Amanda's Alaskan Adventure

One girl, one big journey

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Saturday, February 6th

They got me!


Last Friday, they finally got me. Got the H1N1 vaccine.

Luckily, we got actual shots, not the nasal mist goofiness, so I had no side effects. I don't think I've ever been so happy to get a shot in my life.

This week I got to go through Combat Lifesaver class. For the third time. Its something that you're supposed to re-certify on every year, and I never manage to get anywhere close to that one year mark, so I keep getting sent through the entire class again. Which isn't all that bad because as we find out more about what is coming back from the battlefield, we know more about how we can actually save combat casualties.

And this was definitely the best version of the class that I've been through. The instructors were awesome, been there and done what they're talking about for real, not just teaching it, and they love what they do. And they had great hands-on simulator stuff - on the final day we had to clear a bunch of rooms and treat the casualties in them (dummies), and they did a good job of making it stressful - it was loud, smoky, fake blood everywhere, and you were constantly being rushed so that you wouldn't get yourself killed.

And then we got to clean up afterwords.

Note to self: do not have the color-blind guy cleaning blood off the walls. Unless he has people to point it out to him.

Corollary to note to self: Don't have the color-deficient guys being the ones to point out the fake blood. They can't see it too well either.

And then yesterday I had my first test in my Statistics class. Which I think went fairly well. I probly won't get the grade back for two weeks or so though. :/
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 02.06.10 @ 03:32 PM AKDT [link] [No Comments]


Sunday, January 24th

Wall Art


I got the other two prints in that I ordered, the ones that were already framed, but I didn't have the stuff I needed to hang them until now, so now I can show em' to you.



Like my kitty? *grin* When I saw that I instantly had to get it.

Here's what the frames look like:



They're really light, and even came with their own little level... not that I necessarily managed to get them level. I know I didn't do too well at getting the cubbies level. Oh well.
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 01.24.10 @ 04:52 PM AKDT [link] [1 Comment]


Saturday, January 23rd

Close Encounters


So, yesterday morning I was heading out the front door to warm up my truck and put my gym bag in it as per my usual routine.

From my door, the sidewalk splits into two - one side w/ a few steps, and one w/ a wheelchair ramp. This leaves a triangular section that serves as a flower bed. The ground there is raised a bit, and there's still dead plants sticking up through the snow.

Yesterday there was also a bit of fresh show, so as I was walking along I noticed some moose tracks in font of me. I follow the tracks with my eyes and find the moose - standing in the middle of the flower bed.

Luckily for me, it was alone (never, EVER get around a momma moose when her calf is around), and was ignoring me as it was happily munching away on the dead flowers. About 15 feet from me.

I took a different path on my way back into the apartment.
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 01.23.10 @ 04:55 PM AKDT [link] [No Comments]


Tuesday, January 19th

Brain... Melting...


So, I'm in this Statistics class. So far, so good, just another math class, right? Wrong. No issues with the math or concepts yet... I had to write a paper. Like, a formal essay. For a math class.

It was due yesterday. I procrastinated most of the weekend on it. I was so unsure of how the heck I would write this stupid paper (complete with tables and figures and such) that I even avoided my computer for most of yesterday.

Yes, I just said I avoided my computer. My forehead feels OK....
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 01.19.10 @ 06:48 PM AKDT [link] [2 Comments]


Thursday, January 14th

EMF


So, any watcher of Ghost Hunters has repeatedly heard about the horrors of EMF, or electromagnetic fields. These can be generated by many things, but generally involve large amounts of power.

This afternoon we had some introductory training into some new UPS (uninterrupted power supply - giant batteries for backup power) in our building. These are sitting in a little room in the corner of the building. Most of the people were crowded around the door, but I moved into the room so that I could actually see what the guy was talking about. Big mistake.

After a while, one of the other people standing right next to me started complaining of vertigo, and I have one heck of a headache and a little nausea. And felt a little unbalanced while I was in there, too.

So what do I do as soon as I get home? Turn on the TV, cable, receiver, computer, and toss dinner in the microwave.
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 01.14.10 @ 05:49 PM AKDT [link] [1 Comment]


Monday, January 11th

50k


My truck just hit 50,000 miles! Woo hoo! And still going strong... granted, it doesn't really like this cold weather, especially this morning when it was about -35... Started just fine, let it warm up for a few minutes... it just didn't really want to move. Neither did I, but I overcome that on a daily basis... Went to roll my window down to make sure that it wasn't frozen, and it took about twice as long as normal.. had to give a little extra gas before the wheels really turned.. that sort of stuff. But once I got moving it was fine.

Got another bottle done:





The Far Eastern theme continues...

