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Taliban opens office

This was in the news today. And while all of the ISAF, American and British forces are focused on the Southern Provinces like Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul and Kandahar, the Taliban has gone and set up it own governmental office in the Southeastern province of Ghazni. This is a big deal: mostly because Ghazni is not on the front lines. While there have been bombings and assasinations in Ghazni this year, there are no foreign military troops there to keep peace, but this is the new front. Especially when these Southeastern provinces are on no one's radar (no pun intended) and the Taliban can hang out a shingle without anyone stopping them. There are also reports that the Taliban have met with men over 60 in Ghazni center to ask them to become suicide bombers. What's more, in talking with some of the Afghans I work with, apparently in Peshawar (in Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan), the Taliban is openly recruiting people with storefronts to travel to Afghanistan to carry out bombings, kidnappings, etc. All of this really saddens me. When I came to Afghanistan in spring 2005, Ghazni was the first place outside of Kabul that I visited. It was gorgeous: the fruit trees were in bloom and the fields were bright green. The mud walls of the buildings and the remnants of the ancient empire that once ruled parts of India made it seem like I was in another time. It bothers me that the little girls I visited in their classroom might not be able to go to school much longer and the peaceful, sleepy town I visited might be irrevocably changed for the worse.

July 18, 2006

This Old Snark

Tree Dimes a Mady

(WARNING: Disjointed metaphors ahead and underfoot!) Ever since she became conscious of the differences between boys and girls, Snarky has been trying to figure out that line between the feminine and masculine. She's unsure of not only the coordinates of the various demarcation points, but also where she stands in relation to those teetering little points in the shifty sand. She vascillated between Girly-Girl (ballet training coupled with a near drag-queen level obsession with her mother's 1960's wardrobe) and Tomboy (tusseling with the neighborhood boys in the snow, wading waist deep in creeks in order to catch minnows) as she grew up. The advent of body hair and the constant battle to eradicate it was an absolute nightmare (tutus and 'pit hair don't mix) but she also became sporadically lacksadaisical about maintenance (surely Snarky isn't the only girl who has "winterized"). Snarky was lucky to have either indulgent or equally laissez-hair paramours during these experimental times. Thusfar she's developed a duality fluctuating between the extremes. Some days she does the full get up: make up, matching shoes (as in: shoes that match the outfit, Snarky usually has presence of mind enough to match the shoes to eachother on any given day girlie or no... most of the time), matching underthings, matching BPAL, matching earrings... just matchy matchy all over the place. Other days she's lucky if a shower happens, let alone color coordinated not-nekkidness. (The Mister has been known to serenade her with "Ebony & Ivory" on the days that her bra/panty choice is chromatically challenged.) For the past year Snarky has evolved away from platform heels and slinky skirts to Mary Janes and corduroy pants due to working closely with contractors, engineers, and ginormous, filthy machinery. This practical work wear attitude has bled in to her off hours as well. On top of her sartorial schizophrenia is the concept of the masculine and feminine in attitudes as well. Snarky is constantly battling it out between her perceived dominant/submissive, Asian/American, intro-/extrovert, and male/female halves. (For example, body hair is a Big Issue for Snarky. How does a self-proclaimed feminist explain her need to eradicate naturally occuring body hair to suit some wholly unrealistic sexualized pre-adolescent imagery?) Then the cherry on top of this sundae of textbook gender identity woe are the emotional eggshells Snarky has been treading upon since The Mister's recent health scares (more honestly, these eggshells have been cropping up for as long as the Snarks have known eachother). She's been swathing their weekends in safe, neutral tones and non-aggressive, granny pantied conversations to keep things bland as oatmeal at home. She's been more mother than wife lately, and that sort of extreme imbalance can skew more than just the one boat in the marriage flotilla. She can't help but think that a wave of equal amplitude in the other direction is needed to put everything back on course. The Snarks have been recovering long-buried and forgotten portions of their wardrobe as they are expanding into their house. Almost single handedly Snark's hootchie-mama arsenal increased ten-fold (OK, more like two-fold, but ten-fold is so much more impressive) just by finding and liberating the right tub of clothing. So she's easing herself back into more feminine attire. Perhaps with the physical donning of her old "split up to there" skirts and flirty ankle strap heels, she will also be able to also mentally shed the metaphorical sweatpants. Time to Wake Things Up a little and return to feeling completely human (and girly, and ROWRy) again. And if she needs to wear the pants for a little while in order for The Mister to get back on track, she'll do that too. But they'll be tailored and leather and just the right kind of snug.

