oh yay.

Special Weather Statement - SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR DURHAM COUNTY VALID FROM THU DEC 18 2003 02:56 PM EST UNTIL FRI DEC 19 2003 12:00 AM EST.
ALAMANCE NC-CHATHAM NC-DAVIDSON NC-DURHAM NC-EDGECOMBE NC-FORSYTH NC- FRANKLIN NC-GRANVILLE NC-GUILFORD NC-HALIFAX NC-NASH NC-ORANGE NC- PERSON NC-RANDOLPH NC-VANCE NC-WAKE NC-WARREN NC-WILSON NC- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHEBORO...BURLINGTON...CARY... CHAPEL HILL...CREEDMOOR...DURHAM...GRAHAM...GREENSBORO...HALIFAX... HENDERSON...HIGH POINT...HILLSBOROUGH...LEXINGTON...LOUISBURG... NASHVILLE...OXFORD...PITTSBORO...RALEIGH...RANDLEMAN... ROANOKE RAPIDS...ROCKY MOUNT...ROXBORO...SILER CITY...TARBORO... WARRENTON AND WINSTON-SALEM 300 PM EST THU DEC 18 2003 ...LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS OR FLURRIES ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY... COLD AIR...A STRONG FAST-MOVING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS...AND A SMALL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS WILL CREATE FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR SNOW FLURRIES AND SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTHERN SECTIONS OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...MAINLY BETWEEN MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND MIDDAY FRIDAY. WITH WINDS MAINLY FROM THE WEST AND NORTHWEST...MOISTURE WILL BE LIMITED WITH THIS SYSTEM. LITTLE...IF ANY...SNOW ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. HOWEVER...A LIGHT DUSTING MAY APPEAR ON GRASSY SURFACES AND ON THE TOPS OF METAL AND GLASS SURFACES.


In other news, I gave blood today. Good for me. And my blood is being typed as a possible bone marrow donor. Brrr.

I promise, I will post an update. Someday.

For now, have another funny website: Hagrid meets the Fab 5

Definitely my day for websites: great pagan jokes on this one

Today seems to be my day for websites: Mr. Cornel Nistorescu's essay

And here's a lovely essay on the moral imperatives that Buffy: The Vampire Slayer tv show taught us.

Weird (& neat) site of the day: History of Video Games

Weird site of the day: Gollum, has he gotten a bad rap?

This will be quick I have to catch the bus soon.

My boss let me go at 2pm on Monday so that I could drive to Saturn in Raleigh to get an estimate for my car repairs. Turns out, Saturn in Raleigh doesn't do body work, they refer such jobs to Tyree's. Tyree's is also on Capitol Blvd but in Wake Forest, according to Mapquest. So I called them & got directions & got a set from Mapquest, just in case. I followed their set first. They are good directions, too bad their sign was backlit by the setting sun so I couldn't see it. I drove down that same 2 mile stretch 4 times all told. I drove down, went 'hmm, too far' & turned back. Didn't see it, if I'd gone another half mile I would have, so I decide to go north a little farther. I'm pulling into the left lane as a funeral cortege is going by in the right lane. When we came to the light & it changed to red. I stopped. They had police escort & kept going. I saw the entire thing go by. It was huge. I still haven't learned who they were burying.

I finally found the place & got the estimate. I headed home about 4pm. Chris had asked me to call him & let him know when I was leaving so he'd know to be worried if I wasn't home. My cell phone connected to him & then the power cut off. Not enough juice in the battery I guess. The nice men at the shop let me use their phone. Then Chris laughed at my because my accent was very thick, it always is when I'm dealing with mechanics. I'm not certain why.

We progressed a little further in the adventure. We're almost to the combat. We'll see if we get to use the heat exhaustioin rules or not, next time. Chris had everyone laughing their heads off. And Rosemary & Chris brought up, again, the possibility of me running Legend of the 5 Rings for them. They got this idea after I'd gone to sleep Saturday night. Don't ask me why or how, I don't know.

