intact, and Schirmer tear tests values are within normal limits.
Reference: Veterinary Ophthalmology, Kirk N. Gelatt, VMD
She even showed it to me in her book on animal eye conditions (most likely the one referenced above) because I have to say, I was a little skeptical that it was made up. I had never heard of such a thing. And both Kush and my mom's two cats were (and in the case of hers, still are) indoor/outdoor cats and have never had such a thing happen. But, if that's what it is - and it does fit the described pathology - then it's not infectious and finally, we can start introducing Gracie and Mika to each other.
The good thing about them being isolated these last eight days is that I'm pretty sure Gracie had an upper respiratory infection which could have easily been passed on to Mika. Think kitty cold. So, she's perked up significantly the last couple days and seems ready and eager to take over the rest of the house. Next few days will be more interacting of smells and familiarity between the two. Wish us luck, we're going to need it.
Projected Paths - Francis So.....there may or may not be another hurricane heading our way next weekend. It depends on who's projected path you look at. Weather.com shows it landing in south Florida by Saturday PM. NOAA is showing that it will turn and hit the east coast of the state Saturday afternoon. And then, there's the convergence of paths which are all on this one page which show the different places that it might come to. The one in orange would suck. The rest wouldn't be that bad where I am over on the west coast. Anyway though it's something to watch. May change the shape of Labor Day Weekend plans (not that there are any at the moment, but still). Something to watch.
Apartments - the search continues We looked at more places this weekend. Found another we really liked. Two and a half months free rent, pro-rated across the 14 month lease? Still almost $100 more a month then we're paying now. *sighs* Though the manager here finally gave us a copy of the mold report (we've only been trying to get a copy since July) and mentioned another property not far from here that she could get us into for the same price as we're paying now. Tomorrow we're going to look at it. No roman tub though *pouts*. Heh. If it's nice, it might be the solution to the problem. If it's skanky though, we'll keep looking. I'm not moving from one shithole to another, no thank you.
Oh yeah and the report? Despite her continues protests that "the report was negative!" her telling Cy (who helped out representing us legally in communications with her) that there is no mold, and despite walking in the apartment and telling us there's no mold to our faces, page after page clearly states there's not only mold present, but in high levels. "As referenced above, several species of mold were present within the facility." In fact, the total amount of molds present in the apartment air sample worked out to be 1,116 colony-forming units per meter of cubed air vs. 391 outside. Eeew. They go on to discuss how the highest concentration mold, Cladosporium, causes a host of health problems including obvious link to my horrible runny nose, congestion, coughing, sneezing and related breathing problems I've been dealing with that I never, ever have normally. (Sinusitis anyone?)
Beyond that, things like keratitis ("A non-penetrating erosion or open sore in the outer layer of the cornea, the transparent area at the front of the eyeball"); onychomycosis ("Onychomycosis is a fungal infection that causes fingernails or toenails to thicken, discolor, disfigure, and split"); pulmonary infections (inflammatory reaction in the lungs) and skin lesions are all caused by this mold. Wonder why I want the fuck out of here?
New Case - reduced PC woes? Ok, I'll end on an up-note. Goodness knows we need one after all this other crap going on. Love got me a new case for my computer. Brand-spankin'-new and cool. A friend at work ordered it to build a new computer. Problem was that it came with a very small dent in the side. They called the company, company says they'll send a new one and go ahead and do whatever with the old one. So, Love got it for nothing and we set it up this weekend.
The good thing is that it has a larger power supply and much better fans/cooling. So I'm able to leave my pc on again for longer stretches of time. I still need to get a UPS sooner rather then later, because our power still blinks out for no reason at utterly random moments and that can fry out all sorts of parts of the computer and damage my hard drive. So, while I can't leave it on if I leave the house, I can at least leave it on all day during the day. Which is so much better then the turn on once a day for an hour thing I had to do before.
Besides, it looks cooler.
the front as you can see is black....
...and it has a neon blue light in it and a clear side panel! *laughs*
And Mika of course thought it was her lucky day since she had a nice box to lay in.
Alright, that's more then enough for one entry! Sheesh. If you made it this far you deserve a cookie. Ta for now.
Do you feel those with pagan beliefs should attempt to take more of a political stand? Yes. But only to secure liberties and freedoms for people of all religions and to ensure these damned fundies stop trying to deny people their rights, and stop trying to legalize their fucking relgion's rules and deny people freedoms based on their dogmas.
Is paganism openly accepted where you are from? (city,town,state) It seems to be. There's quite a few Pagan bookstores around, groups, meet-ups, and assorted. This is a massive melting pot area - people from all over North American move here - so you get a lot of mixing of culture, belief and religion.
Given your beliefs, what's one thing that a political figure could promise to you about your path, that would convince you to vote for them? That they would never, for any reason, make a law which was based on one religion's dogmas and that they would do everything in their power to ensure no one could do so in the future as well. (i.e. no trying to force one deity's name into legal wording; no trying to make gay marriages illegal because it's against one religion's beliefs, etc.) Laws should NEVER be based on a religion.
Now I Feel Old Ok, so the ringer was off on the phone. So I'm sitting there on the couch watching "World's Wildest Police Chases" when I hear the answering machine kick on.
Hi, I hope this is the right (name) that went to (school) in 1995? This is Tara and I'm calling about the ten year reunion coming up next summer. My number is _x_.... so if this is the right person, call me! Thanks!"
