Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in researchgrrrl's LiveJournal:

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
10:47 pm	tomorrow's forecast: hopeful but exhausting Kelly Services called to let me know that the potential gig has been made manifest. It's in C'ville -- long-ass drive, but an 80-mile daily commute still beats 130-mile daily commute -- and it would likely be 20-30 hours a week working for one of the local government's non-profits. Specifically, I'd be grant-writing and grant-tracking, with research and general winged monkey duties thrown in. That 20-30 hours a week has the possibility to going to a permanent, full-time job...if a) the new boss and I click and b) she decides she even wants to create this position. It pays more and, even if it goes full-time, will still be 250 miles less to drive each week. (That's basically equivalent knocking two full days' drives off my current gig.) It's that "...if" in there about whether she's going to make this an official position or not that gave me pause when Kelly Services told me this woman wanted me to work tomorrow, then again on Monday and Tuesday of next week. I asked for a bit to think about it and, after looking at numbers and talking to a close friend, a new acquaintance, and my therapist, I decided to call back with my counter-offer: I'll meet with her and work for her for a half-day tomorrow (8 to noon) then shag ass to my current gig, and we'll all assess on Friday about what everyone thinks. I explained that as much as I loathe the HelpDeskThisIsKimberley gig, I can't just up and quit it for a job which may or may not pan out. I can, however, drive 40 miles to C'ville to be there at 8, work four hours, then drive 105 miles the other direction to HelpDeskThisIsKimberley, work eight hours, and finally crawl that 65 miles back home at 11. I can do this once, maybe twice, but I cannot and will not do that to myself daily. It's either going to be that job or the HelpDeskThisIsKimberley job until something better comes along. (I write this out for my sake because, despite the seemingly inherent no-shit factor here, I do have an urge to try to do this while still working at the tea shop and also volunteering at the museum. I feel obligated to, in fact, because of my debts and other financial concerns. I can't do it, though. I can't and I won't. I don't have to punish myself that way for having been unemployed so long during a recession.) I would love it if this works out. This will half my current gas expenses, drop my current food bill, and allow me not just improved quality of life but an actual life again. It would also HUGELY reduce my stress. Dear christ. Even if HelpDeskThisIsKimberley didn't have such an epic commute, being screamed at daily for most of eight hours is killing me. To go from such a demoralizing job to a gig where I can bring my passions (even if the job itself isn't what I'm personally passionate about) and do grant stuff, research, and winged monkey work for someone would be just marvelous. Tomorrow will be exhausting and getting through Friday will probably be its own kind of hell, but I'm off from all jobs on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is my dad's birthday. It's his first since he died and I'm struggling a lot right now. I go into the grocery store, see pecans, and instantly I'm crying because pecans were Dad's favorite treat and he'll never enjoy them again. That sort of thing. So, I'll be out of touch all day Saturday because I need to be and I want to be. Sunday, I'll be seeing some friends in a play and possibly even socialize beyond that. Come Monday? I dunno. Maybe I'm at the new job. Maybe I'm at the tea shop. I just don't know yet, but at least it's not a stress-making unknown. Just have to make it through the next two days and then I'll have the downtime I need. (Comment on this)
Friday, October 30th, 2009
7:30 pm	Stay classy, Twilight merchandising. Stay classy. I think I'll let the product speak for itself since I cannot -- well and truly cannot -- find the words: You can now have RPattz's face buried in your crotch any time you wish. Think I'm kidding? Check out the completely classy detail painstakingly created for the panty lining. *just looks at y'all* Current Mood: In Denial (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
4:14 pm	Heaven and Earth cake ETA as before, I'll x-post this to my LJ once I have access to that account. :) I offered to bake for The Darjeeling Café, primarily making desserts that feature some sort of tea as an ingredient. Mary Beth was all over this. Today, I made one of my personal favorites, a cake I call my Heaven and Earth cake because it's such a lovely shade of jade green and one I accent delicately with powdered sugar, shredded coconut, and/or a cloud of whipped cream. (I only had powdered sugar and whipped cream this morning but I'll have shredded coconut.) I'm absolutely delighted to report that the cake came out of the oven at 11:30 this morning and was entirely gone by 1:00 with rave reviews from the folks who tried it. \o/ I wasn't expecting such a run on it...I suppose that means everyone else who pops by the café only gets the option "or death." Heaven and Earth cake 5 or 6 eggs, separated 1c brown sugar (OR 3/4c white sugar OR 3/4c xylotol if you need a sugar-free version) pinch of salt salt 1/2c canola (or similarly light) oil 1/3c coconut milk 1t vanilla extract 2t baking powder 1c white flour (OR light spelt flour OR gluten-free cake flour if you need a wheat- or gluten-free version) 3t to 1/4c matcha (a green tea powder that's basically the Japanese answer to the double espresso.) 2T dry shredded coconut + 1t powdered sugar (optional) 1/4c powdered sugar (optional) whipped cream (optional) Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an angel food cake pan (or a 9-inch cake pan), either by greasing it well or lining it with parchment paper. 2. Crack eggs into 2 separate mixing bowls, with the egg whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. 3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside. (Kitchen Aid mixer at work FTW!) 4. Add the salt and sugar (or sugar substitute) to the yolks and stir until smooth. 5. Add the coconut milk, oil, and vanilla to the yolks, and beat (or stir) until mixed in. 6. In a third bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and matcha. Now add (or sift) this into the yolk mixture. Stir well or beat to incorporate. At this point, the batter will turn the most awesome shade of green. 7. Now fold in the egg whites, gently stirring and mixing by hand just until egg whites have dissolved into the batter. Be careful not to over-mix. 8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes (depending on your oven; I needed 40 minutes with the oven at work.) Check cake after 25 minutes by inserting a toothpick or a fork into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. The center should form a peak. If it's still concave, it's not done. 9. While cake is cooling in the pan, toast the coconut. You can do this in the oven or in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Bake or stir constantly until coconut turns light golden brown. 10. Decorate the cake with a sifted powdered sugar, the sprinkling of toasted coconut, and/or whipped cream. Serve warm or at room temperature. OM NOM NOM away! :D (Comment on this)
