tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:23:21 +0000Wife,Parent,Student,Teacher,Volunteer,Writer,Cook,Crazy.http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/blogger.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)Blogger1496125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-5983484099296782170Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:06:00 +00002010-03-05T18:36:03.146-07:00LeapForceAbout six months ago, I got a contract with LeapForce to work at home as a search engine evaluator. I've written about this before, and consequently I've received a handful of emails from people asking me how it worked out. I don't mind answering LeapForce-related questions because I had a lot of questions before going ahead with the contract, and I found other people's comments to be very http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2010/03/leapforce-experience.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-1005649404226956553Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:12:00 +00002010-02-28T19:39:05.482-07:00Recently I checked my gMail inbox to find a message from Google: they will no longer be supporting FTP-published blogs. Originally the day of execution was set at March 26, but apparently there were enough screams from the FTP-publishing crowd that they pushed it back to May 1.You may not know or care about blog publishing, FTP-based or otherwise, but I did when I set up this blog, and I still dohttp://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2010/02/whither-blog.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-2111217939703468879Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:20:00 +00002010-01-20T20:17:29.243-07:00(Spoilers, in case you didn't know it)10. Continued abuse of the "events occur in real time" conceit. Apparently, everything in New York City occurs within five or ten minutes of everything else. This is less egregious than it was when CTU was in L.A., but it's still laughable.9. Letting CTU be redesigned by rejects from Top Design. Glass walls everywhere, again? Orange? Humongous room-sized http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2010/01/top-10-things-24-has-done-to-piss-me.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-1040584578655270119Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:57:00 +00002010-01-20T11:06:48.351-07:00Anniversary Roses -- 15 years!Lots of stuff going on, mostly good, some minor irritations. Top of the list: Sonora Quest did not send my blood work out to CA for testing after my Thyrogen trial, so I don't have my results yet. Oh, they ran the test themselves and everything came back negative, but their tests aren't as sensitive and are not comparable to my previous results. And the order http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2010/01/where-did-that-month-go.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-6020432445357206388Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:39:00 +00002009-12-21T02:04:33.558-07:00ThyrogenI managed to schedule my Thyrogen administration just before Christmas -- having already met my health insurance deductible this year, it was rather important to do it now rather than in January.First shot (right arm) was on Thursday, second shot (left arm) was on Friday. Fortunately this time I have only a tiny bit of soreness around the injection site. The preliminary bloodwork drawn on http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/12/thyrogen-trial-2009.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-4905938402822174882Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:30:00 +00002009-12-21T01:39:40.020-07:00I have a problem with staying up too late when I know the next day won't be too demanding, and that describes most of my days lately. I fall asleep in front of the tv (or computer) and then wake up and stay up, instead of hauling myself off to bed. How late? Late enough to not want to admit how late, because it's embarrassing.Even more embarrassing is why I stay up late. If I were doing http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/12/brief-moment-of-clarity.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-6961986923099406747Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:10:00 +00002009-12-07T02:39:59.589-07:00We saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra with the kids this afternoon. The first part of the concert was an extended song/story, interspersed with Christmas classics and original pieces, that told the story of an angel, a lonely man, and his daughter far from home on Christmas Eve. Through the intervention of the angel and the kindness of strangers, she's able to go home on Christmas Day. TSO is http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/12/nobody-cries-at-tso-concert.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-2360429116057285880Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:48:00 +00002009-12-07T01:56:54.275-07:00Thanksgiving was perfect, except I made too many pies.Since then, we have been inordinately busy. It is much easier for me to be in school when the children are not, and trying to put in even a couple of hours of day at my job proved difficult to impossible for most of November. I have to go fold laundry or else no one will have socks for tomorrow, but I did want to put up a post to remind me tohttp://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/12/perfect.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-6589969919689750643Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +00002009-11-24T01:06:06.406-07:00School work and paying work have been sadly neglected this month. It's not that nothing is getting done, it's just that all sorts of things -- more interesting things -- keep interrupting, like dates with my husband and outings with the kids. And moving DS2 into his own room, which necessitated cleaning out the playroom and purging 5 years worth of toys the children never even look at. It's http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/11/blocked.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-523057377008942866Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:03:00 +00002009-11-10T01:31:12.790-07:00Chocolate peppermint birthday cake, with chocolate mint buttercream frosting, mint (green) glaze, and chocolate chips.DD turned eleven last week, and it feels as if we've been celebrating her birthday for a month now. It started with the purchase of the netbook last Sunday at the Microsoft store, and it continued on her actual birthday straight through to the weekend. The bday itself was full http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/11/bday-weekend-recap.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-7642003825090453592Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:17:00 +00002009-11-03T20:17:35.360-07:00Mammogram came back normal. *whew*http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/11/yay.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-5230918928290634042Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:54:00 +00002009-11-03T01:22:01.172-07:00Sunday we all trooped up to Scottsdale Fashion Center to go to the first ever anywhere Microsoft Store. We wanted to talk to them about Windows 7 and see what they were offering.We ended up buying DD's birthday-Christmas computer, an Asus Eee. It's pink! And it came with Windows 7 Starter as its OS. Win7 Starter doesn't let you customize the desktop or change colors, but that wasn't important http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/11/adventures-in-technology.