Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 115
August 16, 2015
Does Hitting the Snooze Button Help?
To go along with last week's video about how hard it is to wake in the mornings.
August 13, 2015
Coloring Books
I've seen a lot of articles in past few months about coloring books for adults being a hot item right now and that coloring is so relaxing. I thought about it and I went, yeah, you know that would be kind of cool. Relaxing and probably it would inspire creativity. When I do a lot of scrapbooking, it always helps my writing and I have theorized that it's because creativity is flowing, but in a way that doesn't drain the writing muscles in my brain.
Daydreams of how relaxed and productive I'd be danced in my brain. I ordered one of the really highly rated coloring books and a pack of art pencils.
Finally, with both in my hands, I sat down at the table and began to color.
Relaxation didn't come. Almost all I could think about was how much other stuff I had to do and I couldn't believe I was wasting time coloring. I stressed about which color I should use to color in the flowers. I became frustrated when my plan to color every other petal an aqua color failed when I had the wrong number of petals and I ended up with two aquas next to each other.
The pencils frustrated me, too. I was expecting a deep, rich color, but instead I had to press hard to get nothing more than a light tint to the petals. Maybe I should have bought different pencils, I worried as I colored. But I'm not an artist and I had no clue which kind of pencils I should have bought. Do I need to research this? But art pencils are ridiculously expensive already, do I really want to buy another set that I might not like either?
Um, you know, that cabinet should be straightened out. I wonder where I could put-- No, focus on the coloring, it's relaxing. Breathe in and out and color.
I wonder if I should hang my wind spinner outside? Does the home owner's association allow wind spinners in the front of the house? I have that hook right there on the front porch. Do I have a hook on my back patio?
Color. Focus. Relax.
Now I have the wrong number of petals to do every other petal purple. Why did the color book artist do this? I can't be the only one who wants to color every other petal a different hue.
Why am I coloring when I have half a dozen other, more important things to be doing?
If you're getting the idea that this was a relaxation failure for me, you'd be right. It also didn't inspire creativity. I'm not ready to give it up yet, but maybe I'll try it with music next time or while I'm watching baseball or something.
Daydreams of how relaxed and productive I'd be danced in my brain. I ordered one of the really highly rated coloring books and a pack of art pencils.
Finally, with both in my hands, I sat down at the table and began to color.
Relaxation didn't come. Almost all I could think about was how much other stuff I had to do and I couldn't believe I was wasting time coloring. I stressed about which color I should use to color in the flowers. I became frustrated when my plan to color every other petal an aqua color failed when I had the wrong number of petals and I ended up with two aquas next to each other.
The pencils frustrated me, too. I was expecting a deep, rich color, but instead I had to press hard to get nothing more than a light tint to the petals. Maybe I should have bought different pencils, I worried as I colored. But I'm not an artist and I had no clue which kind of pencils I should have bought. Do I need to research this? But art pencils are ridiculously expensive already, do I really want to buy another set that I might not like either?
Um, you know, that cabinet should be straightened out. I wonder where I could put-- No, focus on the coloring, it's relaxing. Breathe in and out and color.
I wonder if I should hang my wind spinner outside? Does the home owner's association allow wind spinners in the front of the house? I have that hook right there on the front porch. Do I have a hook on my back patio?
Color. Focus. Relax.
Now I have the wrong number of petals to do every other petal purple. Why did the color book artist do this? I can't be the only one who wants to color every other petal a different hue.
Why am I coloring when I have half a dozen other, more important things to be doing?
If you're getting the idea that this was a relaxation failure for me, you'd be right. It also didn't inspire creativity. I'm not ready to give it up yet, but maybe I'll try it with music next time or while I'm watching baseball or something.
August 11, 2015
Review: Apollo 13
Warning: There will be spoilers. I'm not sure the warning is necessary since the movie came out in 1995 and it holds pretty true to a historical event, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.
I know I'm late to Apollo 13. The movie has been out for 20 years, but I've just seen it. I'm not even sure why I didn't watch it earlier because it's about space, astronauts, adventure, and there's plenty of suspense--a lot of my favorite things.
