Evil Jim

11:50 pm: Recap recoup
Finally I am able to update my journal.

For starters, since when did Live Journal change so that I no longer need quotes in my links? This has really messed me up tonite.

Last week has been fraught with luck and most of it good as evidenced by my visits to the capitol building, but more on that later.

I'll start with the bad news being results from the MRI taken the previous week. I visited with the doctor again but unfortunately some fool put a “hold” on the results from the scan at Open MRI so he didn't have all the information. However, he did have enough to tell me that I had definitely torn my meniscus and that my options were to either remove or repair it to avoid trouble far down the road, both involving surgery. This did not sound good, especially since he wouldn't know which procedure would be better until I was actually on the operating table and cut open! Repairing the tissue would result in me on crutches for a month, walking with possibly a brace for another month and then no strenuous bending for yet another month! Simply cutting out the damaged tissue would leave me on crutches for two weeks and back to work soon afterwards but probably looking at a knee replacement when I'm older. The prospect of not knowing which would be my fate until under the knife worries me deeply. However, I still have another appointment for when the full results are in so I need not fret so much yet.

The problem as a whole has only been a minor annoyance and I have time yet to decide what I want to do and plan for the worst. I can't do anything so serious for a while anyway what with other things coming up, Japan being the most significant. (Wai~!) I haven't been kicking asses this long by being weak and I have confidence (groundless, but confidence nonetheless) that this will not be nearly as bad as I fear. I'm still healthy and strong with plenty of youth left and enough common sense not to mess things up for my years to come.

Yes, I'm going to get a second opinion before I go with any procedure, treatment or surgery.

So work was canceled last Friday. Business has been so slow that management (curse the fiends) is considering a four-day, 32 hour work week during times like this. In the past they've simply given some people the option to leave early when there isn't enough work to go around but this is enough to worry me. They canceled 2nd shift Friday, 3rd shift Sunday and 1st shift Monday. I had hoped that the lack of hours would cause a spike in the workload forcing them to reconsider this silly plan but it was pretty much business as usual come Monday. I've been looking forward to the extra hours come December's busy season as I have things to plan for but now I just hope that I have enough hours to pay the bills.

But anyway, I couldn't have given my father his early birthday gift if I had a shift Friday so things worked out in my favour this time.

Some may remember my trip to the capitol building last week wherein I visited places most of you have only dreamed of. (Bwa ha!) I planned to return again when the guard agreed to take the other info desk girl up and around. I had little time to plan since news of my shift cancellation was only given the day before. I thought of several people who I could call to invite but ultimately I had to choose my father who I know would enjoy this most of all. I wanted to share another adventure together and give him a wonder while he can still see. Plus, he was the only person I knew for sure that would be free on such short notice.

I couldn't promise anything for certain because of the nature of the opportunity but it was still a good reason to get out of the house and spend a day with Dad. But, things went smoothly as we got there. We talked to the girls I met last Tuesday, found the guard and agreed to meet him when ready. At noon-thirty we were on our way with me even more excited than last time. My camera was hungry!

Dad had a great time which was nothing less than I expected. Like me he's always enjoyed exploring old buildings and finding the places you don't see every day. We both have dreams of doing things like this but never had either of us dreamed that we would actually be up inside the capitol dome so far and so high! The trip for me didn't seem to take as long since I knew the way and my calves didn't ache as much afterward as I remembered to stretch this time. I took photos constantly which slowed us down a little but nobody else seemed to mind. As I've chronicled my journey up and down in detail already I will merely refer to the link above.

As for new material, I will refer you to these rather large high resolution photos:

View from the trumpeter's balcony

Between the inner and outer domes

The Resources of Wisconsin painting

Looking down

Remember the lantern? Here's Looking out

Still breathless from the private tour we made our way back to my car so I could drop off a couple things when I saw several “Parking Violation” slips on cars. I had parked in a private lot behind a church which sacredspud once told me about and had caused me no trouble until now. There was no notice on my car but I quickly decided to repark before I could be discovered. As we pulled away a 500 lb man in a red shirt tried to wave me down. I might have driven on to escape but the Parking Enforcement car was enough to stop me before they could take down my license plate and nail me anyway. I played dumb and made it out with a warning, thereby avoiding a $40 ticket. I wiped the imaginary sweat from my brow and parked legally in the ramp behind the Orphium. More luck.

Lunch at Pel Meni, my treat. Mmmmm. Tuesday I found Wish You Were Here and played side A while eating. This time I spun side B and we enjoyed our Russian dumplings to their fullest!

