Thursday, February 17, 2011

It's Mordac's fault that I'm late: Thursday 13.

Dear Diary, 

13.  Why I'm late.  Mostly, it's because of RatBastard, the IT guy.  Last week I had asked him to delete some shortcuts from my desktop, because it was very cluttered.  I'm not administrative-y enough to do that on my own.  Most of them I don't use, and one of them was even for an accounting folder from 2009.

For some reason, he seemed very put out by this, explaining why universe-ending paradoxes would ensue, etc.  During this period he also pointed out to me that I had a very large folder, "To FIle" on my desktop.  Okee doke.  I deleted it, permanently, and told him that I had.  Then, two creepy things happened.

1) First, he deleted the shortcuts remotely, while I was working at my computer.  This tells me that he is able to access my computer while on working on it and see what I'm doing.  Given my penchant for emailing occasional annoyances and personal problems with DP, this is especially creepy.

2) Then, for some reason, five days later he presented a list of everything that was in the folder that I had deleted to my supervisor, with perhaps five files in it marked, and asked her "can you please have this employee delete these files; they appear to be personal files."  WTF?

Anyway, now I'm too paranoid to work on my blog from work.

12. New title.   I have decided hereafter that RatBastard shall be called Mordac.


For the record, back when we were still on friendly terms, I showed him this cartoon.  I asked him first if he enjoyed an occasional laugh at his own expense, and he said of course, (for the record, I now know better, almost nobody enjoys a joke at their own expense.) and then he read the cartoon and got all serious saying, well, it depends on what you mean by usability.  


11.  Work. I meet a very interesting kid this week.  He was described to me in advance as mentally retarded and extremely verbally aggressive, especially to women.  What I found was that he can't read a sentence, and he can't read expressions on people's faces or any social cues.  But, we had a conversation about the merits of the new Star Trek movie and he explained to me in detail using very age-appropriate vocabulary all the things that were wrong it, referencing early Start Trek movies and the series.  Then, he threw a couple of words in Klingon at me.

And so it is that my GeekGirl status is intact. For some reason, I am very easily able to converse with kids who are very Asperger-y.  This has always been the case.  When I was a teacher, some of the kids with high-functioning autistm would gravitate toward my room during lunch, where I kept the lights off and played Enya, and play cards.  One of them suggested that I read a book called, "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime."  Which, by the way, I highly recommend, along with, "Born on a Blue Day."
Anyway, I think these are just about my favorite kids.  When asked.  Also, "Adam".  Fantastic movie.

10.  Dog house.  Chloe the wonder dog made the decision to save me from one of a pair of leather gloves I've had for over ten years. Yes, she's still alive.  But not before incurring my wrath.  No, I didn't hit her.  I just threw the ruined glove at her and yelled a lot, and she slunk (slinked?) around for a while, knowing she was in trouble.  Then the next day I forgave her because I figured she probably couldn't remember it anyway.

9.  Leg.  A new dress I bought made it's own decision that I wasn't showing enough leg, and for the first couple hours after I put it on, I had to tug at it constantly to keep from looking like a hooker.  Just one of those things that women deal with.

8.  Hair.  It's about time I learned how to put my hair up in some sort of semi-professional way.  I guess I'll check out e-how for that.  Today I wore it using a pen as a hair stick to hold it in a bun, but that's interesting when it's used rarely.  More than that, it just looks sad.  I'm looking for easy things to do with it.

There's nothing that I love better
than, well, everything.  
7. Weight.  We are approaching spring.  This means that for the first time in as long as I can remember I will not have gained any weight over the winter.  I shall celebrate with lots of food. Oh, yes I will.  I'm thinking Chinese Super Buffet.

I've made it no secret that I am neither discerning nor a picky eater.  I'll eat anything.  Hospital food, airplane food, whatever.  It was never a problem when I had a working thyroid, but once menopause hit and my thyroid tanked, I had to take up endurance sports.  Remember: the freedom and scenery are just gravy to me.  I run for food.  

6.  Running. I went out earlier tonight and ran my beloved Green Dress loop on the trails, and did it faster than I ever had.  Of course, it didn't hurt that I was trying to outrun the impending darkness.  The sun had set and it was getting dark. Still: faster. I felt faster. And I had this odd, tall feeling that I have had on rare occasions, but it lasted througout this entire run so I had time to be with it and figure out what it was that I was feeling.  What I was feeling was that each step took me further, and I didn't have to push as much.  Of course, I still can't run up hills well.  I was too breathless.  But it's getting warmer out, and the days are getting longer, and I'M STOKED.

