Made it to North Carolina just fine... traffic was horrendous leaving the city and mall areas, but aside from that, it went smoothly. Having Jeff here is a bit surreal, but I'll get used to it.

The whole house smells like turkey. I would love to just tear into it right now. But I think it's time for bed. And Phantasy Star Zero. I'm addicted.

As usual, it feels good to be here.

Just got in from doing the heartworm tests. It had been months since I've had to do them, and it was kinda nice to do it again. Not sure why. We didn't have any positives out of 38 dogs, so that's also pretty nice...

Before that, I was with Jeff checking out our new place. I really, really like it. It's a tiny townhouse-style apartment in an amazing part of town. Just outside of actual downtown, near Buckhead and Piedmont Park. I can practically walk to Trader Joe's and Smith's Olde Bar from it, too. And a theater. And the rent is less than this place. Something feels really safe about the complex, too. I don't know what it is...

Heading out to Rutherfordton tomorrow with Jeff for Thanksgiving... Unfortunately, before that, we have to spend some time at the DMV getting my license replaced. *sigh* I hope I can dig up enough identification to get one at all. There was some kind of online replacement I could be doing, but it requires you to know your license number... which I don't. I hate catch-22's.

EDIT: Also, homeless people and/or crackheads got into my car last night... They didn't take anything but my change. But they went through everything. :/ Luckily I had taken all the stuff worth anything out. So they didn't get away with my iPod, GPS, etc. Oddly enough, they left my chargers, too.

I dreamed that I passed a roadkilled leopard in the middle of a dusty city. I made plans to go back for it despite legal concerns... You know, to skin it and keep the bones, claws, etc. When I woke up, I was sorely disappointed. (Now that I think about it, this was the second dream I've had about a leopard being hit by a car. But the first time, it was a snow leopard... And I did pick it up. Only to have it wake up in my backseat...)

Speaking of which, I should go dig up that mink I buried in my mom's yard back in April... It might still be too early, though... I buried it in a plastic bag so as not to lose any small bones, but that definitely slows the process. Too bad I can't be like one of the cool kids from furhideandbone and have my own dermestid colony in a basement somewhere.

Still playing Phantasy Star Zero on and off... I found out I'd been using a anti-piracied copy that SEVERELY cut the item drop rates... and I had already leveled a character up to 40 before I found out. Yeah. That's brutal. But now it's fixed and I'm being showered with weapons and rare things. I don't even know what to do with all the money. I had been playing like a Spartan, apparently. But I like to struggle a bit in RPGs. Keeps it interesting.

Yesterday was one big stress-fest for me. For one, we were pioneering a new run and NONE of the locations were in either the office's GPS or my TomTom... They were all so new that the little access roads they were on didn't exist on the maps yet. So we were basically driving blindly. In the cold rain. But the people working in the stores were able to give us good directions, and we were only five minutes late to one of them. (The one that no one showed up for, haha.) Anyway, we were absolutely slammed at the first store, saw ZERO at the second, and had a decent turnout for the last one. In between the second and third store, I hit a curb in the rig van pretty hard on the way into a CVS parking lot, heh. And I missed a few exits. Embarrassing. Especially since it was my first day with one of our new doctors, Dr. Shepherd. When she left at the end of the day, she said "It's been real..." in a way that made me think we probably drove her crazy. Then we all found out that Rebecca had been so seriously mauled by a cat that she had to go to the ER. I left the office feeling completely aggro, ready to just tear into anyone who even slightly annoyed me. Which was everyone.

Goteki has gotten me all excited... Sneaky has been talking about the new album on Twitter and Facebook constantly. Tease. I'm still thrilled that he's making music for Goteki again, though... For quite some time I was lamenting the fact that all I had was all that there ever would be. But now I'll have 15 tracks to blast out as I zip around Decatur. And a cover of "Freebird" apparently, which makes me smile, because his cover of "Folsom Prison Blues" is thrilling to me. Something funny about a crazy British guy mimicking Johnny Cash to a stompy synth beat.

Sorry about the wall of text. Coffee kicked in about a paragraph into this entry and suddenly I had a lot to say.

Also, I forgot to post this photo during the starling migration two weeks ago...
( Birds on a wire and lots of blue... )

I'mma maul anything that gets too close to me.

The goodbye dinner wasn't as awkward as I expected it to be. I guess it put me at ease a bit to be around the new [temporary] boss and to get a feel for what she's like. Apparently she's a lot more chill than I thought she'd be... I don't know, though, we'll see how that works out. She seemed real, though. I guess that's the best way to describe it.

