I am writing this to note the existence of this feeling and log when it happened.

I seem to be doing the food thing again. Last night I actually had to choose between a number of entire meals that I wanted enough to actually prepare. And I mean do some actual cooking-prepare, not throw frozen dinner in the microwave-prepare. Normally my choices are between things I am willing to consume.

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Thank you for the loan of Summer. You can have it back now. I am done with it.

I HATE this weather. It isn’t so bad outside (downtown SF) right now…in the shade. In the sun it is miserable. I am in a very summer dress and have to put on a jacket and scarf when inside. The hotter it is outside, the colder it is inside (winter is the opposite, that is when I can really wear my summer clothes).

Yesterday I started my yearly panic over the heat. I decided I needed to actually do something about it this time. I would like to get an air conditioning unit. But it drys out the air and I always think the air is too dry anyway. So I decided to go with an Evaporative Cooler (i.e. swamp cooler). 15 degrees is enough, right? Turns out that the only place that seems to carry them is Home Depot and they have had trouble with them. And 15 degrees isn’t going to cut it in Sept. And then there is the question of where do I put it? AC units and swamp coolers are big. My apt is small (and full). And this thing will be used something like 6-10 days out of the year. Arggggg

My thoughts at the moment are to get a swamp cooler for now and look into getting a window mounted ac unit in time for Aug/Sept. I want it to be near my bed as I can retreat to there on hot days but the window is right near my head. Not a good idea here in shaky California. I don’t even know if my windows can take an ac unit. I am looking into having it near my front door (not great for the lack of thief entry but it might be a possibility) and plan to sleep on my couch during the times when I need it. I could uninstall it when the season is over and store it, right?

I keep feeling I am being silly about all this. What is the big deal over a couple of days of heat. You suffer and then it is over. Then I think back over how I really feel during those times. And see how panicky I get when it looks like it might reach one of those times. My reactions illustrate to me that I am not being silly, just typically hyper-sensitive. The affect of the heat is not just when it is hot. It has spread from there.

A friend works at a company with cool people. She just sent me a copy of their job announcements. It is in the form of a wanted poster. She appreciates their sense of humor.

They are looking for geeks but unfortunately just a particular brand of geeks. Geologist types. terpsichoros, if you are looking for a job, you may be interested in this.

O&C (Offices and Cubicles) magic office supplies

After defeating the evil demons, Managerius Bureacratis and Timewasticus, and disarming their Poison-trapped Extradimensional FileCabinet, you find within it …

11. Striped Tie of Resist Management
10. Mouse of Negate Firewall
9. Large Potion of Replenish Toner
8. Blinking Hub of Brilliance
7. Rusty Wand of Postpone Deadline
6. Potion of Manager Detection
5. Amulet of Blame Reflection
4. Ring of Pager Control
3. Scroll of Create Intern
2. Coffee Cup of Holding
1. Wand of Project Cancellation

On the note of office-foo, there are little table top cards appearing in the kitchens at work pushing for employee referrals. Seems there is a lot of jobs that need to be filled at my company. The company is pretty good for a large financial company. Most of the jobs are finance-based so it may be pointless but there could be some goodies in there. If you have any trouble with the link, let me know. If you found a posting you like, have a resume, and want a referral, let me know.

http://www.barclaysglobal.com/about/careers/opportunities.jhtml

My job is pushing PowerPoint around like a desktop publishing program. We even might have an opening for that soon (a co-worker got promoted).

Does anyone have a spare phone (land-line) I could borrow for a few days-a week? I am having issues with static that comes and goes on my phone line. I have two phones that are relatively old (one is years older than the other). Both go into the same jack with a splitter. Both phones, plugged in together or separately, have similar issues with static. Normally I would assume the phones have reached the end of their life and just get a new phone but since both are having the same problem, it might be an issue with the jack. I would like to test it with a working phone.

Geeze people, where do you get the time?
We have all this LJ drama, deep posts, the 3 questions meme. I haven’t even been able to reply to comments on my post from Monday.

Admittedly, at work, we are in one of our four busiest times of the year, we are short staffed and two of the three people on my team (the fourth has his own project and is unavailable) are out for two days, leaving me in charge of Everything. Argggg. I don’t like playing responsible roommate. Whaaaa. I can do it. I will do it. But I don’t have to like it. I got use to slack time. (notice I did manage to keep up with what is going on LJ, I just don’t have the time to actively participate).

Today, I tried something new. I stayed off the internet until lunchtime. Boy, that was hard. It did make work a little more tolerable. Fewer distractions. Less “what am I missing, I’m so bored.” Even now, we have been cleared to go home and instead I am typing away on my LJ account. *snerk*

I just felt I had to post something. I have a bunch of things forming in my head as LJ posts and haven’t been able to get to them all week. They will probably just drain away. Even monday’s post I felt was a requirement for people’s education. I figured I would be getting hit over and over with the “all you all right?” if I didn’t post. I will admit, it feels weird not to get anybody checking in with me but since that was what I was aiming for, I should be happy with it.

