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Remember that nice weather I spoke of yesterday?  We’re not having that so much anymore.

It started raining last night around 6:00 p.m. (complete with flash flood warnings, tornado watches, hail reports, etc.) and the thunderstorm is still going on this morning.  I’m afraid to look in our basement; by now the cat boxes will probably have floated as far from the wall as their power cords will allow.

I really want to lie in bed all day and listen to the storm, but I’ll be heading out the door to work soon.  There’s no point in trying very hard on my hairdo when there’s this much humidity.  No matter how much product I use, I’ll have a huge frizzball on my head by the time I get to my car.

Have a lovely Friday and weekend.  I’ll give you my BlogHer registration update Monday!

Yesterday I ran across this short film on Ze Frank’s blog about Bob, the singing greeter at Newark Airport.   Bob may very well be the happiest worker in the world and it’s obvious how much he loves his job.

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Now that the weather’s getting warmer, I’ve cracked out my summer driving CDs.  My car has horrible speakers so that diminishes the enjoyment somewhat, but I’m still having a good time listening to such gems from my collection as:

• Scatterbrain – Here Comes Trouble (metal with humor!)
• David Lee Roth – Eat ‘Em and Smile (classic DLR with the best backup band money can buy)
• Joe Satriani – Surfing With the Alien (my favorite all-instrumental rock album)
• Mortal Kombat Annihilation Soundtrack (liable to induce speeding)
• Wayne’s World Soundtrack (too dated?  not!)
• 24-7 Spyz – This is…24-7 Spyz (awesome, grungy funk-metal)
• White Zombie – Astro-Creep 2000 (music to bang your head by)

That’s not to say I don’t have lots of other types of music in my collection, but there’s something about driving around in nice weather that calls for late 80s/early 90s hard rock.

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I’ve been running across a lot of great blogs lately, but most of them are going into my Del.icio.us list rather than the blogroll.  Here are some that I find myself reading often:

• Tomato Nation – Frequent humorous essays (the one about the Roomba is a big favorite of mine) and a daily advice column, The Vine.
• Snarkywood – Mean, catty and hilarious discussions of over-hyped celebrities.
• Design*Sponge – Daily posts of beautiful housewares and accessories from a wide variety of shops and designers.
• PostSecret – Fascinating and often disturbing secrets shared anonymously via postcard by anyone who wishes to participate.

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Wow, I think that was way more than 35% better than yesterday’s post!  Let’s hope I can keep that "underpromise and overdeliver" thing going throughout the week.

I don’t know why I always have such a hard time coming up with something to write about on Wednesdays.  Maybe it’s because Monday and Tuesday are usually a dull combination of busy workday and uneventful evening.  For the last two nights I’ve worked at my dad’s office for several hours after my regular work, so the burnout from that is probably a factor today.

My big triumph yesterday was the completion of a rather detailed project that I’d been putting off because I didn’t know where to start.  The answer, of course, was to turn to Nike for inspiration (the shoe company, not the goddess) and just…well, you know the rest.  That frees me up to deal with two other time consuming projects today.  By the end of the week, maybe I’ll have a handle on my workload again.

Tonight I have a board meeting for my community service organization, which will lead to my having to write some press releases later this week about our annual grants to various local not-for-profit groups.

After that, I have to meet with the latest editor of the enormous (12-24 pages, theoretically monthly) car club newsletter that I used to produce.  I’m not sure what I can tell her at this point, considering that I don’t even belong to the club anymore, but I’m willing to have a beer, eat some peanuts and review the whole process one more time if it means I don’t ever have to hear about it again.

How boring is all that?  It’s boring me and I haven’t even lived it yet.  Tomorrow’s entry will be at least 35% more interesting, I promise.

I don’t know how I’m going to manage it, but one way or another I’m determined to attend BlogHer Conference 2005 on July 30th.  The conference schedule is so event-packed that I’d have to fly in on Friday, attend BlogHer on Saturday and probably fly back out on Sunday, but it sounds like it would be so worth it.

The blog you see before you isn’t the only one I write.  I have another blog (with some friends) that centers on the attractions, restaurants and special events in my area.  Last year at work I also wrote a fun blog tie-in to a national advertising campaign.  Yes, blogging is in my blood now, and these days I’d rather meet some of the people from my "Favorite Blogs" list than some of the rock stars from my CD collection!