darkitysnark

July 17, 2006

Another Version of Events

This is the account that one of my co-workers wrote who stayed behind the day of the riots. Damn, this makes my stomach turn and just makes me mad all over again. HRD Manager, account of the Monday, May 29, 2006 (Jawza 8, 1385) incident. The demonstration that I found out about only a few minutes earlier was becoming more intensified by 11:00 am which is why we decided to send the international staff home. To find out exactly what was happening, I took a rented car to Taimany where I faced a group of angry demonstrators on the 7th street. I returned to the office and asked Shah Mohammad to evacuate the office completely. Shoaib, Driver, and I accompanied the last two international staff to the International Guesthouse. On our way back to the office, we were caught in the middle of the demonstration in front of the Attorney General’s office. I asked Shoaib to take the car back to the guesthouse and I walked along the demonstrators to the office, pretending to be one of them. The demonstrators dismantled the security box in front of the Attorney General’s office and set it on fire in the middle of the road. When I came back to the office, I found that a small number of the staff had not left the office, including two female staff, from Admin and an income generation staff and her children (later I found out the two kindergarten teachers and a handful of kids were hiding in the kindergarten). I asked Ramazan, our Admin Assistant, who had also remained behind, to take them to a safe location. He took them through Kolola Pushta to a safe place before returning to the office. I, along with 14 other staff, stayed at the office during the looting and the fire. Those who had stayed behind did not to hesitate to protect the office. Their courageous actions saved much of the organization’s properties, assets and the entire adjacent building, about 50 rooms, along with furniture and equipments. They rescued more than 20 vehicles, 6 large generators, approximately 90 computers, 55 printers, 9 stores (containers) 2 of which were storage of fuel, oils and vehicle’s spare parts etc. The credit of having all the remaining stuff in our office goes to these people. We locked all the entrance doors to the office. The crowd was approaching from two sides: Kolola Pushta and Qala-I- Fathullah. I was in front of the transport gate which was locked from inside. I watch as their leader pointed to buildings to be attacked. They damaged the security box in front of WFP office (located next to the office). Next, they tried to attack our gate but the transport gate was too strong for them to break down so they moved on to join the crowd coming from Qala-i– Fathullah toward Shar-I- Naw, all the while breaking our windows around the corner. As this was happening, I managed to move to the other end of the building, in front of the mosque, watching them move away. When they cleared our building, I went back to the office and assured my colleagues that the mob was gone. At 12:30 the mob returned from Shar-I- Naw, and broke the wooden gates located in north side of the main office. Over 100 people raided the office in looting what they could and destroying the rest. Later, one of my colleagues told me that a gunman was standing next to the finance department, his head wrapped in a handkerchief. I soon realized that, even though we were doing our best, we could not resist them because they were a handful of people with guns among the crowd. I did not want to risk any of our colleagues’ lives. I though that they were a group of thieves, who would leave after they took what they wanted. I never thought that they would finish their action by setting the office on fire. I could hear the flames but was not able to see them. I kept looking all around to see where it was coming from. And suddenly there it was, all powerful and engulfing everything in its path. The steel bars on the windows, meant for protection, had now become an obstacle against salvaging equipments. The fire was soon raging out of control and no matter how hard we tried we could not put it out. The staff was looking to me for guidance, but I was concerned for their safety. I had to tell them to back away. Watching the