A package on the doorstep

'Tis the season for finding boxes and packages unexpectedly delivered, but when I came home to find a large carton from "ProQuest Information and Learning" on the porch I was totally baffled. Turns out to be the hardbound copies of my dissertation that I ordered back, oh, two years ago. Yay! Now I'm trying to remember why I ordered four copies. One for me, one for the parents (yes, I know I gave you a xeroxed velo-bound copy two years ago, but that was meant as a place-holder), maybe one for the linguistics department library rather than the usual xeroxed copy?, maybe my usual "one for the brag shelf" to supplement the use-copy? Or maybe it was just "Wow, this is a cheap price for a hardbound copy, I'll order an extra or two just in case I find a use for them"? I have this nagging feeling that at least one of my friends was interested enough that I got them a copy as a present, but after two years it's a very nebulous feeling.

The lull between the storms

It's being a disorganized week at work. Half the staff seems to be on vacation (including my boss) and they're doing disruptive things like updating computer operating systems, resulting in entire days when I'm calling tech support every hour describing yet another program that isn't running correctly now. (To say nothing of reconstructing my desktop and all my shortcuts.) Fortunately, a lot of the plate-clearing I did before vacation is still in effect so I'm almost a step ahead of the game at the moment. (Then one of my co-workers is going off on parental leave and I'm going to inherit his hairiest investigation.)

House stuff: I'm sending off two packets of mortgage documents today. The actual loan offer arrived while I was away (and then had an alleged "return by" date that was also while I was away, which I presume won't screw anything up). I've marked it up for the lower amount and sent it off, but my rep says they'll write out a new one with the new amount just so it's all neat and tidy. The other next step is getting the title issues sorted out, for which I'm waiting to consult with my title company rep.

The cat is having some annoyance from a chipped tooth which means more vet appointments. I'll see how much pushback I have to give them this time to get only the one tooth taken care of and not buy the entire Feline Dentistry Program that they tried to guilt me into last visit. I'm also starting to think she has some sort of dermatitis reaction to the once-a-month flea treatment I've been using. Since I've used up the current package (and since she's all indoor now) I may just go back to shampoo as needed. Oh joy ... wet soapy cat.

Web Site To Do List

Just for amusement value, here's this weeks Top 10 Web Site Projects
1. Finish the figure re-drawings for the Shepherd's purse article and get it on-line. (Someone on one of my e-mail lists was asking about the topic, hence the movement to top position.)
2. Continue working on g-g-grandpa Abiel's civil war diaries.
3. Learn how to convert Filemaker databases into the format my web server will handle.
4. Convert the surviving garments database and create a search interface.
5. Start creating the source-material pages for the medieval Welsh clothing section. (This will be a simple presentation of data with minimal commentary -- saving the analysis and synthesis for my planned expanded book.)
6. Create a "dress diary" (retrospectively) for the "party dress".
7. Finish expanding the class notes for the oat cakes class into a stand-alone article.
8. Finish up the research for the variants of the metrical medieval Welsh fealty oaths.
9. Create a site map and index.
10. anybody have requests for #10?