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The Major's Lady

'cause he's my man

5/17/09 10:34 am - Life Goes On

Mom passed away on her 80th birthday.  We'd been waiting for it since she was reclassified to hospice care earlier this year.  Thanks to everyone who sent greetings and prayers -- they were very much appreciated.

Dad's doing well.  I call him regularly, and he recently started reposting to his blog (gconk.blogspot.com) -- methinks I wasn't the only one harassing him to start reposting (g).  He travels now as much as he can, which is a good thing.

I'm still trying to talk hubby into early retirement.  Our health is just deteriorating, and I'm more than willing to have my doc sign off on whatever paperwork is needed.
Current Mood: okay

3/24/09 06:07 pm - Heading to Parents' Home

See gconk.blogspot.com for details.

Anyhoo, I'm worried so hubby's driving me out there in the morning.  We'll be dropping off the girls at Warm & Fuzzy Cat Boarding (great place in the DC area) on our way out of Dodge.  I'm really hoping I'll be back home in a couple of days.
Current Mood: scared

2/7/09 12:35 pm - Emails Sent Regarding the Stupidity of the Bailout Legislation

I guess I'm starting to post again after all (g).

 

( Read more... )

 


Current Mood: angry

2/6/09 08:20 pm - "Thirty" Limericks

A co-worker and good friend will be turning the big three-oh in a couple of months, and for nearly a year I've been threatening to give her a copy of something I wrote a long, long time ago. You see, I turned the big three-oh back in 1988. 'Twas a depressing time indeed. So depressing, that during the year I was the big three-oh I wrote thirty limericks about being thirty. So, in my friend's honor, and because I really haven't posted much in ages, here are:


A word to the wise -- these are mine, period. Use them without my permission and you will be paying dearly for the rest of my days.
Current Mood: silly

1/25/09 11:08 am - Life Does Indeed Go On

It's been quite a while since I posted. A lot has gone on.

 

( First, the health is deteriorating... )

11/4/08 06:55 am - First Crime I Witnessed On Election Day

Two women walking around our neighborhood taking pamphlets off of cars in the neighborhood.

I don't care if you don't agree with what's on the pamphlets -- that was stealing.

We tried to talk to them and they ran away.  Hubby chased them down and found out where lived.  I wanted to call the police to report them, but hubby disagreed.  It's on their karma.

BTW, on our way back home, I picked up pamphlets that had been dropped on the street to take home and put in paper recycling.

On other news, hubby and I got to the polling place 25 minutes before the polls opened and it took us more than 30 minutes to get through the line to vote.  The place was crowded with voters -- yes!  What a great country.

9/28/08 06:55 am - Mud Slinging and Heat in the Kitchen


Yesterday, or was it Friday, I heard about the Obama campaign's "truth squad" working in Missouri to stop an NRA ad from being aired.  After viewing the NRA ad (you can find it just about anywhere), I figured it wasn't a big deal; after all, it was aimed at white hunters -- no one of color to be seen in the ad.  However, considering most of the people in Missouri are white and hunt, I can see a problem for the Obama campaign.  Anyhoo, at the time I saw no proof of the Obama campaign's trying to infringe on anyone's First Amendment rights, so no big deal.

( However..... )
Current Mood: nauseated

8/29/08 03:16 pm - Doing the Sarah Palin Happy Dance

I heard about this woman about 3 months ago as a potential VP pick for McCain.  All I could think was, "Wow.  Great choice.  Unfortunately, he'll never pick her."  Since then, whenever anyone would ask me who would be a good VP pick, I'd say "That governor from Alaska -- the one with all the good energy expertise -- unfortunately, McCain won't pick her."  I mean, why would he?  McCain's politics aren't too far removed from Clinton's.  The best "conservative" pick I expected out of him was pseudo-conservative Mitt Romney.

( I've been grinning from ear to ear since before noon today. If I was physically capable of doing back-flips and cart-wheels, I would be -- instead, I'm doing back-flips and cart-wheels on the inside (g). )

8/7/08 03:15 pm - Another Blogger in the Family!

My daddy's currently working on setting up a blog, on blogspot, with the intention of posting about daily life with mom to keep family and friends updated.

Alas, I had to instruct him about OPSEC and INFOSEC.  You'd think a former USAF officer would know better. ;-) 

2/17/08 08:49 am - This is *so* cool!

A sworn capitalist working to make solar energy affordable to everyone:

 

"You may not like their politics, or their attitude, or their style. But if we really do have an energy revolution in this country and free ourselves from our addiction to fossil fuels, it will be because of hard-charging, take-no-prisoners entrepreneurs like T.J. Rodgers — not UN committees, environmental groups, or government officials."

