Settling In

A good friend came to my place today to do a very good thing: help me organize the random stuff that doesn’t really have a place, but needs one so that I know where it is when I need it.

Take Christmas decorations as a for instance.  Until today, mine were stored in a large, cardboard box that was quite literally falling apart.  Since I use it twice a year (unpack once, pack once), a box falling apart wasn’t a big deal as it didn’t get much wear and tear.  But the box was larger than needed and did tend to leave behind cardboard particles that could smell odd and were generally unpleasant.

So, a plastic tub was purchased and the contents of the box were moved.  The box is broken down and ready to be turned into something more useful by the recycling wizards from the Ministry of Recycling Useless Stuff Into Neat Things (I hear they are working hard on pogs, but not getting anywhere for the moment).  Now, my deocrations are stored neatly in my various closets along with a small assortment of other plastic tubs and containers for sheet music, candles, high school and grammar school memorabilia, etc.

And I know where it all is for whenever I need it again.  The next move, hopefully a long time from now, will likely contains less “I didn’t know I had one of these” moments.

Bottom line: about $40 for containers and a cheap paper shredder (quite possibly the most therapeutic device ever created).  I may need more, but these are cheap and easy to come by.  Plus, thanks to the paper shredder, I should have more room in the closet once I can combine two filing cabinets of crap into one of useful documents.

Vanilla Sign

I’m in training this week at work and it happens that one of the students is deaf. There are two women interpreting for him. They tag team every twenty-thirty minutes since research shows that the brain can’t do continuous tasks for longer than that without a break. During one of the class breaks yesterday, the woman who was on her break found the video below.

Funny, amazing, and eye-opening to just how difficult it is to sign and not hear the world as others do. Enjoy!

Visualization of Relief

Take a minute and give a buck. This is the Darfur Wall.  A sort of memorial/donation board.

What I really like about this is that it shows you the difference that you are making in a slight more tangible way.  The number you clicked on lights up very nicely.  While still somber, it’s easier to feel like a small contribution really did go the long way people talk about them going.

Lensing Transition

I saw my optometrist this morning.  Is it anyone else’s experience that the offices of optometrists are staffed by only the most attractive women aside from the doctor himself (unless the doctor is also a woman, in which case she is attractive as well)?  I used to work in a surgery clinic that had a plastics department.  The girls there were pretty, but not nearly as stunning as the girls who work in optometrist’s offices.  What’s the deal there, I wonder?

Regardless, I got new frames and lenses today.  I’m actually less far-sighted than I was, somehow, so I’m guessing that’s good.  But I’m excited to get my new glasses in two weeks.  I like the look of them.  I’m also finally getting transitions lenses, which many of my friends have gotten and found convenient. I’m looking forward to not having to carry around two pairs of glasses.

And for the record, all of the women I met this morning were married.  Except for one, but she had kids and a boyfriend.  Typical.

Laundry Sympathy

Sabrina has posted something that every person who thinks that playing in the mud is a good idea should read.
Remember the people who clean your clothes (which may very well be yourself)!

The Thing I Never Thought I’d Do

For the last two nights, my neighbors have been playing music late at night and rather loudly. Loudly enough that my knocking on their door or on the shared wall is unheard (or ignored).

Last night, they went until at least 3:00 a.m. with me sleeping only a few minutes until then.

Today, I stopped by the apartment manager to let them know about it. They’ll be doing whatever they do, probably anonymously.

While I’m fairly confident this will work, at least for a while, I’m saddened and see it as a defeat. I don’t know details, but I think my neighbors are having a hard time in life right now. The only reasons I didn’t call the police were because I wanted to go through the management first and I wouldn’t have wished a visit from a police office on anyone who is having a hard time in life to begin (even more so when it could be resolved without the police).

That said, it’s also a victory. I gave my neighbors their due diligence in trying to get them to quiet down last night. It didn’t work. The simplest next step is the one I took and it should have a positive effect on the situation, though perhaps not a positive effect on neighbor relations.

I’m looking forward to the vastly increased potential of a good night’s sleep tonight. We’ll see what happens next, though.

Saying How Are You

Last week, I talked a bit about saying hello and how it can relate to being welcoming to someone. Since then, I have found myself thinking about what is usually said next, “How are you?”

Saying Hello

I’ve been giving the ideas of hospitality some thought lately. Nothing in particular, but as I come across something remotely concrete, I plan on sharing in some fashion.

I have heard many talks and sermons about giving thought to “what it looks like” to welcome people into our (whoever the “our” is) midst. Be it church, work, or society at large, I’ve heard the language in all places in one form or another. Each walk of life treats it differently, and they all fail and succeed differently, but they all seek in some fashion to achieve something of a simiilar goal despite a wide range of reasons.

Most recently, I’ve been struck by the value of simply saying hello.