Dee's Life

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Journal :: June 2004

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01.06.2004 (tue)

Today was a bit frustrating. I had one thing I wanted to finish today and it kept being interrupted by a lot of other annoying little things I had to take care of instead.

By the end of the day I was feeling really grumpy, so it was a good thing to go out for a bit. Pedro wanted to buy some pants, which was a welcome change. He's been wearing nearly the same kind of clothes since I've met him, 15 years ago. 501s and a t-shirt with some cartoon, record cover or movie poster printed on the front. And the t-shirts are usually too big for him which doesn't help. And going clothes shopping with him can go from impossible to just get the first thing and get out. So it was a nice change to see him look for different models, trying them on, buying t-shirts that are actually fitted and so on.

He also bought a wallet and had such a hard time deciding that the woman was laughing when she said he needed the receipt to exchange it. Like he was going to get home and decide he liked another one better after all :)
But, like I said, it's a welcome change, not a complaint :)

When we got home he helped me out with on the the things I hadn't managed to fix during the day and then collapsed in bed once more.

02.06.2004 (wed)

I love my new earplugs - I can finally sleep until 9AM without feeling a murderous rage coming on! It really works.

The day started with phone calls from a client and then I updated the company website.
I have to do the new stamp because our address has changed and haven't been able to get around to it yet. I was hoping to find the old one so that all I had to do was change it, but it seems I will have to do it from scratch after all.

One of the pending problems that have been bugging me for the last month seems to require yet another useless meeting. It better be the last one because I'm seriously losing my patience. There's nothing I hate more than people too full of themselves to see they're being stupid and rude and I don't have to work for them for free.

And hopefully I'll have another meeting next week, but this one to try and get a new client. I need to start a new project soon and forget about the annoying stuff for a while.

I took a tour through the forums but everyone is packing up to go to a con in NY so there isn't much activity. Damn! I could use some news or pictures to cheer up my day :P
But I guess there will be plenty after the weekend.

Now I have to get ready to go shopping again - Emergency cat litter supplies. Well, at least the car battery has no reason to die if we keep using it everyday - at least that's my hope.

We did our shopping quite quickly and then went to the beach for five minutes, just in time for the sunset.

Then we came home and watched a bit of The Italian Job (the remake, that is). I don't particularly like Mark Wahlberg but I like most of the other actors - from Donald Sutherland who I don't see enough movies with (the first one I remember was the Body Snatchers. It left its mark.) but unfortunately dies too soon, to Jason Statham, who may not be the greatest actor but is always funny and has a great voice, to Seth Green that I've loved since his character of Oz on Buffy, who's also very funny in this film. I watched about an hour of it. So far it's more entertaining than I had expected, which is a good thing. But eventually we got sleepy and went to bed.

We only have about an hour to watch something on tv lately. Pedro gets home late and has to be up by 7 so there isn't a lot of free time. To be able to do anything at all after work seems to be the real challenge these days.

03.06.2004 (thu)

I made a final version of the stamps and around 3PM I went out to the shop to get them done. It's bit far - about 30 minutes away - so I had planned to take a bus. But then I changed my mind and walked. I'm stuck at home all the time, sitting in front of the screen and not getting any exercise. I keep feeling bad about gaining weight but the truth is that I should be congratulating myself on having so far been able to avoid becoming the size of a small whale.
So I walked there and back, in the sun and increasing heat, but it felt good to be outside for a change. And the stamps should be done next wednesday.

On the way back home I stopped at the comics shop. They didn't manage to find me book 4 of the Sandman but I bought book 9 and the Harlequin Valentine book.
The store is always full of kids, mostly playing Magic and other such card games, but apparently no one ever buys anything. It must be sad trying to keep a store like this in this town. I feel for the guy.

04.06.2004 (fri)

My internet connection died halfway through the morning. After being on hold for half an hour to the cable company, I was informed that there was a problem, they were fixing it but couldn't tell me when it would be done. Sometime during the day. Since I work from home that really sucks. It was eventually resolved at around 2PM.

I started a new website. I've had the idea for a while and this morning I woke up and had the name for it and the whole thing sketched out more or less in detail.
That happens to me a lot. I seem to work a lot of stuff out while I sleep or first thing in the morning. In the same way that I write a lot of songs in the shower. It's only on those few moments when my brain is completely clear that things come to me.