Read the whole thing.

1/30/08 09:04 am - OMG

[info]calysto wrote in [info]guncontrolnow  Turning Point

Wow.  Welcome to the world of personal responsibility, and I say that with all sincerity.

(h/t to SayUncle and

[info]throwingstardna)

 

1/28/08 10:50 am - One of Our Civic Duties

In Meditations on Self Defense, a TX member of law enforcement outlines how defending ourselves when victimized is not a right or even part of our nature but an obligation to our fellow citizens.

7/28/07 06:29 pm - A Special Thanks for First Responders, EMTs, and ER Workers

With the two-year anniversary of the plane crash coming up (see "This Too Shall Pass," "A Long Week," and "Update"), I'm indulging in a little pity party.

I could easily blame LawDog for turning me on to this story. I could blame the instructors from the first responder training I took about a week ago for inspiring an interest in reading this stuff as much as possible. Or, I could just blame the tree that caught my brother's undercarriage in the darkness, plunging it onto the golf course just shy of the runway.

Anyway, today I came upon a (not-quite-fictional) tale told from three different perspectives: The cop who was first on the scene of a really nasty car crash, his good friend and EMT who was second to arrive on scene, and their good friend the ER nurse who dealt with two of the three patients found on scene.

I was doing okay reading the first two perspectives, dealing with the expected leaky-eye-syndrome that comes from such a tale. However, what started me bawling was reading the ER nurse's tale. At some point the role of Bobby somehow got switched with my sister and the tears came in a flood.

The fact that my sister lived through the mangling of that accident is a miracle -- even more so that she now has use of all her limbs as well as her brain -- and it's directly attributable to people such as those described in this tale-of-three-perspectives.

BTW, A Day In The Life Of An Ambulance Driver, the EMT mentioned above, has become one of my daily reads since I took a First Responder Course a week ago (it was a periodic read before then), so I would have come across the story eventually.

Current Mood: touched

7/4/07 01:47 pm - And Then There Were Three

Current Mood: sad

6/4/07 07:01 pm - Last Month's Conference in Minneapolis, MN

I went to the Society for Technical Communication's 54th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN, last month. If you're curious, these are links to the posts (I changed the posting dates so they'd appear in May's archive):

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

6/2/07 01:08 pm - Survival Tips, on the cheap

( I wrote this up at work, for distribution at the office, because I'm the office emergency preparedness person. )

5/17/07 11:55 pm - STC Notes (6)

I managed to be packed, in the lobby, and ready to head to the airport at 0735; unfortunately, the shuttle runs every 30 min at 25-past the hour and 5-before the hour, so I missed it by 10 min (sigh).  The airport shuttle was filled with STC attendees. We had a good old time discussing the conference on the way to the airport.  Because I didn’t get to the airport exactly 2 hours early—as specified by many travel experts—security was a mess. Even so, I managed to get through with no hassles and to my gate with about 45 min to spare. That’s when I found out MSP has no smoking areas past security—not even an outdoor alcove where we are subjected to the elements, such as at LAX. That should have clued me in to the fact that this was not going to be a good day.
 
I began chewing Nicorette immediately, then discovered there were no coffee shops nearby—in fact, if I wanted anything, I had to go back to the central hub, which was a *long* walk. So, I suffered. When I boarded the plane, much to my dismay 7B was in the middle of the plane, not near the front—everything was quite crowded, but I was on my way home and happy. (Have I mentioned recently how much I missed my hubby?) Then it happened: out on the runway the pilot got a warning light and had to return to the gate. Initially, they promised it would be a quick repair and we’d be boarding again in an hour. Three hours later they cancelled the flight and began the process of putting everyone on other flights. Fortunately, they had lots of flights leaving for the Washington area that afternoon (this includes to BWI and DCA). They put me on a flight to DCA (my least-favorite of the three) leaving at 7:00 that night and I begged for an aisle seat near the front of the plane (I was quite ready to pay to upgrade to first class); the guy couldn’t get me an aisle seat, but asked if I would take a window seat in the last row of first class. I said of course and asked how much—he said not to worry about it.
 
Alas, the flight proved to be the best part of the day (other than greeting my hubby, of course) as my bag wasn’t on my flight.  Nor did it arrive as promised the next morning. And when I called to find out where it was, they couldn’t find it. To make a long story short I didn’t get my bag until after 9:30 that evening.
 