office burn was like watching my own home burn and not be able to do anything about it. This will be one of the worst memories that I will carry through life; the office bunt as I looked on helplessly. While we were fighting the fire, one of the looters was stealing a laptop and a DVD player but was not able to go through the main gate which was on fire. Assuming we too were looters, he asked us for help over the western wall. We gave him a hand and more before we locked him up in the transport department. Another young looter who was throwing items to his gang from the kindergarten roof , was apprehended by one of our colleagues and joined the other looter at our makeshift jail. Three invaders entered the car park and tried to steal a Corolla when Yama, our Mechanic, ran after them and told to get out of the car. They found the car first and that there are plenty more for him to choose from. At this point Yama reached in through the open window and pulled out of the driver. A group of our staff joined him and rescued the car. Yama ceased another car-thief who told him that he was a staff member. He joined the rest at the transport department. Nasim, the Head of IT and Communication, did his best to save the finance department’s server from, but despite his heroic act that brought him to a few feet from the fire, he was not able to save the server. Nasim was fighting the fire off from the generators and three guards were fighting the fire away from the next building. I sent the cars out of the office, we carried the damaged cars away from the wall of the burned building and succeeded to pull out one the generators but we couldn’t take out the second one. To prevent the spread of the fire to the next building we pulled out all the cloths and furniture from the office’s shop. I asked the staff to take out all remaining materials out of the office. We took out 14 laptops, 2 satellite phones, 1 IT Server, radio sets and computers and put them all in a car which driver Hanif took to Mr. Ebadi’s house who is an employee of the Parwan office; we sent 8 cars to Shir’s house. I asked Ehsan and Satar, a Guard, to keep a watch from the Kindergarten’s roof and I went outside to stand by the mosque next to the office. I watched as a small group of looters returned back from Haji Yaqoob square and broke into the reception. I followed them and with the help of a group of our staff ceased them. Our staff continued their heroic acts and after throwing the mob out of the reception and removed a couch that they had set on the fire. It was timely act that protected the second building and offices from the fire. The Fire Department refused to get involved without protection. So we all watched as our dear home burnt. 1. Shir, Driver; took 8 vehicles and some other stuff to his house, resisted the looters on the street and retuned them back to THE OFFICE in good condition. 2. Yama, Assistant Mechanic, beside saving a laptop and a VCD player that he took from the looters, he saved 3 vehicles by taking them out of the office. 3. Humayon, Guard; despite his disability, he acted bravely. 4. Ihsanullah, managed to grab a camera from a looter and take pictures of the office while burning. 5. Shafi, Guard, he acted bravely 6. Satar, Guard, he acted bravely and he was very active and became very tired in that day 7. Abdul Wahab, Guard; he acted bravely. 8. Khoja Sayed Jan, he acted bravely by pushing back the rioters from reception. 9. Baseer, Mechanic, took coaster van full of shop stuff and some other things for safe keeping 10. Shoaib driver; he acted bravely 11. Fazel Guard he acted bravely 12. Nasim, Head of IT and Communications, did his best to save properties and collected about 13 laptops, sat phones, radio sets and a few desktops and put them in a car and took to Mr. Ebadi’s house, we received it back in good condition 13. Wahab Mechanic; he acted bravely and saved a vehicle by taking it for safe keeping during the riot 14. Ramazan; he took Samira, Misha and Ferozan with her children from the office to their houses in very bad condition. Also he assisted others in pushing back the rioters from reception. 1. Sayed Khalil 2. Fazel Haq 3. Musharaf driver 4. Hanif driver 5. Abdul Sabor 6. Karim, 7. Hafiz 8. Eng Sulaiman

