January 06, 2010

my week in phonepics

technically this is over more than the past week, but "my past 3ish weeks in phonepics" just doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?

first off, we had a COMPLETELY AWESOME team holiday party just before christmas that was held at a laser tag place. (it was my idea. i know. i'm awesome to work with.) so apparently i got a little, uh, "into it," shall we say? and was ducking down onto one knee a lot to shield myself from incoming laser fire. which resulted in a leg that looked like this - but blacker - for about a week:

i can haz hotnass?

then new year's eve happened, and we had to work, but we worked from my coworker's house so that his girlfriend could feed us delicious dinner and so that we could start drinking as soon as we could stop working. it's sort of a long story, but we ended up drinking champagne out of frisbees.

just a sort of helpful fyi? that's a pretty terrible idea. i spent most of the remaining weekend doing a lot of lounging in bed and on my couch, in pjs, accompanied by my cats.who, by the way, are total assholes. i think i've mentioned before how EFFING COLD my bedroom is. my place is overall absolutely amazing, but they skimped haaaaarrrd when it came to installing the windows, because jesus h. if i stand in front of the closed - LOCKED! - windows, the hair around my face physically lifts and blows back due to the breeze that comes DIRECTLY THROUGH the closed window. and with windchills below zero recently, this has not been fun.

so! i got that crappy plastic insulation stuff, the kind you put up on your windows, then use a hair dryer on, and voila! U R INSLATEDZ. except wow is that stuff a pain in the hoohah to put up. to be fair, it might have been because i was trying to install the double-sided tape onto windows that were probably about 30° to the touch, so that could conceivably have killed some of the sticky, but damn. i put up the tape, and pressed the plastic sheet up against it - which is more or less the consistency of saran wrap - and the shit would just drop instantly off, like i was trying to adhere it directly to the wall or something. and not, say, to ACTUAL TAPE designed for exactly that purpose.

so i was a little cursey and stabby by the end of this project, and did not wake up in a bubble of warmth and unicorns, so i stomped off to work the next morning annoyed that i'd spent 45 minutes wrestling with the stupid stuff the evening before.

but then! i got home from work the next day, and walked into my room, and.... i wasn't buffeted by a wall of frigid air. (i am not exaggerating. that is literally what happens when you walk into my bedroom in the winter.) THIS WAS VERY EXCITING, YOU GUYS. the insulation was WORKING!

....and then this morning, exactly one day later, i woke up to the sound of oliver ripping the plastic to shreds. sigh.
that's one of the gaping holes my insulation now sports. i'm guessing that will render it a little less than effective.

26 comments:

  1. My dog has slowly been pulling all the lights off my Christmas tree, so I understand asshole pets.

    I got shin bruises from hula hooping. I totally need to phone pic that, then I can has hotness too.

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  2. a few things:

    1- your knee? insane! ouchie! you are so hardcore.

    2- the thought of drinking champagne out of a frisbee makes my nose tickle.

    3- my mom used to use that plastic insulation shit on my bedroom door (I had a sliding glass door that led to the backyard ... my bedroom was the only one on that level of the house ... I snuck out a lot ... so she saran wrapped me into my room.)

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  3. Aw, man. You'd think they would appreciate being warm. My cat can be a big ass too. i think it's a cat thing.

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  4. Why are cats so dim? They LIKE warmth.

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  5. Wow, and I thought OUR windows were bad. They're drafty but at least they don't actually blow my hair away from my face. Still, we need to do that plastic thing too. Good thing we don't have cats!

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  6. My days of plasticizing windows is, hopefully, in the past, but I have been there. I might have swatted my cat. Maybe if you put cayenne pepper on the plastic?
    We are currently using every blanket in the house. Heat pumps don't work so great when the temperature is below freezing or above 90 degrees. I dread my next electric bill!

    And yes, you are hardcore. Remind me not to play frisbee, I mean, um, not to play laser tag with you. (Except, the latter sounds like a lot of fun. The former? Just hand me a refillable glass, OK?)

    Happy New Year!

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  7. Why am I laughing so hard at your bruises?? I am SUCH an asshole!!