5.  Spring. I love that I can go to work in a sweater these days.  I can't wait for real spring to get here.  February is fake spring in NM.  Experience shows me there will be another horrible icy snow storm in March, and one in mid to late April.  But all-in-all, the days will be warmer, and longer.  The large drift on our driveway is down to being only about 6 feet long and 10 inches high.

The fluffy, kitten stage.
Just don't feed them after midnight.  
4.  Nerd.  More proof of what a nerd I am: I downloaded the torrent and eventually the file for soundtrack music from all the episodes of Bones, the TV series.  She's like, my hero.  One of these days they'll have her run a 5K, swoon, and then I'll have to buy the Temperance Brennan action figure.

3. Hairless cats.  DP got a pair of Sphinx kittens.  While these have, admittedly, a face only a mother cat could love, I am intrigued by the report that they love water, need to be bathed, and obviously, don't shed.  Very intrigued.


2. The daughter project.  My daughter has not arrived yet.  Still waiting.

1.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I have a contact lens stuck up under my eyelid.  I can't really feel it too much, but I know it's still there. I rubbed my eyes the wrong way last night, and it folded up and got stuck up there.  This has happened once before, and a couple days later it worked its way out, looking pretty gross, after my eye got all red and runny.  If it's not out by the weekend I guess I'll head on over to the eye doc.

Meanwhile: I'm an idiot.
...

11 comments:

  1. A lot of my co-workers LOVED The Curious Incident. I wasn't as crazy about it. I did really like Eye Contact, by Cammie McGovern. And of course there's Jodi Picoult's most recent book, House Rules, which was also about a boy with Aspergers. Have you read it? I'd be interested in what you thought. I have a hard time sometimes bc the books don't always ring true in light of my experience. Silly, I guess, since everyone is different.

    Anyway. Mordac sounds like a creep. I'm similarly paranoid about blogging at work...which hasn't stopped me yet from doing it but probably should.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:52 AM

    Try "Not Even Wrong"- forget the author at the moment.
    They are my favorite kids too... :-)

    I have a couple of Picoult's books waiting for me. I didn't like the one about the mom that was kidnapped by her dad. "vanished" or something? I am so horrible about names of things and people. So I am not on the spectrum in that way...!
    Think Spring!

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of my absolute favorite shows is Bones! I wish they would make an action hero figurine!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Isn't the Bones main character kinda Aspergerish too? She's great. I love those kids as well and work with many in my job as a high school speech language pathologist. I keep reading your blog to get inspired to run. I usually do run a lot but my training has been greatly reduced this winter. I am REALLY looking forward to more light and sun in hopes it will get my butt into running gear and outside. How do you stay so motivated through the dark part of the year? Aaah, food. And signing up for expensive races months ahead of time is helpful too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Helen, that's a huge question. HUGE. I've been doing some races this winter, and that's kept me moving, but mostly I've had to rearrange my schedule because I hate running in the cold + dark. I'll do cold or dark, but I hate both. In the past, I've had good luck with a treadmill, in a cold place (or next to an open window) and a DVD player set up so I can watch movies while I run.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Have you seen, "My Name is Khan"? It is a bollywood-esque movie about a man with Aspergers. Check it out if you have 2.5 hours to kill someday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope I never have to deal with a Mordac..gives me the heebie jeebies!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can't believe you blogged about my cats.

    And also, isn't he just precious? Yes he is! He's a precious baby! Ohyesohyesohyesss!! Muah! muah! muah! muah!

    (they're very kissable, the kittehs)

    ReplyDelete
  9. How could I not blog about the cats? I'm intrigued. Each time I spend 40 minutes de-furrifying my black clothing, I"m intrigued.

    ReplyDelete
  10. #13. EXTREMELY creepy! Verging on stalker-ish.
    #11. They have a whole series of books called "The Nitpicker's Guide to Star Trek" that list plot discrepancies, filming errors, prop malfunctions, etc. Bet your kid would dig those (if he could read 'em, I guess).
    #5. I almost enjoy fake spring in NM more than real spring because it isn't quite as windy yet.
    #1. Is it out yet? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous3:05 PM

    I totally agree with the above poster that Temperance is probably very "Asperger-y" as well.

    I probably wouldn't buy an action figure, but a bobblehead? TOTALLY.

    ReplyDelete

Comments containing links to commercial websites from people with invisible profiles are deleted immediately. Spammers are immediately deleted.

Moved.

 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...