Tag Archives: pets

Personal Blog

There sailed 3 boats from the harbor…

Last weekend of winter term, one more official day of class, and I am totally beat. I’m having trouble getting motivated this weekend, as there is much to do before it is through.

I’d like to go in today and do some work on Yellow Boat–mainly painting and touch-ups and small bits of work–but the thought of going in on a weekend to work is terribly exhausting for some reason. I’ll have lunch and then muster up the motivation to go in.

In addition, I must clean clean clean for winter break, as well as pack for my trip to see Carleton. There are other things, like filling out and sending in my registration for SETC and cleaning my fishtank (oh, did I mention I have a fish now? Well I do ^_^ ) which need to happen soon as well.

In other news, downstairs in the prop room yesterday and I found ANOTHER abandoned and forgotten Christmas cactus. It was in pretty much the same shape as the last one, so hopefully I can revive it (I’m considering making a sign for props storage that says “NO LIVE PLANTS!!”)

Personal Blog

Weekend

Well, that weekend was productive. I managed to get started on my work for this week, plus got in the studio and made some good progress, had a fine and tasty cookout on Friday night, plus found kitten a new home! Saturday was a particularly nice recovery day, as I’d stayed on the phone up until the wee hours the night before, so slept till 1:30, did some cleaning, and then took a long nap until 5:30 or so (in preparation for staying up and talking on the phone until the wee hours again ^_^). I suppose I needed the sleep, though, and Sunday was quite productive in terms of my workload.

As I am planning to go home this coming weekend–for a Kempo clinic and my brother’s birthday–I’m going to try very hard to motivate myself and get as much work done this week as possible. Knocking out a weekend will do a serious blow to the amount of time I use to do work. Plus, if Jeff’s shaky plot for fall break ends up happening, I would like to go home the next weekend as well, to spend time with Brendan, Dave, Ken () and whomever else (though, that is homecoming, it may cause conflicts because I want to see my brother also). So, two weekends in a row with no work would be quite rough.

However, I shouldn’t be counting any chickens just yet. Must talk to Jeff today, must not count chickens…

Personal Blog

Another year, another kitten

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Following the great Rodes 2 temporary kennel tradition, I’ve taken on an abandoned kitten until we find it a good home. Cute little thing, very snuggly and playful, but I am in no state to be raising a kitten, so I’m searching for some new parents for it (any takers? Kitten, anyone?)

Ugh, this week has been quite overwhelming, with lots going on at once. Yesterday seemed to be the culmination of it, what with working the first road show (Cats) of the year and still trying to get my program for OS done. I was up until 2:30 or so, as the program was due at 3 in the morning, and I did not get it to work properly. It’s quite frustrating, because it was a fairly simple program, and I could have written it in Java with my eyes closed. But, learning C and programming in it at the same time proved to be quite tricky for me in this case (I wasn’t the only one in that boat, though, which is slightly reassuring).

By the time I got home last night I was exhausted, both from unsuccessful coding and the load-out. Perhaps it was just because it was the first road show of the year, but my hands are torn to pieces. My achilles tendon was not happy with me last night, and frequently piped up to remind me that it still had tendonitis. Consequently, my sleep last night was not terribly restful.

I called in to work today. Anne (the slide library curator) is always very understanding of me and working road shows, and had no problem with it. I thought about using the extra time to jump right in and work on finishing my other program for Compilers, but I decided that I could use some refreshing, and that it would ultimately do me more good.

So, I slept an extra hour, tidied up around the apartment, showered, and cooked myself an omelette. I have many emails to respond to, so I may spend the rest of the morning doing that. However, it is more likely that I will nap some more before my 12:40 class, and just generally get some more rest.

(and to think, my glass slots haven’t even started up yet. Next week’s going to start to get busy x_x)

Personal Blog

Hello Moon

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The Matrix Reloaded has become a new and easy way to pick out exactly who speaks French among a group of people gathered in a movie theater.

I watched the eclipse tonight, it was nice and clear (save a few wandering clouds), and it was fun to rouse up others in the vicinity to go and watch. It started out as a large group of students and professors lounging on the side of the road to watch. As the eclipse lingered in totality for a bit, people wandered back in to study for their respective exams, or get sleep or some such.

I chilled out a bit longer outside, watching the moon with Sheldon’s cat, and took Inky’s departure to go do kittie night time things as a signal to head on in. By in, of course, I mean Rodes. Brendan, D Flo, and Alison left long ago to do a scene rehearsal, and have not been back. I fear Grant has eaten them. I hope they got to see the eclipse also.

Discrete Math exam tomorrow, then I’m clear until Monday. Although I feared the speed with which the year was ending, I forgot how everything seems to sloooooooooow down during finals week. It’s a good thing.

Games and Game Development, Personal Blog

End-o-Break

Tomorrow I pack up to go home for the remainder of my break. I had a good time overall, though people were a lot busier than I had anticipated. Still, time with friends with no pressure is always nice. I hung out with Eric quite a bit, which was fun, since I’ve never really hung out with him much before. The same with Jeff, and we had dinner, woo!

