Is Lady Luck on my side?

Right now I have a new addiction. You see
every few months, I change from 1 small
"sideline" obsession to another. For the
past decade I've enjoy getting freebies
of various products. Anywhere from
shampoo samples, to small toothpaste, or
granola bars, bottle openers, maxi pads or
tampoons, paper products, free address
labels, t-shirts, books, magazines, tea bags,
condoms, toilet paper samples, paper towel
samples, ziploc baggies, airborne otc tablets,
and so on. I highly recommend 2 sites if you
like free samples of things without having
to participate in the "gold, silver or platium"
bullshit! Go to both;
www.mysavings.com (you do have to register
but they do not email harass you at all!)
www.shop4freebies.com
All the other sample sites are spam infested
and not worth your time.

So now I've moved on the sweepstakes. I have
had my share of good luck over the years. I
remember once at a Dennys or IHop, my
friend Sorry and I were waiting for a table or
paying our bill to leave, not sure which? But
you know how sometimes at the cash register
there's a small fish bowl full of water and other
small props and people drop coins to
try and land in 3 coveted spot inside the bowl?
And your coin always floats by these spots,
just almost making it in but at the last
second the water itself glides your coin away?
Well mine actually landed in the spot where
I won the $25 meal gift certificate. I've also won
last year a gift certificate to a nearby sushi
place at work and this year also at work I won
2 free movie tickets to be used any time.
I once back in MD at a convience store found
$20 on the candy rack right by the cash register.
Another time, it was sort of pathetic but I
attended a tupperware party (that's not the
pathetic part, tupperware rules!)
The hostess planned 3 little games for us
attendees to win small tupperware prizes.
Guess who won all 3 at the time?! That's
why it was pathetic for the woman around me!
And was I ever invited back? Nope.

So what the hell? Right? I can try my luck
with contest and sweepstakes? I of course
do not involve myself with any that require
purchases. But rather most of them want to
send you their newsletters. Its better to
create and use 1 email account for this purpose.
I did so previously with my hotmail like 7 yrs
ago. But now I need to create a new one for
my current addiction. And if I win any, ill deAfinitely post about it!

Tmw (friday-Its after midnight but
I haven't slept yet so in my world tmw
hasn't happend. But the blog post has
it labeled differently)
Anyways I'm headed down to MD! Its been
TOO LONG! Afterall, it was my
2nd home as a teenager and my
college years! I didn't move from MD
until the year I turned 30. Funny I do
miss the Deaf social life there but not DC
itself. I did enjoy my time in Greenbelt
and Laurel, MD a lot. My friend Karen
is picking me up from the bus station in
DC tmw late afternoon. And we will eat Ledo's
pizza as per my request! I joke to Jack that
Ledo's pizza a small family chain back in MD
would give NY a run for its money when it
comes to delicious pizza! My mouth is
watering just thinking about it :]

Paperwork, ugh!

Folks, you're looking at the accumulation of
bills, lesson plans, irs, bank statements, letters,
receipts, paycheck stubs and so on... I'm
tackling about 2 years worth of it today. Yes
I know, dumb ass move but it had to be done.
Right now they are being separated into piles
then I will go thru the piles to decide what
needs to be kept, and what should be shredded?
Then the ones I keep put in chronological order.
Yep, captivating isn't it?
Feel free to resume back to your exciting lives :-]

I've graduated!

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever."
- Mahatma Gandhi

KenKen is not

a puzzle you can do "neatly" you actually end up
jotting down numerous answers to different cages
depending on the value and operation signs. I
think one should have scrap paper nearby. What I
did was each value and operation nbr I wrote and
put a box around it so I can go back to my notes
on probable numerical outcomes. Now my next step
is to get Blondie started on KenKen. I got her
hooked on sudoku, crosswords and spider solitaire!
I am confident she will LOVE KenKen as much as I do!

Hurry up NY

and be the 6th state to vote YES to same sex marriages!

KenKen & Bar Mitzvah

As you can see, I've hopped on to the new
KenKen craze! I like it because its a more
advance puzzle than sudoku.

The other photos are from the bar mitzvah
It was really cool theme of records, guitars, etc etc

Had to kick out some "squatting" Ants

Early today Blondie and I met up with Knob for lunch. It was so good to see her! She just returned from her 4 month stay in Africa. I am so proud of Knob, she is phenomenal and a true dear. We hope to take the bus upstate next weekend and stay with her for a few days. Both Blondie and I are screaming for a mini-break!

This weekend I attended my cousin's bar mitzvah. It was the first time I had been to one. I saw 2 cousins who I hadn't seen in 22 years! Cousin Danny (this was his son's bar mitzvah) and cousin Jeff. I was so glad cousin Jeff was around. I stuck on him like white on rice. He is a very social person and immediately put me to ease. The party took place at the posh W Hotel. Boy, it was like going to a wedding! I had a wonderful time and it was so nice to see that side of the family again. I plan to keep in touch with both of my cousins.

Not much is new, I just finished grading my students' final exams and I am still adjusting to not having so much pressure in my life. Later this week, media is closed so I will use the free time to do some serious cleaning at the apt. For the past 7-8 weeks, my apt has gone to hell in a hand basket. As a matter of fact, I have ants now and I have swept the flooor free of any food bits or crumbs they seem to have relocated. That's right if the ants don't pay any rent, they do not get to be my roommates. No siree! Guys [ants] I know you're hard workers but no money = no stay!