I don't want to give out too many details yet because I only started the layout today and it's going to take a while before I put anything online. And I wasn't too happy with the first layout anyway. Today I was more in organizing mode than graphic mode. Happens sometimes.

At 9.30 we went to dinner with my in-laws to see the photos from their recent trip. They have some intereresting pictures and some really beautiful ones. But it seems like a really exausting trip.

When we got back I went to bed a listened to a bit more of Storm Front. Hubby stayed up a bit longer to watch the Metallica concert on TV.

05.06.2004 (sat)

I spent a good part of the day working on the new website. I finally settled on a layout I can live with for the moment and began the html.

Some of the afternoon was spent in bed with hubby (must take advantage of the weekend to make up for all the time apart during the week) before eating something while watching a bit of the concerts on TV and doing a bit more work on the sites. I still have to decide how to do the lists since they're going to get big pretty fast. The problem of doing a movie site without a backend...

At night I watched a bit of the Black Eyed Peas concert and read Premiere mag at the same time (not a very big fan but wanted to keep hubby company for a bit longer) before going to bed.

06.06.2004 (sun)

Spent most of the day in front of the computer working on the site. I already did a lot of pages. By nightfall, however, I was feeling that maybe this was a bit rushed because I had thought of trying Movable Type. So do just start spitting out pages before trying all other options first may have been a bit stupid. We'll see...

At night I saw a bit of the Alicia Keys concert before going to bed. Great voice, awful outfits. I especially like the fact that she decided to do a cover of 'How come you don't call me anymore' which is a great song but one of the more obscure Prince songs. I guess that's why it makes such a great cover - hardly anyone knows it's a Prince song. It was the same with Sinead o'Connor and 'Nothing Compares to U'.
Which reminds me - I have to find Prince's new album. I liked the DVD. He seems to be having fun again. He had lost it for a while. I hope it shows in the music.

There's one thing that bugs me about Prince, though. Nobody can deny he's been a major musical influence of the last 20 years, to the point where a lot of new artists still sound like him (if in doubts, listen to Andre 3000 - sounds just like Sign'o'the Times type stuff). But Prince seems to be trying more and more to sound and move like James Brown. Why? I know that was a big influence for him, but sometimes it borders on mimic. Oh well...

07.06.2004 (mon)

I called my brother to ask him to set up the domain name for my new site, which he did while on the phone with me. He also installed Movable Type so that I can try using it. I'm not sure it's flexible enough for what I want but I'll give it a try.
It felt almost like going backwards, though, because I had so much done already. But I ended up being able to use the html I had already done and just apply the MT tags on top of it. The index page took me almost all day and there's still a lot to be done, but it's coming along.
By the end of the day I still wasn't sure it'll work, but I'll give it a couple more days to see what I can do with it.

At around 6PM I went outside to my little indoors garden to read for a while. After spending the day frying my brain teying to adapt MT to my site I needed a break.

At night we went shopping. It's usual on mondays. Food seems to run out during the weekend. Then we watched another episode of Sherlock Holmes.

08.06.2004 (tue)

I kept trying to make the site using Movable Type and it was uterlly frustrating. I'm sure it's possible to do what I want but I can't find the right tags. Spent most of the day reading the help files and still couldn't find the right one.

I took a break and went down to have tea with my parents.

At night Pedro took a little while to help me out and we managed to do it. I was looking in the wrong place :P
I stayed up to do as much as I could, to make up for the uselessness of the day. Then I went to bed and finally finished disc 5 of Storm Front.

09.06.2004 (wed)

I finally managed to make the site usable. I finished all the templates, fixed a few things and started inserting content. I still wanted to do side menus but I don't think I'll be able to. Not the way I want to anyway. I inserted about 6 or 7 movies and gave up.

At lunch time I watched the movie 'The Kid' with Bruce Willis. Will be writting a review when I get the time :)

At around 4 PM I went out to pick-up the stamps. I had to take the bus. It wasn't done. So I had to take the bus back. Bastards!

I decided to move furniture aroung. Yes. Again.
I moved my computer and piano back to the second bedroom. We had that room cleared when we decided we were going to try for a kid, but since i've changed my mind about that, it was making me uncorfotable to have one of the largest rooms with no purpose, just full of leftover crap. So I'm taking it over.

The living room seems so much bigger, suddenly! I'd forgetten how much space we actually have in there. And my new 'office' is a bit full but I'm sure I can still make it a bit more presentable, given time.

