otpid/web huggingface dataset:
The lesson of the day from here at DINKs Finance is to plan in extra time for your travel.  My flight this afternoon was delayed due to "light rain" in Chicago, thereby missing my connection to London - where I was supposed to spend the day in London with a friend.  In the end I was able to get on a flight 7.5 hrs later - note that my new flight now has further delays listed, so who knows.  In my world of travel, an eight hour delay isn't the end of the world - especially since I was in the lovely city of Portland and was able to jump on the MAX and have dinner with my twin sis and her family.   However , this could have easily had grave consequences had I not budgeted in extra time.  See the thing is, as an expat working and living outside the states - I'm limited to the number of days I can be in the states and still be exempt and the first $70,000 of my income.  With the delay in flight, this means that I'll have one more day marked in the states, so it is ultra helpful that I've built in a cushion for travel delays.  A lapse in being in the states for longer the the given period could have cost us DINKs approximately $7k in our 2007 taxes, not to mention our 2008 taxes!  While I realize that most of our readers don't have to worry about tax exempt status while working outside the states, it does pay in general to give yourself some flexibility with travel.  Otherwise it can not only be sorely disappointing, but often expensive as well.  Leaving the states the last time around I faced delays in London with a group of folks who missed their flight to Delhi.  Two of them missed their own weddings from the delay!  Plus, with the way flights are scheduled these days, you might likely be able to get your plane ticket paid for if you are willing to get bumped!  Better to plan ahead and give yourself more time.  You'll travel easier.  Just make sure you bring snacks to the airport.  Cheers,  Miel
So, unfortunately I couldn’t make the Gamesindustry.biz party tonight for two reasons.  The first was that my phone finally strained out its last ounce of functionality from the…let’s not extend that metaphor…from its battery.  The second was that it takes a really quite unbelievably long time to travel from Brighton to Oxford on trains in the evening; just to give you some idea, it involves visiting Gatwick  even though you’re not getting a plane .
We were just gifted with an evening sky such as I have never seen here in Texas.  It was reminiscent of the Northern Lights in Minnesota.  It is the eve of the Solar Eclipse, so I would imagine that has something to do with it.  That event probably also explains the dream I had last night...dream....no, not really...experience or journey is more like it.  At any rate,  little Earth Mother here has felt slightly "off" for a couple of days starting the day of the recent earthquake in California.  Today I'm feeling better, more centered and grounded.
So... I am down to 1.5 days to finish packing my house, which doesn't really leave time for blogging.  But there's big stuff going on, so I really need to blog.  I'm falling for this guy. Pretty hard.  Of course I'd meet someone in the Poconos NOW. *eye roll*  A few quick stories...  So, before I left for San Francisco, he and I went for a picnic. A couple of my students helped me make chicken sandwiches with roasted tomatoes and brie, a Caesar salad, and sugar cookies. I also made a rum dip for fresh cherries and picked up a cube of Bulgarian feta and a bottle of wine.  I have to say... I was pretty impressed with my own idea and execution. After the picnic, I challenged him to see who could catch a lightning bug the fastest (he won), and after the mosquitoes started devouring me, we went for a walk. We circled around and stood by our cars, trying to decide what else to do. As we stood there, he said, "I'm just going to take a stab at this. I'd really like to kiss you."  "You would?" I said.  And you'll never guess what happens next.  After that, we decided to walk some more. We're both decidedly low on funds right now, so free entertainment is excellent.  And then I went to San Francisco and had panic attacks about never hearing from him again.   Silly, silly me.  We talked the entire way home from my parents' house. For me, that's a ridiculously long phone conversation, but the time flew by.  Then, yesterday afternoon, he came over to help me pack. And he did a lot of packing! ...all of my china, the rest of my books... I don't even know what else. We finally got hungry and raided the freezer. We decided to make chicken spiedie sandwiches - and he ended up cutting up the meat and onions, marinading it, and grilling it.  Sweet. The boy comes over to help me pack and even cooks!  After dinner, we decided to hang out on the couch and watch Fawlty Towers (a British comedy starring John Cleese). He laughed just about as much as I did, which is an excellent sign. Seems that we share a sense of humor.  And then the chemistry really kicked in.  I so like this guy. It's so easy to be around him - to be myself around him. It's fun and comfortable and exciting - all at once.   Like I said - falling. Hard.  Luckily, I know we're on the same page with that.  Not so luckily, I move in two days. We're both like, "Crap!" over that one. We talked about it last night - the "so, now what?" conversation. I think we agreed that we want to see where things go, that Philly is not that far, but that we also don't know where he'll end up for a job. We realize that our connection is a rare thing, and I think we'd both consider the long-distance thing if his job takes him out of Pennsylvania, although that's a rather dreadful way to start out a relationship.  And he'll be coming down the shore with me, at least for a few days, so we'll get a mini-vacation together.   I feel lucky. He is hot and smart and funny and fun and thoughtful and both brushes back my hair and grabs it to kiss me.   When he's not here, I miss him, which is a bit odd considering I've only known him for a week and a half.   But yeah. I like the boy. He's a keeper.