We hung around at the office for an hour or two after dinner, and at one point, a particularly giant pair of scrub pants were brought out, having once belonged to a rather huge coworker who is no longer working with us. We ended up putting them on Ian, who was able to get his entire self in one leg, then we pulled the other leg down over his chest so that his head stuck out of the bottom of the pant leg. He proceeded to hobble about like the thing with no arms from Silent Hill. (The one my sister dubbed "Crazylegs".) After that both Ashley and Rebecca got in the pants as well, and pictures were taken. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a few of those pictures, as I'm sure they're hilarious.

My shoulders hurt more than usual tonight. I think I should lay flat for a while. :/

Saying goodbye to Ashley today...
It was supposed to be a small thing, just maybe five or so of the staff with cupcakes, hanging out with her during her last day. But it's escalated into a pizza dinner with some new lady from corporate that everyone already hates... *sigh* I'm still bringing cupcakes, though. It seems less special and way more uncomfortable now, but we'll deal.

Not much else to say... still... Not looking forward to the weekend, either. Been playing a lot of Phantasy Star Zero with Jeff... Still sick, but getting a lot better, finally. Really starting to hate fall, though. Bad things happen every time.

Here's a dead thistle with dew on it.

So, I've lost my wallet. By now, I guess it isn't going to turn up, since the last time I saw it was in Kentucky last week. I've already ordered a new debit card, but it's going to be a pain in the ass to get my driver's license replaced. Also, my pass to The Artisan was in it, so from now on I won't be able to come and go as I please there anymore.

Anyway, onto the Kentucky trip photos...


( Pretty scenery, fossily hills... )
Didn't feel the need for captions. They're all pretty self-explanatory.
Also, new LJ layout. I had gotten tired of the green overload.

I meant to post these yesterday... Before the first clinic, I wandered off and discovered this guy. He was feral, but not unfriendly. Just shy and curious... he walked away when I got too close, but didn't go far, turning around to stare at me.

( Two more, one closeup )
I've been wanting a blue-eyed lynx point for quite some time. :/ It's a shame I saw him in a town that's about two hours from where I live. His ear has been clipped by a group probably like the one here -- they trap feral kitties and spay/neuter them, then release them. (Mostly because it would be incredibly hard to find homes for them all, especially since they're all wild and wouldn't make good pets for someone without a lot of time and patience.)

And we're back! Editing photos now... Made a post to deadphotos about the skeletal remains of an armadillo I found a day or two before we left. But that's kinda unrelated. Whatever. I thought it was cool...

Still kinda sick with a sore throat, but at least those godawful fever chills are gone. That was miserable. I'm glad I'll be able to work this weekend... I need the money and all.

I did manage to find one tiny, curled-up trilobite! It's about the size of a bean, but I love it. It's the first one I've ever found.

I love its little pissed-off face. Like it's angry that I disturbed its 200+ million year sleep. Wow, now that I think about it, it's kinda insane that I own something that old. Then again, I've been collecting fossils for years now and that amazement should have worn off by now. But no. I'm still like a little kid over these things. Also, WTF, my fingers look weird in that picture... But I couldn't get the light right without holding it up at that angle. :/

I'll be posting more pics of scenery and other fossils Jeff and I found. The place we were hunting was WAAAY out in the country, mostly farmland. It was gorgeous. And I'll be making another deadphotos post about a snake I found as well. I might wait until tomorrow for the latter, though... I don't wanna spam people.

Sorry for the lack of updates... I have no real excuse. Just haven't been doing it. I've been keeping up with Twitter a little more faithfully, however. I guess tonight I'll transfer a big chunk of that over. My apologies to anyone who gets alerts when I update, haha. Maybe I'll get another Twitter shipper... the last one failed hard.

Early tomorrow morning, Jeff and I are leaving for Kentucky for a fossil trip. We'll be hunting trilobites... I'm really excited, but I seem to be getting sick. I think I've caught the flu from Cyril. *shakes fist* Sick or not, however, I'm still going. This will be my first opportunity to trilobite hunt, and I might not get another chance for a very long time. Anyway, we're only staying overnight for one night, then we'll be returning so we can both work during the weekend. Hopefully I'll be well enough...

Anyway, making plans to head up to North Carolina with Jeff for Thanksgiving. I've been with him since 2003 and my grandparents up there still haven't met him. XD

And on a completely random note... Praying mantis!

This one was chill enough to let me take lots of photos before returning her to the bush I found her on. This shot was my favorite. For some reason, my camera didn't want to focus on her face for most of the pictures.

