Even less worthy of an entry

I'm taking a bunch of heat for my last entry, and since so few of you read more than one entry at a time, I'm going to post something just to stop the madness. ;-)

One of the guys at work does woodworking, not carving, per se, but he makes beautifully shaped bowls out of wood. He gave me one last year and it's quite lovely. I keep it on my desk and at some point I actually started putting candy in it. I've never been the person with candy at her desk, but all of a sudden, my desk is the place for food. Lots of people bring stuff in, they just put it at my desk. I've decided that I need to start buying stuff I don't like, because I'm eating too much crap. I went to Target the other day (I was completely out of laundry detergent, but not out of dirty clothes) and while buying everything on my list (except Zud, which they didn't have) somehow a bag of Tootsie Rolls ended up in my cart. Yeah, you know it's bad when I indicate I used a "cart" for shopping. I *never* use a cart. I hate carts. But I knew I was going to buy the biggest jug of laundry detergent they had (I had heard a report that morning that sizes of detergent were going to be smaller, due to the price increase in EVERYTHING, and they were right, the jug I bought was definitely smaller than one I've bought in the past), along with fabric softener, spray 'n wash, etc., that the hand basket was not going to work.

The problem with the Tootsie Rolls is that I really like tootsie rolls…and I haven't been able to stop eating them, even when they make me nauseous. Sometimes I'm as bad as a kid at Halloween.

After I dropped a bundle at Target, I had to go to my local hardware store for the Zud. I'm pretty sure it's not environmentally friendly, but this stuff is the BEST! As some of you know, my apartment is quite old (built prior to 1925) and although the pipes in the building have supposedly been replaced, the water has a tendency to come out orange, if you haven't run the faucet in a while (let's say, because you went on vacation for a week or so). But it's more than that, too, because the bottom part of my shower liner (which is fabric for ease of washing and because it's long-lasting) is orange, just the bottom foot or so. And my sinks are original which means they're enamel over iron (?) and where the enamel has worn off, there's chance for rust ending up on my plates. A fingertip of Zud and a little pressure has removed many a rust stain from my dishes.

I do have some environmentally friendly cleansing powder, but it didn't do the trick the last time I cleaned my tub, so I had to break out the Zud and it did the trick, but I used up the last bit I had. A clean tub is a happy tub.

I have been pretty depressed all week, and I don't really know why. I'm just despondent and don't feel like doing anything, which is bad because I have two sweaters needing my attention. I actually did work on my niece's graduation present (a tank top) yesterday for a while, but then got sidetracked with absolutely nothing. Grandma's bed jacket/sweater has reached the point where I don't feel like dealing with the messed up instructions, so it sits there. The niece graduates next Friday night and her party is Sunday so I really need to get moving on it. I'm not even finished with the back yet and still have the front to do. *sigh*

I'm a little scared that I’m going to get them done and then they won't be the right size. I measured my niece, but it looks a tad big right now. I didn't measure Grandma, but when I finished the back I did hold it up to her back and it was fine, but the two front pieces look awfully narrow. I will not be happy if I do all that knitting and then they're all wrong. There will be a bit of head meeting wall.

I'm so bad that I just wanted to start a scarf last night. I need a little instant knitting gratification.

I'm wondering if my melancholia is related to the weather, somehow. The weather is nice (if still getting pretty darn cold at night – it was 37F when I walked to work yesterday morning), but I'm thinking sinuses/barometric pressure or something. My head just feels funky. Last night I would have bet good money that I had a fever, but the thermometer read 98.3…not exactly feverish. I haven't exercised at all this week, which seems to be taking its toll on my sleeping, so this afternoon I'm going home and getting right on the treadmill. I hate being tired, but lying in bed completely unable to fall asleep.

I'm really looking forward to next week. The LB shows up late Thursday night/early Friday morning and there are parties and such all weekend. HRH is supposed to come down, although I have a feeling she's going to bail. I hope she doesn't because I think my brother would be hurt. This weekend I have zero plans although I'm contemplating scheduling a massage for Saturday morning. We shall see.

Well, I think that's about it…

My Take on the Weekend, More San Jose, Twister

The good doctor has asked my opinion of what happened this past weekend. Now I wasn't actually going to say anything since I didn't watch any of that particular event. I sat outside and finished reading Into the Wild (a little preview of what's to come in a week or so) and got some vitamin D. However, I've heard enough about it that I can declare Ryan Briscoe my new hero.