When pedro got home we went to the beach for a while. The tide was high so we sat on a rock and watched the sunset. Took a few pictures as well.

Then we went out to dinner to celebrate the beginning of hubby's vacation. It's only a week but I'll bet it's going to taste sweet. Especially after the long hours he's been working lately.

When we got home I turned on the computer and had no connection. I was half expecting it, but I did try it before moving all the furniture and it was working! And now it isn't. Shit!

10.06.2004 (thu)

Today is a national holiday, which means hubby was home and we managed to go out and have some fun instead of spending the entire day in front of computer screens.

I slept late, thanks to the earplugs, and had weird dreams. I had panic room dreams, actually - I was trying to lock myself in the bathroom because there was somebody after me but the lock didn't work and so on. It's the first time I've had this kind of dream since I've moved.

I finally got up and had some breakfast while watching the Nanny. At 1.30PM we went shopping.
The main plan was to buy a wireless antenna because since I moved the computer to another room it doesn't always catch the signal. As would be expected we didn't find it anywhere.
Instead we bought a photography book, the new Prince CD and the new Tori Amos DVD and developed some pictures. Not bad!
I actually didn't know there was a Region 2 version of the Tori dvd and had even asked a friend to try and get it for me from the US, but there it was. I missed it completely, off course. It was Pedro who sppoted it. Thanks sweetie :)

Since I was wearing strappy sandals, my feet started to hurt like hell after a couple of hours so we went home to regroup before leaving again to go to the park. We sat down on the grass, in the shade, by the duck pond. It was really nice and I got to read a bit more of the Potter book. At least until an old couple decided to sit right next to me, because there was nowhere else in the entire GIGANTIC FUCKING PARK! and started speaking loudly, off course, because they were both half deaf. I eventually gave up, gathered my things and moved somewhere else. I tried not to get too pissed off but I really don't get it. People will avoid sitting next to you on the bus but in a huge park wherever you are seems to be just the right spot. Unbelievable!

When we got home I was starved because i only had a mozzarella salad for lunch. But in my usual style I ended up watering the plants and bathing the cats before actually eating anything.

Cat baths. Not one of the most pleasent things in the world. We did it cause Pedro was curious to see how Jones would react. He's 2 years old and never had a bath before. He can be a real sweetheart and he can also kill you in your sleep, depending on how scared he is. In the end it wasn't as bad as he had feared, as long as there's no water running. If we turn on the tap he gets completely freaked out. Apart from that he just whines a bit but doesn't even try to get away much.
The yellow cat was next. It's her second bath this month but since he's been ill she really needed it. The first thing she did was pee in the water. Which meant we had to empty the tub and fill it up again. I guess it ends up being a more efficient revenge than trying to run.
This time she did try to bite a couple of times but didn't get us. Apart from that it went smoothly.

So I finally got to eat, at around 8PM, and watched a bit of the Tori DVD. I still like the older songs best. Can't help myself. And I liked the concerts better before the bass and drums, but it's not too bad because I think over the years they've found a balance and it's not so much 'in your face' as it was at first. But she's gotten a bit too serious and was quite stiff at the beginning of the show. She eventually loosened up, though, and halfway through was being the Tori I've know and loved for years. I particularly liked Take to the Sky. The dress she wears on the DVD, however, is quite dreadful, but she's never been known for being a sharp dresser, I guess. And she's starting to look older (aren't we all?), but she's still quite beautiful.

At about 9PM I decided I had to do something about the wireless connection, so I rearanged the room so that the back of the computer, where the antenna is, is facing away from the wall in order to get a better signal. It seems to have worked but doesn't look that great, so I hope it doesn't have to stay this way for very long.

11.06.2004 (fri)

Pedro turned 31 today. Happy birthday!

We went to see Hellboy. It was fun, despite some plot holes and the monsters having way too many tentacles. Some of it reminded me of Buffy.

We came home and I gave hubby what would be one of the only 2 presents of the day: the Firefly series. I just hope it's good. We watched the first episode at lunch (at around 4PM)
My in laws came over shortly after with cake and another present.

At around 9PM we went out to dinner to La Traviata. My brother joined us there. It was good except for the fact that they started to put meat in the ricotta cannelloni, which pissed me off. If Ii wanted food with meat in it I would have chosen something else! I guess the pizza is the only safe thing in that place now. Damn!

