Wednesday, April 26, 2006

nap time!

I just finished my last booth visit. Tomorrow I'll hand out some awards and then fly home.

My shins and feet ache. But at least my feet are nearly blister free. (I have one tiny one near my second toe on my right foot.)

I've passed out a hundred business cards, visited fifty booths and crammed my shoulder bag full of press releases and CDs.

Now, I'm going to take a nap.

Cheers.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

good night, and good luck

I'm off for Vegas this weekend to see the TV broadcast community in action.

So, no posts from theCallowQueen for a week.

Sorry I haven't the time to write more. There is much to be done before I go.

Monday, April 17, 2006

stumble, fumble, fall

I feel like I just keep stumbling from one fumble to the next. I feel like a baby who keeps falling down as he learns to walk, minus excuse of not knowing how to walk. It makes me want to shrink back from others and hide in some little, dark, hidden nook. From there, it would be harder for me to accidentally harm with my words or deeds.

But no matter how hard I might wish to hide right now, I know that I won't. My spirit grows restless to quickly. My desire to watch the world around me is too strong. And, so, I'll continue my series of apologetic fumbles.

A word to the wise: Don't listen to what I say, don't read what I write, and don't watch what I do. Also, if you see me driving, get away quickly. And don't entrust me with your plants, pets or breakables.

Now, if you are not wise or choose to disregard the warning, welcome to my world, and I mean no harm. But, even so, please proceed with caution.

Hmm...perhaps I should pass out hardhats.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

comp time

We had a pre-convention meeting today. My boss must be in a good mood. He gave us two extra days off because we'll be in Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday (well, I won't be there on Saturday with the rest, but I'm not going to argue about that little point). And this is after he gave us an extra day for all the work we did to get our mammoth March and April issues out on time.

Now, I don't get many official vacation days. And my two major trips could use the extra padding that these off-the-book days now afford me. Woohoo! Now I need to start planning my trip to Asia.

Oh, and my boss to us out to Carrabba's for lunch. He isn't a very social guy. And, we kind of roped him into it. His original proposal was to pick up food to bring back to us. Hehe. Lunch was fabulous. The salmon was the best I think I've ever had and the chocolate cake that I split with two of my co-workers was divine.

I'd better work now while I'm still hyped up from the sugar. I'll probably lose steam early. I'm so full. And there's still the Seder dinner tonight.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

bug or beetle

So it may be carpet beetles instead of bed bugs. Carpet beetles are much more common, often being brought in from the outside or through improperly sealed screen doors and windows (which I definitely have), so in that respect, they are the more likely the culprit.

And they are easier to get rid of. But this doesn't do much to lessen the gross factor.

One problem with this theory: Carpet beetles feed on fabric and food, which isn't something I've seen evidence of in this case.

Anyway, the exterminator comes tomorrow. I am just so disgusted. It's just icky. I'm ready for this to be over with.

Monday, April 10, 2006

infested

Remember when you were in elementary school and the school nurse would visit your class and inspect each child's head with a tongue depressor placed in one of her latex-glove-protected hands?

Remember how the kids found with lice were marked as dirty, as outcasts? Or maybe you were one of the unfortunately who hung their coats next to that of an unknown host or however else one gets such a nuisance. I wasn't one of those kids. I was lice free and felt free to judge those who weren't.

But something happened over the weekend, and I think I have an idea of how those loused kids felt.

I found a little bug crawling across my mattress a while back. I'd never seen anything like it. But, as I'd just recently been outside, I figured the little guy had hitched a ride. But then on Saturday morning I saw another. I didn't want to think what I was thinking. Later at Big-Bold-D and G-man's apartment, I sat down at the computer, went to Google Images and typed in "bed bugs."

It's disgusting. It's creepy. It can't be in my room. I borrowed a flash light from the boys and when back across the hall. I pulled the bed away from the wall, and my fears were realized. Along the wall was evidence of enough bug activity to make my stomach turn. (Big-Bold-D says this is why he makes it a policy never to look under or around his bed.)