Filling the Periodic Table

July 17, 2006

It's Sunday night, you know what that means!

My tomato is getting so heavy, it's actually hanging crooked: One cluster of ripening tomatoes: Another cluster of ripening tomatoes: Look at all of these peppers! Here's the experimental tomato, it has really perked up amazingly since being re-potted. In this picture, you can see the support I'm using. It's designed to hold a flowerpot, but it makes a pretty tomato support. Remember that little morning glory bud I posted last weekend? (Scroll down, I'll wait ) This is what it looked like tonight: I'm pretty sure this one has got to be a moonflower bud, since it looks so different from the other one:

antimony

July 17, 2006

Is Anybody Out There?

Update

Good news! The A/C is working! We need to be careful about the filter, but the thermostat is fine and everything. This means that we won't be getting a new air conditioner for our birthdays, which is patently Good. I'm hoping he gives me a watch. And here's where I break off into a tangent, all day-dreamy-like: Didn't I ever write about "Christmas?" (I can't ever remember if the question mark should be out of the quotes or in it.) The boy moved here on December 28th so that he could spend Christmas with his family for the first time in a long time. We postponed Christmas- the meal, the presents, everything- until the 29th. This left him rather overwhelmed, due to the fact that a vast majority of my large family showed up. He was great with them. It was memorable and such a delight. He got me the coolest gift ever. He'd been teasing me by talking about it. He found it on Amazon. It had puzzled him at first. Why would anyone want it? Then, he had an idea. He'd shared it with his dad. His dad was jealous that he hadn't thought of something like that for his mom. The moment arrived, and I opened the shiny, shiny paper to reveal a big, white box. I opened the box to find what appeared to be a jewelry box. Only it isn't one! It's a watch box. He took my hand and said, "It'll be full in about 20 years, but I'll get you another one." The symbolism of time, and marking the passage of time with a watch each year... it all took my breath away. It's SO gorgeous. And, breaking away from the daydream- That probably means he won't be getting me a watch for my birthday; just Christmas, but it'd be nice to have a couple to store in it. I love that thing. ...Yeah, I have to admit it, I'm really hoping for bpal. And I feel guilty. I wish I were a better person. But another watch would be nice. I am so freaking sick. I feel gross. Swimming to kill the odd skin inflammation did not work. We are trying bleach today, which is gross, but seems to be working. I'm just so wiped out. I need to get out of my house, though. I've got swaps to deliver. My mom is calling me Gracie. It's wierd, and hard for her. I worry that it's making her too uncomfortable. She knows why I did it, and that it had nothing to do with her, but... I almost feel like a stranger. I didn't know that the name change would affect me like it has. It's not bad, necessarily. Sometimes it's odd, but not bad. I want to cut off my hair. I need to find a good style. Who'm I kidding? Heh. I'd never keep up with it anyway. I'm lucky if I bother to comb it out, these days. More people compliment it when I don't, come to think of it. People are so strange. I'm really hoping the mods get back to me soon. I'm impatient.

smallvoice

July 16, 2006

Sourball Ho!

Independence

I emailed a girlfriend in California whom I haven't seen since Christmas. We've been friends since junior high and she doesn't have the highest self-esteem in the world, even though she's smart, pretty and hilarious. So I worry about her, especially in the guy department. The comedian Bill Hicks wrote a song called "Chicks Dig Jerks" ("Hitler had Eva Braun / Manson had Squeaky Fromme / I don't know how the world works / All I know is chicks dig jerks") and she picks these boyfriends (and a couple of husbands) who seem to treat her like crap and she doesn't see a problem. Anyway, she's in a doozy situation, in that a few years ago her dad and stepmom won the lottery. They bought a huge house where we grew up, but they're barely there as they spend all their time now at their "ranch" in another state. So my friend is staying by herself in this massive house just a few minutes from her job. Sounds great, right? I'm thinking initially that would be wonderful -- a big house where everything's fancy and new, everything paid for, close to my job so I could cover my own expenses and save huge amounts of money. But then reality would kick in: she can't redecorate anywhere, and the house is currently neo-Miami Vice. She's basically the 24-hour maid, gardener and unarmed guard for free. Nothing "belongs" to her, she's just house-sitting. Plus I'm afraid of her becoming a target, even though the house is all securitied-up, and I don't want anyone (that she knows or doesn't know) taking advantage of her. So ultimately I would have to decline living in the big house for free. I wouldn't be independent and that's really important to me at this point. I need our own space, as shabby and homely as it is, but it belongs to us.