I have a pretty busy summer planned with a canoe trip in early June, a trip to New Orleans in early July and a week off from work to help my dad run a seminar later in July.  It’ll be a stretch to schedule/afford BlogHer, but I’m resolved to make it happen.

See you there, I hope!

Update:  Cagey has pointed out that attending BlogHer would provide an excellent opportunity to tour the Winchester House in San Jose.  Now I’m really sold!

Our neighbor across the street is a purposeful guy.  Years ago, he owned the house next door to us and one day decided to tear off the roof and build a second story.  Presumably it was easier to obtain a building permit back then.  Anyway, he and some of his buddies completed the demolition in an afternoon and, boy, was his wife surprised when she got home – especially since he hadn’t mentioned his demolition and construction intentions to her in advance. 

He is now visiting an act of impulsive remodeling upon his current house in our neighborhood.  He’s dug out a huge pit to accommodate the foundation for a new two-car garage, and demolished the home’s foyer.  The only problem:  the house has been a rental property for many years and the tenant hasn’t had a chance to move out yet.

Watching our neighbor dig up his own yard with a backhoe must have inspired me to stop being so lazy.  I spent Saturday tidying up flower beds, trimming shrubbery, cutting down volunteer trees throughout the yard and generally beautifying our outdoor environment beyond what our lawn guy can be expected to handle.

On Sunday I decided it was time I re-sealed the slate floor in the kitchen.  It’s supposed to be done every year, but I hadn’t gotten around to it since we had the floor installed in 2002 as part of a kitchen facelift.  I scrubbed the floor thoroughly and applied two coats of sealer, which made it look dramatically better.  The cats had to spend the afternoon locked in the basement, but they got over it.

Also back in 2002, I bought an attractive, Arts and Crafts-style stained glass panel to hang above our kitchen sink.  It had been sitting in my closet ever since.  This weekend my husband and I finally managed to hang it up, although it took every bit of our combined effort.  We’re not that good with tools, measuring, etc., so there was an ever-present element of slapstick to the whole affair. 

The kitchen looks beautiful now with its gleaming floors, stained glass accent and a vase full of irises that I accidentally cut down with the WeedEater on Saturday. 

If only I had that kind of energy all the time!

According to MEXOnline:

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the
victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in
1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican
state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with
some recognition in other parts of the Mexico, and especially in U.S.
cities with a significant Mexican population.

Where I live, Cinco de Mayo has become "The Day When Every Mexican Restaurant Is Packed To The Rafters."

The maternal side of my husband’s family is Mexican, and I remember a decade ago that my husband’s mother used to take his sister out of school on Cinco de Mayo so they could go out to lunch and have a special holiday together.

That was before the liquor companies and fast food restaurants got the idea to promote Cinco de Mayo as yet another day of themed consumption.  Now, suddenly, everybody’s racing to the Mexican restaurants that day.

Yet who am I to argue?  I like tamales.  I like margaritas.  Our office had a group lunch yesterday at a popular Mexican restaurant and I jammed myself into the crowded lobby with the rest of the easily influenced diners.

You’d hope that the extra business and revenue from beefed-up Cinco de Mayo celebrations would benefit small restaurant owners, and it probably has in the short term.  Unfortunately, Hispanic business owners are still hindered by discrimination, according to the owner of our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant.

My husband went to buy tamales on Wednesday night and didn’t come back for more than an hour.  He was talking to the owner, Mr. Garcia, who was upset that despite the fact that he’d worked hard to triple his tiny restaurant’s business in just a few years, he had been denied a small loan he needed to grow the business further.

A friend of ours is on the board of the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, so we’re going to get them in touch with each other in the hope that Mr. Garcia can get assistance there.  Still, it’s a sad state of affairs when an otherwise successful entrepreneur can’t take advantage of "mainstream" funding sources just because of his accent.

That’s a problem that can’t be fixed by a few fiestas…

Yesterday morning I went into work, where I was informed in no uncertain terms just how bad I looked and promptly sent home. 

I spent most of the day sleeping, lying in bed contemplating the peeling wallpaper, cracked plaster ceiling and cobwebs in the corner of the door, then sleeping some more, and occasionally rising briefly to check my e-mail and respond to anything that seemed urgent.

I finally went to the doctor at 4:30, listless enough that I ended up lying down on the exam table while I waited for her to come in.  I was afraid she was going to tell me I had a virus and nothing could be done about it, but tests revealed a kidney infection.  I was so relieved that I had something treatable, I almost started feeling better when she handed me the prescription slip.