Probably everyone knows the plot of the movie. A mission to the moon has an explosion that throws the astronauts survival into question. The revised mission is to get the men back to Earth safely. And to quote the movie, "Failure is not an option."
I actually watched the movie because the Smithsonian Channel has a show where they compare the movie version of a historical event to the real life version. I watched the Apollo 13 episode and immediately wanted to see the movie. If you're curious, the movie was actually pretty close to real life. The biggest thing I remember being wrong was that the astronauts said there wasn't any arguing/conflict. They also mentioned that Ron Howard told them that he couldn't just show sweat running down their brows, he needed some tension for the film.
I thought the movie was awesome--once it got started. The beginning for me with the party seemed unnecessary for me, and when I rewatched Apollo 13, I skipped right past to when they actually blasted off. The rest seemed extraneous. Perhaps this was meant to bond us with Tom Hanks' Jim Lovell, but for me, it was just filler.
Then there was the scene where the wife lost her ring in the shower. Um, why was that there? To hint at the bad luck aspect of the mission? That's the only guess I have since there was no other mention of the ring throughout the entire film.
The other part that kind of left me going, huh? was a scene aboard the space capsule. When Bill Paxton's Fred Haise is cold and sick and Tom Hanks is trying to keep him warm and Haise mentions that his wife's pregnancy was an oops. Really? Did we need to know this? If it's true, I feel kind of bad for the real-life kid seeing this info broadcast to the world. If it isn't true, why put it in the movie at all? Actually, either way, it didn't need to be in the film. It added nothing.
Oh, one other thing the movie got wrong. The cause of the explosion. I understand, though, why they went with it. The real cause was more complicated and I'm not sure I could even describe it without messing it up. The movie's explanation was a lot simpler and was close enough for me, although I'm sure engineers everywhere would argue it wasn't close enough.
The voice over at the end with the explanations of what happened to each character in real life after the Apollo 13 mission wasn't my favorite thing ever. Maybe because it was kind of sad to know that Lovell never got to walk on the moon and Swigart died of cancer. The astronauts making it safely back to Earth was such an exciting, upbeat ending and then there comes the downer voice over. I think I would have preferred that the narration had just covered the cause of the explosion (approximation that it was) and left it there.
I got a little nitpicky here and I really shouldn't have. I loved this movie and would totally watch it again if the opportunity arose.
On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 8. Highly recommended.
I know I'm late to Apollo 13. The movie has been out for 20 years, but I've just seen it. I'm not even sure why I didn't watch it earlier because it's about space, astronauts, adventure, and there's plenty of suspense--a lot of my favorite things.
Probably everyone knows the plot of the movie. A mission to the moon has an explosion that throws the astronauts survival into question. The revised mission is to get the men back to Earth safely. And to quote the movie, "Failure is not an option."
I actually watched the movie because the Smithsonian Channel has a show where they compare the movie version of a historical event to the real life version. I watched the Apollo 13 episode and immediately wanted to see the movie. If you're curious, the movie was actually pretty close to real life. The biggest thing I remember being wrong was that the astronauts said there wasn't any arguing/conflict. They also mentioned that Ron Howard told them that he couldn't just show sweat running down their brows, he needed some tension for the film.
I thought the movie was awesome--once it got started. The beginning for me with the party seemed unnecessary for me, and when I rewatched Apollo 13, I skipped right past to when they actually blasted off. The rest seemed extraneous. Perhaps this was meant to bond us with Tom Hanks' Jim Lovell, but for me, it was just filler.
Then there was the scene where the wife lost her ring in the shower. Um, why was that there? To hint at the bad luck aspect of the mission? That's the only guess I have since there was no other mention of the ring throughout the entire film.
The other part that kind of left me going, huh? was a scene aboard the space capsule. When Bill Paxton's Fred Haise is cold and sick and Tom Hanks is trying to keep him warm and Haise mentions that his wife's pregnancy was an oops. Really? Did we need to know this? If it's true, I feel kind of bad for the real-life kid seeing this info broadcast to the world. If it isn't true, why put it in the movie at all? Actually, either way, it didn't need to be in the film. It added nothing.