dawndie

July 15, 2006

This Old Snark

Hair Apparent

The Mister has a bit of a hair fetish to complement his foot/naughty secretary thing. And Snarky really never knew about the extent of it until recently. When he first met Snarky, she had a slightly angled bob that just curled beneath her chin. She had been maintaining the relatively chic 'do after a free makeover going in to her third year in college. Up until then she had rather a rather laissez faire approach to her hair except for the white streak (a la Rogue of X-Men fame or Pepe le Pieu's paramour, take your pick) she tried to maintain until she burned a bald patch on the side of her head. She lapsed back into just growing it all out while in Europe for a semester, ending with a dramatic chop off "mas corta, por favor" in a "Super Tall" in Spain. (Who knew Super Cuts had gone international?) Leading up to their wedding, Snarky finally returned to letting it all grow out in order to fulfill some deep-seated conviction that All Brides Must Have an Up 'Do. Her hair continued to grow until 2002 when, after a successful run doing impressions of "The Ring"'s Samara (and scaring the bejeezus out of all her co-workers), Snarky allowed her hairdresser to give her bangs. This was the beginning of the end. The bangs became Bettie Page bangs one hectic morning after Snarky's shaky attempts to even out the regrowth. After that, it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to the inevitable and chopped it all off for charity. Since that fateful November day (she kept the long hair one more Halloween in order to channel Cleopatra) Snarky has more or less kept the 'do at either page-boyish or rather Pat Benatarian levels. The Snarks take their mini-golfing very seriously. Growing out the highlights, and no, Snarky is not Flamenco-ing. She's modeling a knitting thingamabobber (Glampyre's One Skein Wonder, if you're curious) A better look at The Benatar in all her glory. After the unfortunate Hitler Bangs incident, Snarky finally agreed to let it all grow out again. Lest we ever forget... re-posting proof of the Hitler Bangs. This old photo most closely approximates the currently sideswept bangs (if you can make them out on her teeny tiny head). Is it just Snarky, or does it look like she's about to be plucked off the Earth by an Ent? And for The Mister, there was much rejoicing. For while he has never once complained in all the years of Snarky's follicle fancies, he had been harboring a secret hope that she would return to the p0rn hair of yore. Every time she now wears her hair in the funky little pigtails - all she can currently manage - he gets a certain speculative gleam in his eye and breaks out into a boyish grin of delight. It is this anticipation of his that is helping Snarky through some of the most difficult growing out phases she has ever encountered (and she's counting the skunky bald patch!). Right now she is currently at "vaguely choppy kinda-sorta rock mulletini-y" and would really just like to drop all the -y, -ie, -ishness and have a damn definitive 'do, already! The things we do for love! Edited to add: If she can find old pics of the old long hair, Snarky'll post 'em. She's also got a picture to be downloaded off the camera of the current oh-so-age-appropriate pigtails yet to post.

darkitysnark

July 14, 2006

Filling the Periodic Table

Results come out today!

Between 3 and 3:30 eastern time today, exam results come out!!!! I am completely useless today. There's a message board for actuaries (I guess there's one for everything!) and I keep reloading, looking to see if results are out early. I mean, I'm working and all, but not very efficiently. Oof.

antimony

July 14, 2006

Is Anybody Out There?

Whining

I have some sort of a skin infection that's not going to kill me, but it is grossing me out. Plus, I have to take 4 pills a day to help clear it up. Because it's communicable, I'm going to have to bathe in bleach. Or just go swimming a lot, which is preferrable. On top of that, the air conditioner in my room froze over, so we've had it off to let it thaw out and it's freaking hot in here. It explains why the ac hasn't been putting out as much cool air as it probably should be. And, uh, now it appears to be broken. Crap.

smallvoice

July 14, 2006

Eoywin's Blog

Flying Woes

I'm flying to Michigan tomorrow... and I'm really getting nervous about it. The last time I fly was May 2000 when we took our last family vacation to Arizona, so it was before 9/11. And this is the first time I will be flying by myself. I'm an adult, and such, but being by myself and flying is starting to freak me out. I'm afraid that I won't find my gate, I'm afraid I'll miss my flight when I have my layover, and I'm afraid no-one will be there to meet me. I hope it turns out better than I'm thinking!

