The FedEx folks, as well as the mail carriers, have been going out of their way to be helpful. When all of those boxes were arriving, the mail carrier would call to make sure I was going to be home to receive them. And that day that 13 of them arrived, a postal worker who didn't have a regular route not only delivered them, he brought them all up to the 4th floor! And FedEx knew I was expecting computer parts, so they called me too!
So, thanks to the vigilance and extra service of the delivery people, my CPU and printer arrived safely within a few days of each other. But I still don't have everything set up because my apartment is apparently the Bermuda Triangle of electronic devices. When I tried to plug the monitor into the wall, I heard this awful *POP*-fizzle and was certain I had killed it even before getting to use it. When I turned on both the monitor and the CPU, I got only a "no signal" message on the screen, so a Dell tech is going to be coming out here to help me try to fix everything. Then, when I was trying to plug the computer, monitor and my new speaker system into the surge protector, I pushed the CPU up against the wall so both it and the subwoofer would fit in the space next to my desk, and I think the CPU got too close to the cord for the lamp (which looks like some former tenant's puppy turned it into a chew toy). There was another *POP*-fizzle, and this time, I even saw sparks! How festive! I don't think any permanent damage was done, but I'm not taking any chances - the tech will be the one hooking everything up! As if that wasn't enough, I even needed help downloading the drivers for my printer. I'm so ashamed. Am I married to a geek, or aren't I?? At least the printer hasn't felt a need to contribute to the Guy Fawkes demonstrations...
Last Thursday, the 17th, I had plans to go to lunch and then do pottery painting with the Navy Wives group on Facebook. Cari, a friend of mine in the LIS program, picked me up and came to lunch with us - she's actually an Army brat, but who's counting? The pottery painting place was on Hickam Air Force Base, and I needed to go to a military installation (didn't matter the branch) to get my dependent ID card, so I figured I could go take care of that and then join everyone. Well, I called ahead of time and spoke to a very nice lady who told me that, contrary to what the very mean lady at Pearl Harbor had said, I did not need Power of Attorney, because my husband had signed the application as the sponsor; I just needed to show up with two forms of ID and the application and I'd be good to go. I didn't even need to make an appointment! She also gave me directions, but try as we might, we couldn't figure out where we were supposed to go once we got on base. So I called the office again, but that was absolutely no help. The guy was like, "Look for a gray building...oh, maybe it's tan..." I dunno, dude, you're the one who works there! Cari and I were cracking up at this point - bless her heart, she drove us around and around that base until I was sure they would stop us for suspicious activity! We finally found the office and the whole process took maybe twenty minutes, which was great. We ended up missing the pottery painting, but getting the ID was way more important. So now I'm officially a Navy wife! Eamon said in one of his letters that getting his dog tags made it all feel very real. Now I know what he means.
One of the things that really makes me feel like I'm in Hawai'i is seeing geckos inside, and I was hoping I'd be lucky enough to have one in my apartment at some point. You can tell when they're nearby because of their distinctive clicking (if you've ever ridden horses, you can approximate the clicking by making the sound you would use to get a horse to start walking). I'd been hearing clicks every night, but a few days ago it echoed right outside my door, so I ran out to check how close it was.
This guy was one door down, just at the entrance to the hall. It's a little hard to tell, but he's flat against the wall up near the ceiling. Look at how well he's camouflaged against the white! He was about 4 inches long - don't you just love his fat little belly??
A few days later, when I was adjusting the windows above my lanai door, I finally got my wish - a tiny little gecko scurried in from outside and settled on the wall above my desk!
This one was only about an inch and a half or two inches long - so cute! I love their little beady eyes and big flat toes.
Here's what Niamh had to say about all this:
I burst out laughing when I saw her staring wide-eyed at the strange little creature up on the wall. I swear she didn't blink once. Can't you just see the thought bubble? "What the...??"
Here's what Niamh had to say about all this:
I burst out laughing when I saw her staring wide-eyed at the strange little creature up on the wall. I swear she didn't blink once. Can't you just see the thought bubble? "What the...??"I've signed up for yet another class with the Leisure Center - ceramics! I feel like I'm singlehandedly keeping the place going :-) My very ambitious plan is to make a teapot and sugar bowl to match the beautiful purple floral teacups and saucers that Micah and Ellie gave out as their wedding favors. I haven't been able to find the rest of the set in that pattern online, so if I can just match the colors I'll be happy! Well, okay, let's be realistic - if I manage to make something that even remotely resembles a teapot, I'll be happy.
One thing that makes a house (or apartment) a home is pictures. I have all of my framed photos now, and I would love to put them up around the living room and bedroom, but I am just having the toughest time deciding what should go where, whether I should keep them in their current frames or get the big collage ones that hold lots of pictures, and all those piddling little details. But I can't do it by myself - I need another pair of eyes and arms, someone who can hold them up where I kind of want them to go so I can stand back and see if I like it, or who can tell me if they look okay when *I* hold them up.
Eamon's division got to call home this past Saturday right around noon my time. I was in Hula class and I didn't even hear the phone ring :-( He had gotten his first call just a little over a week before, so I wasn't expecting another one for at least a few days, but there's absolutely no rhyme or reason to how they schedule these things. He left me nice messages (yup, messages plural - he tried calling me twice!) saying things were going better and he was happy I was keeping busy and doing fun stuff, and I shouldn't be sad that I missed his call. Well, with so few chances to talk to him these days, I was definitely bummed. Thankfully, I have lots of wonderful people I can call in times of crisis (or just when I need a good cry), and my roomie Diana and her wife Sarah took turns cheering me up while baking various yummies for a church function.
And I can also take comfort in the fact that Eamon graduates from Boot Camp in just a little over two weeks!!!
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