…right when it was time to leave work today?

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We’ve turned on our air conditioning for the past (and future) few days..

What the heck is up with that?? It’s 79 degrees outside according to my iPhone’s weather widget.  Where the hell did winter go??

We had to turn on our a/c because due to our vaulted ceilings throughout the house (which, by the way, I do not ever recommend to anyone – ever) and shoddy air circulation, it’s currently 82 degrees in my office/den, where I am currently sitting and contemplating finishing the last few tasks for work (telecommute day).  And the fact that my 24″ LCD monitor gives off quite a bit of heat probably doesn’t help my room temperature much.  I don’t know what is up with that.  I can put my hand up in front of it a couple inches away and feel the heat radiating off of it. 

Anyway… I know all you in the frigid climates may be jealous of the temperatures here.  But honestly, I’d rather it be 30-40 degrees cooler right now, it’s too early for this kind of weather!!

We see these all over the place where I live. Short, tall, skinny, wide, no arms, dozens of arms… Did you know it is illegal do do any damage to these plants, even if you own one? You cannot just go out and dig one up out of the desert and plant it in your yard, not only because of how large and heavy saguaros are, but even if they’re teeny tiny and could put it in a small pot, if you have one without having purchased it through a licensed grower, you can find yourself in some very hot water.

If you decide to shoot one full of bullet holes in a drunken stupor, and get caught, you will be fined. I think you can even be fined if you hit one accidentally with your car!

Edited 3/6/2017: AcoBox doesn’t seem to exist anymore, so I found another image to use instead.

Anyway, I just thought I would try out a new service I found via some other bloggers’ postings about a site that you can find licensed pictures where you can link to the blog images free for your blogs. I like this idea – I like being able to post photographs on my blog without the hassle of having to upload them somewhere, not to mention doing any resizing and optimization beforehand – this place does it all for you! AcoBox.com

Ever since that game came out, my husband has wanted them to make and sell a Sackboy plush of some kind, since he would most certainly buy one. Well, they have not done so yet (to our knowledge), or if they have the quality is less than stellar.

However, there is a knitting designer in England who knitted up a Sackboy and created a pattern for it, and it is in an English knitting magazine (also sold in the U.S.).   We now have the pattern in hand, and he has asked (begged? LOL) for me to knit one up for him.

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My group number along with several others was released from having to show up today.  So it’s back work as usual for me.

A colleague of mine who was also tagged for jury duty today was not nearly as lucky; while he did not have to report to the court at 8:15a, he was told to call back after 11am to see if he was still needed.  That time is quickly approaching, I wonder if they’ll make him drive downtown for the rest of the afternoon?

In December I got a jury summons for January 14.  So tonight I have to call the number on the paperwork to see if they still need my group or if I luck out for like the umpteenth time and my group gets dismissed.  I think I’ve gotten five or six summons over the years and have yet to actually set foot in a courthouse because my group always gets dismissed beforehand.

So, will my luck hold out?  Or will I have to trek down and sit all day to see if I get called for a jury?

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Who knew?  I went ahead and signed up for that Christi Friesen steampunk gryphon class I mentioned the other day, the night before it was slated to start.  Then on Saturday after I dropped off my daughter at her grandmother’s house for her monthly overnight stay, I went to the craft store to pick up some more polymer clay in the colors I needed for the project but did not already have.  By the time I went to bed that night I’d gotten the project done to the point where the first file in the class instruction ended, so now I’m waiting for the next file, and waiting for the other items that I’ll need to complete the project to come in the mail.

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Gosh I wish I’d known about this site, Discount AC Parts, back when my ’97 SL1’s air conditioning broke a couple years ago.  Of course mine broke just as it was starting to warm up in the spring, and where live, spring is practically summer for everywhere else, so we start running our air conditioning fairly early.

I took it to a mechanic, and was told that my a/c compressor was shot. It was going to cost $1500 to fix it!! The blue book on my car was barely $1200, so there was no way I was going to fork over more than the car was worth just to fix the air conditioning, nor was I going to drive in 115 degree summer heat without an air conditioner (so I got a new car).

However, if I’d known about Discount AC Parts, I found that the ac compressor for my car, brand new, only costs about $400! Granted I still would have needed to find someone to install it for me, but I’m sure someone could probably have done it and kept the entire cost under $1k, and probably could have continued to drive my old car for a few thousand more miles. I really miss that car actually – it got great gas mileage – 35-40 mpg on a good week.

Based on what I found that I could have saved on my own car, I would say it’s worth checking them out if you’re in need of a new a/c compressor for your own car.  My in-law’s drive Toyotas, so if they’re ever in need of a Toyota AC Compressor, I would have to say I’d send them to that site to compare prices.

There is an online class being held by Christi Friesen, on how to create the Steampunk look with polymer clay in the style she is famous for.  I came across it several weeks ago and have been hemming and hawing over it, whether to sign up or not (it costs $40 and runs for six weeks).  It starts January 9, so there is still time for me to sign up for it, but I’d be a little behind while waiting for some of the supplies.

I really like her style, it seems so easy yet looks so complicated, but I don’t know how often I’d use the Steampunk style if at all.  I don’t know, it may be fun to join just to learn how to do it and if I like it I can run with it…

Anyway, below are some of her books if you want to take a peek at some of what she does, and below that is the link to her website for even closer views of her work.

Christi Friesen’s website.

(NOT a sponsored post!)

Edited 3/6/2017 to fix bad links.

…and feet.  Yuck I hate yard work.  We had a few weeds that were getting a little out of control, and since the ground is still wet from last week, I decided I should probably pull a few while it was still light out.

Now my back hurts, my feet hurt and the sciatica in my right side is acting up – all for about 15 minutes of work!  Ugh.  Oh, and I have dirt wedged into the creases on my fingers, mostly my right thumb and index finger where the skin is a little rough, that I can’t get out with a scrub brush.  Bah.

We need to scrounge up the money to have the landscapers give the place a once over, and then to have the pest control company spray the yard with the industrial strength death for weeds so we don’t have to worry about those darn things for a while.  Having rock landscaping in the front has it perks (i.e. no grass to mow) but still makes it fairly easy for weeds to take hold.