OccupyEugene
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Category Archives: life or something like it
[never clean the house]
I’ve spent the weekend post-employment thusly: playing Sims.
Well, that’s not quite true, I took out the garbage, did the laundry, cooked a few meals, did the dishes… they were not things I had on my todo list. On that list I had bigger things like 1. One hour of writing 2. Refine resume… etc. Well, except none of that happened.And I’m a little disgusted with myself that I didn’t get those things done.
And thinking about it, I realized I’d forgotten my first key to happiness.
Key To Happiness Number One: Never clean the house.
Have you ever done that? Put something too large on your todo list? Clean the house. Big or small, “clean the house” is a lot of work and can be daunting when you look at it. And the longer you look at that todo on your list, the more impossible it seems. Clean the house… where do I start??
So instead of ever putting “clean the house” on my list, I put, “Take out the trash”. Yeah. I can do that. And when I get that done, I realize I’ve started. One small piece of the whole thing, but I’ve now got a sense of accomplishment!
I did this! This!
And so I build on the trash with making the bed. And straightening my night table, and putting my breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.
You see? Instead of bemoaning the fact that The Big Task is too BIG to get done, I get all the little things that make up the big thing.
So, my advice to you?
Never clean the house.
[life plan]
Tomorrow I will walk out of Palo Alto Software for the very last time as an employee.
After nine years and two weeks.
I’m not scared. I’m excited. Even knowing that right now is probably not the best of times to be out of job. But this was something I had to do. My heart and head said I had something else out there for me.
I’m taking a chance.
I can’t wait.
[foodalicious]
I generally have a rule never to try a recipe twice. Especially a recipe that was really good the first time.
I revisited the Steak w/ Quince sauce, polenta with goat cheese and asparagus w/ garlic. Critical me says I over salted the asparagus. The polenta didn’t cook the way I liked it and the quince sauce didn’t thicken.
But the sane part of me says it was a good meal. I liked it. I’m proud of it.
The joy of cooking, of taking singular flavors and melting them into something else is so amazing and fulfilling. Good job me.
Good job.
[home improve this]
The thing about home improvement projects is that when you start on one you inevitably begin to see where the rest of the spots in the house are that need work.
We started with the backyard. Covering up the huge dirt pit that was nursing along a rather amazing plot of weeds and ant colonies. We covered it with pavers and wow. Instant livability out there.
So with the yard slowly moving forward, we look back inside the house. The landing pad just inside the front door makes us think we should also re-tile the laundry room at the same time with the same tile. And while we’re at it, change the wood door to the laundry with a french door and why not change out the front door as well and wow, did you see the great paint colors? We could totally repaint the laundry… right after we completely redo the whole bathroom.
You get the picture.
Maybe we should have just kept the dirt pit?
Amazon Rank
Amazon Rank
amazon rank
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): amazon ranked1. To censor and exclude on the basis of adult content in literature (except for Playboy, Penthouse, dogfighting and graphic novels depicting incest orgies).
2. To make changes based on inconsistent applications of standards, logic and common sense.Etymology: from 12 April 2009 removal of sales rank figures from books on Amazon.com containing sexual, erotic, romantic, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or queer content, rendering them impossible to find through basic search functions at the top of Amazon.com’s website. Titles stripped of their sales rankings include “Bastard Out of Carolina,” “Lady Chatterly’s Lover,” several romance novels, GLBTQ fiction novels, YA books, and narratives about gay people.
Example of usage: “I tried to do a report on Lady Chatterly’s Lover for English Lit, but my teacher amazon ranked me and I got an F on grounds that it was obscene.”
Alternate usage: “My girlfriend wanted to preserve her virginity, and I was happy to respect that, then she amazon ranked and decided anal sex was okay.”
[politico]
[big picture]
[take the time to think]
If you work in a busy, sometimes noisy office like I do, you learn to value and cherish the quiet moments that occur. I take those precious times to write or work on prioritizing my work flow lists for any outstanding projects.
But sometimes, nothing beats pushing away from the desk and taking a walk around the block just to get your thoughts in order.
43Folders has a great article about a snippet of conversation between Barak Obama and David Cameron, the British MP. Senator Obama talks about a piece of advice he once received from someone close to the White House about the importance of scheduling time to yourself to think.
[wtf drama?]
There are days when you think, quite seriously, that life is literally a roller coaster.
Today is one of those days.
I was just getting back from lunch when my cell phone rang. It was the alarm company letting me know that someone was breaking into our house. Knowing that Lori is sleeping during the day and can’t hear a damn thing that goes on downstairs, I was completely freaked out by the fact that some stranger could be wandering around our house, or even go upstairs to her room and she wouldn’t know.
I told the person on the phone that there was someone in the house, and that they weren’t able to hear the alarm, so if there was police or security on the way, they needed to hurry.
When I got home, I noticed there were several unfamiliar cars outside our house. The lawn had been freshly mowed, and our neighbor’s garden gate was standing open. All strange things, except for the lawn. I thought about going next door to see if Josh could walk into the house with me, but decided I was being nuts and with phone in hand, went in.
The back door was standing open and the alarm was going off. I turned off the alarm, checked the door and called the company to say that the house was fine.
I could see the people whose car was in front of our house get back in and leave. They looked… well, they were looking around a lot … which made me freak out again, so I decided to over and talk to Josh. See if he’d seen anything.
Now Josh is a great guy. His wife is a nurse like Lori and they’ve been super awesome to us. They helped build our fence, we’ve had Josh over for dinner. He’s quirky and funny and just an all around helpful and sweet guy.
When I knocked on the front door, a strange man answered and I immediately started feeling strange. But I could see Josh’s wife and I could see a baby bassinet right behind him and he was whispering so I thought, ok. No problem, baby sleeping. Calm down ‘Chelle, seriously.
And then the bomb shell dropped.
“Josh died yesterday.”
…
His wife and his sweet 6 week old baby are suddenly alone in the world, and my freak out about having our house broken into is suddenly and horribly put into perspective.
Boss has told me to stay home, for which I am grateful, because I’m just …
anyway.
Gonna have a little quiet time I think. Then call everyone I know and tell them how much they mean to me.
Then drink a lot.