Power and Control

Hey Ma -- look what I made! The first Seattle All City Scooter Community Day (that's a mouthful, I know) is coming up and I built the website. It's very basic because I had to get it live and running in less than a week, but I made the logo my own self which I'm pleased with. I get embarrassingly excited about fonts.

I finished two other sites this week. You can't see them yet because one has no content and the other is not running perfectly in $%&*ing Internet Explorer yet... just every other standards-compliant browser in existence. There are errant spaces between my divs and it's maddening. Learning CSS is difficult enough without also having to learn how to hack it for IE. But by the end of the (three day) weekend I should be able to share my two stunning achievements with you. I'm like a fourth grader hanging her assignments on the refrigerator. Gold stars, please!

I'm sure I posted about the remote-controlled dragonfly at some point. If I didn't, well, I went to Radio Shack to get some electrical doodads and they had a remote-controlled dragonfly which is easily the coolest squandering of technology I have ever seen. They let me fly it in the store, and I kept crashing it, but was so giddy they had to pry the controller out of my hands to get me to leave.

So then I found a gadget that totally tops the dragonfly: a robotic koi. Two of my favorite things, in a beautiful marriage of giant fish and remote control capabilities. (Equally fabulous is the site name "Pink Tentacle".) This particular borg is not just for dive-bombing the postal carrier, either; it has a video camera in its head and can analyze water quality. Must. Have. Koi-bot.

How fun would it be to tool around Lake Union with that thing? I could take it out with me in my kayak on lunch break. Maybe get it to retrieve all those keys of mine lying on the bottom of the lake from sloppy houseboat exits.


I have custody of Cat Former former this weekend, it being a holiday, and I get to spend some quality time with the handsome devil. I miss him terribly, but Princess Nevadelia Lotus Blossom does not, and she calls the shots. I am a mere servant.

I have noticed my at-home stress level has declined exponentially, and I think it's because Jasper is not following me room to room, yowling like the needy Siamese with separation anxiety we all know and love. I adore him to bits, but I savor the luxury of using the bathroom in peace, without urgent scratching and caterwauling on the other side of the door because I've abandoned him for all eternity and he'll swiftly perish from loneliness and/or starvation.

Jaspie is moving to a new house in Green Lake at the end of the month where he will be able to once again roll with kitten glee in the warm grass. I'm sure he misses the mountain view cottage in Queen Anne and the abundance of wild greens for munching. I know I do. (Well, not the greens part.)

Speaking of living in the ghetto and having a slumlord, get this. I came home Wednesday to find a yellow envelope from Seattle City Light addressed to some Jacob dude taped to my door. I'm like, "that's weird. My name's not Jacob and I don't pay for electricity." I open it to discover that I probably should have been paying for electricity -- for 10 months now -- and Jacob or not, they were shutting my power off at 5:00.

Turns out Jacob owed a huge chunk of change when he moved out of my apartment and neglected to close his account, during which time the building manager neglected to inform me that I needed to open an account, so I'd been using Jacob's bootleg electric since I moved in last fall. Our friend Jacob had put in an address forwarding, however, so all those City Light bills in envelopes of increasingly urgent colors had been delivered directly to him, unbeknownst to me.

The electric company wanted the bill paid in full in order to stop the power from being shut off. And because the bill had gone to collections, they would only accept cash. Six hundred dollars worth. This included the $100 they tacked on for the field worker who had been dispatched to my apartment building to yank the plug, since I called them minutes after he was en route.

I briefly entertained the idea of going powerless (12 step approved!) because really -- what do I need electricity for in the summer? I'd certainly enjoy an excuse to be away from my computer while at home. But then I remembered that my private in-apartment hot water heater is electric, and while I'll happily deny myself television or a refrigerator for 4 months, the thought of going a single day without my deluxe shower head and Bath & Bodyworks Sugar Scrub was too much to bear. So I had to go down to Seattle City Light and fork over $600 in cash. Awesome.

I'm sure I'll get it straightened out in the end and I'll (hopefully) only end up owing the part of my electricity after September and minus the late fees, but it was a case of "pay now, ask questions later" if I wanted to stay exfoliated, fragrant and well-lit.

Well I supposed I should get on with my day. I am headed down to the University Bookstore to pick up Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Master Collection (PhotoShop, Illustrator, Flash, DreamWeaver, InDesign, Fireworks, Contribute, AfterEffects, Premiere, Encore, Soundbooth, OnLocation and Ultra !!!) after which point I will not leave my apartment for a week. That acquisition alone is worth keeping the electricity on.

Have a great day of Laboring -- or Remembering -- whichever it is. Either way, I'll be wearing white.