Tonight, Brendan and Ken surprised me with a birthday cake and present. D Flo and Eric were there, and we had a nice little birthday extravaganza. Berea and little Sylvie came to visit (though Sylvie is much bigger now). And we rounded up the evening with some Halo and other games.

I was stomping in Halo on this particular night, so much so that some good-natured insults were exchanged, and I ended up attacking Flora. He used the opportunity to start a new game while my controller was out of reach, intending to blast me while I lay helpless. However, through some trick of fate (which D Flo blames on me being an apparent voodoo practitioner), he rolled onto my controller, and my character ended up wasting him for the first kill of the game. Muahaha!

‘Twas a very restful break, and I intend to use my time at home to prepare for the busy term ahead. I need to work on my resume for SETC, and an essay to apply for a scholarship for a glass class at Corning this summer. I’m also kitten-sitting for my brother this weekend (and I intend to take photos).

Personal Blog

Meow!

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No Christmas tree is too tough for our little Choppi!

It’s actually a vivid reminder of when we first found her, we had to brave the treacherous branches of a huge evergreen bush outside the dining hall to reach her.

Personal Blog

Christmas

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Thank you all for the kind words about Max, it really did mean a lot to me. I think I’ll be okay, though going home for Christmas will be a bit tough, I have to look after Vivi now (he loved Max so much, poor thing).

In the meantime, there is some good news. For Christmas, my group of friends did a Secret Santa gift exchange. Brendan drew my name, and look what he got me!!

https://www.wertle.com

Isn’t that awesome?? Of course, it just points to my other website right now, but now that I have a domain name, it means I’m going to have to get on the ball and make a decent site. Maybe that can be my Christmas break project.

Anyway, finals week ahead, wish me luck! And thanks again for the kind thoughts.

Personal Blog

…

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Last Friday night, when I was at home for break, my old cat, Max, climbed up into my bed to sit with me for awhile. It was no unusual thing, but he hadn’t done it all break until then, so I sat and enjoyed a quiet, intimate moment with my cat, whom I’ve had since the 4th grade or so.

It was the next morning when he started to get sick. It was sudden, unexpected, and very very bad. We tended to him all day, wondering if perhaps it was a day bug as he has had once before in the past, and on Sunday he’s looking *slightly* better. However, it was still an unsettling goodbye for me when I went back to school, he barely responded to my hand.

Back at school and full of school worries, and it lifts me a bit when my dad calls to say he’s taken Max to the vet, and that he seems to be doing much better. I smile, I suppose it was just a bug.

Until yesterday. I got the message on my phone to call my dad “if it wasn’t too late” around midnight, but those deeper senses urged me to call anyway. Max didn’t get better afterall.

Losing a pet is always a cold, wrenching experience for me, especially when I’m trapped far from home when it happens. I wish I could have been there to comfort him, or at least to say goodbye. But maybe it was Max that was saying goodbye to me last week.

I am cold now and lonely, and the tasks of the week seem to be breaking my body down again. I suppose I am sick or pushing myself too hard, but I think I just miss my friend.

Personal Blog

Home again

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The first night of returning home for a break seems to have become grounded in routine, ritual almost.

Upon arriving, I first spend some time greeting my cats, who I miss terribly and who are always happy to see me.

I then proceed to gorge myself on buffalo wings (oohhh, if only Danville were to build a BW3, my life would be complete), and then take a nice loooooong bath and patiently digest. This is usually accompanied by plucking up a book I’ve read a thousand times or so, but still enjoy for the sheer fact that it’s been so long since I had the opportunity or time to read for leisure.

Bedtime seems to always come around 10:00 that first night, as the previous few months rush to catch up with me in a matter of hours.

It is difficult, especially on short breaks, to re-accustom myself to resting. Every 7-15 minutes of every day, I mentally scan my schedule for the day ahead. I suppose it’s conditioning from a busy college schedule, and a way of keeping on top of everything that needs to be finished between the time I wake up and the time I crash to sleep. On break, it is even more difficult to convince myself that there really is *nothing* that needs to be done, and sometimes I have give myself filler tasks to satiate the need to plan (*ping* er..um…do laundry, update journal).

I need this break, I need to rest and let my body and mind knit themselves back into a functioning unit, but I have such a HARD TIME RELAXING! Sometimes I feel like I’m working as hard to chill out as when I’m busy, and I suppose that defeats the purpose.

Anyway, I must be off, I have to hurry up and rest! ^_^

Personal Blog

Dawwwww….

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They grow up so fast! *sniff*

https://www.wertle.com/gallery/d/665-1/choppi.jpg

According to my brother, little Choppi is doing very well. She likes to run and slide on the wooden floors, and enjoys walking on the piano keys (to which D Flo exclaimed proudly “we taught her that!” when I told him).

She goes to the vet today, I wonder if my brother will put Chopin-Matisse down as her name?