I'm a little giddy with the excitement of it all, as from everything I've heard has described *her* as "stomping down pitlane," "mean face," "whining." I'M LOVING THIS! I'm hoping that people are finally figuring out she isn't all sweetness and light. I've had a couple of the guys at work tell me that they're noticing her true personality coming out.

And really, what race car driver complains to their pits over the radio "this car sucks?" Most real race car drivers say things like "it's understeering as I go into turn 4" or for those less technically articulate "it's loose in turn 3." Saying the car sucks doesn't really tell the crew anything helpful, you know, in case they like their driver and might want the car to suck less. They need to know if they need to add wing to the car or take it out or adjust the tire pressure, etc. Dumbass b*tch.

One good thing about this past Sunday's event is that it's the ONE and ONLY event on their schedule which attracts media outside the usual people and they might have more journalistic integrity than those usual people who are worried about losing their hard cards, and therefore, willing to tow the party line and not report what a complete wench she is. That's my hope at any rate.

I really hope that there are more articles like this one, as well, showing how things at that series are all geared to help her win and do well, regardless of talent level and ability. Honestly, even NASCAR left the dark ages a good 5-10 years ago and weigh the entire car and driver together. It's the only truly fair way to run things. Rules should be transparent to everybody interested, not vaguely and unclearly explained, so that nobody, even those heavily involved in the series, understands how things are determined. Of course, I say that they get what they deserve considering, except for the Champ Car teams, they all went willingly into the quagmire of TFG's "vision."

On a happier note (because the whole mess still depresses me if I think too much about it), the Wings are up 2 games to none against the Penguins (Sorry, LL). Whew! I hope my boys continue to play brilliantly and bring the Stanley Cup back to Detroit. No offense, Pittsburgh, but I prefer red and white to gold and black.

Hmm, I was going to tell you something about my trip to San Jose. Let me think. Oh yeah!!! I played Twister. And kicked some serious butt, which just goes to show that old age and determination can take on youthful exuberance and still win. The first day I got there was the LB's actual birthday and his girlfriend's whole family was there, along with all members of our family in Northern California. The kids from the girlfriend's family broke out the Twister game and after watching the kids for a couple of games (and being the official spinner), I got into the game. There were either 2 or 3 kids to start, but pretty soon it was down to the LB's GF's 13 (or 14) year old niece and me. It was a tightly fought game, but I prevailed in the end. Woohoo! On Saturday at the big party, I played again (and after a couple of beers), this time against the GF's 9 (or 10) year old son. He had declared himself unbeatable or some such crap, but once again the out-of-shape, half-drunken old lady took no prisoners and kicked butt. There might be some pics on-line of the first game… ;-)

Not Really Entry Worthy

I almost started an entry on Monday and then got side-tracked – with God knows what. I finally got my pictures from the two trips to CA uploaded to my computer, but sadly, not to flickr. Soon…or not.

I really need to update more often, because I don't remember where I left off. Did I tell you that my friends and I were in the May 5, 2008 issue of AutoWeek? Sadly, you can't buy AutoWeek at a magazine stand, but I do have a pdf of the page (which I can't find right now). If I remember, I'll include it with this post.



I'm a little annoyed with AutoWeek right now. TWO WEEKS ago, I ordered ten more copies of that issue (various people who don't subscribe need their own copies, you know) and I was told that I would receive them within 7-10 days. Yeah, still nothing. I called on Monday and the woman wouldn't do anything about it because she said Tuesday was the official date I ordered them. Whatever, it was still two weeks! They charged my debit card that day, so they're at least efficient there. The problem with that particular issue is that it was the same week The Bitch "won" her race, so I've had to glue a number of pages together in order not to see her every time I open my magazine. They arrived Wednesday, finally.

So, I called. I decided that instead of just bitching about it, I would call again. The woman I talked to today was a tad more helpful. She sounded aghast that I didn't have them yet and that I definitely should have. She's putting them in the mail today, so I hope to have them VERY SOON. I have packages to mail around the country and have been waiting for the magazines, so I don't have to make two trips to the post office. I hate going to the post office. The old people in my town (and there are lots) like to go, not during the day when other people are at work, but when we get out of work. The number of people who don't know how to mail a package is mind-boggling! I think the USPS gets an unfair rap. I mail a lot of stuff, not as much as some eBayers, but I go there fairly often and they're cheaper and faster than UPS. I can put a Netflix DVD in the mail on Monday and they'll have it in Lansing on Tuesday. Only once have I had a problem with them and that was when I mailed a book to my friend Rick in CT and used the book rate. It never got there, so NEVER EVER use book rate, it's worth the extra few dollars to mail it Priority. Just a little tip there for ya.