Monday, September 14th, 2009
10:08 pm	gettin' my subversion on ETA for my LJ-only friends: I'll C&P this over there once I get home. No need to open an account just to comment on this. :) No LJ access from the HelpDeskThisIsKimberley job, so I've decided to use the JF account just for a little while. :) In addition to HelpDeskThisIsKimberley (which is 65 miles from my place one-way, urk), I'm at the museum and the local tea shop. Basically, my life divides into three categories: 1) working, 2) driving to/from work, and 3) apologizing to the ferrets for only having raisins around for treats. (OH THE FERRETITY!) In pie chart form, there would be a wedge approximately 0.000003% in size to represent time spent on sleeping, eating, and seeing my friends in any location other than while at the tea shop. No accident on the phrasing there: I've now had more meals than not at the shop in the last couple of weeks and I slept there one night, well, because there's This Boy and we talked until about 2:30 in the morning before he fell asleep with his head in my lap and I dozed off petting his hair and, you know, at some point we shifted around enough that he just slept on top of me on the couch. Fortunately, we got out of there at 6:30 before anyone came in to open the place because. Well, This Boy is the owner's younger brother. If our dating actually turns into A Relationship, this is going to be all kinds of entertaining in genuinely entertaining ways, as opposed to the entertaining-in-excruciating-ways I'd come to expect. (The owner and I are good friends. Bonus: This Boy's best friend is Angus. Bonus-bonus: The owner used to date Angus. Oh, the joys of small town life.) So, yeah. My life continues to be busy and weird, but in good ways. I'm also happy to say I've had a chance to pay forward a little kindness just recently in what proved to be a non-droll upside to small town life: Hi! This is Beth, we met at the tea shoppe and you were telling me about jobs and apt's in your area...it was last Thursday...I just wanted to say thanks again for your help and friendship! I absolutely fell in love with the town and the surrounding area,and you played a huge part in that. Your friendliness and your willingness to share your story gave us something in common! I have yet to tell my soon to be ex husband, but I have started some job search's on the internet and plan to start contacting people tommorrow. I had planned to do it today but the day just slipped by before I knew it! I would love to get to know you better and keep in contact so I have another friend there! I hope to hear from you soon! Awww. :) This made me happy. Ditto where things are at and where thing appear to be heading with This Boy. Double-ditto on my life actually being something I'm experiencing rather than just enduring. Now. For a summary, re: This Boy. He owns a gorgeous 1964 Ford Fairlane, has a degree in English, taught in China, collects and uses both antique and modern weapons, and owns a traveling carnival. When the carnival isn't traveling and he with it, he restores antique carousel horses, writes professionally for weapons and travel magazines, and -- in his free time -- plays classical guitar and puts together exhibits of his photography. Oh, and he's active in community theatre both as an actor and a special effects guy, so when we're not talking cars, music, literature, antiques, weapons, photography, travel, and really bad puns, we're geeking out about history, chemistry, and how to refine the blood canon he's building. Also? He was as bitter and bitchy as no other has ever been with me when he realized I'd nicked some of his coffee. ("You call this nicking? This is like if you were a barber and you slit you customer's throat with a straight razor and called that nicking." "You are adorable. I have so much respect for how protective and stingy you are with good coffee. Won't stop me from drinking it, but I definitely respect your impulse to not share." "IT'S REALLY GOOD COFFEE." ♥!) Basically, we never shut up when we're together and we've been this way from our recent start. Our first conversation started with doing lines off a whore's ass and ended with skull-fucking kittens. I'm not proud of the conversation itself -- just about being able to beat him down while he looked more and more enchanted with each escalation in the smacktalk sparring. (Fandom: teaching me how to suppress both innate and learned conversational filters since 1988.) I made the killing blow in that particular conversation, but he got even the other day. His sister's windshield had been shattered by something really heavy from above. Like a brick or a transformer or something, although whatever had done it had been moved. The cop suggested someone might have done it with a stick. My friend and I turned to the cop with identical incredulous expressions and she asked in voice of absolute WTF, "What kind of stick does this?" This Boy, with the smoothest deadpan delivery I have ever witnessed, replied, "Well, if a dragon flew over and dropped the stick..." At which point, I couldn't stifle my laughter long enough to even turn away, although turn I did because I couldn't stop laughing. Okay. Must shut up about such things and fake my way through this last hour of work. Cheers! (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
3:49 pm	Google bomb is a go With much thanks to SmartBitches for setting this up: Amazon rank. I'm still dazed Amazon has people that stupid working for them. This icon will never be more appropriate. Homophobic asses. ETA for those needing a little more info on this: Direct link to Amazon Google Bomb effort and new definition of "Amazon Rank" at http://is.gd/s3Qn #amazonfail Current Mood: GRRRRRR (Comment on this)