Getting a lil Cold

So it seems the winter chill has arrived. This past week or so, the temperatures have gotten much cooler, especially at night. Some of the regions up north even got snow. We’ve been getting rained on most every day recently, which just makes everything seem that much colder. What doesn’t help is I still have no heat in my house. This means that I can see my breath while I eat dinner (right now it’s around 45-50 degrees inside my house). It really isn’t that cold but there’s no escaping it since the inside of my house is about the same as outside, just less windy. My landlord called last Wednesday to tell me that they have gas in their house and wanted to know if mine had turned on yet. I think they were just bragging because I still don’t have any. They said they would call a repair man to come check it out but as of today I still haven’t heard anything from them. I’m planning on stopping by after work to see if they have any news for me.

I have also been very busy at home trying to catch some mice. A month or so ago they weren’t really causing any problems and you could hardly notice them, but recently they’ve gotten much bolder and are starting to create some issues. So I went out and bought some sticky glue type stuff that you spread on cardboard and drop bread crumbs on to lure the mice on to the cardboard. Once they are on it, they are stuck for good. So far I’ve caught two mice this way, one small and one that was a decent size. Overall, I’ve caught three mice and the first one was all me. I was getting ready for work one day and walked from my kitchen to my bedroom to grab my computer. At the doorway of my bedroom I noticed a mouse making his way across the floor as well. I grabbed a broom that was nearby (luckily I had just swept out my house the day before and left the broom inside) and was able to hit the mouse once like a golf ball. After that it kind of laid there wheezing. It was a little weird. I proceeded to sweep him out of my house and down the stairs and left it at the mercy of the dinosaur mural. I think a cat came and scooped him up. The other mice, the ones that get stuck to the cardboard, are placed into a plastic bag and then into my dumpster. Amazingly enough, my dumpster has not been emptied in the 7 months or so that I have been living in this house. It’s getting a little full and my landlord has told me they will tell the garbage truck to come clear it out when it comes by but this has not happened yet. I think they think I leave my house every weekend, so they are waiting for me to be there. Just another thing I need to talk to them about, I guess.

We had a nice Thanksgiving last week, and thank you to everyone that sent me an email or message. It’s always weird not being home for the holidays but it’s always good to know people are thinking of you and it will be great to be home next year to celebrate with everyone. I don’t want to say I’m used to not being at home but it definitely helps to have great friends, Azeri and PC, to spend time with. It helps makes home feel a little bit closer.

At work, I have been meeting with some of the kids that participated in ABLE camp back in September on a small project that they want to begin. They want to do something with a website, but I’m having difficulty finding out exactly what their goal is. It seems to change day to day and week to week so it’s definitely interesting. If nothing else, I will be able to help them with basic computer skills and maybe some organizational stuff (yes, I can be organized when I choose to be). In the next couple of weeks we will be having trainings at my office so we have been preparing for those as well. Other than that it has been kind of laid back lately, which is nice. People are starting to get Christmas and New Year’s plans in place, so I am thinking about what I want to do. There is a group of people heading out to Turkey for a week so I am thinking about ways I can make that happen. That about does it for this week. There’s not a whole lot to talk about now that things are settling down. My Russian lessons are progressing nicely. A little slow right now, but Aygun and I try to have a lesson whenever she has time.

I decided to share some pictures of the aftermath from Halloween weekend (The other picture is a random one I found of the view off my porch. Breathtaking, isn’t it?). With a little bit of help, I was able to collect all the bottles from the party and put them into boxes and garbage bags. I put them all in the garage so they are out of the way and don’t get all cruddy by sitting out in the rain. The goal is to get the garbage truck to back right into my lawn and just take everything from the garage and get rid of it all in one fell swoop. Should make for an exciting Saturday. In fact, I think this might make for a good challenge for all my readers out there.

So here it is, the Great AzerAloink Reader Challenge #3. As usual, each contestant receives one guess which is to be posted on the comment board of this blog. This week, your job is to guess how many bottles are in my garage. I’m looking for a total of all the bottles. This includes beer, champagne, tequila, vodka, wine, Fanta, Sprite and anything else that might be in there. While I don’t know the exact number, I have a pretty good idea (I have determined a number that will be considered “exact” for this challenge). Things to consider before making your guess:

Not all the bags shown contain bottles; some contain regular garbage items, such as chicken bones or Slim Jim wrappers.
The piles in the pictures are the result of people staying at my house for three nights.
We have added to the pile since Halloween, so not all the bottles are pictured.
Ashley and I used some of our Fantasy Baseball winnings to provide “party favors” for everyone.
The bottles come in many different sizes. For example, a bottle of MGD is small compared to a bottle of Xirdalan and tiny compared to a bottle of wine.

So there you go. Think carefully and talk some math. The prize this time will be really neat. I promise.