Deals, Dell and Doldrums

The word of the week is patience.

November 12 - The Fionivar Tapestry

There's quite a few fantasy series I've read over the years, but few that I would re-read every few years. The Fionivar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay is one of those and this weekend I read the trilogy straight through.

The original three books I picked up back in 1990.

It was even better than I remembered! It's been at least six years since I read it last and this time it was an emotional roller-coaster ride. I'll admit I was brought to tears more than a few times as I read the three books of the trilogy, something that rarely happens with me. Kay's writing taps deep emotional roots in the reader while drawing on many myths and legends from various cultures to create a literary tapestry in truth. His world is convincing, his characters compelling and his story engrossing… so much so that my entire weekend went by in a blur as I read. It was wonderful and I hope that when I read the books again in a few more years, I'll bring a different experience to them and treasure the experience all the more.

 

November 13 - Lucky Oskar

For many years, we had a blind cat named Truffles in our family who was a medical miracle. He was a sweet, quiet cat who had the most amazingly huge spread of whiskers I've ever seen, compensation for his lack of sight perhaps. His blindness didn't stop him from living normally in all of our homes, as he memorized the positions of furniture and made sure to stay out from underfoot. He was a wonderful pet and companion.

I've just found a video of an amazing cat named Oskar( see below )that brought back memories of Truffles when I saw it. The fearlessness I see in Oskar reminds me that disabled pets don't know they have a disability and just go at life with all they have anyway. Oskar is very lucky that he was found by a couple who could see what a wonderful animal he is and not be blinded by his simple lack of sight.

November 14 - My stolen PDA returns after 2.5 years!!!

Out of the blue this morning, I received a call from the Langford RCMP: they had recovered the PDA that was stolen from me on a bus in April 2010! Apparently it was part of a cache of stolen items recovered in a raid and since it's a fairly unique item, they tracked it down to me from the report I'd filed at the time.

I met with an officer a few hours later and confirmed that the PDA was mine, from the still-present Hitachi 4gb Microdrive inside - the thing's very hard to remove, so nobody had bothered! I was ecstatic as he gave it back to me, as the PDA looked to be in great shape and I hope that the battery will still function, once I get a charger from eBay for a few dollars. In the meantime, I wrote up a report on the incident again and gave it to the officer, in the hopes that it will help with their current investigation... I'd love to see the guy who took it face justice, as I can still see his smug face on the bus. On a side note, the V51v is almost the exact size and weight of my new Galaxy SIII phone… I smiled when I noticed that detail.

Amazing. I'm just thrilled, as I never thought I'd see my PDA again!

November 15 - Pert isn't a Plus after all???

I've been using Pert Plus shampoo for many years, like millions of other people. It does a good job and I make it last, which helps my budget.

Yet it seems that the stuff has some hidden nasties in its formula, according to an article on Yahoo! this week. The items of concern are 1,4-Dioxane( a carcinogen )and phthalates( causing male reproductive issues ), neither of which show up on the list of ingredients. Most worrying is that the toxins build up over time, so for all these years I've slowly been adding to their levels in my body.

Which means it's time to start looking for a new brand of shampoo. I'll be sure to check the lists for chemical content before deciding, as I don't want to trade one problem for another.

November 16 - Living Freakin' Dolls ???

Body modification is not my thing, but I can appreciate to some degree why people want to adorn themselves with tattoos or body jewelery as forms of artistic expression and individuality.

But to modify yourself so extensively that you look like a living Barbie Doll? Really?

Read the article for a fuller coverage of her alterations

Valeria Lykyanova is only twenty-one and she's already had more plastic surgery than most people on this planet would even contemplate in a lifetime. I can't fathom the reason why she would do this to herself, though I might guess that she has image and confidence problems? Still, that's an extreme way to deal with them. 

Yet she's an adult and if she wants to( and can afford to )modify herself to suit her tastes, who's to say otherwise? Having freedom of expression in one's culture is a benefit for most, but I wonder what her life would be like if Valeria didn't have all the attention she's getting from millions of people. According to this article, she doesn't seem to live in a reality like that of most people… which perhaps would explain part of why she changed herself in the first place: reality isn't that interesting to her.

Right now, I can kind of relate... but I'm not going to make myself look like Ken.

November 17 - The Bright Side

While there's been a few hours of sunshine here and there this week, for the most part it's been overcast and/or raining every day. I've made use of my sunlamp every day to stave off the doldrums; the bright light does help mitigate the ceaseless grey outside to a degree.

Sometimes though, you need a little more, and this ditty pops into my head regularly when I'm feeling a little down. It perfectly suits my sense of humour, far moreso than dancing kittens or the like:

November 18 - Auctions

Today I had two items being sold on eBay: one was the Motorola RAZR phone that I won last month in a contest and the other being a lovely set of Logitech Z-5500 speakers. I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to keep my Samsung SIII phone, as it has far too many cool features I liked and felt lighter in the hand than the RAZR did; otherwise, they had very similar specs, though the RAZR does have a Kevlar back surface!

This is what buyers saw on eBay - quite a deal!

As for the Logitech Z-5500's, I've never really had full use of them. They're a wonderful set of equipment, but I've never been in a place where I can turn them up and enjoy their crystal-clear sound at a level of my choosing. So rather than have them sit around for another five years underused, I put them up for auction last week, along with the Motorola RAZR.

The RAZR sold, and the Z-5500's didn't, which was still good as the RAZR went for a good sum; I was very pleased!! However, I was biting my nails by the end of the auction, as I'd forgotten to restrict WHO could bid on the phone! eBay allows you to list what countries you will ship to AND limit bidders to people who are registered IN those same countries, as well as such things like ensuring bidders have a PayPal account and no majorly bad Feedback. As it turns out, a guy from France with a Quebec shipping address won… and paid immediately via PayPal, so I let out a breath of relief when THAT email came in ten minutes after the auction's end. Live and learn… even though I've used eBay for a long while, I still have to remember that when there's a fair bit of money involved, little things can make ALL the difference to a seller's stress levels. I'm just glad it worked out well in the end and that my luck has turned into a good deal for someone else. 

In the meantime, I've relisted my speakers and I hope one of the dozen 'watchers' from the last auction will bite, this week.

It's been a dull week for me emotionally; I'm definitely feeling down, despite the thrill of getting my Dell Axim back intact and the sale of the RAZR for a good sum. The lack of a decent job is really wearing on me and with only a month left to go for my EI payments, the pressure is mounting. But all I can do is search, do my due dilligence and apply, then hope for a call before I do a followup. So far, there's been utter silence from the Hiring camp.