(no subject)
Oct. 18th, 2012 03:37 pmI submitted my novel manuscript last Sunday, thanks to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teleidoplex's expert editing, it is now much better than it was before. After that frantic rush (I may have wailed as I hit submit, maybe) I've taken a break to accomplish other things while I wait to hear about job stuff. Given how I'm usually "I'm not doing something productive right this second I am wasting my life" I thought I'd be bored and neurotic by this point, but I'm not! Taking the week has given my time to do things like:
• Get my absentee ballot, where I stood outside the elections department listening to a bigoted old man. First he talked about people with no government issued ID, and since he said it in Spanish and my ability to pick up on bigotry in Spanish is not so honed as it is in English, I tried to explain why people might not have such ID. For reasons that only make sense to bigots, "well it's not always easy to get to the DMV since it's in the middle of nowhere and you have to take time off from work" is appropriately answered by "but you need ID to get welfare and food stamps." "Well if they can't get government ID to vote I guess they can't get it for aid either," I said, baffled, and he just stared at me in disbelief that I didn't see the connection. Also once he was a poll watcher and he saw a woman with "distinctive features, so I remembered her" who tried to vote twice. I wish I'd had to presence of mind to go "lemme guess, she was one of those black people that only appears to confirm a racist's preconceived notions about how black people are." But I guess my face must have said it, because he mumbled some more and then stopped talking to me.
• Almost close my bank account. I had $7 maintenance fees on my checking account, and when I called to ask them wtf was going on, I learned that my free student checking with Wachovia was gone and had been for years, but the maintenance fees were new. I marched down to the bank to close the account and got a song and dance about how I was a valued customer and had been with them for 8 years (no, I was with Wachovia, until you greedy chumps came along and fucked it up) and couldn't they do something for me? So valued they can't resist reaching into my back pocket to steal my money without warning. "It's very important these days to maintain a relationship with your bank, that matters," the guy told me, so I should really think twice about closing my account and abandoning a nearly decade long relationship with my bank, and I fumed. Relationship! Right. What have I gotten out of it aside from penalties? Wachovia treated me as nicely as a big bank can, but this is some nonsense. "Well if you use your debit card 10 times a month..." I never use a debit card. "Well if you get direct deposit from your job..." are you mocking me? But before I could close it, I overheard a woman complaining that the credit union I planned to go to charged fees for not using the ATM a certain number of times a month. So I'm keeping the account with Greedy Jerk Bank, depositing the $20 to put me over the minimum where I have no maintenance fees (which is way higher than I generally like having in a checking account) and am on the prowl for a nice bank.
• Got myself this badass mouse in green. I spent a lot of time looking at mice with five or more buttons, and regularly found myself looking in this price range anyway. I spotted Razer's left-handed mouse and went "oh, right. People love the Naga like burning, but it's ridiculously expensive right?" No, only $80. Which is expensive but it's cheaper than my old trackball and the mice I've had recommended to me. Also it glows green and comes with nice add-ons, like different side grips depending on how you hold your mouse. And it has an entire keypad on the side. Like. Geeze, this mouse. Also I like companies that make legit left-handed mice, though I never use them. My only complaint is that it's wired-- all Razer's mice are wired. I know gamers can be all whargarble over wired being faster than wireless, but I can't click fast enough to matter, and the drag caused by the wire against the edge of the desk probably negates any wired vs. wireless benefit anyway.
• Broke my car even further. The AC is broken, so when it sits outside in the heat it loses any ability to blow not-hot air, to the point that after a twenty minute drive I opened the door, stood outside, and went "oh! It's so cool out." ...According to my thermometer, it was 91° outside. Anyway, as I drove home I hit the knob for the turn signal and the cap came off, turning on my wiper blades. Turned them off, but now every time I use the turn signal the wiper blades make a swipe across the dry windshield. On the plus side, trying not to use the turn signal has shown me that I haven't fallen out of the habit of using them, as I'd feared I'd become sloppy about it.
• Snail bait. That'll teach you jerks not to eat my mums. I am sometimes a softy for God's creatures. Apparently my benevolence toward them is extremely limited, though I did have a pang of guilt when I saw the method of Amdro's killing.
Yeah, from this post it's pretty clear I've been unmedicated for a week, but whatever. I got things done. Between lots of napping.