Eoywin

July 13, 2006

The Wedding Party

Summertime is wedding time in Afghanistan. Long, boring, hot, segregated wedding parties are as unavoidable as dirt and scorpions this time of year. While the men sit downstairs drinking tea, eating mutton and listening to music at the wedding hall, me and the other “females” are upstairs, all painted up, dancing to the live band and trying to avoid the children running buck wild all over the place. While I have always been skillfully adept at fleeing Afghan weddings, I have seen enough to know that few social events anywhere in the world are as strange and tediously predictable. Things to know when you go to an Afghan wedding: 1. There will be no ceremony. The ceremony takes place in a mosque a few days before. The “wedding” you are going to is really just dancing, food, music and no alcohol (while the men can get away with sneaking a few sips, this is strictly taboo for women). 2. If you bring your significant other and he/she is of the opposite sex, you are not going to see him/her all night. Men sit downstairs, women sit upstairs. Don’t ask questions. 3. If you are a woman, wear the brightest outfit you have, the highest heels and lots of make-up (when in Rome…). 4. Expect to see the bride and groom together for only a few minutes, after they have greeted guests for hours. 5. The bride and groom will be related. The weddings are always held at a huge wedding hall that is covered in mirrored glass and neon colored bas-reliefs. The hall is rented out solely for such occasions. The food is thrown at you by 15-year-old Afghan boys on large, communal plates. Dishes at weddings always include rice, mutton, chicken, a salad of tomatoes, hot peppers and cucumbers, fried eggplant, spinach and some type of gelatin dessert. Green tea will be served without fail. While I cringe when I see the pink frilly wedding invitation on my desk, sometimes it is good to get out and see what the Afghans are up to. It is refreshing to see women dressed in their finest, talking and laughing with each other without being self-conscious. For many of them with houses to keep and children to look after, weddings are the one event where they can come and (literally) let their hair down. If you are un/fortunate enough to be invited to an Afghan wedding in your lifetime and decide to go, be prepared: practice your basic Dari, make sure you look good (everyone will be staring) and get ready to eat. It will be an event you will never forget.

July 13, 2006

Pink Owl 2:shipped 7-14 & all reviewed - finally!

Pink Owl 2 Aeval - reviewed Carnal** - reviewed Hecate - reviewed Morocco** - reviewed O** - reviewed Red Queen** - reviewed R'Lyeh - reviewed wheew! lots of imps to try! 7-12-06: woohoo! I'm on a sniffing roll. this one is ready to go to spacekitty too! 7-14-06: finally made it to the PO. 8-6-06: finally all reviewed!

July 13, 2006

Pink Owl 7: shipped 7-14-06

Picked this up at the PO tonight. (7-12-06) Pink Owl Pack 7 Dana O'Shee** Santa Muerte** - reviewed Satyr - reviewed Thalia** Venice - reviewed Wilde** weird, I was sure that I had an imp of Satyr floating around my house, but I couldn't find it. I've got most of these so I hope to move this along quickly. ETA 7-12-06: OK, I've reviewed the 2 imps I don't have so this is ready to send to Spacekitty. Yay! ETA 7-15-06: dropped this off at the PO yesterday, it's on its way.

July 13, 2006

Cordia 4: shipped 7-14-06

Picked this up at the PO tonight. (7-12-06) Cordia 4 Lady of Shallot** Lilith - reviewed Love Me** already reviewed Magus** reviewed Othello** reviewed Undertow - reviewed Whitechapel** - reviewed I've got half or more of these already, so only a few to test. I've been wanting to try Lilith forever so I"m excited about this! 7-13-06: ok - this is ready to go to Spacekitty! yay! 7-15-06: dropped this off at the PO yesterday.

July 13, 2006

Home again

Home again after being weathered in for 2 extra days. It's beautiful here and good to be back. Found 3 more packs in my mailbox - it's going to be busy sorting through these!

July 13, 2006

circe_blue's Blog

Keyboards, etc.