Yesterday, Chris took a half day to take his car to the dealership in Burlington. That's where he gets his work done. oops gotta go.

So I went to two of the three parties I (& Chris) was invited to on Saturday. I might have been able to make all three because they ranged from Noon - 4, 3pm - 7pm & 7pm- Midnight, however the one starting at 3 was in Durham & the other two were in Raleigh. The first one was Rosemary's annual cookie party. It's a show up when you want & leave when you feel like it & in between decorate sugar cookie cut-outs, bake & eat them. We also opened some presents. I gave Rosemary's mom a small tatted cross in burgundy & Laurie a small burgundy tatted Christmas tree. I gave bang-rocks & a balsa airplane to Julia. David got a gift certificate from Chris, Rosemary & I. I gave Chris his AD&D 3.5 Kalamar book for infiltrators & Basiran dancers plus a copy of the Charlies Angels: Full Throttle DVD. I gave Rosemary a copy of the original Raggedy Anne & Andy stories plus a Harlequin & Poison Ivy t-shirt.

We drank mulled cider and soda. I drank only a sip of the mulled mead, to taste it. It was yummy. Then once that party ended, we watched Chris's movie until it was time for the 7pm party. That was the Misys Healthcare Systems office party. It was at the Marriott near Crabtree Mall. We all got gussied up. I even wore heels & make up. I was finally able to wear that triangle of 'gems' necklace that I bought 2 years ago. My neck was small enough. One of the Chris & Rosemary's co-workers took our picture. Too bad my eyes were closed. That will take some Adobe to fix. The food was fabulous. We were later than usual & didn't arrive until quarter of eight. As a result there were no tables in the main seating area. A hostess directed us to the dessert room, where there were half a dozen tables. About 10 minutes after we sat down, the band in the main room started to play. We were profoundly thankful to be in the dessert & coffee bar room. The music was at a bearable level & we were able to converse without shouting. As a result we stayed later than usual. We did not leave until 10pm. We all over ate but the food was just so good. I was designated driver so I did not get any alcohol. Oh well, I will next year.

When we got back to Rosemary's, we stayed there overnight, I went straight to bed. The next morning we ate breakfast at IHOP. Their stuffed crepes are fantastic. I had the ham & swiss & the pumpkin pancakes. What a wonderful breakfast. Is it any surprise that I gained 2 pounds this past week. Oh well.

Sunday we played Rosemary's Forgotten Realms game. Since she had the day off, we started earlier & finished the second level. Richard couldn't make it so his character did not level. Everyone else did. So Amber is now a (Drow 1)Fighter 1/ Cleric of Ellistraee 1. I did the update Sunday & last night.

Last night, after I finally found the body shop, I'll post that story later, & got home I completely forgot to do laundry. Oh well. Tonight then. I also forgot to pay the storage fee. Eeep.

I'll finish posting the update of my life events tomorrow. I hope.

Bizarre news of the day
from the Nat'l weather service
442 PM EST TUE DEC 9 2003 ...MINOR EARTHQUAKE IN VIRGINIA FELT ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON... A LIGHT EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED AT 359 PM OVER VIRGINIA CENTERED ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF RICHMOND. THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS QUAKE WAS 4.5 ON THE RICHTER SCALE. MINOR TREMORS HAVE BEEN FELT ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...WITH REPORTS HAVING BEEN RECEIVED FROM HALIFAX COUNTY WEST ACROSS THE TRIANGLE AND TO THE TRIAD. NO DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED. ALL INFORMATION ON THIS STATEMENT IS TO BE CONSIDERED PRELIMINARY. UPDATES MAY BE ISSUED AS MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE... EITHER FROM THE NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER IN GOLDEN COLORADO...OR THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Oh goody, I got rear ended this morning so I get to take time off to get a damage estimate. Whee. And since I have a beef with the dealership in Chapel Hill, I'm driving all the way to Wake Forest to get it looked at. Again, I say, wheee.