12.06.2004 (sat)

In the morning I watched a movie with Steve Martin called novocain. It's more gross than actually funny.

At 3PM I left to meet my friend Carla for our monthly get-together at Haagen Dazs. She had pictures from her trip to Tunisia. They turned out pretty cool, although that's a trip I don't think I could make. Too much heat and sand. And she went on sand-storm season, which makes it just a little bit more uncomfortable.
But it certainly seems very pretty and she got to visit the place where they filmed Star Wars.

We went shopping and I bought her the Tori DVD cause I knew she wouldn't be buying it anytime soon and I think she'll like it. In return she gave me the book 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' :)
I also bought the new Douglas Coupland book for Pedro (well, new around here anyway - I'm sure it's at least one year old already).
A lot of people were watching the opining game of Euro 2004 and making a lot of noise.
I still got a present for my mother, whose birthday is in a couple of weeks, and around 7PM I came home. When I got back the second game was on and I learned that Portugal lost. It's so predictable!

At night we watched a couple more episodes of Firefly. I'm starting to get into it, although the main song makes me cringe.

13.06.2004 (sun)

I got up, watched a bit of Cecil B. Demented while doing my nails and then went to vote. I've realized there isn't anyone I can actually vote for with a clear conscience, so the best I can do is vote against the present government which should have been kicked out by now.

At around noon I had to do a little cleanup of my computer disk because it was getting too full. There's always lots of crap that gets installed, I look at it once and then forget all about it. But getting rid of it takes time and patience.

Then I had lunch and watched another episode of Firefly.

In the afternoon I read a bit, while the football games were on.

I'm also really pleased because the orchid started blooming. I have a couple of flowers and should have 3 or 4 more in the next couple of days. I have to photograph it before they fall off. And this time I have to keep the cats away at all cost!

14.06.2004 (mon)

Hubby's on vacation so I'm trying to do as much as I can with him, even though I have some work to do. I can't be officially on vacation, in case something comes along, but I don't have to be tied to the desk either.

But this was not a good day to start even a part-time vacation. We had a meeting at 10AM. It did not go very well and I didn't exactly lose my temper but was close to for a while. So I don't want to think about it anymore.

It was a bit difficult to calm down after that, so we eventually went to the park for a bit. We watched once again some old woman feeding the ducks and geese and then hitting them with her bag. Why doesn't she stay the fuck away? And to top it up she threw the empty plastic bag, where she had the food, into the lake! I really felt like going over there and throwing her in the water as well, but I was afraid she'd fall on one of the ducks.
At about 6.30PM I got a call saying I had some urgent work to put online. It didn't take very long and and hour later, when Pedro got home from picking up mail from the old office, I was done.

At night we watched some more Firefly. I still haven't managed to finish watching the movie I started on sunday. I guess it takes a certain state of mind to watch a John Waters film :P

And to make-up for the nasty stuff I finally got my Spike doll in the mail today. It's cute but it looks nothing like the picture. It's like they squeezed the head of the original sculpture. I felt a bit cheated. But it's not that bad. It just doesn't pass inspection up-close.
Now I feel like buying GI Joe outfits for it :)

15.06.2004 (tue)

I had a bit of work to catch up on today. I was done at about 4PM.
Meanwhile hubby had a doctor's appointment about his neck. He's always in pain and it's only been getting worse. Apparently the doctor has no idea what's wrong with him and could only tell him to keep taking the medication he's already taking and try physical therapy.

Late in the afternoon we went to the beach for a stroll. It was nice but we ended up talking a lot about the things that stress us. Jobs, plans for the future, etc. When this happens I always end up feeling like I wasn't really there.
But I always feel like I'm not really there. When we got there and I opened the car door I heard seagulls. My first thought was 'someone turned on the sound effects'. I live in front of the screen a bit too much. It's starting to mess with my head.

We got back at 7.30PM. I was starved so I had a yogurt.
I tried starting a new diet today, more salad-based. But I always crave chocolate. I could stop eating anything else with no problem at all, but to stop eating chocolate I sometimes feel that I have to do something extreme, like have someone lock me in a room and not let me out. I don't buy it anymore, but I haven't been able to detox yet.

