Computer Adventures, Among Other Things

So, yesterday was a busy/good day.

I went to lunch with Chris and Marianna at a Thai place in El Paso. I had green prawn curry (though they didn't know what prawns were, and I forgot to just say shrimp.) It was HOT. Way hot. So hot I wasn't able to finish it and I'm not sure that I want to touch it today. Yum... but ow! We went to their favourite bakery afterwards for empanadas, and I had their 4 year old Ciara in the car. And wouldn't you know that I left my phone behind.

Since I had Ciara and didn't know where we were going, I couldn't turn around when I figured it out (almost immediately.) So I drove all the way to the bakery before turning around to go and get it. The people in the restaurant had it... but there is a funny story that I didn't know about until later. While my phone was AWOL, the people who found my phone called my sister Anna to ask if she knew who my phone belonged to. She said that she did (thank goodness this was not one of those times that she disowned me!) and asked them to leave it with the Thai restaurant people. She then sent my nephew Pat to go and fetch it. I beat him to the phone.

We still can't figure out how they called Anna's number. It was not the top number, nor was it in my called list. Strange.

So, back to the bakery for pumpkin empanadas, which are my favourite. I think I will have to make some at Samhain this year. I'm guessing that Stephen and Ash both will enjoy them. I brought home apple ones too, but not pineapple, because Anna is "allergic" (meaning she hates them.) Mom was upset at the lack of pineapple. They are her favourite. I can't win for losing with the empanadas. ;)

In the afternoon Anna and I went to Best Buy (to deal with broken laptop stuff before my warranty expires on the 25th of August) and Barnes and Noble. (They are right next door, and Anna goes gaga over books. Not me, of course. Never me.) The lines were long at Best Buy but to make a long story short, they took my laptop to repair it. It is not due back until the 24th... BUT since I fly back to the UK on the 7th, if it is not back by the 5th then they will give me a brand new one, free. I will be able to buy an extended warranty on it also. It may not be the best that they have, but they agreed that none of the specs will be less than what I had on the old laptop. They can, and most likely will, be better. I also found out that, if need be, they can make repairs overseas.

The downside is this: I couldn't lose my documents folder, and had no way to back it up at home, being that it was about 27 Gigabytes large. The least expensive external hard drive they had was more expensive than it would have cost for me to have Best Buy back up the folder, and the offer they extended to me was not going to happen if I didn't leave my computer then, so I felt that I had to pay them to back up my documents. It is money I didn't count on spending, nor is the money that I will spend for the extended warranty on a new computer (if it works out that way,) but I think both were/will be vital.

Barnes and Noble afterwards was nice because it was the first time I have gotten time to spend /with/ Anna. We browsed; she bought a whole lot of books. I ended up with two. This trip has been heavy on the reading, and I am really enjoying being able to read for pleasure rather than reading to learn. Perhaps another post I'll give you the lowdown on what I have read and what I think of them.

Tristan and I are really enjoying our time together. I am starting to dream of packing him into my suitcase and taking him home with me. I have dreamed things along those lines every night for the past 4 nights. I don't need a dream interpreter to know what that means. I am really going to hate leaving him.

Enough for now.
*kisses*

Brrr... and Other Stuff.

I have never known cold that goes down to your toes and stays there.

Granted, I haven't been feeling well, and the radiators in the house are not turned on. So it is partly my own fault for feeling the cold creeping into my bones like death. I'm sure it has actually been colder outside in the States... but I can't seem to shake the cold. I can't seem to really get warm enough, until I'm huddled under the duvet and wrapped up in Stephen-warmth.

The temperature here is currently, according to the weather-woman, surprisingly low for this time of year. At least 5 degrees C less than they expect it to be. May not seem like a lot, but in Fahrenheit-speak that is about 10 degrees colder than 'normal'. And normal is such a loose term. My 'normal' for this time of year is about 35 degrees more than that.

It didn't help that today was rainy... and while I love the rain, it is undeniable that rain, especially cold rain, makes things so much colder. Plus there is such a wind here... it blows into your ears and freezes your brain.

Today was also my first day of University. A lecture that was really only basic information, and a seminar in the small group I'll be working with for the rest of the time I am there. And I was surprised. First at the fact that everyone was SO much more friendly than I expected, and second because of a cultural fact that I saw in action today.