We are in the hospital for another 4 day stint.  This time, we are in a "corner" room.  Walking the halls, I had seen these rooms, or at least the outside door of one.  What was inside? I wondered.  A larger room?  A better layout?   I was curious (I am eternally curious and hope that the thing about curiosity and the cat is just hyperbole), but never once did I actively wish to be in one of these mysterious rooms.  I was too afraid that they were reserved for the dire cases, the ones who ... well, you know.  Well.  What I thought was the door to the room is actually a door to a kind of closet/storage thing that the nurses go into many times a day to get supplies.  You go in, and then there's another door, and that leads into our room.  So ... I now have twice as many doors to navigate through with a 3 year old and an iv pole.  Clock on the wall ... 5 hours fast.  Trash can that is inside a cabinet -- normally, it rolls, and has a big handle in front, so that you can pull it out, step on a pedal, and it opens.  Sanitary.  No wheels.  No handle.  Must open it the 1 inch it will raise while under the cabinet, grab the side and scrape/drag it out of the cabinet.  Not sanitary.  I know, wah, wah.  Whine, whine.   Bathroom.  Layout is different, so that the toilet is on the back wall, rather than by the door.  In order to take LW in to use the bathroom (which is approx every half hour, because they flush her kidneys with fluid the whole time we're here), I must unplug her iv pole from the wall, put a neutral plug in her monitor input plug so alarms don't sound, pull it around the bathroom door, open the bathroom door, lift it over the doorway, get her clothes down and her on the toilet (actually, over the "hat" in toilet, because they measure her output), get her off the toilet, clothes back up, "walk to the bed, LW!", lift the iv over the doorway threshold, lift her back onto the bed, plug everything back in.  Round about that time, she needs to go again.  Just kidding.  Barely.  Right now, it's just annoying, all the plugging and lifting of Mr. IV pole.  But I'm willing to bet at 2:30 in the morning ...  So, my point and I do have one, is that sometimes, the magic corner room is actually the overflow room, the one they use when everything else is full up, the one where broken equipment goes and bad layout lives.  I imagine there's a moral in that, but I'll have to think about it later.  Right now, LW needs to pee.
I just celebrated my 29th birthday.  I’ve celebrated my 29th birthday for 24 consecutive year, so I have it down to a fine art.   In honor of my special day, my two liberal daughters sent me birthday greetings, and birthday gifts via the Obama campaign. These are the pins that they sent me.  I’m so proud of my daughters.  They are special girls, and I always knew that they were destined to follow in my Democratic footsteps.       I’ll never forget a report that I received from oldest daughter’s teacher during a parent-teacher conference back in 1989.  That was the year that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former President of the Soviet Union, allowed the destruction of the Berlin Wall.  My oldest daughter and I had watched the wall come down on TV, and I told her that we were witnessing a great day in world history. A couple of days later, my daughter’s teacher asked her class to name a famous person that they would like to meet.   My daughter announced that she wanted to meet Mikhail Gorbachev because he was the great world leader who let people tear down the Berlin Wall.  The teacher replied by asking my daughter if she would like to meet President Reagan.  My daughter wrinkled up her nose and said, "Eewww, he's a Republican."      God bless liberal children.  Obama 08.
Thank you to everyone for the comments about Ruth.  She was so bright and funny that even in my sadness I find myself chuckling at the memories.  Cecilia set up a Ruth Schooley Memorial at the Heifer Project (the goal is lots of sheep named Betty Ruth), and she's looking into starting a scholarship fund for SOAR.  Information about the funds and memorial service and the spin-in down at Claremont is over on SheepThrills, FiberUniverse, and Ravelry.
Our trip to Massachusetts is fully underway. Our big first major event was a flat on the trailer. I am so glad that we had the right tools and a spare. We went and bought 3 new tires at a tire place just down the road. Although we were delayed about an hour, we managed to get to Kansas City by 8 o'clock.  Here are a couple of pictures that we took.  Kansas City just before we drove through it.       Amazing how quickly it became dark when we arrived.      Finally, after many hours of driving we were able to sit down and eat.      Pretty tight quarters, but it is home.  See ya tomorrow from Abe's childhood home.