Grandma comes home today. I just talked to her and she told my aunt to come and get here at 11:00. My Aunt arrived from CA yesterday and will be here for a week or so. Then another aunt shows up, then the currently in Michigan aunt comes back in early June – in time for my niece's (her grand-niece's) high school graduation party. I'm pretty sure that by July Grandma will be more than ready for the aunts to go home and leave her the hell alone! I know I would be, as you get used to living alone and doing your own thing. Having people around can be darn annoying. Especially when they're your grown-up daughters who like to tell you what to do. I told Grandma that I had her back if she needed it against who try to tell her what to do. They had a real estate agent come through the condo last year and tell Grandma what needed to be done to make the condo saleable. I told Grandma she didn't have to do anything the woman said (take down the wallpaper and paint white, change this to that, etc.), and apparently, my uncle told Grandma the same thing. For heaven's sake, it's her house, let her have it the way she wants. Grandma told my uncle and me that she appreciates our support as "the girls" can be quite persuasive, i.e., willing to run rough shod over Grandma's wishes.

This past Saturday I had a bridal shower to attend – it was during the Wings' playoff game. I was pleased. I, of course, had been planning on them winning the bloody thing, but as we know they didn't. So, I didn't get to see the hockey game and I had to suffer through a bridal shower. Honestly, they are horrific. You know what? You're getting married? Just ask for the damn gift, don't make me waste 3-4 hours of a precious weekend standing or sitting around with a bunch of women eating chicken salad just for the privilege of giving somebody a present. I'd much rather send the gift and enjoy my day in peace. I feel the same way about baby showers, just for the record. The saving grace for this past Saturday's shower was that there were NO GAMES! Dear God, who invented bridal/baby shower games? Can they be shot? Strung up by their toenails? Waterboarded? Honestly.

I've managed to catch myself a sore throat. Not sure how this has happened, but I really don't feel all that fabulously. I took a two hour nap yesterday after work since I had a ticket to see Eddie Izzard last night and there was no way I was missing that. I contemplated taking the day off today and sleeping, but knew that would just mean I wouldn't sleep tonight, so I went to work and felt icky all day. I'm contemplating taking tomorrow off or Friday and resting. I have tickets to the Tigers game on Friday night, so I want to be well enough to attend that. I'm going with a friend from the Univ and she's a riot, and someone I don't get to see that often. Somebody at work offered me to tix to the Wings game on Saturday, but they weren't his to offer and the supplier who mentioned them to him is a creepy, in a "I'm so sexy women want me kind of way," but the sad truth is that he's not and women don't, so I said no. I don't want to be beholden to this guy for anything, not even Stanley Cup Finals tickets.

I think I need to gargle with salt water…and I think it's naptime.

Grandma Update, Book, Movie, Music

I was going to go and visit Grandma last Wednesday (it's a really a pain when I write an entry but don't post it for a week, because then I have to go through and fix all the "todays" and "yesterdays") but didn't get there because stupid UPS insists on trying to deliver packages to apartments between the hours of 10:00 and 2:00. I do NOT understand why they are used so much. I used them to mail a pair of Chucks back to Converse and it was almost $11 vs the $5 it would have cost me at the post office. I was already there with a different pair of Chucks to mail back to zappos.com (they're the best, they actually sent me a packing slip so I could mail it for free – which is why I was at the UPS store), otherwise I would have been at the post office to begin with.

Anyway, Wednesday was the third attempt and the little yellow slip stated they were going to deliver between 2:00 and 5:00, so I had to be at home. I talked to her in the morning and she told me not to worry, she'd be fine. I had tried to call her for a few hours on Tuesday and the phone just rang and rang and rang. She was out gallivanting around the rehab place, i.e., she was in the dining room listening to some guy playing the guitar and singing songs. Then it was time for dinner, and she doesn't leave the dining room after dinner, she hangs out with the other women and chat until God knows what time.

