Re: The Good Morning & Cup o' Joe Thread

[Fate Flyer]

Good morning, guys! It's Friday!

I agree that we should definitely be turning away from relying on fossil fuels, especially since we have had the technology to do so for a long time, but for some reason I get the feeling that won't happen for awhile. Those gas prices are just outrageous. I can't even imagine having to pay over $5 a gallon. A lot of people live in the suburbs, so they can live in nice areas and get more square footage for the price and then drive all the way into the city for work, but if gas keeps rising the way it is, people won't be able to do that anymore. There's so much that would change if people could not afford to drive very much. It's definitely nice if you can walk or bike to work though or can just work from home.

Ughh. *grumble*


Anyway, wow, Kalon! I cannot believe you stayed up for 2 days in a row! That's just insane. I start getting reeeeaaally cranky if I don't go to bed when I'm tired (just ask Axiom lol). Did you manage to stay pleasant despite the lack of sleep? Hehe.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Relatively, though I think I felt myself slipping. xD
Knowing the reason for irritability is lack of sleep can help fight it, I think, sometimes. ^^

[Hisoka]

Fate I and every other tuner out there will never shift over to pure electric vehicles until some real numbers can be delivered. I mean take for example the Telsa Model S, it is a hell of a sports car considering it's power plant. But 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, with only a top speed of 120 mph. I know beater Ford E350 that get better numbers. Besides walking or biking to work is all well and fine when you live near work. But I live nearly 150 miles away from the Garage I work at and property in Vancouver cost more per day then the price of fuel. Besides I don't trust that oversized AA battery powering these new electrics, things are just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Fate Flyer]

Morning, FoG!

Axiom and I just woke up to some yelling and barking right outside his window. (Or I should say I woke up to it and then woke him because of it lol.) His neighbor was trying to call out his two dogs from inside Axiom's pasture. The dogs were barking profusely and stupidly at his mom's horses, and this was extra bad, because his mom just put all her horses together, and they are adjusting to being around her newest/youngest one.

Finally, then man's wife came over and was able to call out the dog the man wasn't able to round up, and thankfully the horses seemed okay. Axiom's newest horse was even curious about the man, it seemed, and was following him all over (which wasn't helping, because the dog wouldn't go near the man with the horse right next to him, but the horse is very friendly).

[Digital Muse]

Well, here I sit with one dead as a door stop laptop, an ancient laptop and a new one I'm trying to decide if it will suit my needs and my Caribou Obsidian.

After the weekend on technical hell, I deserve the good stuff. Today looks as if it will be hella hot, so post office, grocery store, and back home to polish of my homework that must be posted tonight.

Maybe I'll go to work in there somewhere too. We'll see.

[Silvan Arrow]

Blargh...what a crazy morning...

After a fun-filled day of dealing with an upset stomach and puking at my boyfriend's house, we got back to my place last night and promptly crashed. He left for work this morning, and not long after I discovered that my left tonsil was covered in throat blisters. One trip to a walk-in clinic later, complete with bloodwork to test for mono (Holy crap, that scared me...), they diagnosed me with either strep or some other bacterial infection. So now I get to laze around the house all day, being completely useless, while I wait for these drugs to kick in and start making me better.

[Fate Flyer]

^ That's awful, Silvan. Vomiting and then finding something wrong with your tonsils would be a terrible combination. I hated getting strep throat all the time. It doesn't sound all that miserable when you're discussing it, since it's so common, but oh man, it is something awful. I hope that whatever it is, you feel better right away!


Well, it's nearing the later part of the afternoon here, but it still feels like morning to me. I'm exhausted. After carrying all these heavy groceries in last night (I refuse to make two trips) and then only getting four hours of sleep, I'm still beat.

I was playing some League of Legends this morning too, to help get my adrenaline pumping and wake me up this morning, but my game kept crashing. I was lagging really bad, so that tells me someone is stealing my internet again. That was very annoying.

It's almost time for me to head back to work soon. I just want it to be Friday already again!