I checked out a couple of sites and forums and found out James Marsters has ended GotR. I was a bit shocked. They're not the best band in the world and he's far from the greatest singer, but I really liked a couple of the new songs and think they were getting better. And now there's no second album, apparently, and I still didn't manage to listen to either 'Bad' or 'Katie'. The rest of the guys must be furious!
And this is all because JM got the funding to do a movie version of Macbeth. I know it's been a dream project of his and he's a Shakespeare nut, but I always cringe when I think about Americans doing Shakespeare. Even one that's played a Brit on TV for 7 years :)
I didn't like the Polanski version of the story. I thought it was boring. I guess we'll see how this one turns out.

16.06.2004 (wed)

Slow day. I had time to work on the movie site. It's called Screengazing and it's online but still very much under construction - lots of broken links and incomplete reviews. I'll be working on it as I get the time. But the fact that it's up and is starting to have content is what matters at the moment. I'll be commenting the movies I see on that site more than here.

We're almost done watching Firefly. I think there's only a couple of episodes left. And it's going to end just as it was starting to get good. Damn TV networks!

17.06.2004 (thu)

I took the day off. Hubby's on vacation this week so we took a little road trip. Drove up to Tomar and spent most of the afternoon at the Convent taking pictures. It's a big place and I always like to try to imagine what it must have been like to live in a place like this. The dinning room was great. I'll try to put some pictures up as soon as i have the time.

We then took a little walk around town but apart from a nice little garden with a mini-waterfall there wasn't that much to be seen.

We drove back home and got stuck in traffic. The bridge was especially painful, despite the fact that it was already 8PM.

We went over to the Mall to get the pictures developed and had dinner there. The pictures turned out OK but there's still something not entirely light with the light measurement of the camera on automatic mode. The little compact Canon takes much better pictures than this. I don't get it. It's a bit disappointing, really.

I also bought some lingerie. For some reason I seem to have changed bra size. I've been upgraded from B to C cup. I would understand it if I was weighing a lot more but that is not the case. I weigh 63Kg, which has always been my top weight (I call it my panic weight. it's when I go 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I need to diet!') but I've been there before so that can't be it.
So apparently that theory the you stop growing at about 24 does not apply to all areas of the body. Weird.
Hubby's thrilled, obviously, but I'm a bit annoyed because there isn't as much selection for C cups as for B cups because it's already considered a large size. Which I find really strange. I mean, has anyone actually looked at the average woman around these parts? I'm tiny by comparison! I live in a country where reduction surgery is more common than silicone implants. Has nobody noticed?

More and more I think that clothes are being made almost exclusively for the stick insects that advertise them and not for real people at all. It's really frustrating.

18.06.2004 (fri)

In the morning there was some Flash work to be done.
At lunch time hubby and me went over to my brother's office and all three of us went out to lunch.
After lunch we went shopping. The idea was just to pick up some of Pedro's pants which were being altered but I ended up buying a bunch of DVDs: Jonathan Creek, Mad About You the Seinfeld live show... There was also Prime Suspect and Partners in Crime but I'm leaving that till next time.
As we were getting back I got a call setting up a meeting for next week.

At 6PM we went out again to see a movie - The Day After Tomorrow. The AC in the theatre was turned way up and I was freezing, which was at least compatible with the movie.
The one thing I've learned over the years is to always take a coat to the movies. It doesn't matter how hot it may be outside. In the theatre it's always January.

We fixed some dinner and watched a bit of 'Blade'. It's a real crap movie. I didn't expect it to be that bad.

19.06.2004 (sat)

Saturday at last. This week was fun but also stressing because I kept getting calls everytime I went out. Actually I got more calls this week than I usually get, just to make it impossible to have some time off. So today I could finally relax.

Didn't do anything much. Moved furniture, washed clothes, did a bit of cleanup and then watched the rest of Cecil B. Demented.

Later in the afternoon hubby and me went over to my brother's flat for a bit. Then we went to the beach for a little while. It was a little chilly but it's nice to spend five minutes looking at the sea.

When I got home I fixed some food and read a bit while there was still light out.

20.06.2004 (sun)

I finally had the time to watch the rest of the Tori DVD and was absolutely shocked when I found out it's censured! They completely ruined Professional Widow, which is one of my favorite songs.
I don't get the logic of this. First of all, Tori Amos does not make music for kids. This is not a Disney DVD. Secondly, the lyrics are provocative enough. That does not change just because you bleep out a couple of words! So what difference does it make?
I only have one thing to say to whoever decided this was a good idea and didn't even bother to stick a huge warning on the cover FUCK YOU, YOU ARROGANT PIECE OF SHIT!!!!

