Converting to Tumblr

I am moving this blog over to Tumblr for the time being. I like the options there better than what I have here. It would be different if I updated regularly, but I often post to Buzz/Twitter/Facebook instead, and I think Tumblr will give me a better way to work off of those posts. We shall see!

Walgreen's Android Tablet

Walgreen's has an android tablet on sale online for $99.99. I put in my order today. I'll do a review once I've recieved it.

SELECT * FROM TexasHighwayPatrol WHERE CommonSense IS NOT NULL

Thursday night on my way home from my SQL class I was pulled over for failure to signal my intent to turn... in a right-turn only lane. Only got a warning. I actually signaled to turn into the lane, as I always do, but let it drop while I was there. I figured no one needs to know I'm turning right, as it's a given. There wasn't anywhere else for me to go. He insisted that there is nothing that says I don't have to signal there, and he's right. No where in Texas Department of Public Safety codes does is say you don't have to signal your intent to turn in a turn-only lane. I'm also pretty sure it doesn't say to not drive down the highway completely in reverse, or that your passengers aren't allowed to play two rounds of tennis in the backseat. Those are involving common sense. Anyone with that (actually very uncommon) attribute should know instinctively that those are a bad idea. Just like they should know that if they are in a right-turn only lane, all of the people ahead of them are going to be going right. They don't need a signal to tell them this. The worse thing about me getting pulled over that night? Directly after making the turn at that spot there is a traffic light. Whilst I and the squad car were driving up to the light, the car in front of me ran the red light. I feel very protected as a member of the community knowing that our police force is making those difficult judgement calls as to the most dangerous traffic infractions.

Mazda, Out

We had an unexpected cost this past Labor Day weekend. We took my Mazda to the shop in order to get it inspected, as it was due. Unfortunately, there were some issues they were going to have to fix before issuing us the sticker. But, unlike last time they fixed it, when we got the whole transmission rebuilt and the head replaced to a tune of 4K, this time they weren't comping us the labor. They were going to charge us 1200 just to look at the part they thought needed to be fixed.

So, we did what anyone in our situation would do...

We went to a new car dealership. Yep, that's right.

I am now the proud owner of a red 2010 Toyota Corolla, and the Mazda is probably sitting in the dealership's used car lot right now.

Would you like a picture of my new car? Go here and take your pick.

Sorry, it's been raining for days and it's sitting in a very dark parking garage right now.

An Experiment

Instead of sharing to Buzz or posting on Facebook,  I'll put everything here. I'll then put a link to the blog post on those other networks. Then maybe I won't neglect this blog as much. The experiment will be to see if anyone comes here to view my stuff. Of course, some personal pictures will probably have to stay in Facebook, as much as I hate that.

What To Say

I really like the idea of blogging, and I'd really like to get started again. There's only one problem: my life is pretty darn boring. So, I'm open for suggestions. What would you like to see on my blog?

Remembering September 11th, 2001

On Twitter today, someone asked:

"Remembering 9/11 today. Do you remember where you were?"

I responded back:

"Guam, Late. ODO for duty sect. Had 2 call whole dept back 2 ship"

The memories of that day just can't be described in 140 characters or less.

On September 11th, 2001, I was standing duty on the USS Frank Cable in Guam. We were in, I believe, twelve section duty at the time. That meant that everyone on the ship was broken into twelve sections, each section having to take their turn staying on the ship overnight (basically, had to be there for 24 hours). Twelve sections were nice, because that meant you only had duty once every twelve days. But, that also meant fewer people per duty section, and fewer people to stand watches. I was part of the Operations department. My job was actually taking care of the servers, and during duty days that meant running all of the backups. I, as an E5, was also the highest ranking enlisted member in Operations during my duty section, so I was the Operations Duty Officer. In addition to my normal duties I was in charge over everything in Operations at night after everyone had left for home, including running colors. Basically that meant I had make sure all of the flags were put up throughout the day, including playing the national anthem at dusk. If the Captain came on board, I'd have to run up and put his flag up, too. If he left, run up and take it down.

At 10:46 p.m. Guam time, I received a phone call from Radio asking me to come up right away. They had just gotten some alarming message traffic. I went up and we huddled over the terminal to read the messages that were coming in. We watched, horrified, as the messages changed from one plane hitting the World Trade center accidentally, to another plane hitting and it being quite obvious that this was no accident. My first thought was, "Someone just declared war on us."

I immediately called the Operations Officer at home and explained the situation. He directed me to begin recalling our entire department. He would be calling the Captain. Right after I got off the phone with him, Radio called me back to let me know that the television news (that we got piped in from California) was showing it at that very moment. I turned on the television in my office, but didn't get more than a 5 second look at it, as I had a job to do.

I have to admit that the next person I called wasn't even in my department. It was my then-boyfriend (now-husband). He was at home, asleep. I woke him and said simply, "You have two choices. You can go back to sleep and wait for another phone call later on from someone in your department, or you can turn on your television." I then hung up and began making my phone calls. I wasn't surprised to discover that several people weren't home, as they were already on their way back to the ship, having seen the news.

We moved to 3 section duty after that, and stayed that way until I left the Navy in May of 2002.

Shoes for Sara

I finally found a crochet shoe pattern that was close to Sara's size, and I finished making them the other day. I made some changes to the pattern, such as less stitches and felting, but I think they came out pretty great. I'm thinking about felting them a bit more in the sole, just so they'll hold up a bit better when she walks around outside.

Pattern on Crochetville Forums

Nose Bleed

Soli got a nose bleed last night. Apparently she had one the night before, but it wasn't very bad. This one was bad enough that it caused blood to go down the back of her throat. She was so scared, and started to panic a little. I calmed her down pretty well, while trying not to panic myself! It's always hard to see any of your children suffer, I can't imagine the pain a parent of a terminally ill child goes through.

Where have I been?

You may have noticed that aside from that one post where I was trying to win some diapers, I haven't been around in a while. I'm still posting interesting news articles I've read, but I've been doing it through Twitter instead of here. I really want to start posting here again, but bring it back to a "my thoughts, for what they are worth" blog instead of a "regergitation of what others think" blog. The problem is, I don't really have anything interesting to say, at least not at convenient times. I think of plenty while I'm driving my car for instance, but due to my complete lack of wanting to die in a horrible car accident, I don't write anything down then. Also, since my memory is pretty lacking right now, I forget anything witty I had to say as soon as I get where I was going. So, if you really miss me, feel free to follow me on Twitter, otherwise, I promise I'll think really hard about ways to post more to this blog... in my car.