[Guest]

Good morning, FOG!

My alarm was set for 3:30 in the a.m., though I didn't fall asleep until after 11:00 I believe. I have to take my mother to the airport bus so she can take a plane to Hawaii for reasons a little less than sane... but whatever. Not sure what I will do with my time when I get home, but perhaps I will waste it on things other than sleep. I don't get much time to waste these days.

It has been a long time since I've gone on such little sleep... feels weird, like revisiting the old days. And FOG is like... a wasteland at this hour... just guests in the distance, like mirages in the heat, sometimes resembling someone you think you know... but when you call out in greeting, they disappear...

[Gadreille]

Bloody mad! He's gone over the edge!

I'm checking my internet, something I do far to often...Taeo is sitting on my lap listening to OK Go songs (Right now he's watching the What to Do video...ahhhhhhhhh)

But, the bulls have already come and gone and bellowed all their lows. Now nobody knows what to do! Sweetheart, you'll find, mediocre people do exceptional things all the time. Oh the ruin will do to your talented mind, could've been a genius if you had an axe to grind.

I'm looking forward to a day of nothingness and waste just as much as Silvone. Thursday has become our Saturday, and we have no Sunday...(somebody want to make us a Rebecca Black remix??? J/K, really, don't do it) we have very little money, so what is there to do on your Saturday but lay around and be lazy?

Actually, later we are going to go on a double date to the local brewery and go see Xmen: First Class, so I am really excited about that. Until then, though, cuddle with Theoden and watch OK videos until my eyes bleed!

(I finish this post listening to the marching band version of This Too Shall Pass)

Let it go, this too shall pass. No, you can't keep letting it get you down.

[Digital Muse]

Ahhhhhh. This morning finally is looking up. New laptop to replace the one that the puppies killed with a sports drink, income coming in, Dad's heart surgery went perfectly and I'll be getting a different car next week.

Today? A quick visit to the Doctor for the basic yearly, "You're too damed healthy" thing. A little work in the morning, lunch with friends and writing in th evening.


And just cause I'm feeling kind of spritely; this is what I had for dinner last night.

[Gadreille]

Yay for laptops and good health! Wow, you're dinner belongs on a king's table

I am finally getting some computer time after our first successful potty training! I won't get into the details, but I am glad that I went the "He'll be ready when he's ready" route, instead of pushing him to start early like a lot of parents do

No plans today yet but I hope that today remains a good day.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Fate, that sucks that someone is stealing your internet. You should try to password protect your wifi so it won't happen.

Silvone, bleh... I had insomnia for a long time, and before I got medication to help me with it, I was always running on as little as four hours of sleep a day, every day. It sucks so much. Hopefully, you were able to replenish your energy with sleep.

Ryona, aww. I hope you had a great date!

I'm glad that Taeo is potty training well. I bet it'll save you lots of time in the future when you won't have to change diapers.

Digital, it really sounds like things are going wonderfully for you! I hope your good luck lasts forever! ^o_~^

Your dinner was really colourful!



Hm... Plans for today... I need to wash dishes... I've been allowing them to get backed up, and since our dishwasher is crap, I have to hand wash them all. This is probably the reason why I let them get backed up because I dread hand washing dishes. In reality, the act itself isn't so bad. It's the aftereffects that get me like the eczema swarming my knuckles. ._.

Other than that, I really don't have anything I need to do, so I'll probably just work on my Caligo character and maybe watch some more Smallville. I only have three episodes left of the second season, and my love owns all the seasons ((except for maybe this latest one, the series finale)), so I can watch them.

I have to admit that I'm still more of a Batman fan than Superman.

[Gadreille]

I've never cared for Superman either, Kathryn. That sucks about the dishwasher; I grew up without one and still find myself washing my dishes by hand anyway. Your skin issue just adds to crappy chore though. I wonder if there is another soap that might be less harsh on your hands?