Ah, computers. They never fail to freak me the F&*! out when something goes wrong. So, at work today, my screen randomly freezes after "automatic updates" and re-starting. I try starting up again in safe mode, but still, Frozen Screen of Doom. I try again with safe mode, resolving to pick off the little F8 button and soak it in a beaker of hydrochloric acid if nothing else happens . Then, the screen reveals that I have a "keyboard failure". Instead of putting in a request for a new keyboard and having the tech guy come all the way out to check on my computer-related ineptitude, I take the computer's word for it. Okay, fine, maybe I somehow made the keyboard implode. Conveniently, a coworker quit a month ago. A replacement has yet to be hired, so her computer is sitting all by itself, not being used. Same with her keyboard I switched out the keyboard and plugged in hers and it worked! Yay! But here is where my real problem starts. My ex-coworker was great, bless her, but her keyboard was positively filthy. Apparently, she liked to put on makeup at work. Specifically, foundation and powder. She rarely washed her hands after this, so all the keys had this flesh colored greasy/filmy stuff all over. Ew. When I type the last thing I wanna feel under my fingers is your Clinique Matte Foundation in Ivory. Also, she liked to eat at her desk a lot. So, when I shook out the keyboard I literally had a small pile's worth of various crumbs. Double Ew. And I still haven't gotten most of it out. They seem to be stuck in there. I took some Lysol and sprayed it on a paper towel to get most of the icky-ness off of the keys but there's still various bits of food and foil (?!) that I can see lurking and mocking me . So, yeah, I'm gonna put in a request to get another keyboard... because I'm leaving this August and I don't want the new hire to think that I left behind a snack bar and the makeup counter at Bloomingdale's. ----------------------- Another work tale from today (geez, it sure was eventful. At least as eventful as a day at the lab/office can be). I got in early, start working then I start to feel awful. I got tired, nauseated, dizzy, weak, and my head hurt like hell. I had to sit at my desk with my head down for 45 minutes. A coworker told me to go get something to eat (we work less than 5 minutes away from Starbucks thank goodness). I couldn't even will myself to get up at first. Finally, I sucked it up and just went for a Starbucks run. The thought of coffee, for some reason, actually made me feel even more gross so I got a green tea latte and a plain bagel. Once I was at my desk, and I took a couple sips of the latte (not impressed, btw) and ate some of my bagel, I felt a whoooollle lot better. Turns out my stomach was just trying to tell me I was hungry. The thing is I wasn't even hungry! But my stomach was, I guess. Anyone else get that? The feeling that you don't wanna eat/you're not hungry but your tummy is telling your brain something completely different? Grr. Also turns out that I took my BCP waay late yesterday and hadn't eaten anything for about 13 hours. Those two combined probably was probably what made me feel like crap. Silly me. So tonight, I had dinner and am going to go to bed early. I can't watch Project Runway otherwise I'll never get to sleep (too much left over adrenaline from the show, lol).Ah, well. I'll just catch it on one the bajillion occasions Bravo reruns it. Based on yesterday's show I'm rooting for Katherine/Kathleen/Snowboarder girl or whatever her name is. for Tim Gunn!

circe_blue

July 13, 2006

This Old Snark

Parden the Garden

Eat your heart out, Bellagio! So the ancient running joke is that Snarky is in possession of two very black thumbs. The Mister made a habit of gifting her with a potted orchid (of the Lowe's/Home Depot variety) every Valentine's Day, knowing that she would eventually find a way to kill it. One year he gave her a companion cactus thinking that it would outlive the orchid which seemed extremely logical at the time. Snarky deflated it. Back in May, some good friends of the Snarks came out to visit. The wife is a master gardener and the husband is the handiest of handymen. They both have done amazing things to their triple wide trailer (and 5 acres of property) nestled in the Appalachians. The Snarks were able to give them a tour of their soon-to-be house for hints/tips/praise/approval. She did a careful evaluation of the landscaping (somewhat over-exotic for the Snark's taste, but really quite impressive) and even gifted them with a regional resource (which has since been packed and lost, but will be found again, by gum!). If it weren't for their words of encouragement, Snarky might've considered a scorched earth approach to the existing landscaping. So... they're trying. Most of the bordering landscaping has been weeded (Snarky suspects she "accidentally" took out some "decorative" thistle, but it was annoying and leggy) except for the corner with the roses... which are choking and trying their darndest to continue despite her efforts to destroy them. She harvested a fistful of lavendar blossoms which are being artfully displayed in one of their many "why did we register for all these?" vases. They've got a miniature garden (mostly for sammich makin's - tomato and cuke) fighting it out with the clover. They are doing their best not to destroy what was left to them. Besides the curly willow, which had to go. (Much to the shock of the neighborhood.) Cross your spades and pointy weeder thingies (Snarky likes to call it "The Probe") for them... pictures of the carnage results soon!