I immediately began putting all of my bedding in huge, black trash bags. I called my apartment manager, who was out of town, but the maintenance guy said the exterminator was already scheduled to visit on Wednesday and that he'd add my apartment to the list. After about 20 phone calls to and from my dad, I went to the store for zip up allergy covers for my mattress and box springs.

Kcprogrammer and his sister happened to be near by and came to assist in damage control. We tore the bottom off of the box springs and saw evidence of past activity. That sucker went immediately to the curb. The next day, my dad cut down the box spring so it would fit in the trash bins. He said that while he saw old stuff, he hadn't seen any signs of recent activity. I don't know that this information was particularly comforting, but it got me thinking about where these buggers came from.

The possibilities:
  1. They were already there when I moved in. They like to live in the crevices between carpeting and the wall, in cracks in the wall and in electrical sockets.
  2. They traveled via apartment wiring from a neighboring apartment. To these bugs, hotels and apartments are the happening spots to be.
  3. They hitched a ride from a college apartment. I'd put this one on the old Towers on campus more than our little place off of Florida St. Although the latter did have an ant issue. (The building neighboring the former had a roach issue.)
  4. They followed me home from a trip. If this is the case, they could have originated in any of a number of places from here to California, North Dakota or Texas, and then there were my two trips to New York. And not to be left out: most of Western Europe and Singapore.
The last on the list is the most disconcerting because I'm about to go to Las Vegas for a week. I'm not looking forward to that hotel stay. Even if it is the Hilton.

Did you see that recent news story on the woman who stayed in this upscale hotel room, which was infested with bed bugs, which went home with her and proceeded to bite here a zillion times? Right, so my mind goes back to all those hotel, hostel and B&B rooms I've stayed in. I shudder. And then to think how long they were there in secret, showing no sign of existence. It's scary. But if it hadn't been for that story, I don't know that I would have even considered bed bugs. That's a nasty problem that other people--dirtier people--get, not me.

I write all this, not just because I love flagellating myself for you all, but because I want you to be aware. Check your bedding carefully. The only evidence on my bed (aside from the live critter walking across it) was found only by ripping the bottom of the box spring away. They're hiders. The shy away from light.

And I'm going to keep my new matteress and box spring (if I can bring myself to have a box spring--I'm really doubting the need for one) in those allergy covers that people use for dust mites. If tiny dust mites can't get through that protective bag then bed bugs won't be able to either.

This public service report has been brought to you by theCallowQueen who urges you to sleep responsibly.

Friday, April 07, 2006

my, my

I woke up this morning at 4am and decided to write a bit in my journal (hoping that my mind and would soon allow me to return to sleep). I wrote down the word "my" and stared at it for the longest time.

Is that how that's spelled?
It looks like it's missing a letter.
Is it even a word?
Yes, of course, it's a word.
Yes, it's spelled right.
But where's my dictionary?
I should check just to make sure.
No, I won't check.
I know it's right, and I'll just feel silly looking up such a common, easy word.

Yeah, I can't believe I forgot the word "my" either. But I did.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

word power

One little accomplishment
receiving
One little compliment
offers
One spirit raised
and
One day praised

Monday, April 03, 2006

the biggest issue ever

OK, well I don't know that this is the biggest issue ever, but at 494 pages, it's the sumo wrestler that were currently trying to squeeze through production.

You read right. Four-hundred and ninety-four pages. Thankfully we are not the producers of all 494 pages. A giant insert counts for 249 of the pages. Take that away and we're still looking at 155 pages, which is still substantial for a magazine that hovers around 100 pages.

Right now my fellow editors an I are working on more than 80 pages of new products. Yay!

And my headache, which sat yesterday behind my right eye, has now settled in behind my left eye. I think I preferred the pain on the right.
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