Weather You Like It or Not

I know the low tonight is supposed to be in the 40's but I refuse to turn my heat on in September. Tomorrow, I might cave.

Office Police

It was very tense at work, and it all started with me getting coffee. Apparently, not all coffeemakers are created equal. Some are only for visitors, but others can only be used when no one is around. Ditto for the water machine.

I know all offices have quirks, but today was a little ridiculous.

Fall Television

I'm still trying to decide what shows I'm going to be watching this fall. I wish I knew what shows aren't available online or on demand because then I would watch them live or TiVo them. In my opinion, all shows should be available both places. Fox and ABC seem to be the main problems.

Seeing Double

I just started using some checks that were ordered from my bank back in January. I didn't want to order checks from my bank, but since my account comes with free checks, why wouldn't I? For some reason the teller ordered duplicate checks, which she charged me for, even though I started the conversation, "how do I order free checks for my account?" When I called to complain, I told the customer service rep that not only did I not order duplicate checks but that I didn't like duplicate checks. They credited my account and told me to keep the checks and try them out.

I don't like them.

I use checks very infrequently so I guess I'll live with them.

Shopping While Hungry

Today was one of those times when I just couldn't decide what to have for dinner. I browsed through the takeout menus in my Panshel folder and couldn't decide what to get. I thought about ordering Saag Paneer from an Indian restaurant and also thought about getting takeaway from somewhere that has a really good spinach side dish. Then I thought maybe a Dewey's pizza with half Socrates revenge or maybe a calzone with spinach and mushrooms. I finally decided to go to the grocery store and only then did it dawn on me that I wanted some spinach. Der!

I got a frozen pizza to go with my spinach.

Garage Sale-ing

Some of the houses on my street are having what's advertised as a "block" garage sale. I'm scouring my basement for things to sell, but I don't have a ton of junk to move. I got rid of a lot of stuff the last time Easter Seals or one of the vet associations was doing a drive where they pick-up donations from your front porch. I sold most of my junk at my last garage sale three years ago, and I donated what didn't sell to the APL's garage sale.

So far I've collected a bunch of X-Mas decorations, some drinking glasses, a bike, some incense burners and office supplies. If nothing sells I'll probably just put it back in the basement.

The organizer (and apparent money collector) told us it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I guess I'll have a true garage sale if it does. The sale's from 9:00AM to 5:00PM but I might only do from 9-12. But if it's raining, I might skip the football game I'm supposed to go to at 1. I'm not sure which would be worse a rainy football game or a rainy garage sale.

Oil Can What?

My car burns through a lot of oil. I checked it this evening knowing it would need some oil since I hadn't checked it for at least a few weeks. For some reason, I opened the cap where you put the oil in (if there's a proper name for that I don't know it) before I took out the dipstick to check the oil level. I set the cap on the engine like I always do, but this time the cap rolled down through the spaces of the engine and disappeared. I couldn't see it's final resting place so I decided to fill the oil before dealing with the missing cap.

At first I thought it might have fallen through to the ground. But, that's what would have happened before I replaced the underpan. Since that part is brand new and in place it caught the cap. Once I realized where the cap should be it was easy to find. I grabbed my long-handled kitchen tongs and retrieved it on the second try.

Two things occurred to me: A) I can't believe I've never dropped the cap in the engine before today and 2) I can't believe I actually got the cap out of the space where it fell.

Believe It or Don't

I've been cooking a lot in my time off, and I like to think I've gotten more efficient at actually preparing meals. Today was my first attempt to make a real dinner after working eight hours. I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and a salad. I had all of the ingredients except crackers/breadcrumbs for the meatloaf, and I went to the grocery store with the intention of buying one of those and instant mashed potatoes to use up the milk in my fridge. I couldn't find the fake potatoes and real ones were on sale so I made the mashed potatoes from scratch. Dinner was done at a reasonable time so I might try doing it again sometime. I made enough for two dinners but I might have enough for a sandwich for Friday's lunch.

Side story
When I got home from the store, I noticed that the crackers I bought had a sell by date of September 19. I tasted one and it wasn't the best saltine I ever had, but I've eaten worse. I used it in the meatloaf anyway and it turned out fine. I did return the box to the store the next day, though.

About Tree Fiddy

It's a good thing I only have one bill due this week because I let my bank account balance get very low. I'm waiting for a check and two direct deposits, which are all late in arriving. If something does show up tomorrow, I'll have to make some phone calls. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't worked on Friday.

High Wireless

I figured out how to log on to the wireless network at work, but it's a hassle. As long as I'm actively browsing I stay logged-in, but if my iPod goes dark I have to type my user name and password again.
Also, my cell phone gets terrible reception.