Oh, one other thing the movie got wrong. The cause of the explosion. I understand, though, why they went with it. The real cause was more complicated and I'm not sure I could even describe it without messing it up. The movie's explanation was a lot simpler and was close enough for me, although I'm sure engineers everywhere would argue it wasn't close enough.
The voice over at the end with the explanations of what happened to each character in real life after the Apollo 13 mission wasn't my favorite thing ever. Maybe because it was kind of sad to know that Lovell never got to walk on the moon and Swigart died of cancer. The astronauts making it safely back to Earth was such an exciting, upbeat ending and then there comes the downer voice over. I think I would have preferred that the narration had just covered the cause of the explosion (approximation that it was) and left it there.
I got a little nitpicky here and I really shouldn't have. I loved this movie and would totally watch it again if the opportunity arose.
On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 8. Highly recommended.
August 9, 2015
Why Is Waking Up So Hard?
I'd still rather hit the snooze button for 45 minutes and I'm not going to stop sleeping in on the weekends. Sounds like I'm doomed.
August 6, 2015
Great Email Mystery
The other day, I received an email. That in itself isn't weird. I receive lots of email every day, but this email was stranger than some of the spam I've gotten. This email was to tell me about town hall meetings with a Utah congressman. In Utah.
Um, I don't live in Utah. I've never lived in Utah. The only time I was ever in Utah was when I changed planes in Salt Lake City. I don't think this qualifies me to receive email notices.
You're thinking, I bet it was a phishing email. Nope. I checked into it and it was a legitimate email from a real US congressman in Washington DC sent through the man's official congressional email address.
I'm seriously at a loss here. I could understand if it were a Minnesota senator or congressman because I lived there most of my life. It would make sense if it were from a Georgia legislator since that's where I moved when I left Minnesota. How did I even get on an email list for a congressman from Utah? The mind boggles.
I usually don't unsubscribe from spammy emails, but like I said, I checked this one out and it was legitimate so I hit the unsubscribe button hoping it would be one of those that includes a window for comments. I was going to ask how I got on the list. Not that I ever would have received an answer, but still, I needed to ask this question even if it shot into the ether. Unfortunately the form had no opportunity for comment. It was merely a check box to unsubscribe followed by a thank you message.
This will remain one of life's great email mysteries.
Um, I don't live in Utah. I've never lived in Utah. The only time I was ever in Utah was when I changed planes in Salt Lake City. I don't think this qualifies me to receive email notices.
You're thinking, I bet it was a phishing email. Nope. I checked into it and it was a legitimate email from a real US congressman in Washington DC sent through the man's official congressional email address.
I'm seriously at a loss here. I could understand if it were a Minnesota senator or congressman because I lived there most of my life. It would make sense if it were from a Georgia legislator since that's where I moved when I left Minnesota. How did I even get on an email list for a congressman from Utah? The mind boggles.
I usually don't unsubscribe from spammy emails, but like I said, I checked this one out and it was legitimate so I hit the unsubscribe button hoping it would be one of those that includes a window for comments. I was going to ask how I got on the list. Not that I ever would have received an answer, but still, I needed to ask this question even if it shot into the ether. Unfortunately the form had no opportunity for comment. It was merely a check box to unsubscribe followed by a thank you message.
This will remain one of life's great email mysteries.
August 4, 2015
TV ala Carte
Lately there have been a few stories in the news about consumers wanting cable television to go to an ala carte format. I like the idea because there are so many channels I don't watch and probably never will. On the other hand, I'd hate to see smaller channels have to pander for purchases--that would be worse than pandering for ratings, I'm sure of it. Also, what if something comes up that is on one of these channels I never watch and then I'm out of luck?
As you can see, I'm pretty wishy washy on this idea.
One of these articles guesstimated that most people would want around twenty channels. That made me wonder what are my must-have channels?
MLB Network
HGTV
History
H2
Weatherscan (It shows the local forecast over and over in a loop and nothing else)
Smithsonian Channel
CNN for when something big happens
The local channel that shows baseball games
And um, maybe ESPN, but I'd only watch baseball, so maybe not.
