my highly scientific experiment, phase 3

phase 1 = 55 mph, no a/c, windows down
43 miles per gallon

phase 2 = 55 mph, windows up with a/c on
36 miles per gallon

I'm now in phase 3 of my highly scientific experiment which is 55 mph, windows up, no a/c (fan only...a/c only when I begin to hallucinate in the heat).

There's not that much difference between 36 mpg and 43, although I posit that windows down does indeed trump windows up. I firmly believe the real kicker is slowing the f@#k down. It isn't easy and I piss off innumerable people each and everyday as they rush along the interstate on their way. I've developed some definite steel in my spine watching the grill of an 18 wheeler barrel down on my tiny car and swerve (angrily) over at the VERY last minute. The whoosh of air this causes requires a two handed grip on the wheel and firm mental hand to quell the image of that 18 wheeler stalling on a blind curve on a set of heavily used train tracks...but that's a matter for another blog post I'm sure.

Happy driving! Slow down everybody!

another photo mashup

At 4pm it was a dark and stormy day in Birmingham yesterday...

This morning in B@rn3s & N0bl3 crafty coworker ML discovers the epic battle of the apples...C.S. Lewis v the vampires!

photo mashup

I took my dad and stepmom out to lunch on Father's Day, then we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I'd already seen it once but it was just as good the second time around. Daddy and N liked it alot too. As you can see, my dad is always up for some foolishness! :)

I wanted to call this one shleepy kitteh, but she's got a bit of evilness going on. Too bad I couldn't get the ginormous lion yawn that took place immediately after this photo was taken. Her eyes are really green and pretty. My goal is to one day get a photo where she doesn't look like she's about to morph into one of the X-Men characters...

I took this photo yesterday evening on my way home from work. If you look in at the treeline you can just barely see the rainbow. It was much bigger in person, I was just trying not to wreck on the interstate and this was the best I could do. I could see people in other cars looking at it too. Shooting stars and rainbows still have the power to make us stare in wonder and I find that comforting in this techno world.

:(

I got paid today and just did all my balancing and paying of bills and am now $90 overdrawn. How shitty is that, with 2 more weeks to go until payday rolls around again? Yay for credit cards.

inconvenient, but necessary

sorry guys but I got some comment spam on the last post and it isn't the first time for this blog so I've enabled the word/letter verification (or whatever it's called).

en fuego

which means "on fire" for those not in the know...



I have been encouraged by several people to post this story here. I have only told 2 people because it still makes me so AnGrY when I think about it...



Last week a woman approached me at the desk.



[PATRON] - I have a question.



[ME] - Yes, ma'am. (BTW, this is one of my pet peeves. I am at the question answering desk. I know you have a question when you get there. That's what I do for a living, genius)



[PATRON] - You know when you look something up, like in Pubm3d or something, and it says "returning results 1 through about (she stressed this word) 100? What does that mean?



[ME] - *blink, blink* I'm not sure that I know.



[PATRON] - Is there anyone else here who would?



[ME] - No, but I can take a stab at it. You know sometimes when you look things up on Google...



[PATRON INTERRUPTS]



[PATRON] - That's not what I'm talking about. (she sighs) This is really a librarian (again, she emphasizes) question...



[Now, I'm not normally a really excitable person but I feel like she's just insulted me tremendously because it says librarian RIGHT ON MY NAMETAG. I am paying off about $12,000 dollars in student loan debt, not to mention additional credit card debt for all the other stuff that $12,000 failed to cover, because I AM a f*&^ing librarian!]

[ME] - I am a librarian. (now I stress the word)

[PATRON] - Well, you know what I mean! (no, I really don't) I need someone who specializes (I'm sure I don't need to tell you what the italics mean) in research questions!

[ME] - (I tap my name tag, which says, in block letters, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN) Like a reference librarian?

[She looks at me, I look at her. Silence reins. Finally I say...]

[ME] - I believe that search engines usually base their result page rankings on some kind of mathematical algorithim. If your search in Google is too specific, it will sometimes ask if you would like to perform the same search without those...

[PATRON INTERRUPTS] - Never mind! [and she stomps off]

If I could think someone into a maimed condition, the fire department would have carted her off on a stretcher. How rude!

my highly scientific experiment

I took it upon myself to increase my good stewardship of our nation's resources by attempting to become somewhat of a hypermiler. My commute is around 47 miles one way and, in the past, I have had to refuel about every 2.5 days. I stopped using my air conditioner and rolled down the windows and now refuel every 4 days. Various of my friends and family have asked me what my actual gas mileage is and I haven't had an answer so with my last fillup (previous to this morning's) I undertook finding out. At my fillup this morning I got 9.1 gallons of gas and had traveled 387.6 miles on that, which equates to about 42.5 miles per gallon and I rounded up to 43 miles per gallon.

Not bad for my little Kia Rio. The old saw about the drag created by traveling with rolled down windows is my next experiment. With this tank of gas I will leave the windows rolled up and use the A/C when necessary. I didn't this morning because it is in the upper 60's and it feels really nice with the cool air blowing through windows. I will keep you informed.

Not that too many people are interested but when has that ever stopped me? :)

The Wonderful World of Medicine, with T

T, a switchboard operator with a local large medical facility, received a call from someone in need of information about gasket bypass surgery....perhaps Autozone could better serve your needs...maybe Pep Boys?

update

My aunt has uterine cancer which her primary doctor feels confident can be gotten rid of with a hysterectomy but she has not yet spoken to the gynecological oncologist her doctor has referred her to. Everyone is very, very confident that this has been caught early and can be handled efficiently at this point.

She has tapped me to take care of paying her bills while she is recovering and my grandmother will go into a rehab facility for at least 10 weeks during that time as well. She is bedridden and not a little senile. My aunt has been her primary caretaker (with occasional help from a home help nurse) for several years. My aunt has been upset because my grandmother didn't care when she told her she had cancer, she just cried and screamed accusations at my aunt about her (my grandmother's) imminent homelessness. Senility is hard on both sides of the issue. I really felt sorry for my aunt because she tends to take those things personally and not be quite able to consider that she is now the parent and my grandmother is the acting-out child. I will be interested to see how this situation pans out.

I'll keep you updated.

yep, it's wednesday

I haven't heard anything on my aunt yet and probably won't until after work when I can catch up with mom.

On the toe front, it'll be a miracle if I don't lose the nail. I have to soak my foot in warm epsom salts twice a day, keep it tightly wrapped and stay on the lookout for any telltale signs of infection since so much of my nail bed was ripped away exposed. He said to expect a 6-8 week wait for the new nail to make it's presence known.


:)


. . .is it time to leave for the beach yet, KT???????