Weird site of the day: Does your phone number spell a word?

Busy day, my student assistant forgot to tell me that she couldn't work today. I ate at TOL, sat down with Hilary & her friend Liz. Three more of Hilary's friends showed but there were no more chairs.

I have now typed up 4.5 game session notes from Chris's game. I'm halfway through the ones from October 7, 2002. Yay me.

Finished Domes of Fire, and started Night Visitor and mostly through the Hidden City. Chris is working night call tonight so he won't be home until almost 8 pm. *pout*

Tomorrow is Rosemary's cookie party and then the Misys Christmas Party. I'm the designated driver for that one. Then Sunday we play Rosemary's Forgotten Realm game. Should be fun.

Well, this is another quickie update. The bi-weekly C&S/D&D hybrid game went almost as usual. Lots of talking & planning but this time we ended up going with the plan I liked the best & it being successful. We tried to talk our way in as pilgrims, as a foreign knight & his squire & finally we just snuck in to find the info/person we wanted. Wheee.

Alyssa & Christopher gave out presents to the gaming group. Everyone got a plant (I'm not sure what kind) and a cedar box. I brought the plant to work & put it next to my other one. We'll see how it responds to artificial light.

Chris & I ate Thanksgiving leftovers for supper Wednesday night before gaming. I love his mom's gravy, it has lots of stuff in it. It was quick, too.

Yesterday & last night's weather was pretty foul. It never reached higher than 35F and it rained most of the day. There was sleet coming down Wednesday night but it didn't last long & it didn't accumulate. I was pretty worried that we'd have another bout of inclement & dangerous weather; it was the anniversary of the storm last year. It was all for nothing. It never got below 34F last night so we just got rain.

This morning I made certain to check the news to check road conditions, wet but not icy. It was sort of a relief. I had taken the unread newspapers home to read them today, just in case I couldn't make it to work.

I did make the trip to pick up Mike's, from gaming, present. I saw Dan & Michael, he who was once Hairboy. I wasn't certain I was going to do so considering last night's weather, until I got a good look at it.

Clothes update: Wednesday, red turtleneck with a green bolero vest (variegated in stripes with tiny gold dots, reversable side of Tuesday's vest), narrow black skirt just below knee length, same black boots, leggins, and Celtic knot jewelry. Hair braided again, but loosely.
Thursday's outfit was a bright pink turtleneck with barely visible violet stripe, denim jumper that buttons down the front, same boots & leggings, turquoise & coral earrings, turquoise chips set in silver ring, mother of pearl moon & star pendant & hair tightly braided with a couple blue clips to tidy up loose strands in front.
Todays clothing is another red turtleneck, same vest with the ribbon embroidery side out, same narrower black skirt, same boots & black leggings, onyx ring, carnelian ring, knotwork ring, female figure ring, tiny Celtic knotwork dangling earrings, & knotwork pendant. I took a shower/bath & washed my hair last night. It is still a trifle damp so I'm wearing it loose.

My student assistant isn't coming in today so I'm doing the meal plan reports. I'm taking a break from the really annoying one. Time to go back to it. It's the next to last one. Yay.

I'm sorry that this jumps all over the place & is borderline incoherent. Maybe I'll do better later.

Outfit update: same black boots; leggings (it's cold, 34F this morning); black cotton gauze skirt with handkerchief point hem; black turtleneck; bolero vest in white on white calico in a holly pattern with silk ribbon embroidery; a row of poinsettias on the left & a bunch of mistletoe on the right; and for jewelry it's black onyx band, silver band with flowers, silver 2 strand braid ring, delicate silver chain bracelet, silver pendant in the shape of 3 women standing in a wreath (one is young, one is pregnant & one is old), & silver earrings of 3 narrow bands of graduated sizes hanging from french hooks. My hair is in a braid because I didn't feel like doing anything else to it. Over that I have a black sweater for when I go outside. I'm wearing my polar fleece cape again. That plus a scarf & the burgundy velour gloves my sister-in-law gave me 2 years ago & I'm set for the moderately cold weather.

