AJAX BELL

Author of the Queen City Boys books

Tag Archives: homeland


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it’s been a nice day

I had the kind of day where I just couldn't control my temper.  Ugh.  It's awful.  It's embarrassing.  Fortunately because of this, everyone at work is so terrified of me that no one will say anything to me.

I got some heinous but necessary errands done.  Then I came home and decorated my room a little and had dinner with Jami and Hols.  We made a fast, delicious dinner and sat on the porch and ate and talked and everything in the world is right again.

Now I am in my PJs at 8 pm, laying bed with ,my laptop waiting for T-Rider to call me.

Hopefully tomorrow will be good all day.  Hopefully it will be warm and beautiful again so I can enjoy it without being unreasonably angry at the world.

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blahblahblah-case-of-the-mondays-blah

My horribly loud neighbors who live in the back apartment got a drum set.  Because they weren't loud enough already.  I had to go over at 11pm and have the following exchange with them:

Me: *knocks*
Boy: *opens doors, smiles* Hey what's going on?
Girl: *comes up behind him holding drum sticks, smiles* Hey girl.
Me: *stares*
Boy: *looks pleasant but vacantly expectant*
Girl: *look of understanding slowly crosses her face* Oh, were we too loud?
Me: Yeah, the drums are going to have to be a day time thing.  It's not just the noise, but it's vibrating the floors all the way through the house.
Girl: Sorry.
Me: No trouble, thanks for keeping it down.

SERIOUSLY? Is there any, ANY, circumstance when I should have to tell someone who lives in an apartment that playing the drums at 11pm, particularly on a week night is unacceptable?

So they finally shut up and I go into my room only to discover that my beloved neighbor J has gone out and left her stereo on very loudly.  Or maybe not even that loudly, but her stereo is right on the other side of my bedroom wall and I can hear it clearly enough to distinguish the lyrics in every song.  Fortunately that can be cured with earplugs in a way drums vibrating the floor cannot.

Earplugs in I then proceeded to stay up WAY too late reading.  So I can't even really blame anyone else for my exhaustion and crankiness today. Boo.

I have a headache.  The wind is interfering with an otherwise perfectly lovely spring day. And it's irritating me by being loud and rattly around the office.  I have a shit-ton of work and I can't concentrate at all.

I didn't get hardly anything done this weekend, though I'm not complaining or beating myself up, as I generally rested and watched movies and screwed off in a way I haven't done in forever. However, after all that I feel like I should be in a decent mood, if not an excellent one, this morning.  Instead I feel like I climbing back into bed and crying. It's not even PMS or anything.  I just really really really do not want to be at work right now.

Hmmm, reading through my past few posts I'm seeing a trend.  If this keeps up I'll be in a perfectly cheerful mood tomorrow for no reason at all and then go right back to cranky again.

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boringly domestic but smells damn good

Got housework done, moved the TV to a better position, ate a healthy dinner and am now watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with miss Hols.  Also went to the Turnip Truck and got the rest of the groceries we needed. And Tuscan Blood Orange perfume, which I guess I didn't need, but I'm not sure how I lived without it.  It actually reminds me of the Body Shop's original Dewberry perfume (before they changed it), which was my favorite perfume ever.

Now before bed I will go and do one more task off my never-ending, ever changing to-do list and call it a good day. I may also scent my pillow like blood oranges. Mmmmm.

Lately neglected birthday countdown: 74 days.

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weak

Hols and I got home around the same time tonight.  In just over 80 minutes we managed to complete more house keeping and chores than we did in the entire weekend.  I'm not sure if this a win or an epic fail.

I am vaguely crampy.  I am distracted and somewhat useless.  I have a lot of things I should be doing.  Instead I am pointlessly surfing the 'net and watching Troy which isn't any better the second time, though I confess I am barely paying attention to it.