I had read a book by Kate Fox called, "Watching the English". Kate Fox is an anthropologist, who picked apart the behaviour rules of the English people. A lot of them were silly and really difficult for me to accept as being truth, and easy for me to dismiss, being Non-English. (Stephen kept saying things like, "Oi! I do that!", so there must be at least a lot of truth in them, as un-understandable as they are to me.) But one of the things that she said was that names are not something that are given up at first meeting.

We played one of those silly ice-breaker games in our seminar. There are about 30 of us, and we had to pick a number between 1 and 30 and answer questions. Silly questions like what is your favourite movie; things like that. Nothing was said about names at all. And noone gave their names. They all answered the question and at the end I might have known something about them, but not their name. So I guess I'm down to saying things like: "Hey, you, girl who doesn't believe that pastry should be savoury! Come here!" I, being American and loud-mouthed, did indeed tell them my name. And they all stared at me blankly. As though I were the insane one of the group.

One person of note sat behind me at a table full of gigglers. I have to admit a bit of a bias towards those silly girls as mentioned in one of my previous posts. Well, her question was about her favourite movie. With a gusto, she ranted about "High School Musical" for maybe 10 minutes. We couldn't get her to stop, and I now know that she has the pillow and the pajamas and the poster and the DVD and everything else under the sun, that it is the best movie EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and that not only does she squeal like a pig, but also her accent is so thick as to be almost unintelligible to me. And that she is 19. Our tutor actually compared her to his 6 year old daughter, who also loves "High School Musical". And we all laughed at her, because that is what English people do. They laugh at themselves. (And yes, this girl giggled madly along with the rest of us.) The most disturbing thing about it was the fact that the entirety of her table were chirruping in the whole time in agreement with her, in equally squeal-ly voices. Some of them were a bit more understandable, but all were equally high-pitched.

On a less soprano note, I was not the oldest person in the class! There are a whole group of us 'mature students', as we are called. They are all fairly nice, they invited me into their group, and they seem to have some grasp of what is important in education. NOT that I am saying that HSM girl doesn't... I'm just not entirely convinced that she could carry on a conversation without mad giggling. Imagining her in a classroom... not nice, Amy. Not nice.

Anyway, I have no opinions yet on anything. I have at least the rest of the week to get through. And perhaps a few more before I'll make any sort of judgement. I'm just really glad I'm not the only grown-up.

Now... where the heck did I put that hot water bottle and really heavy blanket? I'm freezing!

In Which Amy Reads About God... (Myspace Blog)

The package I mailed finally arrived, so I can talk about the most wondrous present I have ever sent to the UK - a book called "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. (See my blog 10-8-06 to find it on my reading list...) I bought it as a birthday present for my very dear friend who lives in the UK (Stephen), and expected to send it on its way and be done with it. However, it is an author he recommended to me, and my curiosity got the better of me. I opened it. And everyone knows, if I open a book, I have to read the book.

I started thinking, "I'll just read a few pages, then I'll put it down and mail it to him." Pretty soon it was, "I just won't think about how late this gift is going to be... he doesn't even know it is not on the way yet." Finally I broke down and told him, "I have to read it. Every word." That is what I did. When I finished it the first time, I decided that I had to read it again; possibly even twice more. I couldn't do that with his gift... it is only fair to make someone wait so long, but no longer. So I packed his book up and shipped it off, and bought my own copy.

Now I get to read and read and write in the margins. I am taking notes and making comments and circling passages. And Kristin, Jake, Jimmy, and I are all reading it out loud together. By the time I'm done I will have read it three times. Once out loud and twice to myself. Maybe then I'll be able to have a deep enough understanding of the concepts to incorporate them into my beliefs.

You see, this is a book that speaks against a supernatural deity. And he presents a very convincing argument... so what do I believe? Some of it fits easily - I already do not believe in creation and I do not believe that we are moral or good because we are watched by god... I do not even believe that good morals or values are necessarily those promoted by the Christian faith. But there is so much more to his argument than that.

For example, he speaks against the concept of a "Christian child". Or a "Muslim child" or a "Jewish child" on the basis that these children are not yet old enough to decide on their own. I must look at my own experience - the way I have and am raising my children in particular. I do not believe I have forced my beliefs on them... I have flat out told my daughter that she is not yet old enough to choose a path, and that she must look at many paths before she can choose one that is right for her. I have even told her that she is not Wiccan until she is old enough to choose to be, if the time comes that she does choose.