darkitysnark

July 12, 2006

Eoywin's Blog

Musings on Math

As I was adding up numbers today, I began to think about math. I know lots of kids piss and moan to their parents about how they will never use math, and such. I use math every day, at least at work. Of course, I do have my handy dandy calculator to help me out. But the more I thought about it, I realized we use math in play too. If I didn't know how to add and multiply, I'd have no idea how much damage I did to the bad guys in the roleplaying campaign I play in.

Eoywin

July 12, 2006

Who knew?

Here are the rules that were in effect in Afghanistan until November 2001: General Presidency of Amr Bil Maruf. Kabul, December 1996. 1. To prevent sedition and female uncovers (Be Hejabi). No drivers are allowed to pick up women who are using Iranian burqa. In case of violation the driver will be imprisoned. If such kind of female are observed in the street their house will be found and their husband punished. If the women use stimulating and attractive cloth and there is no accompany of close male relative with them, the drivers should not pick them up. 2. To prevent music. To be broadcasted by the public information resources. In shops, hotels, vehicles and rickshaws cassettes and music are prohibited. This matter should be monitored within five days. If any music cassette found in a shop, the shopkeeper should be imprisoned and the shop locked. If five people guarantee the shop should be opened the criminal released later. If cassette found in the vehicle, the vehicle and the driver will be imprisoned. If five people guarantee the vehicle will be released and the criminal released later. 3. To prevent beard shaving and its cutting. After one and a half months if anyone observed who has shaved and/or cut his beard, they should be arrested and imprisoned until their beard gets bushy. 4. To prevent keeping pigeons and playing with birds. Within ten days this habit/ hobby should stop. After ten days this should be monitored and the pigeons and any other playing birds should be killed. 5. To prevent kite-flying. The kite shops in the city should be abolished. 6. To prevent idolatory. In vehicles, shops, hotels, room and any other place pictures/portraits should be abolished. The monitors should tear up all pictures in the above places. 7. To prevent gambling. In collaboration with the security police the main centres should be found and the gamblers imprisoned for one month. 8. To eradicate the use or addiction. Addicts should be imprisoned and investigation made to find the supplier and the shop. The shop should be locked and the owner and user should be imprisoned and punished. 9. To prevent the British and American hairstyle. People with long hair should be arrested and taken to the Religious Police department to shave their hair. The criminal has to pay the barber. 10. To prevent interest on loans, charge on changing small denomination notes and charge on money orders. All money exchangers should be informed that the above three types of exchanging the money should be prohibited. In case of violation criminals will be imprisoned for a long time. 11. To prevent washing cloth by young ladies along the water streams in the city. Violator ladies should ‘be picked up with respectful Islamic manner, taken to their houses and their husbands severely punished. 12. To prevent music and dances in wedding parties. In the case of violation the head of the family will be arrested and punished. 13. To prevent the playing of music drum. The prohibition of this should be an- nounced. If anybody does this then the religious elders can decide about it. 14. To prevent sewing ladies clothes and taking female body measures by tailor. If women or fashion magazines are seen in the shop the tailor should be imprisoned. 15. To prevent sorcery. All the related books should be burnt and the magician should be imprisoned until his repentance. 16. To prevent not praying and order gathering pray at the bazaar. Prayer should be done on their due times in all districts. Transportation should be strictly prohibited and all people are obliged to go to the mosque. If young people are seen in the shops they will be immediately imprisoned.