I am so ready for spring it isn't even funny.  Temps are hovering around average (51°F to 31°F) for the next couple weeks.  Then comes March, which, I anticipate to be filled what my PNW self considers average all around temps (60°F to 40°F) tolerable but not ideal.  Then the perfection of April-November.  Yeah, I complain when it's hot but it's so much more tolerable than ass freezing cold.  Also I am tired of wearing sweaters and boots.  I want my months of flip-flops back.  I want to not have to wear a coat.  I want flowers and green leaves. I am filled with longing for the day when one realizes the trees are filled with the particular chartreuse haze of spring buds.

I give up on today.  I am cold and unmotivated.  I will, perhaps, just go crawl into bed and read a book.  Maybe I'll make some tea first.  It's really all winter has going for it, cozy blankets and hot tea.

Let's all meditate on what my yard looks like in summer:

Summer02
Summer02

Maybe if we wish enough it will come faster?  And for comparison, winter:

Winter02
Winter02

Boo.

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noodle muffin: crazier than you could hope to be

How do you make the screen from the dryer lint trap disappear? The little chrome frame it was in is still there, just the metal mesh part is gone.  It's like neighbors are playing a game to see if they can convince us that leprechauns are plaguing the house or something.  I have temporarily fixed the problem with pantyhose (all those episodes of MacGyver paid off!!) but I'm just really annoyed that I even had to do that.

We received a package at work today for which the return address was "Noodle Muffin at Operation Regime Change." Yikes.  Or perhaps I'm just sad I didn't think of "Noodle Muffin" as my online name.  (Is Noodle Muffin a boy or a girl? It's a noodle muffin!!  Ahem.  That's probably only funny to like 3 people reading this.)

So there's this girl who comes into the restaurant occasionally, we all call her "Crazy McCrazerson."  She's very attractive in a conventional sort of way, usually very well groomed.  But she's fucking crazy.  She's full of inappropriate oversharing.  She usually comes in before we open and plops down at the bar, unbothered by all of saying, "we aren't open yet, you can come back after we open."  She says things like, "I came for a cup of coffee and I brought two Red Bulls, so it'll be almost like doing a bump of speed!" and "I haven't slept in three days since I stopped taking my medication," and "I can't see because I only had one contact left and I stayed at some guy's place last night and put my one contact in a wineglass on the TV and this morning it was gone and I just got out of jail so I can't get new ones right away."  See? CRAZY.  Anyway, last night she plops down at the bar and bothers us all until we are all actively avoiding her.  Then some poor unsuspecting patron sits besides her and so she focuses her attention him.  And then the following conversation ensues:

Crazy Girl, looking normal and smiling prettily, "So what do you do?"
Nice guy, one of our regulars, replies, "Well, actually, I work in a psychiatric hospital."
Crazy Girl happily replies, "No way!  I just got out of one of those!"

Wow.  I heard some weird conversations last night, as you always do when work in a restaurant, but that one will probably never be surpassed. Anyway it worked out well.  The poor guy did seem to cut his dinner short (took half of it home with him), but I heard him tell her to please call his office and he'd try and help her.   

I have actually been pretty good about taking a picture a day, just less good about actually getting them online.  Maybe I can get caught up this weekend.  Or maybe not since my cousin and his friend are coming to visit and Hols and I will be busy either cleaning the house or out running around with the Navy boys.  Wheee!

And, since I started on a complaining note, let me end on one.  I hate the new interface bar at the top o' my Vox. I can't find anything and none of the things I use regularly (compose and organize) were easily identifiable (create and library? WTF?).

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because it isn’t a holiday without some disaster

So we got up today to finish cleaning the house for the impeding arrival of my parents and discovered that we had no hot water. One sad call to the landlord later and it looks like we are getting a new hot water heater tomorrow.  But really? On a Sunday is bad enough, the day before Xmas eve is even worse.  So luckily my parents are staying in a hotel and I can shower at Jami's.  But UGH.

The house is clean.  I was crafty all day mostly finished the rest of the presents I had to make. My new crafting venture? Shrinky Dinks!!  Yes, you heard me.  Most awesome necklace pendants ever.  Oh yes there will be pictures!!

Now off to take miss Hols to port of air, make hotel reservations for New Year's and go meet my folks.

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