There's no point in buying anything related to the music industry these days. It's either Copy controlled, which means the CDs are trash after you listen to them for a couple of times, IF you can get them to play anywhere, or it's censured. I used to enjoy buying music so much and now it just makes me feel like setting fire to the whole thing.

21.06.2004 (mon)

I knew when I got up this morning that I was going to have a busy day. I was right, but the stuff I had to do wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.

I spent a lot of time on the phone, had a few emails to write, had to do some last minute changes to a site that I can't wait to see the back of and did some templates for this really cool internal project I've been working on with my brother.

But for some reason I was not as freaked out as I usually am on mondays. don't know why. I had every reason to be. But I wasn't.

At night we went shopping. didn't spend much this time. It's one of the advantages of being on a diet :)
No, seriously! Junk food (chocolates, ice cream, chips, cookies, etc) is a lot more expensive than regular food. So if you just cut all that crap out you save a lot of money.

I ate something and then went out again. We walked up to my brother's place. He's lending us his car while ours is being checked over. We stayed over for a bit, talking. It was warm inside but he's got a really nice balcony and it was pleasantly cool out there.

22.06.2004 (tue)

I think I'm finally losing weight again. Looks like the diet is working. But it's been so damn hard! I'm a complete chocaholic, which doesn't help, so when I'm detoxing from chocolate I have a tendency to want to eat everything in the house. And being on rabit food doesn't replace the need for chocolate at all. If I was betting against myself I'd say I won't last a week. I hope I'm wrong.

I had a meeting in the afternoon. It went fairly well although it's causing me a bit of stress because it involves working with other people and that can always go wrong... We'll see.

Before coming back i did a bit of shopping. Ended up not buying anything for myself, though. Just some more stuff for my mother's birthday.

I got home at about five. Soon after my parents dropped by. My mother brought the prints of the digital pics from the Milan trip so I can see which ones I wanted to make for myself. It's still a lot of pictures and I haven't had the patience to go through them yet.

When they left I wrapped the presents I bought and at night I watched a bit more of the movie Bad Company. It is not capturing my interest.

I finally finished reading the fifth Harry Potter book and started Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Hubby woke me up at about 3 AM and then I couldn't go back to sleep so I stayed up reading for a while.

23.06.2004 (wed)

Work today involved a couple of calls, lots of really long emails, an estimate and some html. Pretty standard really.

I still have to figure out how to solve a problem because a client wants registered users but doesn't want a database, so it has to be done with java script and cookies and i'm not exactly very good at that. I'm sure it's going to lose me a couple of days.

At around 5.30PM when the work was pretty much done, I did a couple more updates to Screengazing. I was reminded that I hadn't done a review for Hellboy yet, so I did it.

24.06.2004 (thu)

Added some new stuff to screengazing today. I have to make a banner for it.
I was happy to find that they're making a Farscape mini-series! Yay!
That actually makes me feel a lot more like watching the last episode. I've been avoiding it because I know it ends badly.

I finished watching The Crying Game at lunchtime today. I liked it. I certainly waited long enough before watching it, all thanks to a stupid girl at college that decided to give away the spoiler right after the movie opened. But it's more than that and the characters are very interesting.

While the game was on, and because I really couldn't care less, I went outside to read for a bit.
At night I heard a bit more of the Strom Front book but didn't get too far. I was terribly sleepy. I'm halfwaythrough disc 6 and I'm enjoying it, but it's better to listen to in the bath than in bed. And I take more showers than baths, which doesn't work cause the water makes too much noise, so it's going really slowly :)

25.06.2004 (fri)

Friday at last!

Work was a bit boring today. I had to do an estimate and bail a former client out of trouble. They were really mean, didn't pay for the work for months, wouldn't answer phone calls or email, etc. Then asked for access to the server so they could transfer the site to another company, therefore not being our clients anymore.
Earlier this year, when the hosting was about to expire, I wrote to them and asked if they wanted to renew it. They said no, the other company was taking care of that. They were wrong. So when it expired, they lost the website.