Horoscope for Dec 18 2003:The coming year will be a favorable time to double your commitment to rowdy fun. I encourage you to attend more parties than usual and always be on the lookout for how you can energize social occasions with acts of joyous abandon. You’ll also be wise to infuse even your intimate encounters with boisterous amusements. Therefore, Scorpio, please consider doing more handstands on barstools in 2004. Try dancing on tabletops with only some of your clothes on, slurping right out of punch bowls, starting food fights, and knocking over lamps while spontaneously making love. If I were going to get you a symbolic holiday gift this year, it might be a chandelier, conveying to you my hope that you will bring back the lost art of swinging on chandeliers.

I have been doing this more often but the problem with swinging from the chandelier is sometimes you fall and crash. That happened this weekend.

details and instructions behind a cut tag because it gets long

Nicknames don’t stick to me. I am just so … Gina, it always seems to revert to just my name. I thought I wouldn’t have anything for this meme, then I realized I have quite a few nicknames over the years, they just don’t get used.

Gina – you are pretty much everybody that has ever known me
Shipofools999 – you probably know me through my online identity, email, LJ and such
The Gina – A few in LA use this to refer to me, mostly it is my web page and how I refer to myself
Geek Grrl – I am probably hanging with The Danger Twins
Bruce – then you are the Toaster
Jester – you are probably knew me as a member of the Black Fleet Pirate ship Dead Silence
Ms Palmer – you are a grocery clerk
Twicky, Toothpick, Spiderwoman, Hey Ugly, Stilts – then you are someone from high school which way too good of a memory and need to get a life
Geeeeena – you are Martin from Belgium/Atlanta, where is that present you promised me in 1988?
G-na – you are one of about three people on the tech theatre crew at CSU, I miss you
I have another one and if you call me that you knew me in elementary school and you will be shot the moment it leaves your mouth.

I get called Bruce and Ms Palmer every now and again. I don’t hear the others anymore.

The story behind The Gina

Until I was 28, I was the only Gina I knew (with one exception and a few Reginas). Then I moved to California and Ginas were all over the place. In Colorado, I was unique, the only one like me. Since I was so different, I built my identity on being Gina. Gina logic, Gina style, Gina things. No nickname would stick to me, I was always Gina.

In California, I was just a cloned all over the place. There are others with my name, others that look just like me, others with the same health issues that doctors can’t figure out. I was bemoaning my lack of uniqueness, someone told me I was The Gina (supposedly they have started a cult centered on me in LA and I have been labeled The Gina). I decided fine, if I can’t be the only Gina, I will be The Gina and stand for all Gina’s everywhere.

The funny thing is that I did not treat my younger brother well at all growing up. And he named his daughter Jenna. My mom and I laugh about it because we don’t think he really realized how close the names are.

I am looking for information. I realize asking two things in one post if I want responses on both isn’t the smartest thing but I am going to do it anyway.

Something I have been wondering for a little while is how my journal is perceived. Is it all light and fluff, more serious minded, impersonal, very limited, dry, all over the place? About the only defined quality I can figure is that for the most part it is low in Drama and I like it that way. I started wondering when I got to thinking the side most people see of me is the surface level stuff and not the philosophical stuff. Then I looked and realized I put some heavy stuff here. I have never kept a journal or exposed stuff like this to the wide world. What do others see?

The other request for info I have of all of you is related to my bio. I am faced with describing myself and I am at a loss. I can’t get past the 6ft tall female bit. I figure I am pretty distinct but I don’t know how to define me. What I am looking for is something that if you know me, you will recognize the description on all these online communities. I am looking for labels. How would you describe me?

I am cranky today. I have been cranky for days. It could be that time of the month, it could be because my neck seized up on Thursday, my back hurts and it has resulted in a sharp pain in my brain since then, it could be because I have to deal with fools, nothing goes right and I am doing mindless updates.

But, the cliche: Music Sooths the Savage Beast has some validity. I plugged into my iTunes and things are a little better. I was amazed.

I did the music meme awhile ago and I got mostly songs I was not in the mood to hear so I skipped it. This time, most of the songs were just right. Now, something to remember, soothing only lasts so long. It is wearing off and the selections are starting to bother me. Feh.

The Bottom Line – Big Audio Dynamite (OK)
Sweet F.A. – Love and Rockets (Good)
O Death – O Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack (OK)
I Move On – Chicago Soundtrack (Good)
JS Bach Partita #3 in E for solo Violin: Bourree – Vanessa Mae (Perfect)
Dalalai – Bond (Perfect)
The Garden – Heather Alexander (Skip, not at this time)
Sacred – Depeche Mode (Perfect)
Ballroom Blitz – Sweet (Perfect)
You Ain’t Much Fun – Toby Keith (OK)
Harry’s Hornpipes – Wicked Tinkers (ouch)
El Duende – Gaudete, Gaudete (Perfect)
Word Up – Cameo (Good)
That Road Not Taken – Joe Diffie (No, skip)
Belleville Rendez-Vous – Triplets of Belleville (Perfect)
Senses Working Overtime – XTC (Good)
Voices Of The Sea – Heather Alexander (OK)
The Cowboy Song – Garth Books (Not now)
The Flower Gleams – Music of Hildegard von Bingen (OK)
Before You Kill Us All – Randy Travis (OK)

I think I need to stick to the classical-ish stuff and stay away from the Country and Filk.