Tweets from today:
- "Oh mans, watching Maury with 3 bikerish guys at the Goodyear place. One is German. Love the way he talks." about 1 hour ago from txt
- "Getting an oil change. So bored... It's pouring, too, with the remains of that tropical storm coming through." about 2 hours ago from txt
- "Going to Kentucky for trilobite hunting in the morning. Too bad I think I'm getting the flu! :(" about 3 hours ago from txt

Tweets from today:
- "Just saw a purple and white car with huge rims, the HotWheels logo, and a pair of big purple balls hanging off the back. Classy." 6:31 PM Nov 9th from txt

Tweets from today:
- "Toco Hills again... Oh well, we had an easy day before it..." 2:39 PM Nov 8th from txt
- "Last night something I thought was impossible turned out to be quite possible after all. Wow. :)" 8:06 AM Nov 8th from txt

Tweets from today:
- "Ok, so I'm going to be afraid of blinking around statues for the rest of my life now. Thank you, Doctor Who, I appreciate that." 11:30 PM Nov 7th from web

Tweets from today:
- "God, I love The Last Dance. I forgot how much I love that pretty melodrama." 5:42 PM Nov 6th from txt
- "Just found out my family doctor died 2 months ago. Damn it, he was the coolest. I can't believe it. :(" 1:49 PM Nov 6th from txt

Tweets from today:
- "I have a feeling one of these days I'm going to be one of the ladies that attacks another lady at the grocery store for no apparent reason." 5:05 PM Nov 5th from txt
- "Hanging out with Alex as I have been lately. Avoiding household drama is more like it, though." 4:09 PM Nov 5th from txt

In between the Vidalia and Dublin clinics, we had about 30 minutes of free time. Patrick, Katie, and I wandered off to an abandoned house on a fenced-in lot behind the store. It was apparently the home of a trucker, and had only been uninhabited for a few years.

( The house and what was inside... )

( Another angle )
Taken along the highway today...

Texts from today:
- "Our first customer just came in, startled us while we were playing Uno with Dr. Grant, haha." about 9 hours ago from txt
- "So, after driving 3 hours, we are in Vidalia, the onion town. Everything is onion themed! Now THIS is the deep south." about 10 hours ago from txt

Went out on the Augusta run with Patrick and Ian. It was an easy day... didn't see anyone at the second store. And we only deposited $20 at the end. Sure, it's bad for business, but I could care less if corporate makes money or not, haha. We spent most of the day just talking and sitting around. And at Top Dawg, the owner was there with four puppies he was trying to help find homes for. We spent a good portion of the clinic time sitting on the floor playing with said fluffy black puppies. They were black lab, dachshund mixes... only one appeared to have normal-length legs, haha.

After that, we all came home, including Katie (not my sister), hung out, and ordered Chinese food. We didn't stay awake long after that.

Tweets from today:
- "I should document the weird stuff we see on roadsides. Today it was 3 big bags of hamburger buns." 12:32 PM Oct 31st from txt
- "Happy Halloween, everyone!" 10:34 AM Oct 31st from txt

Tweets from today:
- "Charlie caught a flying squirrel! And she ate every bit of it. :o" 12:46 AM Oct 29th from txt

So, I had a wicked fangirl moment earlier when I got a reply from Tom Shear. Ha, he wrote me back. :3 Now if only I could convince him to not skip Atlanta on the tour again this time... I won't try, though, I'm sure he hears that about every town in the country... and most of Europe as well. But I think it's awesome that he is still staying connected with his fanbase online. I've always heard that he did, but I never really tried it out, myself.

Also, fangirled over some photos posted on the CXS Facebook... Never imagined Rogue in a tie, but I think I really like it now that the novelty has worn off. Mm-hmm.

Anyway, spent most of today out. Went to work briefly, witnessed some pretty funny office drama, then headed off to Piedmont Park with Jeff and Patrick. My boots wore my heels raw, but at least I did get some exercise. Took a few pictures as well, but my camera is dead for the moment. Nothing spectacular to take pictures of there today anyway...

Went to Johnny's Pizza after that... now I'm home...
And the new Rotersand album, Random Is Resistance is lots of fun. It's been a good month for music.

Tweets from today:
- "At Piedmont Park. Have wandered off for a while, waiting for the guys. Man, everyone is dressed the same here! They don't stand out." 5:38 PM Oct 28th from txt
- "Fangirl moment! Tom Shear wrote me back! *mega-squee*" 4:24 PM Oct 28th from txt