Monitors, creepy dolls, etc...

Oh, what a week. Today is my first day off in almost two weeks. I started back part-time at the house of death this week. The drive is a bit on the long side normally, but tolerable. Thursday is was really rainy (surprise!) and it took me an hour and a half to get home (for you locals, from Sunnyside). Wednesday it took me nearly as long to get home from Lake Oswego. I hate sitting in traffic more than almost anything.

So our monitor has been acting up forever. It's got to be 10 years old or something close to it, and for the last year or so it has been getting all... well... rolly or something that makes it unviewable and then it shuts off. Annoying, certainly, but if you smacked it real hard it would behave. The last couple weeks it degenerated into working for five or so minutes, then rolling, then shutting off. No amount of smacking seemed to help. (I have the sore hand to prove it.) Thus my lack of blogging lately. I can't get far in 5 minutes and my patience is about nil at this point. Since we're still poverty-stricken, a new monitor isn't really in the budget so I got on craigslist to see if I could find a free one. I did, but the guy flaked so no dice :( I was gonna head to the Goodwill up the street but I found a brand new, in the box one for $30. No smacking required.

Sooo... The creepy doll. This ad has been sitting on my computer desk for a while waiting to find its way here.

I don't think the text is going to be readable, so I'll give you some highlights.

"Look at his face. Doesn't he look like a real baby? Go ahead and pick him up. Fully as large as a newborn and artfully jointed to sleep blissfully or snuggle in your arms, 'William' captures forever that magical day your own little boy came into the world. "

"'William' is lovingly handcrafted from our trademarked Gentle Touch (TM) vinyl that exactly captures the look of a newborn. From his closed eyes and chubby cheeks to his wee hands and creased knees, every detail is a joy to discover." (I had to get the "wee" in there for Lottie. And that Gentle Touch vinyl... Imported!)

"If you are not delighted with 'William', we will gladly buy him back for the purchase price any time within 100 days..." (Buying a "him" isn't legal anymore, is it? Maybe it's okay with babies. I dunno.)

Anyway, they have a website. Many of their dolls are even more frightening. You must go look. It's www.paradisegalleries.com

Ummm... I think that's about it. Oh, wait, cute boy. I'm going with James Marsden, because we just saw The 24th Day, which he was in.

Also, with the dark hair and blue eyes, he reminds me of someone who lives in my house who would be a cute boy of the week if he didn't have some irrational fear of his picture being on the internet.

Netflix

Today I spent the day working in the rain and wind moving manure around. Humbling, but you have to pay the bills somehow.

So this is why I love the Netflix... A couple weeks ago I got an email survey from them and for some reason I filled it out and sent it back. All very positive, I've had no complaints. Then they asked me to take part in a focus group. By participating I'd get 6 months of free Netflix, and it would only take half an hour. I jumped on that one. Now I'm gold for half a year. Next thing was to go to an interview to be in a commercial, which I did today. I don't even know if it pays anything, but it sounds like fun. And I'm guessing this is how I get discovered, and become America's next top (male) supermodel :)

If you don't already have Netflix, by all means look into it. www.netflix.com And if you choose to sign up for it, say I sent you. I think I get a free month or something.

I'll let you know if I end up being famous...

Rain rain rain rain....

For those of you not in the Pacific Northwest, it's been raining a LOT here this last week. Like inches per day. I know we have a rep as being rainy, but it's usually more drizzle and clouds and mist, which I have no problem working out in. Downpours and 30 mph winds are a different story. It sucks.

On a happier note, it stopped raining for like 5 hours in the evening on Halloween so we got a reasonable number of trick-or-treaters. It's always fun to see all the kids in their costumes, and the surly teenagers. We carved a couple pumpkins...

Mine:

Matthew's:

We also dressed the dogs up as usual. These are recycled costumes from a couple years ago so some of you may have seen them, but they're so appropriate if you know the boys.

Diablo: I have no idea what prompted this face but it seemed to fit the costume.
Jackson: Hard to tell, but that's a halo, some wings, and a very unhappy dog.

I considered trying to get a costume on the fat angry kitty but I have this strange aversion to being bitten and/or scratched. That's about all I have to report for now, as dinner is about ready. More soon, including how much I love Netflix...