I also found half of my print order sitting in my doorway. Figures it would be the half that I need to get frames for, but its still something, and so I can touch and feel the canvas...







You can kindof see the texture in the last one. Its pretty thick stuff, doesn't feel like it would tear real easy or anything. Not really sure if I want to hide it behind glass or not.. decisions decisions. I've got two more that should be getting here shortly that are already in what they called an art block frame... you can either look on the DeviantArt website to find out what I'm talking about or just wait for pictures.

So, I had a class start last Monday. Statistics, which is generally one of the more feared classes. I hear nothing but horror stories about it. So I was rather hoping to get my book ahead of time and start at least looking at the content. Waiting and waiting and nothing came. And my school went on break for two weeks for the holidays, so I couldn't get ahold of anyone before the class started to find out what was going on. Last Wednesday finally got an answer that it was supposedly received and signed for by someone on December 1. But, since it was sent UPS the accountability isn't really all that great. Probly got tossed in a corner somewhere and forgotten about.

So, they overnighted me a new book which I got on Friday. And spent nearly all day Saturday and half of Sunday doing the first week's worth of homework. It wasn't really hard, it was just tedious because I had to read and understand the concepts, then start working on the problems, then shift over to the computer because I have to use Excel for almost everything, then flip back through the book to find the instructions for the particular chart they want me to make, then flip through instructions from the instructor on another type of chart they want me to make... Ugh. But I got it done. We'll see how well I did once grades come down.

Note to self: don't buy cheap cookware. I'm having a heck of a time making pancakes because my pan keeps warping as soon as it gets hot, so half the pan burns and the other doesn't get cooked cuz its nowhere near the burner. *sigh*
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 01.11.10 @ 07:42 PM AKDT [link] [2 Comments]


Saturday, January 2nd

Happy New Year!


So, we have all apparently managed to survive yet another holiday season and are rolling into a new year. Not that there haven't been a couple of bumps in the road recently...

Big event: on Tuesday a little after lunch (I didn't go anywhere for lunch) one of the people I work with came in the office and said I had a flat tire. *blink* So, I go out there and yep, right front tire is totally flat. Not cool. Luckily, one of the other people I work with had a portable air compressor in her vehicle, so I borrowed that, inflated it, and gingerly drove down to the service shop. Which told me that they couldn't get me in until almost 5. Just great. Gingerly drive back to work and continue on my day, still borrowing air compressor just in case it doesn't hold air. It seemed to be holding air all right when I get back to the shop, and turns out they can't find any leaks. Hrmm. They said it was possibly just a cold flat (air shrinking as it gets colder)... on just one tire. At only -15. Hrmm.

On the plus side, my truck got a bath. On the down side, that means it was covered in a fine layer of ice since they didn't dry it off before parking it outside. *shakes head* And they didn't wash it very well since I still have a nice stripe of bird doo on my rear window, but its still a free bath.

On Wednesday night we had one of those wonderful mandatory holiday party things at a local hotel. Not too terribly exciting.

Thursday I got to see lots of fireworks outside my window. I first noticed them about 8PM, and they were still going at about 1230 when I fell asleep. They weren't solid, they would go for about 15 minutes, then stop for a half our or so, then go for another ten... etc etc. Right after one of the pauses a whole bunch of fire trucks drove past... hrmm.

Its finally getting down into more "normal" winter temperatures... about -30 right now. Which being dry and not windy isn't too bad. However, you do have to be careful of how fast you walk - that can introduce one heck of a wind chill. That being said, right now the forecast is calling for it to get back up to about 0 by Monday. I'm fairly certain this is the only place I've been where it regularly warms up 20 degrees overnight. Just plain odd.

I think I've found homes for all the penguins...



... although they are a little cramped.

The wall hanging on the left is what all of my embroidery that I've been showing you has turned into. Machine quilted along the seams, and not a terribly good job of it... and I was lazy and didn't try to find thread that wouldn't stand out much, so its kindof noticable up close, but isn't too bad just hanging on the wall. And I really hate doing the binding. A lot.



And I've played some more with painting bottles:





I don't think that manipulating paint on a curvy piece of glass is my strong suit.

Anywho, I have been receiving all of the lovely cards in my email (whose idea was the dancing elves??) even if I don't reply. They're not ending up in my junk mail (even if they do involve cats getting smacked on the head with ornaments).

I should have some more decorations for the apartment soon... at the DeviantArt website you can buy prints of the stuff posted there, and they had a sale not too long ago on buying your own stuff, so I should be getting a couple of my pictures printed on canvas - I've heard it looks really nice, so I'm looking forward to having huge prints of my own stuff to hang up. :)
[Karma: 0 (+/-)] Amanda on 01.02.10 @ 08:26 PM AKDT [link] [5 Comments]