I am looking forward to re-evaluating my own belief system... and slightly nervous. What if I am unable to change my mind? Or am unable to merge this information into what I believe? I am, right now, choosing to look more broadly, come what may. I am choosing to look logically. I am choosing to not hold on to an ideology that is not supported. And it is going to be an interesting trip.

You all should read it too... and then lets talk. I'd love to have more people to discuss this with.

In Which Amy Meets Serendipity... (Myspace Blog)

I got volunteered for teenage mall duty. Ok, I actually sort-of volunteered myself, if you want to get technical. And it turns out that it was a great thing on multiple levels. Kamy's boys wanted to hit the mall, mi hija tambien, and no other adult was free to be there while they wandered. Last week, I did the same thing and ended up sitting at Barnes and Noble's with a venti hazelnut soy latte and a copy of Laurel Hamilton's newest book "Danse Macabre". It was heaven, but only 14 chapters of heaven. 14 chapters is never enough when there are so many more than 14 chapters possible... so I jumped at the chance to go today. Picking up the boys from the Unitarian Universalist church was fun! So many people that I haven't seen in so long, being as how I go to church so regularly and all. (*cough-bull-cough*) Talking, catching up, etc. Very important. But the most exciting part happened /before/ I saw anyone I knew. I got there a bit before the service ended, so was in the foyer where they just happened to have a book sale going on. I LOVE book sales! I was excited and had not even started looking at books. Right off, I found 2 - "Ishamel" by Daniel Quinn, which my gut says takes a Christian slant, and "The Most Dangerous Man in America, Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition" by Robert Boston, which my gut says does NOT take a Christian slant. These looked interesting enough to spend, get this..., 50 cents each. But the miracle, the crowning glory of my morning, forces me to refer you back to my blog from 10-8-06 . Read through that list of books carefully... and at the very tippy-top of the list you find... "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins. That's right - I found it for 50 cents! HaHaHa! That means, exactly 2 weeks after my to-read list came out, I have finished 2 of the books on it, and have the next in my hot little hands. Sorry, Brian... "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is going to have to wait a bit longer... because next is "The Selfish Gene". Just in case you are wondering, I still haven't finished "Danse Macabre", but I am on chapter 38! 1 more Sunday afternoon at the mall with a venti hazelnut soy latte oughtta do it.

In Which Amy Adds to the 'To-Read' List... (Myspace Blog)

I wish I had free time to read. Being in college, having two kids, a house to clean, animals to take care of, and chauffeuring to do makes it difficult to do the things I want to do - like read. (I hear those fellow college students saying "But you do get to read... textbooks!" That's just not the same...) My desire to read gets particularly strong when people tell me about other incredible books they have read. Especially when the books sound so good that I want to read them too. In order to solve my dilemma, I have decided to add to my 'To-Read' list. This list usually comes out only at the holidays, when my family gives me book after book as gifts. I can never choose which one to read first, so I put them on a list, then read them down the rows. My list has been empty for a while, since I finished the holiday books in May. But the time has come to add to it again. Here is what is on my 'To-Read' List right now: (*this is a book that I have in my possession) Richard Dawkins "The Selfish Gene" Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion" Jared Diamond "Guns, Germs, and Steel" Jared Diamond "Collapse" Sam Harris "A Christian Nation" Thomas L. Freedman "The World is Flat" something by Stephen J. Gould * Paulo Freire "Pedagogy of the Opressed" * bell hooks "Teaching Community" * Betsy Reed, ed. "Nothing Sacred: Women Respond to Religious Fundamentalism and Terror" * Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua, eds. "This Bridge Called my Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color" * Kim Stanley Robinson "The Years of Rice and Salt" Hell, since my list is active anyway, I would love for you to add to it... What wonderful tomes of knowledge would you recommend for me to read? Nothing is off-limits: I think that I will read just about anything. But I would especially love to know which books shaped you or changed your thinking. And since we are recommending books, here are a few for you. Read them... because I said so. A. A. Milne "The Complete Winnie the Pooh" Isabel Allende "The House of the Spirits" "The Complete Kama Sutra" translated by whoever you want