Life, and all that

Hello again. It’s been a while, right… Life, and all that, y’know?

So, if you were following my blog at The Varo Edition, you’ll have noticed it’s no longer there. I had to let the domain names go this year. I hadn’t posted on that blog in toooo long, and the domain fees were better used elsewhere this time around. I’m on a very tight budget right now.

So… I’m still playing the family watch dog, even though I no longer have to worry about my mother. My father is going in for spine surgery on the 14th of this month, and my sister’s status is unchanged since the last time I wrote about her. My dad’s surgery concerns me, in part because I’m still recovering from anesthesia, myself, 10 years after some very minor surgery. I probably won’t be writing much about my sister, since her friends may be reading this, and there are are many things she doesn’t want them to know.

The scoop: I’m working (or course), and I’m back in college. Again. Those of you who remember the old Crabby Night Owl know that I started this blog in the first place as an adult returning to college. This time, I’m taking e-courses, something which I actually find not very pleasant. Sure, I can work from home, but I can’t always chose the times to do all my coursework. Sometimes, life still gets in the way. And I miss the classroom experience, in spite of my self.

I’m also working full time at a job that’s “just a job.” It’s helping to pay the bills, so I’m still there. I’ll likely talk more about it later, if I can get away with talking about it and not be punished by my employer. It’s a customer service job, so I’ve been accumulating stories. Disguising them for retelling will be difficult, but I’ll figure out a way. I deal with some really obnoxious people.

I’ll probably need to ease back into the regular blogging thing, so my next few posts may be spaced rather far apart. But I do plan to become frequent in my postings, here and elsewhere.

I’m confined to quarters, but at least I’ve got Coffee

Full coffee cup on lace behind prison bars.We’re finally getting tile installed downstairs after having lived with bare concrete since August last year. The place is finally turning into a home. The mortar needs 24 hours to set, and then the grout will need another 24 hours, and another 24 hours for the grout sealer to set.

They’ve left a single-tile wide path from the stairs to the back door so we can get out of the apartment if we need to. But, the kitchen’s off limits. I can’t even make microwave popcorn (not too much of a hardship, since I prefer “real” popcorn that you cook yourself in a pan over the stove). I did think to bring my coffee maker into my room, and coffee and filters, so there’s that, at least. And even though I really don’t like to bring food into my bedroom, I brought a couple of loaves of French bread and a bag of Funyuns up here to tide me over until I can get back into the kitchen. I’ll probably pick up some fresh fruit tomorrow morning.

Renovation is a wonderful thing. Now if we can just talk the management into some decent landscaping, and maybe a face-lift for the entire complex… It could happen…!

Image Credits
Cup of Coffee” by anya-anya
Curve Steel rods” by asifthebes

Walk Like a Man…

Many gorillas can walk, and even run, for a short distance on two legs. A bachelor Western lowland gorilla named Ambam seems to be rather more fond of bipedal locomotion than other gorillas. Ambam’s father frequently walked upright when his hands were full, and his siblings also displayed the behavior more frequently than other gorillas.

Ambam lives at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, England. I’d definitely add it it to my itinerary if I were visiting the area.

The following video of him has gone viral, with over 1 million views in two days, so it’s old news by now. I just wanted to document it here, in case any of you haven’t yet seen it. The soundtrack is a little loud, so you may want to mute it or turn down your volume before you watch the vid.