This morning I slept in until 9:30, and I almost can't believe it. Unfortunately, I missed the usual opportune moment for potty time this morning, so potty training has not gone so well today. I'm eating coffeecake with coffee (those of you who drink coffee would scoff at my drink: decaffeinated coffee almost half lactose free milk and a load of sugar, lol) and just trying to relax a bit before I head over to my moms. Today I get to dig a big hole and bury my best friend. Or rather, her ashes. We've picked out music and I think we will light a few candles in her honor. I know it sounds silly, but how many relationships last 19 years? Even marriages don't make that much anymore.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Well, most soaps that are gentle on hands don't really disinfect very well, so I just apply a lot of lotion after I'm done.

I'm sorry you have to bury your best friend. If you're digging the hole, I'm going to assume this friend was a family pet and not a human? It doesn't make it any less sad and difficult.

Jonathan is still asleep, so I washed some dishes this morning, and I've been listening the Pandora Radio while playing online. I'll probably wake him up soon.

[Gadreille]

Yea, it's a pet. My cat, Spooky, I got when I was five years old, and I just lost her about a month ago. This will be my first experience digging a grave, but not my last. I've realized that we lose a lot of free grief counseling by removing ourselves from the funeral/memorial process...and I plan to dig as many as I am allowed to. It won't always be possible, since some of my family wishes to be buried in a cemetery and I doubt they let you dig there...but everyone else I love plans to be cremated, and if the ashes are to be buried I will be doing it. I don't know why it means so much to me, but it does.

Another odd fact...Silvone and I realized that if, due to some horrible circumstance, we were to lose Theoden, we would not want him cremated. There are some cultures where children are buried and adults cremated, and children have to go through a rite of passage to become adults. I have a feeling we are much the same way. I wonder what Theoden's rite of passage will be?

[Kathryn Lacey]

My mother was cremated after she donated her organs to science, but someone else still dug the grave. She was buried at a cemetery, though, so it makes sense that someone else would have done it. I've always hated digging graves. It doesn't do anything for me. I've had to bury two cats, and it's depressing, but everyone grieves in their own way. I'm glad that you have a way that works for you.

I'd never heard of that cultural practice, but it makes sense. I hope nothing every happens to Taeo until he's lived a good, long life and dies peacefully in his sleep.

[Gadreille]

Yes, I definitely want to be dead and gone before anything happens to him!

Everyone does grieve in their own way, which is why it is such a shame that most people don't really get to grieve in their own way. There is a standard set of rules and regulations that someone sets up and makes you follow (while you pay for it, of course). Then it gets even more crazy when your beliefs don't really coincide with those who are gone, and you are just sitting there jumping hoops for someone who isn't there. The funeral isn't for the person who is gone, it is for those that they left behind.

[Kathryn Lacey]

I agree with that a lot actually. I've suffered through a lot of loss in my life, and because of the social norms of both society and my family, I have always had to be strong even when I didn't want to be. I've pretty much had to close up my grief so no one else could see it until I didn't feel it quite so strongly. It's hard, but there really isn't much about that I can do.

All I know is that when I die, I want to have what organs are usable donated to people who can use them or if they can't be used by living people, I want them to go to science if they can be useful in study. I want the rest of my body to be cremated because it's cheaper than other kinds of processes, and I know that funerals can be extremely costly. Besides, I dislike the idea of the embalming process like... poisoning the earth and the whole concrete thing they do these days for graves bothers me, too.

After that, I don't really care what happens. That would be up to the people who I've left behind me.

[Silvan Arrow]

I don't really know why, but I've also thought a little bit about what I want to happen to my body after I die. Maybe it's because my grandmothers are getting older and my parents have started alluding to their eventual (I pray it's still years away) passage. I just don't see the need for being buried at a cemetery, personally. I would rather see that land be used for the living, as habitat for precious ecosystems or homes for people. I know some people want to be buried and it's a way for their loved ones to cope, and I totally respect that. But for me, it's not that important.

