Melinda Musil dot Com

Archive for March, 2010

My neighbor’s son is brilliant- the kind of brilliance that makes you jealous.  He went to a six-year med program- one of those med schools where you go for six years and get an M.D., instead of a four years for a bachelors and four years for an M.D.  After he graduated, he was able to get into a residency and fellowship that led to him discovering some kind of new technique in radiology.

Now he leads medical teaching courses and teach the teacher courses.  What is really enviable is, when doctors organize a medical teaching course for doctors or a medical teach the teacher course for doctors, they don’t just go to some cheap conference center or hotel.  Instead, they will host these courses on cruise ships or at resorts in the South Pacific or Caribbean.  So when my neighbor’s son teaches one of these courses, he gets a free “vacation” along with it!

After three days of painting, I’m quite a zombie tonight.

Oddly enough, though, tonight I am more “sleepy” than in pain.  Last night, I was sore from head to toe, and I was only a little bit tired.  Tonight I’m still a little bit sore but not nearly as bad, and I am bone-tired.  I will sleep very well tonight!

It’s somewhat understandable that I’m feeling a bit better tonight.  Yesterday was a LONG day (something like 9am to 6pm), and we did a lot of hard-core painting.  Today was only a half-day (painting from 9am to about noon, then an hour and half of cleaning up), and more like touch-ups on thin spots.  I am REALLY glad it was not so bad today- last night I was such a wreck that I was dreading the prospect of doing it all over again today!

Most importantly- the resulting rooms look GREAT.  The walls are beautiful.  Tomorrow we are having new carpet laid, and the rooms will look downright spectacular when that’s done!

Groan, groan, groan- I am VERY sore today!  Of course, wouldn’t you know that the painting at church still isn’t done, so I will be working there again tomorrow- but at least we have made significant progress!  Feeling sore is not “fun” but it’s very rewarding to see our accomplishments.

Tomorrow will be busy- painting in the morning, tutoring in the afternoon, church in the evening.  But that’s okay.  I will recover from it on Thursday- which will be good because I have a meeting with a client on Friday!  Of course there’s also a possibility that we will not be done with the painting tomorrow and I will wind up working on Thursday, in which case I will be FRIED by the time the weekend rolls around.

I’ve had an interesting journey through internet services in the past week or so.  When I was housesitting I used a broadband/dsl service, and at home I use a broadband/dsl service.  But I got to drive past my “blast from the past” apartment, from when I was in college, where I had dial-up services because I could get cheap dial up far easier than dsl!  Anyway, it is certainly fun to think back on those times when I was so impressed by the speed of dial up, compared with nowadays when a basic dsl service seems slow to me!

It’s amazing how life just FILLS with so much stuff that needs done!  I’m hoping that Thursday will not be so busy and I’ll have a chance to get caught up on all those things on my to-do list.  Until then- just hold on for the ride!

What a day. I got a call this morning asking if I could help a friend from church paint the sunday school rooms. I enjoy painting, so of course I said yes. But that took up my whole day, so I’m still working on catching up with my email and changing this theme.

I managed to get paint all over myself, which was actually kinda fun. Of course it was messy- in my hair, on my face and arms- but fun.

Now I’m quite achy, especially my back, but that’s okay. Tomorrow I will go back and paint more. It’s messy and crazy but fun.
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It’s a huge undertaking but I’m going back into my archives to tag and categorize everything.

Tagging is easy- in fact I found an awesome plugin that does all the work for me.  No problem.

But categorizing is much harder.  I need to figure out a few broad categorize that envelope every post.

Suggestions are much appreciated…

Staying at this house is awesome.  At least for awhile anyway- I am so far out in the country that I don’t think I would like to live here for a long time.  But for a few days, it’s nice.

In fact, I daresay it is nicer than a myrtle beach resort.  A resort in myrtle beach would be nice, but a home like this is more than enough for just getting away from it all.  Even if it is very different from an oceanfront myrtle beach hotel.

Unfortunately my time here is drawing near its end.  Tomorrow afternoon, I will “move” home, and Sunday afternoon, I will officially return the home to its owner.  But that’s okay.  It is fun while it lasts.

The owners of the home where I am housesitting have satellite television, so I have the chance to watch interesting channels like Discovery, History, Science, etc. (yes, I am a geek.)  This is particularly useful during the day- it is awfully nice to have some variety and to be able to watch documentaries while I work.  One of the shows I have flipped past is the TLC series on the Duggar family- you know, that ultra-fertile Arkansas family who currently have 19 children.