My weekend was basically shot. All my plans had hinged around my getting home at 2pm Thursday to relax, unpack, and do a little laundry. Friday I was supposed to relax more and head out to the Gem and Jewelry Show at the Dulles Expo Center and later be taken to dinner by my sweetie. Saturday we were to take The Mighty (our eldest cat) to the vet in the morning, pick up my car from the dealership (where they worked on it all week) in the afternoon, and in the late-afternoon/evening I was to work in the yard and maybe do another load of laundry.
 
I spent all day Friday on the phone with Northwest. My hubby picked up carry-out for us that night while I stayed home to wait for the bag (they located it around 5:30). Saturday morning we took care of the cat and the car, I did some serious food shopping (people as well as cat food) in the afternoon, and that night and all Sunday I spent in a marathon of cleaning and doing laundry.

(posted 6/4/07)

5/16/07 11:55 pm - STC Notes (5)

The last day of the conference began with Distributed Writing: A Psychology of Social Computing Practices. The speaker started with a discussion of computers and how they’ve changed our lives, how the WWW used to work, and how the web is transforming into Web 2.0, segued into how this relates to technical communication and how we can use the new tools of social networking, and wrapped up with web security and how Web 2.0 can be a great danger to our information as well as personal security. Good stuff.
 
What’s Psychology Got To Do With Style? Practical Ways To Improve Your Communication Skills began with a discussion of persuasion, then discussed communication styles and tone, and lastly addressed managing the “politics” of various situations, including the fact that most offices now contain up to four generations (teens to seventy-somethings).
 
I waited all conference for If You’re So Smart, Why Does Your Writing Suck? (I found out the next day on the shuttle to the airport that there were close to 325 people attending that session!) The presenter discussed what makes bad writing (inconsiderate content, commission/omission, and bad process) and how to help writers shape content by reining in “knowledge telling” (a tendency to tell-all) and “knowledge transforming” (overestimating the reader’s vocabulary, too much attention to “seductive detail,” and seeing connections that aren’t there).
 
That was pretty much the end of the conference—there was a closing session, but it usually doesn’t contain anything more interesting that the opening session—so Chris and her husband took Sheila and I to Mall of America. Alas, Wendy had to leave after the second session (we all attended the same sessions that day) so it was just the four of us. I almost begged off because I was concerned I would be hurting too much long before we were supposed to leave. I was right, unfortunately, but Chris was kind enough to agree to leave early. We split into two groups, and Sheila and I began our “mall walking” stopping at various stores that caught our eyes. Sheila never did buy anything, but seemed to go into more stores than I did. I picked up a bunch of touristy treats for my office, a bottle of Minnesota ice wine for me, three bars of pine-scented soap for my sweetie (who loves the scent of pine), and a new leather belt-purse (aka fanny pack) for me. We finished the evening with dinner at “Bubba Gump’s”—a Forrest Gump-themed restaurant.

(posted 6/4/07)

5/15/07 11:55 pm - STC Notes (4)

After having been awake since 0030, I felt surprisingly alert when I arrived for the Technical Editing Special Interest Group meeting Tuesday morning; of course, the eight cups of coffee I had might have had something to do with that. Sheila, who is not yet a member of STC much less the SIG, attended to see what it was about; she very much enjoyed the camaraderie of those who edit for a living—something that the DIA editors lost when we were split up, and that Sheila hopes to begin experiencing more of when our agency editors get together for their periodic lunches (note to self—schedule another editors luncheon).
 
If I’d Known Then What I Know Now + Trends In Technical Communication, my first session of the day, consisted of some very lively discussion among the five presenters/panelists regarding their experiences. One point they brought out several times was that written as well as oral communication should always consider those for whom English is not their first language; in other words, simple clear language (especially when writing instructions) that can be easily translated—word choice is essential for clarity and reduces the possibility of confusion!
 
My next session was the Editing Progression. I sat at three different tables during the 90-min session—Editing for Religious Organizations, Editing the Work of Nonwriters (using onscreen tools), and Make Each Technical Editing Minute Count. The first I took as “something completely different,” and the fact that the table was near-empty. The second was presented by a woman with around 3 years in the editing field, but she had a PhD (and wasn’t afraid to use it); she had one good tip—a monthly Writing Tips email sent out to writers highlighting trouble spots from the month before. The third I expected to have more to do with speed editing (one area I always feel I could improve on), but it had more to do with selecting editing styles/levels and discussions with writers.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed Writing For The Web. Key points: people want to find stuff, not read/slog through page after page; they want information/answers to solve problems or complete a task; link names should be precise; BLUF (bottom line up front); and web pages should be reviewed regularly to ensure they are up to date and meet customer needs.
 