Definitely less than twenty here. If they offered this idea, I'm sure I could throw a few outliers in to get to that number, but it's really something when you have like 200 channels and there's nothing on.
As you can see, I'm pretty wishy washy on this idea.
One of these articles guesstimated that most people would want around twenty channels. That made me wonder what are my must-have channels?
MLB Network
HGTV
History
H2
Weatherscan (It shows the local forecast over and over in a loop and nothing else)
Smithsonian Channel
CNN for when something big happens
The local channel that shows baseball games
And um, maybe ESPN, but I'd only watch baseball, so maybe not.
Definitely less than twenty here. If they offered this idea, I'm sure I could throw a few outliers in to get to that number, but it's really something when you have like 200 channels and there's nothing on.
August 2, 2015
What Killed the Neanderthals?
Neanderthals.
July 30, 2015
Epic Fail or More Kitchen Adventures
I'm terrible at cooking. Or maybe the more accurate way to state it would be that I am bored to tears by cooking and so I do it as little as possible. I also have a tendency to wander away from the kitchen while things are cooking. This has led to a lot of kitchen failure. When I do actually do the cooking thing, I try to make enough to have left overs, hopefully enough for a week. And this leads me to my latest adventure in the kitchen.
At my day job, there are regular fundraisers when grits are sold. Being from Minnesota originally, I hadn't had much exposure to them, but now that I'm in Georgia, I was convinced to try them--with Cajun sausage and pepper jack cheese. And I ended up liking the cheese sausage grits. I've even made them at home a few times.
Last weekend, I decided to make them again. The recipe on the quick grits says 2 cups of water for 1/2 cup of grits. I wanted to make 3 cups of grits so I'd have leftovers and I did some math. 12 cups of water for 3 cups of grits.
Everything is going well. I'd cooked the Andouille sausage and was cutting it up on the other side of the kitchen while I waited for my 12 cups of water to come to a boil. When they did, I added the grits. Hmm, I said, this looks much too watery. This is bad. I must have done my math wrong. It must be 6 cups of water for 3 cups of grits. (Trust me, while I can normally handle simple multiplication, that skill has deserted me more than once in the kitchen.)
I began hurriedly adding more grits. Like double what was already in there.
It didn't take long before I realized that no, my math hadn't been wrong. I should have waited to see how the grits expanded before adding more. Now my biggest pot is filled almost to the rim with grits and I somehow need to add more water or I'll have a solid lump.
There was only one thing I could do. I pulled out another pan and started scooping grits into it. Do I need to mention that grits dripped everywhere? I started out with a large spoon and switched to a ladle. My spoon rest became filled with grits. Some dripped down the front of my stove, the sides of the pots, into the burner, and onto the floor. The mess was truly epic.
Ultimately, the grits turned out okay, but I now have four big storage containers filled to the top with leftovers. I definitely didn't want this much left. :-( You don't even want to know how long it took me to clean my kitchen.
I seriously need adult supervision whenever I cook.
At my day job, there are regular fundraisers when grits are sold. Being from Minnesota originally, I hadn't had much exposure to them, but now that I'm in Georgia, I was convinced to try them--with Cajun sausage and pepper jack cheese. And I ended up liking the cheese sausage grits. I've even made them at home a few times.
Last weekend, I decided to make them again. The recipe on the quick grits says 2 cups of water for 1/2 cup of grits. I wanted to make 3 cups of grits so I'd have leftovers and I did some math. 12 cups of water for 3 cups of grits.
Everything is going well. I'd cooked the Andouille sausage and was cutting it up on the other side of the kitchen while I waited for my 12 cups of water to come to a boil. When they did, I added the grits. Hmm, I said, this looks much too watery. This is bad. I must have done my math wrong. It must be 6 cups of water for 3 cups of grits. (Trust me, while I can normally handle simple multiplication, that skill has deserted me more than once in the kitchen.)
I began hurriedly adding more grits. Like double what was already in there.