I received my parts extremely fast and in better condition than i had hope to. I purchased front and rear pair of caliper brackets from Jamie last tuesday, via a money order thru the us post office. I spoke with jamie over the phone got some great tune tips and other ideas about my car for free. then I called Monday 7/28/08 to ensure that they got my payment ok. was told yes and that the parts will be shipped the next morning. :cool:   fast forward to 7/31/08 and i have a special package from jamie and his brother!:eek:  my calipers with a nice note stating that all of the guides had been cleaned and relubed. bolts look new, and to top it off...he painted the brackets black for me!!!:eek: :D  Man i have dealt with the great sellers on this site and have always had better than expected results, but this was so much more than i expected! jamie thank you! :) :)
I’ve been insanely busy as of late working on some serious technical issues @ the Library. Though it took some doing I am glad to report that full power has been restored to The Dumbass Public Library. This is a good thing too since July and August are our busiest months. In fact, tomorrow I run the statistics for July and I am very much looking forward to seeing just how much ass we kicked… Because I know that we kicked some serious ass.   In the mean time, there are two things that I want to share with you. First, Space Ace lost his communicator/cell phone. This would be a bad thing for the safety of Earth but luckily we found it and we were able to return the phone when he came looking for it. Curiously there was a miniature “phone” along with his phone. When he picked it up he asked me if I wanted a butane lighter? I told him that I had no use for it, then he went into how it works great and how it can even clip onto a lapel. Then he mumbled something about Zippos and a “rough rider.” Only Space Ace know for sure what he was blathering about.
Yesterday before my run I wasn't sure of what to listen on my iPod while running, so I decided to put it on shuffle, 'What's the worst that can happen?' I thought. After all, I use the iPod mostly for running, so almost everything there I like to listen to while I run... So I start the run and the first song that comes up is Extreme Ways from Moby, good, I like to run to this song, things are going well with the shuffle experiment so far!   After this, it seemed like the iPod wanted to play a little joke on me, so it decided to start playing EVERY SINGLE SONG that I don't have there for running, it decided to pick on all the ballads I have on it, all the extremely slow-not-for-running songs!! How Irritating!!! So I spent the next 45 mins skipping songs, because to change a playlist on with the nike+ you have to stop the workout, which either means you have to stop running, or you keep running while doing it but it stops recording data, and I didn't feel like doing either. This is one feature of the nike+ that I really  don't like  HATE!, why couldn't they make it so that you can change playlists without stopping the work out???
I’ve been a classic Type A person for years - in fact, my picture may be next to the definition in the dictionary.  Structured, scheduled, not at all spontaneous - that was me.  So I had no designs on changing these personality traits on a dime.  Even though I’ve graduated to Life 2.0 I still keep a calendar on Outlook and link it to my iPhone but that’s because I still have important engagements - gym classes, lunches with friends, board meetings, Rotary gigs- just to name a few.  And I have to keep track of hubby too - not an easy task!   BUT - I find I am living life with much less of an agenda than I had a couple of months ago.  Case in point - today I had to go to Weight Watchers (down .8 pounds thank you - not phenomenal but at least in the right direction) but when I got delayed with a phone call, it was no big deal - I just showed up late and nothing happened.
I just realized that I spent three hours in my car today and never left town.  Dropping off kids at three different places and then driving to work takes an hour.  And then, after work, picking up kids at three different places, dropping one kid off at Cub Scout Day Camp, and registering two boys for soccer at the absolute last possible moment (I signed my check two minutes before the office closed), it all added up to very nearly three hours.  I do not love driving around town, especially on a tight schedule. My town is full of train tracks and unsynchronized traffic lights and summer construction. My kids are loud and inquisitive. It stresses me out.  No wonder I come home with my stomach in knots.  I prescribed myself some chocolate pudding.