    And the fact that you got them playing laser tag is just the cherry atop the metaphorical bruise sundae. Or something.

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  8. OWIEEEE! How are you walking??

    I wonder what it would be like to drink champagne from a frisbee and then play with the frisbee. Drunk Frisbee. Awesome.

    So I take it Oliver wasn't watching cat porn on your computer?

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  9. Ah I totally suggested Lazer Tag at my work function but was shot down. We went to the Eagle Rehabilitation Centre instead. Was pretty neat.

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  10. Our neighbors use that stuff on their windows and really praise it - they don't have destructive cats though.

    LOL. ALICE, I want to play laser tag with you. I get into stuff like that too. Love me a good battle wound.

    It's a ways off, but I will tentatively be in DC the week before Memorial Day if you are around :)

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  11. I'll have to suggest laser tag to my office! That looks fun!

    I don't even want to know what made frisbees look like you could drink out of them.

    I take Oliver is looking for a new home? (I kid, I kid..)

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  12. I think your window guy and my window guy are the same person! We *tried* that pain-in-the-ass plastic shit last year (pardon my french). And while it seemed like a good idea, not only was it impossible to install, but at some point during the winter, the breeze coming in through the window actually compromised the quality of the plastic and it started coming down on its own, without the help of asshole cats. Maybe your cats are just trying to save you some heartache later on. =)

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  13. That is some hardcore work fun! Too bad most people at my work are over the age of 35. No laser tag or drinking champagne from frisbees for me.

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  14. So, if I put our office manager in touch with you, could we maybe have a laser tag party as well? I haven't played in forever, but I LOVED it. I like to think I was sneaky, but that's probably selective memory.

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  15. Coming out of hiding in cat sympathy. Our place is amazing because it has TONS of windows, but they leak like hell (not as bad as yours, but SO MANY). So we went to put up plastic stuff on ALL our windows, and less than a week later, at least half of them have holes, thanks to our cat (she's nicknamed the evil one for a reason). Adding insult to injury, she chose to scratch at the plastic coating around 4 am, which led to an hour or so of getting out of bed to drag her away from the window, getting back in bed, finally getting warm again, and then repeating.

    I think I'm bringing a super soaker to bed tonight, so that I can spray her with water, from bed, if she does it again.

    (P.S. Can you patch with packing tape?)

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  16. Ha ha. Cats are evil.

    Love the knee, sadly I do that to myself once a week. I literally just have to tap a body part against something and that's what happens.

    Happy NY! (new year...not new york)

    x0x0 Lusty

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  17. Those bastard cats.

    Do you have curtains in your room? It may not do the job 100% but it would help, and I bet it would keep kitties away (a little bit)

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  18. I wish my work was as fun as yours. Paint Ball party and drinking out of Frisbees sounds like a blast.

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  19. Frispagne sounds awesome.

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  20. 1. You are always getting injured- you're like Brandon Jacobs or Brian Westbrook

    2. I went to a DMB concert a long, long time ago in Hartford and we drank beer out of a Frisbee as a bet on how many we needed to fill it up.

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  21. Damn cats... it's a good thing they are so cute, or they would be sooo dead. Yuengers has developed to ability to have projectile hairballs. It's disturbing to watch.

    I recommend investing in insulating curtains or shades that actually work pretty well in keeping heat in (or searing sun out in the summer). We have some in the nursery from Smith and Noble that work and the cats have not destroyed them.... yet. I think I saw them at Target too??

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  22. So, you installed fancy cat toys on your windows?

    And, yow, woman! Be nicer to your knees. You may need them one day.

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  23. I work with a guy who, when he was in college, was playing laser tag, ducked under an obstacle, and didn't notice there was a piece of uncovered metal -- he wound up scalping himself, and almost died. He's 25 and has a huge scar across his forehead. It's pretty awesome, actually, but scary -- he's a cool dude.

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  24. Seriously? Your hair blows when you're standing in front of the window??! That sounds AWFUL.

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  25. I did that window plastic thing this year and it has made a difference. Thankfully none of my furry co-residents can reach the windows.

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