It didn't take long before I realized that no, my math hadn't been wrong. I should have waited to see how the grits expanded before adding more. Now my biggest pot is filled almost to the rim with grits and I somehow need to add more water or I'll have a solid lump.
There was only one thing I could do. I pulled out another pan and started scooping grits into it. Do I need to mention that grits dripped everywhere? I started out with a large spoon and switched to a ladle. My spoon rest became filled with grits. Some dripped down the front of my stove, the sides of the pots, into the burner, and onto the floor. The mess was truly epic.
Ultimately, the grits turned out okay, but I now have four big storage containers filled to the top with leftovers. I definitely didn't want this much left. :-( You don't even want to know how long it took me to clean my kitchen.
I seriously need adult supervision whenever I cook.
July 28, 2015
Warning: File Organization In Progress
Last week I blogged about an organizational epiphany. I started implementing it over the weekend and discovered why I couldn't find anything. OMG, files are everywhere. I mean I knew I had some of that, but I didn't know it was this bad.
Let me back up and start toward the beginning. I decided to plunge into the file organization even though I still haven't finished the article that got me thinking about this project. (I probably should.) To avoid having to redo things multiple times, I decided I needed a plan for which folders I wanted and what the hierarchy should be for nesting the folders. I found free mind mapping software, downloaded it, and began to work out my plan. It quickly became clear that the writing folders were going to be the most extensive.
When my plan was in place, I began to move folders and files. This is when I discovered I had files squirreled away in not just two places, but sometimes three, four, or even five places for the same book. It also quickly became clear that I was going to need to group files together and fine tune from there. I also discovered I had multiple copies of the same file. Mostly it was two, but there were also a couple of triplicates in there.
I knew the project would be a little time consuming, but it's turning out to be much worse than I expected. I'm still in the whacking away phase and fine tuning seems a long way off. :-( This is proof of how poor my file organization was. No wonder finding anything was a time-consuming challenge.
What I've learned?
I should have organized my files in a more logical manner a long, long time ago. It would have been easier. If you're procrastinating on this, I'd rethink that.Planning out the folders and sub-folders ahead of time was vitally important.Even with the plan, accept that some of it won't work and folders will need to be deleted, added, or revised.It's time consuming and boring, so plan on doing it over a period of time rather than in one sitting.The transition period is hard with files not yet in their exact and permanent location. I think that in the end I'm really going to love this new filing system. I can already see some of the benefits in this early part of the process, but it's going to be painful reaching the end state.
Let me back up and start toward the beginning. I decided to plunge into the file organization even though I still haven't finished the article that got me thinking about this project. (I probably should.) To avoid having to redo things multiple times, I decided I needed a plan for which folders I wanted and what the hierarchy should be for nesting the folders. I found free mind mapping software, downloaded it, and began to work out my plan. It quickly became clear that the writing folders were going to be the most extensive.
When my plan was in place, I began to move folders and files. This is when I discovered I had files squirreled away in not just two places, but sometimes three, four, or even five places for the same book. It also quickly became clear that I was going to need to group files together and fine tune from there. I also discovered I had multiple copies of the same file. Mostly it was two, but there were also a couple of triplicates in there.
I knew the project would be a little time consuming, but it's turning out to be much worse than I expected. I'm still in the whacking away phase and fine tuning seems a long way off. :-( This is proof of how poor my file organization was. No wonder finding anything was a time-consuming challenge.
What I've learned?
I should have organized my files in a more logical manner a long, long time ago. It would have been easier. If you're procrastinating on this, I'd rethink that.Planning out the folders and sub-folders ahead of time was vitally important.Even with the plan, accept that some of it won't work and folders will need to be deleted, added, or revised.It's time consuming and boring, so plan on doing it over a period of time rather than in one sitting.The transition period is hard with files not yet in their exact and permanent location. I think that in the end I'm really going to love this new filing system. I can already see some of the benefits in this early part of the process, but it's going to be painful reaching the end state.
July 26, 2015
Misconceptions About Appliances
I knew a lot of these already, but I'm appalled about the coffee maker thing. Gah!