When I called her on Wednesday (since I hadn't been able to get a hold of her on Tuesday) she had been up and cleaning out one of the drawers in her dresser, getting stuff together for my Mom to take home and getting a list of other stuff she wants from home. She told me that I don't have to call her every day, etc. Yeah, yeah, whatever, Shortstuff. I'm not sure I've told you all how darn cute she is, lately, have I?

Oh yeah, there was a meeting last week in which people from the rehab place all got together, I'm assuming with doctors, and discussed who needs to stay and who is doing well enough to go home. Another "oh yeah," Grandma's doctor wrote out a prescription two or so weeks ago stating she needed to stay, so she ended up only paying for about 5 days (or so she says, I think it was longer, actually).

Mom and the YS (there's a story there) took Grandma home on the previous Saturday for a visit. I guess they do that when it's getting close to time to go home to see how the person feels and how they get around their own house. Grandma said she had no trouble getting into the house (it's a decent sized step from the garage into the house), nor up the stairs to her bedroom, etc. And this is all good, because according to the outcome of the meeting, it sounds like Grandma is going home in a couple of weeks (next Wednesday, to be specific). The aunts from California are going to take two weeks each (I think), consecutively, using their family leave time in order to make sure Grandma's not alone. I'm not sure if the Oregon aunt is coming, too, because I don't know if they have the family leave time policy, as well.

Grandma also said that she's learning and doing lots in therapy although she wasn't sure about last Friday's & Saturday's therapy. It was OT, not PT, and on Friday they painted flowers on a little flower pot and then on Saturday they planted a flower in said flower pot. Grandma was kind of annoyed because she wasn't sure how that's going to help her get around. Grandma's not really into crafts, although she mentions semi-regularly, that she thinks it would be nice to take up knitting again. Maybe I'll see if she's serious and go over there one day and refresh her memory.

FWIG posted this a while back and I thought it contained interesting questions (it's amazing how far out of my way I'll go not to use a certain word that starts with "me" and ends with "me").

1. Who are your much loved Bands? Favorite songs by them?

Okay, who here can't name my favorite band? You either haven't been paying attention or are new, because I think I mention it every few months, just in case… ;-)

Joy Division – Atmosphere, Atrocity Exhibition, Heart and Soul, They Walked in Line, New Dawn Fades, etc.
The Crüxshadows – Kisses 3, Winter Born, Spectator, Go Away, Orphean Wing


2. Do you like your job? Could you do your boss' job?

Yes, I like my job. I like the people, I like being able to help them manage their workload. I could NOT do my boss' job and nor would I want to.


3. What is the first thing you would do if you won the jackpot? (I mean after you collect your winnings.)

Pay off my debt (which isn't massive, I don't think), buy my mother a better condo, put money aside for the nieces and nephews college, get new carpet for my apt.

Yeah, I know, I should buy a house, right? The problem is that I have never ever wanted a house. I hate mowing the lawn and gardening. I hate shoveling snow. I like knowing there are people nearby who might miss me if they didn't see me for a few days. Yes, I know I could hire people to do the gardening, shoveling, etc., but that's not the point, really.

I guess I'd invest the rest smartly. My former lottery winning dream was to travel the Champ Car circuit and attend every single race. We all know that's not even possible anymore.


4. Most annoying thing in the newspaper?

The incredibly bad grammar, the incredibly hideous, nasty, evil people who feel the need to comment and think they can say hateful things because they're anonymous.


5. Best line from a movie?

"I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me." Humphrey Bogart from In A Lonely Place.

April's Book and Movie List don't even require their own post...I read one book and watched one movie.

Nineteen-Eighty-Four by George Orwell - The Centennial Edition with a Foreword by Thomas Pynchon and an Afterword by Erich Fromm for a total of 357 pages - It's classic, everybody knows, generally, what it's about, but I had never read it. When people would look aghast at me that I hadn't read it, I would say, "My class read Animal Farm."

I also read 300 pages of another book, but I don't count a book until it's finished. I'll tell you all about it next month.

My one movie was Gosford Park (2002) - I DVRd this off IFC and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. I read a review that said Upstairs, Downstairs meets Agatha Christie and while, yes, that definitely describes it, I kept thinking Upstairs, Downstairs meets Murder By Death, which if you haven't seen it, it's bloody hilarious! I must go and see if it's available at Netflix. It has been much too long since I've seen it.

I would definitely recommend both the book and the movie. Sad...so sad. I've already done better this month - two books read and two movies watched.