I ate at Top of Lenoir today. That's the pay one price & it's all you can or care to eat. I shared a table with a junior transfer named Lenore Hall. She jokes that her younger brother is named Chase Hall. We had a nice conversation. I gave her my email address so if she wants to share lunch again we can look into it.

Last night's game was almost entirely combat. We were trying to take out the army's leadership. We hit what we think is the command tent with about 4 fireballs plus an icestorm. That killed an ettin & 4 giants. That left 1 ettin & 1 frost giant. We killed the ettin first but didn't know about the giant until it attacked with improved invisibility. Luckily, Rosemary's bard/paladin had a wand of glitterdust. The giant wasn't blinded but he was visible. Then, the dwarf got flanked & attacked by 2 drow elves. That was the last thing done 'cause it was getting late. There's currently a sleet storm hitting the command tent, preventing them (there are 2 people still there) from seeing us to cast any spells. But it will only last 3 more rounds.

The Ragu spaghetti sauce/sloppy joe was a grave disappointment. Adding some herbs & a red pepper does not transform spaghetti sauce to sloppy joe mix. It irritated more than just a little. *snarl*

I re-read most of Domes of Fire yesterday. Today I've been reading Trust Me.

Work has been busy, lots to do. I'm also trying to type up the notes from Chris's game. There are a lot of them. Back to that then, maybe I can get another session's worth done before I head home.

Ooh, neat breakdown of rpg players

Happy Monday. What did I do for the Thanksgiving holiday, my four-day weekend? Mostly, I slept. I did not go see my friends or my family. I just did not feel well enough to be active. I do feel better now.

Thursday, I managed to do laundry and to work on going through old catalogs to dispose of them. Other than that, I drank lots of fluids and napped.

Friday, I finally woke up at 9 am. Chris & I went to Circuit City to get my present to my Mom, we stopped by Pier 1 Imports to see if they have the coatrack we want (they don't) then we went home again. I then took a 2-hour nap & Chris went out again shopping. Joe was feeling like he'd spent too much time indoors, so he came over and we went out to supper. I went to bed at my usual time.

Saturday, was more or less a repeat of Thursday but without the laundry. Chris, Rosemary & I did go see Spy Kids: 3D at Blue Ridge theater. While Chris pondered on our choice of restaurant we stopped by Foundation's Edge so Rosemary could pick up her comic books. I bought a book for Chris. He thinks I bought it for myself, so he took the one he bought for me & exchanged it yesterday. Although, I'm guessing about what he took to exchange yesterday.

Sunday I went through more stuff in the living room. We had people coming over to game by 2pm. We played another RPGA Living Greyhawk module, a year 2 core (that means it is not set in one of the Greyhawk 'regions' that is linked to a real world geographical area & it came out last year). It took longer than expected. I have 5 more to play & then I will have played all the year 2 modules. I hope to play 2 at Defycon & we've made plans to play 2 on December 13th & 14th.

I need to go. More gaming tonight. Chris is running his D&D game.

BTW, I have not lost any weight recently. I remain at 25 less than when I started in May.

Clothes report: this weekend it was t-shirt & jeans except when it was t-shirt & leggings or t-shirt, jeans & a sweater. Today it's black Liz Claiborne slacks, grey turtleneck, black suede lace up shoes (not quite tennis shoes but close), multi-colored crochet sweater with beads (purple, teal, orange, fuschia, yellow, orange, red & green plus blue, yellow, red, orange, & purple beads in concentric rings in 8 spots) & black socks. The sweater is very open so it shows up well against the grey turtleneck. My jewelry today is my rainbow moonstone set in silver earrings, moonstone in silver tri-moon pendant, black onxy band, silver flower band, & silver circles band. My hair is caught in back in the clip from Bronze Rose while the whisps are caught in small almost black hair clips on either side of my face. My hair is braided & a purple/violet elastic holds it.

Have a nice night.