Friday night at home I finally carved two Jack-o-lanterns. One was a Tim Burton-ish evil grinning face named Colllin (see what three l's will do to you?) I wanted the other to resemble something from Jhonen Vasquez but Lindsay called just after I gutted it and I settled on a quick “Z ?” before they got there. I cooked the pumpkin seeds which weren't as good as the last batch but still edible, despite my use of garlic salt and Italian seasoning.

We watched FLCL. My head is still messed up.

Since there wasn't much daylight left Friday afternoon to work outside Dad and I reconvened Saturday morning to install the new storm door. This didn't work as the old door will not come off of the frame. It is still there and I have since left a plea for help on my landlord's answering machine.

Anime Club, as always, was fun. On my way there from the parking ramp I noticed more people than usually were looking at me and smiling as they passed. This surprised me a little and I thought back to miang's entry detailing a lovely afternoon out and how she caught the eye of many a young gentleman. I had to wonder, was I really that striking? Did my efforts to look presentable that day finally pay off?? Or, and this is more likey, was it merely because my arms were full carrying boxes that proclaimed “Free!” on the front?

I scored quite a bit of stuff at the pre-club swag swap for only bringing clipboards and Post It™ notes to trade. But then, I'll probably find out soon enough why they were practically giving it away.

I was also finally able to put a face to the mysterious zarp who I eluded the previous week with my clever disguise. I paid him for the CDs I asked for and later found them to be good news/bad news. The bad being they are bootlegs which means I will have to buy them again to expunge my guilt. The good news being that one was not the Noir OST 1 as I expected, but the remix CD which is entirely awesome (ie. “inspires Evil with awe”) and one which I probably would not have purchased had I known ahead of time. Your Evil is now very happy and looking forward more than ever to seeing the entire series Noir.

Someone remind me to find a blue clipboard for Sheree before next week.

I'd planned to spend Sunday doing chores and cleaning but decided that was too boring and called sacredspud to invite him over. I still got a few things done including vacuuming my furnace filter which I believe has solved the “rotting flesh” problem. You see, ever since cooler nights forced me to turn on the heat once again I've been getting funny smells from the air vents nearest the furnace. I'm poor at identifying scents so I could only place this one somewhere between bodily waste” and “rot”. It really wasn't as bad as it sounds because it was so faint but the warm air enhanced it and pushed it around. At first I thought it may be from the guest bathroom because I've had the water off to the toilet for so long that something bad may have happened but the smell was always stronger from the other vents. I kept making mental notes to vacuum the filter until yesterday when I actually remembered. Yes it was filthy. Yes it's much cleaner now. Yes my house smells much better.

But what caused that particular smell? It was weird. No one else ever mentioned it but I'm almost certain it was evident to guests at one point or another. The only thing that's occurred to me is the fact that household dust is partially composed of dead skin cells. I'm not sure of how much and I'm too lazy to look it up but a blind assumption is that the dust-clogged furnace filter, being near a constant supply of heat, filled a portion of my house with the pungent aroma of my own cooking flesh. I'm probably not right but I like my own explanation better.

Lindsay and Tick invited themselves over yet again Sunday night with a “surprise” for me. The “surprise” was a movie called Napoleon Dynamite which I won't bother linking to. It was pretty painful in its overall geekiness but entertaining nonetheless. It's one redeeming scene featured the main character dancing to Canned Heat by Jamiroquai, the same group that did Gendou's Theme from Evangelion: Deat and REdeath. An even better show was outside.

I would not have known about the aurora borealis had Colin's folks not called to warn him. I spent much of last night popping in and out to check on them. It was like nothing I had seen before and truly awe inspiring (ie. “inspired Evil with awe.) All night the northern horizon was awash with an eerie iridescent green light that slowly flowed and melted across the sky in horizontal bands much like the movement of rain as one sees it off in the distance. There were starbursts here and there sometimes reaching great distances before narrowing. The lights played anywhere from the horizon to directly overhead and were different every time I looked out. Were it warmer I would have spent more time out but, alas, it is now November and the seasons are no longer out of sync. The lights are, however, forecast for the next couple days and I will be there if they are.

What of today? Apparently I am now the official seahorse photographer for Thea's new brood of fry as she documents their growth over the next several weeks. But more on that another time. I have grown weary and have done little more than check my mail and write this entry upon returning home tonite. This is how my journal entries would be every nite if I kept notes throughout the day of what I wanted to write. This is only the notes I left for myself last nite! Anyway, it's long overdue for

- E V I L O U T -

Current Mood: condescending sarcastic smile