Thanks to my first two doses of Cipro (which will protect me from anthrax, too – bonus!), no doubt boosted by the placebo effect, I’m headed to the office again today.  I still feel as though someone kicked me in both kidneys, but I imagine that will pass unless it turns out I have kidney stones (again), too.  The doctor thought that was possible but unlikely based on the symptoms, so we’ll see.

I’m looking forward to thinking about something besides my own health for a change, and I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me whine as well.  That’s the problem with a daily blog – you’re forced to talk about what’s happening, no matter how uninteresting it might be for the audience.  I’ll try to discuss something more relevant to the general public tomorrow.

I woke up yesterday secure in the knowledge that, sooner or later, I was going to have to throw up.  I was not wrong.

I actually managed to interview someone over the phone and then take notes through another hour of phone meetings later, but by the time all that was over, my fever had kicked into high gear and I ached from head to toe.  My skin hurt, my muscles hurt and my stomach was too touchy for even the mildest food.

After a shower, I retreated to bed at noon and stayed plastered there like roadkill until it was almost dark outside.  I’d feel hot but with cold hands and feet, then cold all over, then hot all over.  One cat kept trying to lie on me, and I had to push him away repeatedly until he decided he could soak in enough heat if he just lay next to me.

I turned on the television once, but I couldn’t concentrate so I turned it back off.  Sometimes I dozed, but much of the time I just lay there in misery.

My husband offered to get me something to eat and I requested cherry Jell-o.  I wish I hadn’t been so specific about the flavor because he returned with the only brand the store had in cherry:  Jolly Rancher gelatin snacks.  If you’re an adult and you’ve never had this product, let me just say that it’s not for you.  It’s rubbery, gaggingly sweet and it assaults you with flavor.  It was nothing like the cool, refreshing snack I’d been craving, but I ate one anyway because my blood sugar was scraping bottom.

I finally gathered the energy to get up and take a couple of Tylenols.  They eventually knocked back the pain and fever so I could take a long nap…just in time to wake up for a couple of hours and then turn in for the night.

Today I’m feeling somewhat better but I’m still a trifle warm.  I think a trip to the doctor is in order – I’m going to try to get an appointment later today.  In the meantime, my workload hasn’t gotten any smaller so I’m going to head to the office and see what I can accomplish.  Wish me luck.

I don’t know if it’s food poisoning or a stomach bug, but something has me feeling very, very bad.  I think you’d best entertain yourself with my blogroll today.  I’m going back to bed for a while…

Well, that was a nice respite from work, but I’d take another day or two if I could get it.

On Friday evening, we went and saw Hitchhiker’s Guide as planned.  As I said in a previous post comment, I have read the books countless times, read the radio scripts, listened to the radio program (programme?) version that came out in album form, and seen the TV show.  I’ve been as immersed in the variations of the story as a person can be.  That’s why I think I was absolutely fine with the story changes:  every version is slightly different anyway.

My experience of the movie was comfortable recognition of the familiar parts interspersed with interest in the new parts.  In general, the movie was quite faithful to the tone and many of the particulars of the books.  I was pleased to hear that they’d chosen to use the old theme song, too.

It was rather interesting to see the characters recast and reimagined a bit, although I’m not sure what Douglas Adams would have thought of Zaphod Beeblebrox played with a George W. Bush accent and smirk.

On Saturday, we drove to a huge, twice-annual flea market about an hour and forty-five minutes away.  The sales sprawl out over two towns and we spent all afternoon wandering through the collections of antiques, collectibles and junk.  I couldn’t help wondering what makes a flea market seller eventually decide that a particular piece is never going to sell and should be thrown away.  In some sellers’ cases, it seemed nothing could ever tip the balance.

I didn’t really buy much, mainly because I wasn’t looking for anything in particular.  I bought a couple of faux copper Jell-o molds, but it turned out I already had those designs.  Most of my spending went toward fresh-squeezed lemonade, kettle corn and a bowl of homemade chicken and noodles.  Even my snacking was minimal compared to previous years, so I have plenty of lunch money left for the week.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was ready to take it easy.  I slept late, went out for breakfast, lazed around some more, and finally spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at my sister’s house.  My sister informed me that my niece believes that I may be a robot and not a real person at all.  Apparently this has something to do with my not having children, but the logic wasn’t all that clear. 

I finally took my tired, non-mechanized self home and turned in relatively early last night.  Now it’s off to face another week at the office.  Oh, if only I were a robot!