Kathryn, I'm like you in that I want my organs to go to people who can use them or be donated to science. I would then want the rest of my body cremated and either have the ashes scattered at sea, in honor of my passion for marine biology, or possibly something else that I've read about. Apparently there's some program/company that takes people's ashes and makes concrete pyramids out of them, and those concrete structures are used to make artificial reefs in the oceans for fish to live. Since my thesis work is on artificial reefs, I think that would be oddly fitting for a part of me to go back to the earth like that. My loved ones can hold memorial services and everything, but I want my physical remains to help as many people (or animals) as possible because I sure won't need them in heaven.

[Gadreille]

All I know is I want to be cremated; and that during the memorial service, there should be music. The rest is up to the people I leave behind.

I wish more services were like the one last night. My father and I dug the grave, we made a slideshow and played music (Pinback: Loro, Muse: Blackout, Audioslave: I am the Highway, Blind Melon: No Rain, 28 days later soundtrack: An Ending) we shared words on why we would miss Spooky (the cat of 19 years) and Licorice (a dog we lost several years ago and had yet to bury the ashes). The things my family said brought laughs and tears; the music held us in a moment of tranquility and the candles we lit held our hearts while we let go of what was essentially the last of our childhood. So much more was buried in that grave than I can express in words.

During the last song, I placed Spooky's ashes in the grave, I'd say it was near 3 feet deep. My brother put in Licorice's. Then we did a little bit of ritual, took a bite of poptart and crumbled the other part into the grave. Almost like a food offering, but we only did it cause that cat for some reason loved poptarts... Dad put in a beer to memorialize all the times barbecuing in the back with the dog, and little Taeo threw in a coin. Then my brother and I buried them, and we replanted two strawberry plants atop the grave. At this point, we had already put two candles in the ground to help light the grave (it was very dark). So when it was all done, I blew out the light of one, my dad smothered the other, and we all walked inside. It was wonderful, and terrible, but I hope when I go, mine has as much love as this one did.

This morning I wait for Theoden to wake up, and I wonder if Sadie (our current dog) is going to be his childhood pet, or if that being is yet to come, and I wonder at the beauty of jumping into love over and over again knowing that in the end, someone will hurt very badly. It's a beautiful, brave thing, loving something so tremendously.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Silvan, personally, I started thinking about it when I had a high school friend die, but once my brother went, I really started thinking harder about it.

Holy crap! That artificial reef thing sounds sooooo cool! The concrete doesn't deteriorate or anything, and it doesn't hurt the fish, right? That's really neat! I'm a little worried something like that would be a bit expensive, though, so I'm not sure if I'll jump on that bandwagon of awesome just yet.

Ryona, I agree that music is an important thing in any gathering, whether it be one of celebration or one of mourning.

That sounds like a wonderful service you guys held for Licorice and for Spooky. I would hope to have as much love in my service as that, too.

I agree about the bravery of allowing oneself to love over and over again. There's always a risk that it will inevitably lead to pain, but there wasn't that risk, we would probably take the love we feel for granted because we wouldn't have anything to ground us.


Today, I really don't have any plans. I was going to take pictures in the tall grass because Jonathan wants to finish mowing our backyard today, but I really don't feel like risking the inevitable itchiness that is sure to follow despite the possibility of awesome photographs. Meh...

[Silvan Arrow]

Kathryn, I'm glad you like that idea! As someone who studies artificial reefs and has gone through literally dozens of scientific papers on the subject, I can assure you that they are perfectly safe for the fish. Artificial reef programs can use anything from old railroad cars to gutted military vehicles to old tires to concrete rubble, and they're all properly cleaned beforehand. Studies have shown that concrete pyramids like the ones mentioned above tend to last the longest and are the most structurally sound. Their main purpose is to provide substrate that'll get covered with invertebrates like corals and sponges, which will in turn provide food and habitat for fish. By the time the concrete is covered with invertebrates, you can hardly tell it's an artificial reef, and the fish sure don't know the difference.

