(no subject)

[electricland]

Hi everyone!

No sleep, because I am an idiot. But at least I have clean laundry. Also, new plants (I rescued one from the alley behind my apartment and repotted it -- I don't know what it is, hence the icon, except it's fairly succulent, with smooth serrated leaves, and rather leggy at the moment -- I figure I'll let it settle down for a bit before I attempt pruning. I also bought a jade plant to keep it company).

Guess who is editing 39 XML documents in Notepad because none of the changes have been entered yet and none of the glossary words go where they're supposed to?

...oh. You guessed.

Then I get to strip out a ton of text boxes and references and crap and make a print version of this storyboard. Waaaaah. I just realized how LONG that is going to take.

Actually, we've been a lot worse off than this with 4 days to go on other projects. If I weren't ready to drop in my tracks, I'd probably be fine. Actually I am fine.

Weekend was good. Watched the first 6 episodes of Six Feet Under, season 1. I'm enjoying it quite a lot. Also, 101 Dalmatians (the original version). You know you may be under a little too much stress when you find yourself fretting "But... you CAN'T keep 101 dalmatians! Not even in the country! No! You need a better plan than that!"

Met pretentiousgit and C and Pippa for brunch, which was fun. Fear the wrath of the former private school girls gathered together dissing one another's uniforms and/or playing fields! Fear it! It was also nice to know that my appearance passed muster, at least more so than that of the fashion victim with the blonde ringlets cascading out from under a pink and grey Von Dutch trucker cap, whom at first they feared might be me.

Then I went and bought a proper full-size ironing board and an iron that is actually younger than I am and a rack for mounting both on the wall behind my bedroom door, and some lavender linen water to make me feel good about the whole thing (because nicely pressed clothes is not going to be enough). Man, buying appliances is complex. I got one that has Automatic Shutoff AND a Vertical Shot of Steam AND an Extra-Long Cord.

Nice long chat with raithen Saturday evening, attempting to Figure Out Our Lives.

Met M for brunch on Sunday (actually, she cooked pancakes and made me coffee -- was excellent). Walked home via the other used bookstore, the one that's half a block from her apartment as opposed to half a block from mine. Bought quality trashy fiction and the Best of the Platters.

Puttered. Puttered more. Repotted the mystery plant. Did laundry. Ignored my dishes. Finished A Song for Nettie Johnson (it's excellent). Ate. Read more.

Around 11 p.m., decided the time was ripe to unclog my bathroom sink, which has been growing ever more uncooperative for the last several years. I will spare you the revolting details, except to say that the fishing-hook-like appliance I made out of an unraveled wire hanger worked all too hideously well. The damn thing STILL isn't draining properly, but it's a lot better than it was... maybe I'll have another go at it tonight. If I ever get out of here, that is.

Hey, look over there!

And, uh, then I read more trashy fiction and couldn't stop until it was done which was really unfortunate because it was about 700 pages long and I read fast but not that fast. It was good though.

Yeah! Soo! How were your weekends?

Comments

[tylerpistol.livejournal.com]

What's clogging your sink? Sludge-y build-up? Maybe you just need to get a bottle of Draino, or a moderately priced non brand name equivalent. I gave my bathroom sink a few flushes with it the other day, and it did the trick.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I may yet succumb. What is in that stuff, exactly?

(goes away to check)

The professional-strength stuff has:

Sodium Hypochlorite, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Silicate, Surfactants, Hydrogen Peroxide

Clearly going to be effective, but I'd rather stick with the mechanical means for as long as I can -- not keen on the highly corrosive, irritating, and toxic ingredients there. It's the curse of a chemistry degree.

sink unclogginh 101

[raithen.livejournal.com]

slightly less toxic chemical solution: baking soda and vinegar. Pour baking soda down drain, then pour vinegar on top. it will do the happy sudsy chem reaction thing. Let it react for a few mins, then run really hot water down the drain for a couple of more minutes -- in fact, lead with a full kettle of boiling water, then use tap hot water, to continue flushing.

If this does not do the trick, then it's time to get the tools out, and remove the trap. This is the bendy part in the pipes, underneath the sink. IT is designed to prevent clogging type stuff to get too far down the pipes. Often you will find barrettes or other type things which are providing a hold for hair etc. Or it might just be gunked up. But if all other means have failed, this WILL solve the problem without resorting to draino. Only hitch is you may need a plumber's wrench. In fact, you have a super -- call him/her, get him to do this for you!!

Lovely chatting with you. Life is still a mystery though.... *sigh*

Re: sink unclogginh 101

[mindrobber.livejournal.com]

Try gun powder.

And remember: Any tool can be the right tool.

[pretentiousgit.livejournal.com]

We were terrified and totally convinced that it couldn't be you. Von dutch. Pink!

Anyway, thank you for coming to brunch!

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Thank YOU (finally) for inviting me! It was great to meet you all!

[iagofan.livejournal.com]

i use this gel unclogger. works like a charm. i wish i had a female friend like you.

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

You forgot to mention calling me at a quarter to twelve to tell me about unclogging your sink...*bah*

[electricland.livejournal.com]

That's true, I did. Sorry about that...

(although at least I only called ONCE and I was sober... although I'm not sure whether that makes it better or worse)

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

It was sink unclogging. Drunk could be forgiven.

Not that you were to know I was alseep. But you woke me up to tell me about the crap in your sink.

o_O

It was...surreal, to say the least.

[talisker.livejournal.com]

Hello

I was just chatting with moonlightjoy, and it seems that we are both serious bookworms and have common tastes. Thought I'd say hello and ask if I can add you as a friend.

Have a good one,
Rc

[electricland.livejournal.com]

But of course! No need to ask, but thank you!

[talisker.livejournal.com]

From past experiences, I've learned it's better to ask first :P Oh, and for XML editing, you definitively want a better text editor than notepad. Check out www.textpad.com - it's the only thing I use and I spend my days writing code :)