Been missing my Jack rabbit a lot more now that I actually have time to think. We talk by phone every week but it doesn't satisfy me sometimes. He had hope to be back by early June but one of the tests he has to take (the last one) may not be offered till mid-to late June! Ugh we both are not happy about waiting longer but he wants to finish up and I do too. Jack seems like he's changed somewhat. He seems much more relaxed and easy-going these days. I guess the time apart did us both a lot of good. But HURRY UP! I am tired of waitingggggggggggggggg!

Free Time? What's That?

Early at media services today, Blondie and I were commiserating about much pressure we've experienced in the past several weeks due to our thesis projects. I came in at noon which is early for me, I admit I was grouchy because I hate functioning after 6 hours of sleep. To some people sleeping for 6 hours is like being in a coma, they're tell me they feel physically awful if they sleep a minute past 6 hours! But to me 6 hours of sleep constitutes as a nap. Its my own fault for not going to bed earlier. I am like my Uncle David, you have to physically make me turn off the TV/movie/internet or I will go on all night from one episode to the next. I tell myself, after this one ends, I'll go to bed but then I will start a new one. Ach, its part of the ADD which both me and David have. When my uncle David and I do FOCUS, we can churn out some seriously awesome stuff. But if we are sleep deprived, forget it, we're no good for the rest of the day. Seriously it will take me several hours to become functionable, if I haven't had at least 8 hours of sleep. Actually 9 hours is my minimum to perform at a top-notch rate.

Poor Blondie I was annoyed at her because I had emailed her repeatedly about a subject we had talked about the night before and she didn't reply so I got myself together, and headed to work. It turned out to be a misunderstanding on both of our parts and I told her I was sorry for being so crabby. I felt bad because she looked upset but she explained to me that wasn't the case. But rather she was tired. Blondie was in a daze all day today. The kind where and I quote her, you wake up in the morning and you're [very] quiet. I know exactly what she means. Everything takes energy and you sometimes need to disconnect or just happen to wake up in a disconnected state. It's kind of like giving your mind a day off. Go through the motions etc etc..but you're quiet.

We both successfully turned in our hard copies of our thesis projects. We had to print it on fancy schmancy 25% cotton paper. Blondie turned hers in before mine because she had to go teach the after school program up in the Bronx. And I was still waiting on the greenlight from Rusty to print mine. When I finally did I joked to Mr. Coffee and Virgie at work "Hot off the press! Hot off the press!" They both clapped me on as I left the office to go upstairs to Rusty's. (By the way things between Mr. Coffee and I are a lot better!) I was so excited to hand it over to Rusty. He asked if I will be going out to dinner with the rest of the people he invited from our program next week Wednesday. I said yes.

I also graded most of my students final exam videos today. A lot of them are so darn creative! I am very pleased with their work and semi bias too. Why? I am a filmmaker, so I am a sucker for a story line and effort to perform on camera. That doesn't necessarily mean I cannot assess their work or skills but I am happy with the results.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, I spoke with the company today. (the one I felt like was bullying me). The VP call with the company's rep went well. Nice woman, we both took turns telling our side of the story and that helped a lot. To give each other the our pov. In the end, I have agreed to their terms. Am I 100% happy about it? No, but I am not miserable either. The people who could've of fought this did not rise up to the occasion. (I later found out was the fact they had ties between themselves and the company-which explains a lot!) I decided as Baba & K said, it wasn't worth fighting for. I agree, this wasn't my brainchild, I just happen to be here when it fell into my lap. I don't mind though because the people who work with me in terms of this issue are a good group and we will be fine.

I am a panther

Not a sheep, I don't say baaaaaaa! and follow the herd mentality.

The past few days with this company and the people involved with the issue has been trying to say in the least. I am about to cave in and just do as the company wants.

I don't agree with the idea behind it but on the other hand I am not getting much support from the person who originated the idea.

I want to do the right thing, the fair thing. Not just nod my head in compliance because someone tells me to.

In other news, tmw Blondie and I hand in our hard copy of our thesis. I also sat down earlier tonight to write my acknowledgment page. I can't believe its almost over?! That in 2 weeks I will be officially a woman with her masters degree. No longer do I have to write down on my resume or class syllabuses, that I am a masters candidate.

Last night was the wrap up class. This Thursday I will give my students their final. So that's another area in my life that's coming to a close. It feels weird not to have so much pressure in my life. I've already noticed how much happier I am and around my co-workers.

This Friday night my work will have a social event at a nearby bar. Blondie and I agreed to go to celebrate the end of our thesis and invited Szymanski to join the fun.

I don't like bullies

Right now I am feeling pressure to do something which I think is backwards and harmful to my community. And apparently this company acts as internet bullies because I got a pretty intense email from X company. I am not gonna lay down and let them walk all over me. I am already reading up on my rights.

To be continued...

My never ending quest for CC online options

This morning I read in the paper that the disneychannel will be partnering up with hulu.com about adding media content. I am happy to know that hulu.com viewing database is growing but of course I immediately wondered if the media will be closed captioned?

so here's what I did, I went to the disney website contact us page (if you use their contact form, make sure you check the one for I want to ask a question not the one for leave a comment) and wrote to them the below email;

Hi
I recently read in the papers today that the disney channel will be working with Hulu.com about adding viewing content to this site. I am deaf and use Hulu.com extensively because its really the only place on the internet that provides closed captioning or subtitles. I would like to know if your company will be providing captioned options with the shows they share with hulu.com? Its important you not forget us and millions of other people who rely on closed captioning.
Thank you and I appreciate your time in regards to my query
-DC

I will of course let you know what becomes of this.

In my next post I will write of my thesis adventures! And YES the pink slip was signed for the approval of my masters of arts project. Its official, I have a master degree!!!!