eye remover

Can you tell what's wrong with this product? I suppose someone might have use for it, but eye don't.

Heard at work today (don't blame me, I'm just the messenger):

• "I need to flick this booger off my finger," used metaphorically


• "Doing this is like jumping through a******s."

Rebekah this morning named her Ipod "Vladimir Smirnoff."

good old textbooks

I got a new phone. Here is a picture I took with it. Marginally better quality than the old one, huh?

On the radio this morning they were talking about how technology is advancing and how many things will soon be obsolete, such as CDs, DVDs, Blockbusters, and textbooks. "Textbooks?" I asked Jack Diamond (my favorite radio personality). Apparently you can save a bundle by getting your textbooks in electronic format. Now this may be fine for many people, and to them I say, "This may be fine for you." However, it is not fine for me. You may say, "Kimberly, you are too old if you can't stand the idea of studying from a laptop or Kindle." To that I say, "Not so." I love new technologies and embrace them with all my heart, excepting electronic textbooks.

There is something primal in me that loves paper. I tried using an electronic planner, but that went the way of all the world. For one thing, a worker bee in my profession cannot bring an electronic device into a classified hive. For another thing, I just like being able to write with a red pen and chew on a highlighter as I wield it bravely. I like to be able to quickly flip through the pages and practically be able to see the whole of the text at once.

Plus isn't there just something about shelves full of musty old books, the more and the mustier the better? They make you feel like a scholar. They feel nice to the touch. Don't you just love the sound the binding makes if it is really old? In some cases you can display them to show that you have conquered them.

You can print out the textbook in chunks, but wouldn't that be expensive, and defeat the purpose anyway? You'd have to use one of those awkward paper binding clips. Aubrey has some beautiful paper binding clips that she got for Christmas, but even they can't hold a candle to a hardbound book.

I just made the above point with a coworker, and he pointed out that, with a book in electronic format, you can conduct a search more easily. AND you can obviously carry them around much easier. AND some people might just learn better with an electronic book. To him (my coworker) I say touche.

So really it comes down to personal preference. My preference is trees. I like trees. Paper textbooks will never go away completely.

Words of the day: commensurate and repository, both of which I used this morning in my speech. Lower case speech, not a formal Speech or anything.

top ten of whatever

1. Jerry. He is number one for a darn good reason. He is an exceptional person, and he makes my existence happy every day. My favorite things about him are his kindness and selflessness. He treats me like a queen and has for 25 years.
2. Bones. Booth and Brennan are one of the best duos of all time. Something to look forward to each week. And I stuck in a picture of Mulder and Scully here too, for good measure.



3. House. I love anti-heroes. House is right up there with Snape in my book. And this show has some of the best writing of all time.
   
4. Socks.
5. Toast.
6. Half marathons.
7. Having hair and teeth. I had a bald spot a while back that will make me appreciate having hair forever. And I have a recurring nightmare that my teeth all get loose and start falling out. So I appreciate having teeth that are tightly in their proper places.
8. My couch.
9. Sisters.
10. The ability to sleep soundly. Nursing babies aeons ago kept me from getting a good night's sleep, and it infuriated me so much at the time, that I will always appreciate being able to sleep through the night.

My favorite color toilet seat

Here is the yogurt parfait I am about to eat.
Here is what the side of the road looked like on my way in to work today. Note the sign for the Capitol Beltway exit. I live in Washington DC and you don't. Or maybe you do, I'm not sure.

Here is what I looked like on the way in to work today.

Here is the toilet I use several times a day at work. It is nice and white, but I would prefer a dusky pink color. Our toilet seat at home broke (how does THAT happen?), and I tried to buy a colored toilet seat, but all Target had was white. The opportunity cost of seeking out the colored seat elsewhere was too high. So I bought the white toilet seat at Target.

Here is my favorite workout video, Buns of Steel with Lynne Brick. Lynne and I have been united in the quest to firm my buns these many years. I actually own two of this video, just in case one of them bites it.
Here is a delightful little gift that Jerry gave me, to make me smile every time I look at it at work. I put it together myself, which makes it all the more worthwhile. How I love Jack. I think he is spanking that little guy. Or throwing him under the tree?
I need a new camera phone. I thought about taking a picture of my phone with my phone, to show you how broken and downright shabby it is, but I decided not to.

Crying Out Loud

Here I am at work listening to Marilyn Manson's "The Dope Show". No one else is here because of the snow storm we got. Probably two feet. Which is nothing if you live in Utah, but here everyone uses it as an excuse to not do anything, and I say all power to them. The federal government is closed, but contractors to the federal government (that's me) never close. So of course I have zero motivation to do anything. Thus the blog entry.





I need to order some more padlocks for the big pelican cases (isn't that a lovely name for them?) that we have that carry hard drives. Lots of hard drives.





Had a Harry Potter marathon over the weekend while we were snowed in. How I love Snape. I can't wait until we see Snape howling and crying to Dumbledore because-- oops that's a spoiler and I don't want to blow it for little sister April. Anyway, if you've read it you probably know the part I mean. And I bet you can't wait either.

I had a quotation to mention here but now I can't remember it. Alas.

Is there a new House episode tonight? House and Cuddy need to get it on, seriously now.

it complexifies

This will have to suffice for an illustration of the 15 possible inches of snow heading our way starting tonight. We are just west of Washington, DC. Wah-frigging-hoo!

Friday
12/18/2009
Hi: 39°
Mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 30s. Southeast winds around 5 mph.

Lo: 28°
Snow...mainly after midnight. Snow accumulation around an inch. Lows in the upper 20s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.
Saturday
12/19/2009
Hi: 28°
Snow. Highs in the upper 20s. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.
Lo: 26°
Snow likely. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds around 10 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.
Sunday
12/20/2009
Hi: 31°
Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 30s.
Lo: 22°
Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s.

Word of the day: desiccant. A substance, such as calcium oxide or silica gel, that has a high affinity for water and is used as a drying agent.//--> One of those little packets they put in containers to keep the contents dry. Check out the spelling of this little beauty of a word.

Aubrey and I made up the word "complexifies", and she used it in her college application essays. I figure they will think she is really stupid or really smart. I think it is quite funny and delightfully risky.

cruise dolphin excursion

Rebekah and I went on an "Open Ocean Swim with Dolphins" in Freeport, Bahamas



Rebekah kissing dolphin

Rebekah hugging dolphins
me hugging dolphins
me kissing dolphin
me riding on dolphin's tummy
me telling dolphins to flap their fins
From the dolphin-seeing boat




Here are a few more random photos from the cruise: