Engineer's Graphic

Ask an engineer (specifically one with marginal InDesign/Photoshop skills) to give you a graphic and you are bound to get something like this:

 

Pi Day 2013

Christmastime 2011

While this wasn't Dani's first Christmas, I like to think of it as her first REAL Christmas since she was just over a month old in 2010 and could only see lights. This year, she could play with and enjoy her presents as well as the lights, the tree, the ornaments, and family gatherings. While I haven't written anything over there on the Baby Blog, be sure to pop on over in the near future as I'm sure to include some highlights!

As for my Christmas, aside from the virus my computer got (from a blog they say?), the cold that I got (not terrible though) and the teething Dani is suffering (molars, what a bitch!) it was great.  I got an amazing new sewing machine from Chris and a great sewing basket (that is to be my next project) from my mom.  I got some gift cards, pajamas, a bracelet made by my Uncle Kirk, and of course some delish food and time with friends and family.  Festivities are actually not over yet either.

I should also mention, while this isn't something I got for Christmas, it was something that I received around Christmas, and that was news that I passed my Professional Engineering Licensing Exam, which officially makes me a licensed engineer in the State of Missouri.  We celebrated at work!

A lot of people have asked me how this changes things for me.  For starters, it's a huge relief, one thing marked off my list, one less test I have to take (yes, I still have more testing for some specific other states), and a bit of an accomplishment for myself as I get to add the letters PE to the end of my name and remove the EIT.  In terms of work, it may mean little for now as I don't have any Missouri projects that I can sign and seal drawings for at this time.  Perhaps in the future I will add some states or projects for which I am responsible and then I will sign and seal drawings.  Pay doesn't really change for me, nor do my tasks, but they could potentially for the future.  One thing though that has changed, I personally can be sued.  Before I was working directly for a PE, who was the responsible party, now I am.  That's not so great, but oh well, with all good things there are some bad things.

Now, onto other things, like sewing...here are a few pictures of things I've made recently, new gifts, and planned projects...

Insulated Horseshoe Tote with magnetic closure given as a gift

Insulated Lunch Tote with button closure made with scrap materials

My new Bernina sewing machine!

Plans for my sewing basket - making inserts

NaBloPoMo Day 27 Post 27 - Decorations

I will not lie to you about my general zest (or often lack thereof) for holidays. There are a few I get terribly excited about, those being Halloween and St. Pat's Day. Many will argue that neither are holidays. Well send those bitches my way and I'll argue. I like to argue assuming the context is neither religious or political. Holidays though, send the bitches my way! Also if the subject is China, I'm in for that argument too. Anyway, back to my point. Normally I am one of those curmudgeons that wander about the store complaining loudly about rude people, about how Christmas time is about greed these days, about annoying shoppers, about carts in my way, about screaming children, about bad parenting of said screaming children. You get the idea...I'm just a curmudgeon!

I wasn't born or reared this way. Both of my parents, religious as they were, taught us to be thankful for what we had. We were taught to be respectful and kind. We also got the religious hoopla as well. I admit to no longer celebrating Christmas and the like as a religious holiday. I do however take this time to celebrate my loved ones; my family and friends that have been kind to me and supportive of me. So I suppose when I walk into a store and see kids wandering aimlessly while their parents are off looking for the best deal on a plasma TV, I get angry. I become irate when I say excuse me and get scowled at for having manners. I become the curmudgeon!

Anyway, I had a point here before I trailed off...my point is that despite my dislike for Christmas hoopla, I do enjoy the traditions that make me recall the days of yore; the Christmas tree with home made ornaments, hand-me-downs, and grade school creations; stockings with our names painted on them; the Christmas candy bowl my father decorated as a child; the reindeer candles I bought my mom from school; even the cheesy sweatshirts! So to begin the day, here are my Christmas socks:


For my family, the traditional day to decorate for Christmas was the day after Thanksgiving when we'd all help put the tree up. So, as this is the traditional day for me, here is my tree...


And as I prefer the home made nostalgic ornaments as opposed to the ornate store bought, here is my craft project to expand my current collection of Steph's home made ornaments along with Grandpa's hand carved ornaments, past gifts, and my collage of hodge-podge sheep and pig ornaments found along the ages!

NaBloPoMo Day Nine Post Seven - Oops!

Okay, so by the title I would hope you could infer that I missed two posts. I would hope more so that you are one of my two readers that pay attention often enough to simply know that I missed two posts.

Anyway, I'm way off the course of topic which is "how and why I would miss blogging"! I would like to blame work, since it is after all overwhelming me these days! I cannot though. As you may know, I was off to Berkley, California for a couple of days for a volunteer meeting for SEI (Structural Engineering Institute) that I am involved in since I am the local St. Louis Chair. It's not grand. You could even go so far to say I am Chair only because I lost the election. To be true though, I enjoy it some times as I altruistically love structural engineering. Sorry, off track, I won't dwell there but will get back to my point. I returned on Saturday, my first missed blog day/post. I would have sent a short blog from my phone, but was traveling non-stop in such a manner that my phone was on airplane mode most of the day. When I did get back to St. Louis, it was late, and so I only got a chance to do anything besides move at around 10pm; at which time I crashed into bed holding on snugly to my dogs that I missed dearly. It didn't occur to me until later in the day Sunday that I'd missed a day. I had sort of made a silent vow to blog Sunday with an extra to make up for my mistake. Well, you see how that went!

None the less, the bloggity guilt has overwhelmed me...and as such I will spend an enormous amount of time today catching up! Now is the time to either really try to focus with me, or to simply scroll to the bottom for your words!

-Thursday mom had surgery. She is doing well, but in a lot of pain. Thanks for all the well wishes!

-Thursday I flew out to Oakland, took the BART to the North Berkley station where I waited for a hotel shuttle to pick me up. Turns out two of the other meeting attendees were also waiting, so I got a head start meeting people!

-Friday I went to my meeting that went well. We then took off for a boat ride around the bay to look at the old, new, and still under construction Bay Bridge. I encourage you to go check out baybridgeinfo.org. We had a great guide and an all around great trip on the bay (despite my innate fear of water, I enjoyed myself). See pictures below.

-Upon returning to the hotel (that sits in a marina) I discovered that I didn't need to go to any meetings that evening, but only to a dinner that was several hours away. I decided to take that time to go for a jog in a nearby park, Cesar Chavez Park (see below for location and pictures). While jogging I literally had to stop to catch my breath from the over powering view. At the North end of the park as one turns the corner from the East, you can see out over the bay to the mountains, to Yogi Bear Island (see a map for real Island name), to the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, and even to San Fransisco. Breath.Taking!

- I flew home on Saturday leaving some meetings early. Saturday was the 7th, my anniversary. Considering how this year has gone, it's a small miracle we've even made it to three years. I choose not to air laundry on my blog, not the place nor the time. But, it should be noted that we did have a third anniversary and I did make it home for part of it!

- Sunday was a gorgeous day that started by taking the dogs to meet Amanda and Lou in a dog park in Edwardsville. They were worn out pretty quick, thankfully! From there we took the pooches home to then headed over to Kitchen Conservatory where I bought a knife as a gift, but the best part was that it was made in Germany (not China). I also bought some Vanilla Extract Paste.

-I made a small donation here...

Donate Here!

Words...
disco nap: Sleeping when you have something going later on that you need to get ready for.
Kraft singles: Dollar bills. Derived from another slang term that refers to money as "cheese".
audible: To make an unexpected, last-minute decision. This definition is derived from its meaning in football.

Finally, The Results Are In...

Well, it's been a while since I've written, and you can all blame work for that! I've been working 12/13 hour days most days for about a month now. I've also got a lot of personal stuff going on too. I've been wanting to get around to writing some more, but just can't seem to find time. Since we hit a deadline yesterday, I'm making time to post! Here we go...

So much for polls, they only tell me what I already know!

First the results of the brownie poll. My question was, "what is the best part of the brownie", and your choices where, "corner", "middle", or "edge".
....and the winner is....

Corner

I already knew that though!

The second of polls had to do with a dog contest I was participating in and did not win. I had asked you all to help me choose a photo to submit, your choices were the following:




As you may be aware, there was a tie between Bella as a puppy and Riley with a corncob. The whole point of this poll was to help me decide but instead the poll only narrowed my options down to the two photos I had already really decided on...oh well!

The picture I chose to submit was Riley with the corncob. As I mentioned, we didn't win, *sigh*! Thanks for participating though, that was great fun, wasn't it?!

If you read my last blog, about cat pee, you might be interested to know that I've received a nickname based upon that very true and sad story! Bernie has dubbed me "la reyenita de la gata orina" which translates to "Little Queen of Cat Pee"!

Ahead now with words...and speaking of words, I heard one today that gave me a chill along my spine! Parlance...now most of us have heard the word parley...and so parlance is just a variation on that word (which means vernacular; vernacular is the term I more commonly use in lieu of parlance). Parley comes from parle which I believe is the sourced from parable (you know, the stories told to teach us stuff, like "don't cry wolf"). I of course heard the word on Twitter [where else do I socialize?] from @ibificus: "I think it's what would be called, in modern parlance, an epic fail. http://tr.im/B61y The laughing cop makes it". Did you get a chilly spine?

Okay, off to the urban words yo (I owe you many):
microvisit: The real-world equivalent of microblogging. Stopping by to talk to someone for 140 seconds or less. [Here's a funny video about this...from @That1EBD]
renob: "Boner" spelled backwards; a less derogatory way to coll someone a boner.
less than three: The literal form of <3; which is in turn supposed to represent a sideways heart (love). [I've wondered if "<3" is love; is "< B" broken hearted?? But after entering that in, I realize the compy only sees it as bold text, oh well]
lickle: To tickle by licking.
phishing: Tricking people so you can steal their personal information. Usually done over the Internet.
askusation: A question and an accusation.

My Lesson For Today

Just a quick thingy to make you think...and set you on the right path!

If you are doing anything with stainless steel there are two things to remember:

1. "Stainless" steel varies in degree of mixed metals, therefore, "stainless" ability varies, which brings us to this..."stainless steel is not always "stainless".

2. When doing any work with stainless stuff, don't forget that you also need to specify the use of stainless connections! Most failures occur at connections, and so by not using a semi-protected stainless connector, you're just letting yourself down.

Sorry, I'm a detail oriented kind of gal; I kind of have to be to do what I do!


Word...
fashion victim: A perfectly manicured, groomed, waxed, and buffed person who wears designer logo clothing but has no real taste or style; wears every faddish trend that comes out.

Cartoon Steph

I am super bitchy today, I almost feel as though the wind has been knocked out of me, as if I’ve been shoved to the floor and kicked around a bit. I want to talk about most of it so you’ll have to bear with me and endure a long and possibly boring blog. I will alternate the goods and bads.

I’ll start with bad…yesterday a coworker who shall remain nameless got some really bad news. I refuse to mention specifics of the news [I don’t gossip here] because it’s horrible and I can’t even imagine the sorrow. All you need to know is that when you hear your coworker that upset; you should realize how important people are.

A good thing, also relating to a coworker, is that Justin, my blog crush, recommended some bands I might like. One of these bands, Billy Talent, is coming to St. Louis in October. He sent the recommendation based on the fact that they play shows with a band I like Alexisonfire. Nice suggestion Justin, I thank you sincerely!

A crappy thing is that I glooped mustard all over my shirt at work, then proceeded to open my soda to have it explode all over my desk and pants. This of course is all part of the day where nothing seems to work. I can’t get my building model to behave how I would expect; it won’t mesh right for a finite element analysis, among other crappy ass things!

A good thing…for those of you that think I am too prepared [looking at you Christine], I managed to dig up another decent shirt to wear at work that is mustard-less and cola-less.

Now, I'm tired of crappy ass stuff so I am going to ignore how crabby and pissed off I am. I am going to ignore my rant on media. I am going to ignore my rant on people who think they are better than me. I am going to ignore my rant on people who ignore me. Instead I am going to show you a cartoonized version of myself that I think is adorable. It is a work in progress by Mike C. Should you feel compelled to make your very own cartoon version of me, please do so. I am very amused by the thought!


Before I go I want to send a quick thanks to Ironstef and Mike C. for dinner and a wonderful discussion of Skank Ham. I want to thank Becky for allowing us to come hang out in the pub (there really are few options in GC). I want to thank those people on Twitter to which I randomly/seldomly communicate; you all always seem to have a way to make me laugh or smile (though you probably don't know it you certainly deserve a thanks). You would be surprised how a quick step away from work and into some silly video, or even some smart article/blog can really just wake me up, clear my head, and get me back on course. If there is ever a way I could help you, I certainly hope you'd ask!

Word...
cubular: Anything that is "cool" in a "business-geek" office context; often used ironically. This is a term derived from "cubicle" and the surf-slang "tubular".

I Apologize

I apologize, it's been a few days. I'm not entirely sure anyone has missed me, but for the sake of my enormous ego, we'll pretend so. And by enormous ego, I hope you know I'm being facetious, it's not that large, just enough to fill say, an 8'x10' room.

Anyway, I have loads to say but am again choosing not to say any of it (I saw you smile about that [glaring]). I will exult on the fact that many a person that comes here looks at one of three things: KAUST Pictures; Aya-Welland; or you just look and leave (s'ok, so would I). So for those of you looking, thanks! Leave comments so I can give you the due appreciation you deserve!

I've got to run, but not before sharing a few pics (though sadly not KAUST)!

Me, and my new English Beat tee...

Me, sipping from a sculpture...

Mike, glugging from sculpture...

Me, imitating a sculpture...

Me, on a scooter! (alas a sculpture)...

Mike being thug saying, "you can't quote this baby"...

Me, and some very nice punk boy at the Bleeding Deacon...

Words...
girlfriend voice: the change in pitch or tone of a man's voice when talking to their significant other. The girlfriend voice is characterized by a higher pitch and more effeminate tone with speech patterns scattered with pet names and childish words. this type of speech is usually frowned upon when used in the presence of other men.

onion booty:Booty this looks so good it makes a grown man want to cry.

solid:

1. Interjection of approval, confirmation, or congratulations.

2. A favor done for someone.

e-maul: An e-mail assault so vicious in tone the recipient loses an eye to you. To e-maul someone is to textually assault an individual via the Internet.

Twitter Tea

So today is going fairly well! I rode my bike into work (rather to the bus stop); I've been getting loads done; my mania is a bit less severe today; and the best part of my day so far . . . I got to join in for Twitter Tea!

So for those of you that are unaware, I am on Twitter. It's a sort of micro-blogging/status feed that a whole lot of people are doing. I have an acquaintance on Twitter that (seems to me randomly) has Twitter Tea Time! Those involved talk to each other with hash tags and @replies [both twitter things]. We post pictures of us and our tea. It's a real great time. My favorite tweet to me was this one from @FrankieP: @stephysite I'm horrified at how you have to make your #TwitterTea

My favorite pic is this one! Must be some GREAT tea Allan!


Yea, so thanks to the following people for allowing me to join in today! Can't wait to join in again! @FrankieP @jamesgallagher @DaveJ @eolai @AllanCavanagh @CormacMoylan

A quick happy birthday to Skweak!

Word...
cash and prizes: Your junk, privates, twig and berries.

Please Comment

Hi! Please comment on this blog to tell me how you are doing! I don't care who you are or how you got to seeing this blog, but if you are here, it means you should be commenting to tell me how you are doing! Sick? Lonely? Excited? Overjoyed? Missing someone? Loving someone?

Anything you have to say, I want to hear!

Now, for regular readers (who should also be commenting), I have updated my picture blog. Very slowly getting those images added! Check it out at stephysite-picaday.blogspot.com

Word of the day . . .
couching distance: The distance one can reach without leaving the couch or sofa.

Making Me Laugh

I wanted to share a few thing because they made me laugh. It's very important to laugh, otherwise we aren't laughing! :)


[Via Guy and Rodd]


[Via Janet's ThinkReallyBig Blog via tappening.com]

Word...
sleep slut: One who sleeps frequently and is able to accumulate many hours of sleep. Sleep sluts are able to fall asleep indiscriminately and value sleep above all else.

I Am A Jeenyus!

Some days I wake up and feel like crap, other days I wake up and feel like worse crap. So, you can imagine my surprise when yesterday I went to bed feeling like a genius and woke up feeling like Ein-freaking-stein! This is mostly because I wrote (with some studying) a php page for my website that allows me to upload photos to various directories on my website with password protection.

I know that there are those of you that just know this stuff like your first language, but this is my hobby. Websites are something I do for fun, therefore I don't know this stuff as well as I know math or English. I was very proud of myself. I'm sure you can understand!

Also this morning, I had to come up with a configuration for a truss. To give you a bit of a background, I am working on a project where we are hanging about 9 stories on each end of a building. Similar to a cantilever, but actually hung from above. (Read this article)! To do this, we are using trusses. For these trusses, we need to have another truss to tie the ends together. Simple, right? Well I had to come up with the configuration for this truss. I had an idea in my head. Turns out, Andrew had the same idea in his head. It's nice to get confirmation on things! Andrew really is a genius, so I feel good right now.

I totally rock!

On a side note, for those of you who continue to bitch about the words I use (fake or real), I suggest you go out and purchase a dictionary. A lot of my words may not be there (I make things up). A lot of my words will be there (all real baby). Try it sometime, I think you'll find I am less of a freak than you first thought! Actually no, you'll find I make up most of my words! :D

Staying Sexy with Laughter

... ha ha ha ... give me a moment to control my laughter! Wow, I haven't laughed this much in ages. I know I know, you need an explanation ...

So for starters, let me say that you should check out the movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Now if you are Amanda, maybe you won't like it. It does however have Jason Mewes in the film. It's disturbing, [in fact hours since I've watched it and I'm still just as disturbed]. It's a good laugh though, or so I thought. NOT for children, in fact, it's barely suitable for adults!

What else is making me laugh today? I'm sure you could have guessed, but blogs! My beloved blogs!

Typically I step into the office, hit that button that makes my computer wake up, and then spend my beginning moments of work hoping for hysterical blogs. I didn't even get that far before I started laughing! It started well before I even got to the office! You see, this started while I was getting ready for work.

Ha, before we go with THAT thought, let me say NO, I wasn't laughing at myself in the mirror because of how hideous I looked when I woke up; let's just nip that joke in the bud!

Where was I, oh right, getting ready for work. I dressed nice (as nice as I can dress [cowboy boots]). I even put on makeup. Not just the makeup that covers my Pale Expressionless Face, but real makeup! During this time, Chris asked me if my blog buddy from Toronto was going to be in town. This made me laugh. It's a good thought, I rarely, and I mean rarely put effort into my appearance! Ask anyone I know; I care that I look presentable, clean, and unhippie-like; but as for makeup, I tend to find it a wasteful use of product and time! So I can see where one might come to the conclusion that I was trying to impress someone. And I don't try to impress just anyone, so yet another good conclusion drawn to my blog buddy from Toronto! Good conclusions! Funny though. Funny.

So I was finally ready, hit the trail we call Interstate 55 and trolleyed into work. I walk in, hit that button, prepare for blogs. I was not disappointed!

The first couple of blogs I read were not funny, entertaining, or anything really. They just are what they are, blogs I read. But then I got to the second of Janet's blogs. I was to say the least, intrigued. I read, became confused, started clicking links, became more confused, reread the blog, made sense of everything, and then reclicked links. Laughter ensued! Riotous good time I tell you! I encourage you to do the same. It's a great blog about a shitty hotel with great advertising. You have to check out the advertising agency as well. Open the link several times and notice how the website changes every time. EVERY TIME! I like these people!

Then I noticed there appears to be a book associated with this hotel/hostel/place. I think I need it! Thanks Janet, you are awesome!

I moved onto the HOK Life blog. Today's blog post that I read was from Mike P. He wrote about sustainability, a big topic with HOK. He always writes very well and always has the greatest titles to links. Just when you think a title might mean one thing, it ends up meaning something else. And really, can anyone deny a link titled Stay Sexy? I know I couldn't! I would encourage you to check out the article, then find out how to stay sexy baby!

You might be wondering why the last blog I talked about was funny. Well, in my head, Stay Sexy might have meant few clothes required for "Lightening One's Load". Ha, my mind, it's always in the gutter!

So, now, are you still wondering why I put makeup on and curled my hair? Photos today for work. That's all!

disposable cameras

You can never fool your mother! She always knows when something is up! Enough said there.

Mom brought some Easter candy over for me and Chris, it was tasty, I ate a little bit of it and encouraged Chris to consume most of it. I of course took the sweet tarts candy for myself. It shall be noted that I did share the candy!

Now, onto a couple of other subjects. First I wanted to say that I am looking for recommendations for skiffle. It's a type of music that is not as easy to find as I might have suspected. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way!

Second topic is something I read about in Janet's blog. It's called the disposable memory project. Some people dropped disposable cameras off in cities around the world. People took the cameras, took photos, and ultimately the pictures ended up back with the project organizers. I love this idea. It's so awesome to see this stuff. I know that there are a million smart asses out there taking a picture of their not-so-smart ass, but, I hope for the most part, a lot of interesting stuff will show up. It's very exciting and I want to be a part, I want to find a camera! There was one in O'Fallon, Missouri. Only 3 cameras have been returned as of today. I'm very hopeful! Please go check it out and encourage others to look for cameras!

Word of the day-
barsexual: A college-age girl who kisses other girls in bars and clubs, usually for attention and the approval of men.

Bed Bugs

Let's start this off right, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now, onto my complaints: I scanned some photos at Walgreens because I was too lazy to try and figure out the scanner at home. Long story short, not all of the photos I scanned are on there! Argh! I'm sure it was user error and not Walgreens, but I'm blaming them all right! No big deal I s'pose, I'll figure out the scanner and just take care of everything at home.

New subject: I was happy to see yesterday, that the hoklife.com blog was mentioned in another blog (blogs about blogs, you've got to love the redundancy)!

Newer subject: Yesterday I met Amanda at the movie theater to see Coraline (in 3-D). We both got there early and decided to walk for a bit where I heard a great story, ok well, "great" is still up for interpretation. So as you may know, I went to New York and stayed with Emily (Amanda's sister). Upon our return, Emily followed to attend the funerals of two family members, where she gave Amanda some unpleasant news. This news has an effect on me, but Emily didn't want Amanda to tell me the story until after she was back in New York; simply because she thought I might think she was dirty and gross. Basically, Emily has bed bugs in her apartment. None of us saw them, but upon her return to New York, they were discovered. Measures were taken to remove the bugs, but that is still to be seen as promising. Amanda has checked her place and found none, and I have not seen any either. I think it will be interesting to see if Chris reads this blog because I haven't told him yet of the possibility of bed bugs (that I don't think we have).

Anyway, so why am I telling you this whole story? Please recall that Emily didn't want me to think she was dirty or gross. Here's my thing; first, while I do slip up and judge people, I make a very strong effort to not judge anyone; I don't know their stories, and I don't know what made them who they are, so really, why judge?! Second, I am surprised she would think I was shallow enough to judge her (this seems to be a theme with people I know lately). Third, she was standing right there when I licked (yes LICKED) the Empire State Building, I wouldn't dare dream of calling some one else gross!

Anyway, let me jump to another topic, work. Today has been a good day, we got our submittal out on time! Abdel stopped by to tell me I have either changed or I look good in green, and since he thinks he'd notice if I changed, he says I look good in green. Thanks Abdel, that was nice, and I really needed that! Next, Andrew mentioned that he wanted me to work on his project. He's never requested me to work on his projects, but this time he did. Andrew and I get along pretty decent. He's a jerk, I'm a jerk, and we can both be pretty callous. I think we've bonded some where along the line, and I like that! I'm also excited to know that I at least have work for a couple more weeks. I hate living week by week not knowing if I have work the following weeks; but I'm adapting (rather uneasily though).

And lastly for the day, my review of Coraline. Please note that They Might Be Giants have a song in the movie, so on that note, it rocks! The animation is excellent, and worth catching in 3D. The story line is good and has a great moral (love the parents you have, they're all you got, good and bad). Here's where I get weirded out by the movie; it's scary. It has a creepy cat, characters with buttons for eyes, spooky dolls, and it's just creepy! I know that saying this means little to anyone who knows me. I can't watch Willy Wonka without getting scared; so Coraline is about that level of weird/scary if you need a reference. Also, watch out for things that fly at you (remember, it's 3D)!

Here is your word of the day:
get Irish: To get drunk.

In use: Me and my friends are gettin' Irish tonight.