So just so you don't all think I'm heinous...the wedding last week was lovely.  And while I wish I could've stayed for the dancing and the cake and the after party, really I was just glad to see such old friends so happy.  What was a crushing disappointment, was the fact that when we left the wedding at 10:30, stuffed with mediocre food, we were in no mood to hit up a nearby  White Castle .  And maybe it's my Jersey showing, but there is no better drinking food in the world.    It brings me back to getting and splitting a giant bag of wee square burgers with my family as a kid.  Indeed, White Castle was even where I had my second "car accident" if you could even call it that.  I was 18, back for my summer after freshman year of college.  My mother and siblings were in Italy, so it was just me and Dad.  I went to a girlfriend's party and since I was maybe the best kid in the world, I didn't drink at all as I knew I was driving.  I promised to drive my friend Jeff, who just graduated from high school, home. He begged and pleaded to go to the Castle for a snack.  I was a vegetarian at the time, so they certainly were not for me.    We go through the drive through and after grabbing the bag I managed to drop my wallet (inside the car) alongside the door and the seat.  I reached down to grab it and BUMP went over the curb.  Naturally I panicked, hit the gas, and went right over a "DO NOT PARK HERE" sign.  This trip over the curb and sign from the drive through window was all of five feet mind you.  Of course, the sign lay on the floor but there was something under my car.  Stuck.  Dragging.  So I pull over in the lot and lo and behold: A Bike!  A thoroughly stuck bike.  So, being quite chivalrous, Jeff comes out to try and pull out the bike.    He squatted like a frog and pulled and pulled.  His face was red with concentration and wet from the humidity.  Jeff, so you know is all of 5'9" and at the time probably weighed a cool 140 pounds.    Quite the visual.  (Miss that kid, hilariously now a state trooper, HA!)  Of course some little older guy (40? 50?) comes out and it turns out I just destroyed his bike.    Finally two much larger individuals (bikers! yay!) managed to fanagle the bike from under my car and I drove away home promising the bike owner that I would replace it.    I drop Jeff home, go home myself and notice the smell of gas.  My father, a mechanic, was asleep being that it was 2 in the morning.  So I go up to his bed and whisper, "Hey Dad, ran over a bike, uh, my gas is leaking.  G'night! BYE!"   Um, perhaps not my finest.  But I tell you, whenever I drive on Route 22 or see a White Castle, I'll be damned if the picture of some terminally geeky, skinny high school grad trying with all his might to pull a mangled bike from out of '92 Dodge Shadow's gas tank doesn't pop into my head every time.
It's been 7 years since I have taken one of those Test.  I think the first one I took was  Windows 3.1  It has to be around 1993 or 1994.  Over the years I took somewhere in the neighborhood of 37 or 38 of them. MCSE NT, NT 2000, etc.   During the last 7 years I really haven't had the time, or need to take one.  Well this week has been different to say the least.  Our team is in Seattle for an internal to Microsoft Technical training week long session called TechReady 7, Seven being the 7th one, they do them every 6 months.  I wish I could tell you more about what we are learning this week, but that just isn't allowed.  Our team had a study session at lunch on Tuesday to go try to pass the Windows Vista TS exam 070-620.  So I studied for 3 hours and went in and passed it. One of my co-workers Harold Wong (blogs.technet.com/haroldwong)  passed 6 test in that one day.  No longer do they have the MCSE for Windows Server 2008.  So it's now called MCITP. 5 test unless you take the upgrade, which I can't since I never took Windows 2003 test.    Yesterday I tried an exchange test. No luck there, but most people I have talked to haven't passed that one either. It's full of Powershell commands.  You have to know the correct syntax, go figure.        Today was a new Day. They had test prep training sessions in the morning for the 3 Windows Server 2008 core test for MCITP.   I went and took 70-640, 70-642, and 70-643.  I PASSED all three. So now I have passed 4 test in one week!!!!( Really about 48 hours)  So tomorrow I am going to try to go take the last one I need for MCITP 70-647, but they say the testing center will be full.  We will see if I can get finished tomorrow.    I also want to take the Office Communication Server exam, but we will see.  It's a great rush to take test again. It's been a fun week!         When was the last MCP test you took?  Do you have a lower MCP number than mine? Mine is 36079, they are assigned in order of when you pass your first exam.........  I am old school.
When I’m constantly thinking it's Friday and not Thursday, that’s not good.  I’m so busy from sunrise to sunset lately that I don’t know when I’ll ever come by to visit y’all!  Please forgive me?  Today I sat on an interview panel for a vacant management position at work.  The college interviews candidates marathon style - back-to-back appointments during a five-hour stretch.  We had a bathroom break.  Just one.  I’m spent.   It reminds me of the last time I participated on one.  We needed to hire a director and one of the candidates looked fantastic on paper and in person he was even better.  He mesmerized us throughout the interview and we were hands-down loving him.  Until…I don’t remember how or why, dogs came into the conversation.  He proudly announced, “I can do without dogs.”  With the same passion and enthusiasm he exuded during his visit, he went on to say he hated dogs.  For what reason?  Unknown.  Well, after a few glances at each other around the table, we knew right away he’d receive his walking papers.  In less than a minute, he blew it.      There are more hummingbirds arriving daily.  They're making my head spin!  May I inflict a few more hummingbird photos on you tonight?  I have a backlog of great ones but here are two…                  Last July, during the driest summer on record, I found a sickly butterfly bush for $5.00.  It was about two-feet round, had one solitary bloom, and maybe a dozen pale green leaves.  I’m so glad I nursed that bush back to life.                                  A young black rat snake napped in a corner of the front porch.  Chloe didn’t see it but Bella squealed with excitement.                    It slithered along the storm door...           Thirty minutes until bedtime (yawn).  Can’t wait…  If you are still with me and haven't dozed off, good night.