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-7914258022738773933Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:45:00 +00002009-11-03T00:52:54.103-07:00Patience is not my strong point. I'm waiting for mammogram results. I don't have any particular reason to suspect that something will be wrong, other than my general, persistent belief that I will get breast cancer someday. I have many risk factors (family history, left-handedness, thyroid cancer, melanoma) but also some protective factors: my three children, all of whom nursed for about a yearhttp://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/11/waiting.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-61377598154650066Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:29:00 +00002009-10-27T08:49:50.087-07:00The tail end of the cold I picked up in Tucson is still hanging on, and I often feel as if my brain has turned to oatmeal. The cold has dwindled into nothing more than an annoying post-nasal drip, and eventually that will be gone, too. Patience is required.I finally got my blood work back from USC and it shows my Tg, my tumor marker, has further decreased to 0.21 from 0.23 last time. One of http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/updates.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-720937652257240706Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:16:00 +00002009-10-18T20:11:28.849-07:00We left Wednesday after piano lessons, arriving at the Casa Grande National Monument just about a half hour before it closed at 5PM. The ride to Case Grande was easy, and the monument itself is very cool, and the little museum accompanying it is charming as well.The Big House, a 4-story building made entirely of caliche, about 600-700 years old.Leaving Case Grande, I realized that somehow the http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/touring-around-tucson.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-4545603950822997182Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:47:00 +00002009-10-10T01:54:26.742-07:00© 1970 Mark A. Dimmitt / ASDM Sonoran Desert Digital LibraryGrowing up on the East Coast, I never had a fall break, because school didn't start until the Wednesday after Labor Day. Sure, we had a long weekend in October for Columbus Day, and an extra-long weekend in November for Thanksgiving, but our first vacation was over Christmas.This year, the kids started school on August 10, and it's a http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/fall-break.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-99614608936391247Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:36:00 +00002009-10-03T03:07:44.752-07:00One of the reasons I wanted that job was to provide an external motivator to get to bed at a reasonable hour.Of course, napping for an hour after dinner isn't exactly conducive to going to bed early.http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/in-bit-of-bad-way-here.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-2060376600699968526Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:11:00 +00002009-10-03T03:13:48.949-07:00I didn't get the job I interviewed for on Monday.On balance, this is probably a good thing. It would have been very stressful, working a full school day and then having to dash to pick up the kids at their schools. In truth, I think my schedule requirements counted against me, which is not unreasonable.I will continue to plug away at my at-home job, which isn't much but it is something, and http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/accustomed-to-disappointment.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-8212498861382718213Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:35:00 +00002009-10-01T07:41:28.725-07:00I just sent off my first invoice to my employers, LeapForce At Home.As a contractor (they have a 1099 form on file for me, along with a signed contract), I send them a monthly invoice using the invoice creation system they have implemented. It's not the slickest user interface, but it works, allowing me to enter my daily hours -- to the minute -- as required by the agreement. Their payment http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/invoice-is-in-ether.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-3676665782747579275Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:07:00 +00002009-10-03T03:18:30.215-07:00I wrote a book last weekend.The Holy Rosary: A coloring book with illustrations, explanations, and scripture passages for each mystery. I've always wanted a book for children that had illustrations for each mystery, and I've also always wanted a simple scriptural rosary that gave the basic texts aligning with them, also. The illustrations I found at St. John the Baptist's RE Page, and the http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/10/holy-rosary-for-children.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-4136896081949136168Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:53:00 +00002009-10-01T00:57:51.988-07:00A brief recounting:- Working online, which is pretty much OK, except when there's no work when I want to work, when it's frustrating. The way it works is, I log in and "acquire a task." Sometimes there are no tasks to acquire. Sometimes after I've been logged in for a few minutes, tasks will start popping up, but it's pretty random. I'll have stretches where I can work for 3 or 4 hours (rare, http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/09/not-dead-just-busy.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-2274139523846531200Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:49:00 +00002009-09-14T01:13:34.877-07:00The quote is not applicable to anything happening in my life -- I was watching Deadwood on DirecTV's 101 Channel this evening, and the quote leaped out at me. What a great show, once your ear gets tuned to ignore the profanity.In my life, the most recent "wrong" was the death of the 14-year-old dryer, long anticipated. DH and I spent a good deal of time this week discussing the options and http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/09/even-in-eden-such-as-this-wrongs-do.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-7382203056751729943Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:35:00 +00002009-09-02T13:14:20.627-07:00I had my audition for Kaplan last night, and just got my rejection via email.Yesterday I settled on the topic, "How to Look for a Job," and practiced several times during the day, making sure I could cover the material in 5 minutes.I arrived at Kaplan and was directed to a small classroom where there were 5 or 6 guys seated conspicuously at the back of the room. I was immediately sensitive to http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/09/that-stings-bit.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-7590545183477508242Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:36:00 +00002009-09-01T00:57:17.750-07:00I'm spending far more time looking for a job than I am doing anything else, including all the stuff around the house that needs doing. I think I need to get a job simply to get myself off this hamster wheel.On that positive note, I've decided what to do for my "how to" presentation: how to look for a job online! Hey, I can boil it down to 5 minutes and just hit the high points.We appear to have http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/09/minor-obsession.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6466893.post-2325666810027481638Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:49:00 +00002009-08-28T01:06:47.391-07:00Turns out I wasn't passed over for that "ideal" job -- I had an interview today that went spectacularly well. There were four of them and they tag-teamed their questions, but it was completely stress-free. This was stuff I knew inside and out, and I didn't even feel nervous.There are two problems: the distance, and the pay. It's at least a 30-minute drive away. I drive a 2000 Honda Odyssey, http://www.farscapeweekly.com/weblog/2009/08/crushed-anyway.htmljhedman@alum.mit.edu (Joan)0