another day in happy land

So last night I studied till I couldn't comprehend what I was looking at, then read my msytery for a while, then back to studying. I've got to find out.... can you use a calculator when you take the GRE? (That's a real question, BTW-- if you know the answer please tell me in a comment.) If not, I need to be doing multiplication flash cards or something. I know how to do a lot of this but it's taking me for bloody ever to do the calculations with pencil and paper. Yikes.

The mystery with which I rested my fevered brain is the latest Doc Ford novel by Randy Wayne White. Frankly, I'm more than disapapointed in it. The first books were extremely informative about Florida's ecosystems (gotta love that in a murder mystery!) and I liked his attitude toward women and about violence (distinctly NOT related.) However, in the last couple of books the protagonist has gotten a lot more comfortable with his "true nature," which bursts into violence a few times each book. I am so not impressed. I liked it a lot better when he was a marine biologist with a past life (working for some super-secret gov't agency) who could call on the knowledge gained in that life if required, but he wasn't so damn thrilled about it. Now he's turned into super-spy and has taken assignements to "eternalize" three people already, and I'm only about 3/8 of the way through the book. (Okay, the GRE fractions section is messing with my head.) Plus the fact that one of the assignments he has refused is to kill his best friend, who is one of the best characters in the series. Said character has a feeling he won't live much longer, so it's obvious he's going to kick off one way or another. If this ends as badly as I suspect, this might be the last Doc Ford story I read. Sigh.

I'm now off to apply for a job at Michael's. Nia has been encouraging me to apply for any and every job... she's given me info about seasonal mail carrier positions, library staff assistant (those sound really good) and housekeepers at NCState. The mail carrier thing is well paying, and lord knows the walking would be good for me. Down side: Not sure I could carry the weights they say are required, plus I sure as hell wouldn't be able to go to KY the week before Christmas when my daughter and new hubby will be there. That would be a major bummer. Obviously, the job at Michael's would be the same. Sigh. Up side of Michael's... I could work there while looking for other jobs. Same with housekeeping, for that matter.

This is a whole new world for me. I have been fortunate enough to only have had cube-farm type jobs all my life, except for working the circ desk at the college library. One dose of reality, coming up.

Have you stopped beating your wife?

The questions on the survey/questionnaire for employment at Michaels were mildly amusing, in a twisted sort of way. There were a number of questions like "I have had problems with absences in the past but that is no longer a problem," with a scale of answers from "totally agree" to "totally disagree." Ummmm.... okay, whioh of those questions am I supposed to answer? How about, "I have had a problem with absences in the past and it's still a problem?" Or "It's no problem for ME, big guy. You'll just have to deal." One can only assume that they have a big psychology firm somewhere which can decode the answers.

I guess I'm overthinking this. Heh.

spin, spin, wobble

I would be embarrassed to ever show my face again if I sank so low as to whine, "Math is hard!" but I swear to god, my poor brain is spinning around like the kid's head in The Excorsist. Except faster. I've had a really productive evening but when I got to fractions that have radicals in both parts, I lost it. I had to resort to reviewing language stuff for a while. I still don't think I'm up to that, at least by myself. Those suckers are going to need either a good night's sleep or outside help.

And to make things even better, the ring tone on my phone is so annoying I want to hit something. It's a sequence of notes that sticks in my head every time I hear it. I found alternate tones on the thing, but I can't figure out how to make them the ring of choice.

Michael's called to set up an appointment for an interview. Insert mixed feeling face here.