The last session of the day was Words, Words, Words: Controlling The Unnecessary Sprawl Of Terminology. Excellent session presented by the TechEditing SIG leader. She discussed controlling terminology—glossaries for jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations (something I’m working on now for my office); language control (minimizing a writer’s love of the thesaurus or desire to create new, cutesy, words); setting guidelines and creating style sheets; and creating a terminology data base for writers so they consistently use one word or phrase to mean one thing. Alas, I had to leave when she got to the Q&A section because I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, and sitting in the front row I didn’t want her taking it personally.
 
Needless to say, I went back to my room after that and went straight to (my very lonely) bed. (Have I mentioned how much I really don’t like being without my sweetie?)

(posted 6/4/07)

5/14/07 11:55 pm - STC Notes (3)

I had much better luck with the coffee maker that morning.
 
I found Chris outside the registration area around 8:00. She had hubby Larry M. with her, though he was there strictly for vacation. (Have I mentioned how much I missed my hubby?) When I told her about the Polka band at the Welcome Reception, she was sorry she missed it (her name has three vowels and seven consonants—go figure). She was quite happy to hear that next year’s conference is in Philadelphia—Larry is from that area. She was also pleased to hear I may be able to talk my hubby into taking some time off and joining me there as well. As Sheila wasn’t with her, and she didn’t have her cellphone number on her, Chris decided to hang out by the reception area while I headed to where the Opening Session was to be held to save some seats for us. It turns out that Sheila went to the New Attendees session, which started at 7:00. When the two of them did hook up, while they were exchanging cellphone numbers a woman happened to overhear and struck up a conversation. Wendy G., amazingly enough, is from our sister agency down the river—small world! (She and Sheila ended up becoming fast friends and went to the same sessions throughout the day.) Chris eventually joined me at the Opening Session, but somehow Sheila and Wendy missed us, or we missed them, and so we gave away their seats.
 
The start of the session was filled with award presentations, some of which were actually quite nice to listen to. Alas, I was reminded that at STC I’m surrounded by leftists when one of the awards presented was for Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” The keynote speaker was a hoot, though. Once introduced, he immediately proceeded to glaze everyone’s eyes over when he announced he was going to talk about math for the next 40 min. Amazingly enough, he made his entire talk quite entertaining, and ended up receiving not only a standing ovation but the equivalent of a curtain call when the STC director pulled him back out for a bow as everyone was still applauding. (During his talk, though, he again reminded me of my minority status when he discussed “Inconvenient Truth” and its rebuttal film, criticizing the rebuttal film as filled with interviews that twisted the words of the speakers and was otherwise loaded with inaccuracies. Of course, he qualified his statements with his high qualifications—more than 5 years as a documentary maker for BBC. Yup, real objectivity there.)
 
The first session I attended was Understanding Web 2.0 And Its Impact On Technical Communication. It was standing room only, though a few people managed to stake out some space on the floor in the aisles anyway. (I later heard it had the highest attendance of all the sessions, and that’s saying something!) I was very much in need of a good overview of the web of the future, and this session definitely provided it. Although it should have been at least an hour and a half, the speaker managed to cram all the info into the 60 min allotted. Fortunately, all I needed was a good overview; however, when I left the session to meet Chris and Larry for lunch, he was still answering questions from the audience (going into details on information I really didn’t need, so I felt no need to stay).
 
The three of us headed off to an English pub for lunch. Although I finally met Sheila, she and Wendy ended up having other plans and were unable to join us.
 
Unfortunately, service there was awfully slow, so I didn’t get back in time to get a seat at the session I really wanted (Myths and Trends in the Changing English Language), so the nearest of my other options was It’s Not My Aunt’s Online Help Anymore. What made it worse was that the session had little to offer me as far as info for my job was concerned, so I left after about 45 min and went back to the Exhibit Hall (and got a 20-min head/neck reiki treatment from the massage lady).
 
The last session of the day I attended was What Technical Communicators Need To Know To Succeed In The Real World. Good stuff! For the most part, it was about what makes a person successful. We also did mini-workshops where we partnered up to discuss what each of us does right and what we need to do better in order to succeed. (I later found out that Sheila and Wendy attended the same session, but were on the other side of the room.)
 
For dinner, Chris and Larry and I met at The Newsroom (reasonable prices, journalistic atmosphere). I was quite pleased when Sheila and Wendy joined us half-way through our meal. Unfortunately, Chris, Larry, and I needed to leave early so that we could get back to our respective hotel rooms to watch “Heroes.” (If you’re not familiar with the show, you probably don’t understand the attraction.)
 
I ended up getting to bed at around 10:00, but woke up two and a half hours later. After tossing and turning for an hour and a half, I decided to get up to write this (sigh).

(posted 6/4/07)
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