I can’t stand to watch more than a couple of minutes of this show.  There are so so many things that bother me.  For starters, they are exploiting the lives of all 19 of their children.  I don’t see any way possible that they would be able to support that many kids, at the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, without the income and freebies they receive from TLC.  The poor kids, especially the younger ones, are not growing up in a normal, healthy family if every moment of their lives is recorded on camera and broadcast to the world.

Also, it bothers me that not only are they homeschooling their children, but they are discouraging their kids from seeking any post-high school education (college, trade school, etc.).  I do not think homeschooling is inherently bad, just like I do not think public school is inherently bad.  I have known people who were exclusively homeschooled, who turned out to be perfectly normal, healthy adults, just like I have known people who were exclusively public schooled, who have turned to to be perfectly normal, healthy adults.  Speaking personally, I am almost exclusively public school educated- I went to kindergarten at a private school, then public school from grades 1-12, then a public/state university for my bachelors.  However, I have also known people who were homeschooled who really should not have been homeschooled.  Their parents were not sufficiently educated to take on such a responsibility, or sometimes just their personality did not fit with homeschooling.  Furthermore, I don’t think any parent should be discouraging their children from seeking higher education.  If they want to go to college, the parents have a responsibility to support them in whatever way they can.

The other problem I have with them is their black-and-white view of fertility.  It’s easy to say “birth control pills are always wrong”.  However, the world is much too dynamic for that.  I’ve known people who took birth control pills for non-contraceptive reasons- to treat severe acne, to treat painful uterine fibroids, etc.  You can’t say that is wrong unless you also believe that “modern medicine” is wrong- i.e. life is in God’s hands and God can heal me therefore I will never seek medical attention.  Yes, life is in God’s hands, and yes, God can heal you.  But God also gave us brains and common sense, and sometimes God uses medical doctors to heal us.

What about people who choose birth control as a contraceptive?  I don’t see anything wrong with that.  In fact, I see a lot of responsibility in recognizing that you are unable to provide the financial and emotional support that a child needs.  It makes a lot of sense to me when a couple realizes that they are too young/old/poor/unprepared to have a child or another child.

But most of all, the Duggars are exploiting their children for financial gain.  I realize that they may have started the show with good intentions, but the kids need to learn to be healthy and supportive members of society, and that includes learning to function when there is not a camera filming you 24/7.

Zyrtec is my friend.

Much to my dismay, I am allergic to cats, and it’s hard on my immune system to hang out in a world with so much cat fur.  Drugs like Zyrtec are a lifesaver for me.  With Zyrtec in my system, I can relax and feel pretty normal around the cats.  I limit the amount of time I spend petting the cats or “cuddling” with the cats (which is tough!!) and I can feel fine, no sneezing or other major allergy symptoms.  And I appreciate that!

Zyrtec is my l0w-cost solution to my allergies.

Now if only Singulair didn’t cost so much!

Life out here has been INCREDIBLY lazy.

It’s been relaxing- almost boring.  But it’s nice to get away from everything- even though I’m housesitting and technically still “working”.

It’s hard to focus on doing anything- like blogging!  But that’s okay.  It’s odd- even though it’s after 9pm, I feel like the day isn’t even close to being over.  It’s almost like being suspended in a time warp- like there is no sense of time around here.  It’s kinda nice.

It’s odd to pack for a trip that is so close to home.  It’s both an advantage and a disadvantage.  Since I am so close to home, if I forget anything, it’s not too hard to just run home and pick it up.  On the other hand, I’m a little less conscientious in my packing and more likely to forget something.  I also pack very lightly.  I will probably run a load of laundry tomorrow or the next day.  I make do with only my bare-bones bathroom supplies- none of my fancy lotions or potions (like neutrogena skin id).  I don’t mind- with all the change, I don’t miss those things.  It may be tough to return to “real life”!

Starting tonight, I am housesitting for a friend who is vacationing for a few days.  It’s a pretty easy “job”… really my only assignment is to feed her 6 cats and 1 bunny, which is easy enough.  In the meantime it is nice to get “away” from home, while still being close enough to home that I can run home if I forget anything.

This house is pretty far off the beaten path- in other words, though it’s not far from my house (about 45 minutes), it’s far enough that it is a bit challenging to run to the nearest Walmart or a restaurant- it’s more than a 5-minute drive.  That has both its advantages and disadvantages.  If you want a house in the country, you can’t beat this.

The cats are adorable and tons of fun, although I am annoyingly allergic to cats and I struggle with allergy attacks around them.  If I ever get health insurance, I will definitely get allergy shots- it drives me nuts to be allergic to cats and dogs.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day- just me hanging around and working.  Maybe a trip home to grab a charger- haven’t decided on that yet.  Should be nice!