Let's see...this morning I woke up freaking exhausted because my insomnia has been plaguing me the past couple of nights. It took me a long time to fall asleep Friday and Saturday night even though I was really tired, and last night I finally had to use my meds to put me out after three near-successes at falling asleep. I've still got three days of antibiotics left for my strep, and I'm worried that I'm not getting my strength back as quickly as I should. Hopefully it's just from the insomnia. The last thing I want is to relapse after I finish the antibiotics and have to miss my first research cruise next week. I'm wondering if maybe I'm just vitamin-deficient? Does anyone know if that can make you tired?

[Kathryn Lacey]

Certain vitamin deficiencies can make you tired.

I know I've probably already mentioned this a million times, but I always take one Calcium pill ((about 500mg)) with added Vitamin D about an hour or two before I go to bed, and it really helps me sleep. Before I learned that calcium can help a person sleep, I took hard core sleeping pills, and I became addicted to them. The calcium helped me kick that habit.

Maybe you could try it? It maybe not help for a couple of days, but after that, you should be fine.

[Gadreille]

Antibiotics kick your butt, no matter what the sickness is. They also make you more likely to produce a bug mutation that is immune to antibiotics...so I try to take them as rarely as possible. Just keep resting, Silvan. In a couple of weeks you will bounce back. In the meantime, conserve your energy for your big research cruise!

Kathryn, do you have songs that you want played? I have thought of a few, but I guess in the end it's up to the people burying/scattering me

[Kathryn Lacey]

No. I really haven't thought about that much. I just know I want music. I don't want to like... force music people don't like onto them just because it was my dying wish, though. I'd rather allow them the freedom to choose what they feel best represents their feelings because the service will be for them, not for me.

[Fate Flyer]

Good morning.

We had probably the worst thunderstorms I've ever seen in my life last night, and apparently they're going to last all through the day today too: http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Coal+Valley+IL+61240

Axiom and I woke up to continuous lightning, which was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. I've never seen lightening going off repeatedly for such a long time. It was just flickering every second, and it kept that up for hours. I didn't even know lightening could do that. It looked like the end of the world outside. For anyone else living in the midwest, I'm sure you experienced something similar. And now they're saying there's a tornado threat rising today.

Seriously, when are we ever going to just have one week of nice weather? I'm still waiting on it. My guess is never, at least not in this part of the country.

[Kathryn Lacey]

That really sucks, and while it may have been a bit scary, I'm sure it was beautiful. In Arizona, during monsoon season, there are the most beautiful lightning storms ever!

[Fate Flyer]

We actually couldn't see anything, at least not outside the window, since there was so much rain. It looked more like a horror movie than anything lol. Arizona storms sound beautiful.

[Fate Flyer]

Good morning, FoG.

I'm really confused right now... I woke up a few hours ago and have been cleaning the condo since then, and just now, the alarm in my bedroom started going off. It went off a couple of times and then stopped. I thought there was a fire in the building, but now it's silent, and I don't see anyone out in the halls or anything. I'm not sure what to do, but I haven't showered yet and have been cleaning in my PJs, so I really don't want to have to gather my things and run outside. Stop burning the place down, people!



I need coffee.

[Silvan Arrow]

Uh-oh, I hope everything is okay, Fate! Maybe the alarm is just a little glitchy? Sometimes mine goes off when I'm cooking and something boils over, but I don't think that's why it would go off in your bedroom. Hmmmm...puzzling...

I technically have one more minute of morning, so I'm going to post! I went out with my boss/committee member and the dive officer to retrieve an artificial reef buoy that had drifted away from its proper location. We hooked up the boat to the truck and drove in and out of heavy rain to the boat landing on the river. It wasn't thundering, so we went ahead and launched. Luckily, it didn't take long to find and retrieve the buoy, and we caught a few breaks in the rain while returning to shore and hooking everything back up. Then it was back to home base, where the rookie (aka me) got the fun job of rinsing down the truck and boat while it was still raining. Oh joy...

Ah, being all showered and warm feels amazing right now. And I'm STILL itching to get back offshore and go diving on my sampling sites!

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