Now they write to me saying 'our site is no longer online. What can you do about it?'
I should have been mean, but it seems that it's not in my nature, so I send a backup of the files to them, even though I didn't have any obligation to even have it anymore. Maybe it'll keep me up at night. They certainly didn't deserve it and I didn't owe them anything, much less working for them and solving their problems for free.
And that is why I will never be rich.

Which takes me to the estimate that I can bet will turn into a 'oh this is too much money' argument from another client who sends me changes to the text of the site two months after the work has been completed and still expects it to be included in the original value. I hate this part of it!

It has been suggested to me, since I've adjusted to Movable type so well on the screengazing site that I try to use it for the Journal as well. So far I haven't been able to make up my mind about that. I like having a certain amount of control and am not sure I'd feel comfortable with having comments to the journal entries. Like this I can still pretend nobody reads it and I'm just writing for myself, and I don't have to put up with jerks that are just looking for places to spew their venom. I'd erase those remarks, obviously, but I'd still have to read them and some days, when I'm feeling a bit more fragile, it might upset my day.
Not that I'm forced to have comments, but that and automatic archiving seem to be the main interesting features of the system.
I'll think about it some more...

It's my mother's birthday today, so we're going out to dinner. I tried calling earlier but she wasn't home, so I haven't been able to wish her a happy birthday yet. So Happy Birthday!

26.06.2004 (sat)

Since we couldn't go anywhere, I took the time to do a bit of preening. I've been feeling a little better about myself lately and have to do something to get my mind of food during the weekend.
It's the worst time for diets. I really start making up weird plans on how I can make a cake with whatever's in the fridge and pantry - which isn't much. I may get to the point where I will consider just eating sugar with a spoon, but fortunately I'm not quite there yet.

27.06.2004 (sun)

We didn't have a car this weekend so just stayed home.

I watched a couple of movies and read a lot. I also took some time to photograph the orchids, before they fade, and water the plants and do some maintenance. Some of the plants got sick and there are a couple which I'm still not sure if they're going to make it or not.

28.06.2004 (mon)

After my usual rounds to the bank and post office, I went to get a haircut.
I've been letting my hair grow back for over a year and it's still just barely touching my shoulders. But I had to trim it a bit and make it a little more presentable. It turned out pretty well and it's all bouncy :)

It's hard to believe a woman will let a year go by in between haircuts, I know. Especially one who is usually wearing make up and does her nails every week. But it's true :)

And it's also connected to my self-esteem. If I feel fat I don't bother as much.

At night I finished reading Girl With a Pearl Earring. Now I feel like watching the movie again. It's pretty faithful, apart from the ear-piercing thing which takes longer in the book.

29.06.2004 (tue)

Today I did some more estimates. Lets hope I get replies soon. People tend to forget to say something back.

Around lunch time the wireless connection decided to stop working. I had to move to hubby's computer in order to be able to do anything at all. I want the new antennae! Which was supposed to arrive today but apparently didn't.

At night I watched a stupid movie and then I started reading another Pratchett book. Not because I really felt like it but because I still have 3 unread ones and I want to get them out of the way. I do enjoy them, but I like some characters more than others and the lack of structure in some of the stories bothers me sometimes. But I have way too many unread books on the shelves and I promised myself I wouldn't buy anymore until I read them, so I'm going to make it a goal in the next couple of months to go through them.

On the weekends, during the warmer months, I have more fun reading than watching TV. I can sit out on the balcony with the breeze coming in through the windows and I can glance up at the blue sky and it feels peaceful. So I read much faster. And now that there are games on I have even more time to enjoy a good book :)

30.06.2004 (wed)

I think my diet is working. I look thinner, especially on the face (I hate to have a round face) but I don't seem to be losing weight. Which is fine. It's not the weight that bothers me and I'd rather retain muscular mass and lose the fat.
But I guess it's the only time I'm actually doing a decent diet. All the other times I've lost weight I just starved myself. It worked but I couldn't keep it up for too long. This time I fill my plate up with salad and so I don't feel hungry all the time. But it doesn't make me stop craving chocolate. That, I fear, has no cure :(

After lunch I did a bunch of phone calls. Once in a while we get 4 or five requests on the same day. Then a week or two goes by and nothing. I always find it amusing. It's like people are connected and they all think the same thing on the same day :)
One of the clients was supposed to send a fax but didn't. How am I supposed to work without source material?

At night I took a long bath and finished listening to Storm Front. I liked it. Good thing I oredered both audiobooks at once. Now I can start the second one.