Bejeweled

I've decided that I need to wear more jewelry. I wear earrings almost every time I step out of the house, but I don't wear rings or necklaces that often. I almost never wear bracelets or pins.

I think part of the problem is that I don't have a great system for my jewelry. I have no fewer than eight boxes to store my wares. My rings have their own (1) box made especially for rings. I have a little (2) box for hoop earrings, which I'm terrible about remembering to use -- the hoops hang out on my bedside table and bathroom windowsill a lot. I have a quilted pink (3) box for the other earrings that has no rhyme or reason.

A slightly larger quilted pink (4) box holds my necklaces. It's a terrible place to store them. I have some other necklaces in my childhood jewelry (5) box and my Joy Mangano roly kit jewelry storage system. Both roly kit (6-7) boxes have an odd assortment of jewelry, really --watches, gumball machine rings, odd-shaped pieces, etc. I think the little one holds the few bracelets I own. My childhood box holds old jewelry, broken jewelry and stuff I don't wear but can't bear to throw out. I have a (8) box devoted almost exclusively to brooches and pins.

I might get a big box to hold it all. I have a feeling I'd still use at least one of these old boxes. If my jewelry was well-organized would I wear it more often?

Dyeing to Fit In

I meant to get up early yesterday before work to dye my hair, but I didn't. But even if I gave myself an extra hour, I might have been late anyway so it's probably a good thing I waited.

I took care of it this morning. Now my hair is shiny but not glistening with grays. I might have mentioned this before (I'm too lazy to search the blog) but Clairol told me that most women start to go gray at my age. HA! I guess my hair is just mature since I'm so very gray.

Working 9 2 5

I ran into some colleagues that I haven't seen in about a year and not one commented on how long my hair is. Maybe they didn't want to also point out my roots.
I did get complimented on my outfit. At least I think I did. She said, "I like your outfit. It looks comfortable."

Thursday Doesn't Even Start

I stocked up on some healthy foods today since I've had a few too many processed foods in the last few days. I can always tell when I've had too much -- my heart races, my face gets red, etc.

Water, Water Everywhere

I went water heater shopping today. Technically, I shopped yesterday since I comparison shopped online. I went to two big box stores and finally settled on the plumber who lives down the street who gave me a quote way back last December. His price today was surprisingly lower than his quote nine months ago.

In between shopping and the plumber coming over, I decided to clean my basement. I knew I wouldn't get the whole thing done, but I accomplished my goal of sweeping and shop vac-ing the first room. I don't think it's been cleaned like that since my sister and I cleared all the crap out of it when we moved in in 2001.

About a third of the floor got wet on Friday when the tank sprung its leak. Nearly all of it dried by yesterday. Somehow, when the plumber moved and drained it today a lot of the remaining water spilled out onto the floor and not into the basement drain. Close to half of the floor got wet so the dehumidifier is going to be working overtime for at least another few days. I won't know whether I have to clean the floor again until it dries.

Oh, and while I was cleaning I found one dollar in change. How weird is it that I found exactly $1 (three quarters, two dimes and five pennies). Most of it was under the dryer. I wonder if it fell out of clothes that were drying?

Good News

I got some job news today that sounds promising. Actually, the first part of the news happened on Friday and the next part of the news will happen tomorrow, I hope.

Now I wait.

V05

I'm experimenting with some old school hair product. I think they still make it anyway-I'll have to check next time I'm in the hair product aisle. On Saturday, I put some V05 in my towel-dried hair and let it air dry. It looked pretty good for not really trying. Today I tried it on mostly dry hair with so so results.
I was using the "hair dressing" made for gray and silver hair. I don't think the regular stuff is much different, but I bet it's not purple.

Sunday BBQ

We had an imprompu barbecue tonight. Nothing fancy just burgers and stuff. I didn't make any desserts for it, which was a little weird. But, there were waffles so we got some ice cream and raspberries to go with them. I think most people ate the cookies that I made on Friday. Or maybe the muffins I made on Saturday. More people should have had ice cream because it was Tofts. I think people skipped it because we had Mr. Softie earlier.

It was a good food day.

Worn Out

I was watching Ugly Betty on Thursday night when my DVD player started going on the fritz. First, the disc froze and the blue lights on the front of the player started flashing in a disturbing way. I took out the disc and cleaned it, even though I had just cleaned it before popping it in the player. I turned off the player and unplugged it to see if that would help. When I was unplugging the machine, I swear I smelled bacon. That's never a good sign around electronics.

I turned the DVD player back on and loaded the same disc, but the player couldn't read the disc. I tried another one and it couldn't be read. I unplugged the player and let it rest.

I tried again yesterday and tonight, but the player is definitely dead. When I plugged it in, the front lights came on but nothing else seems to work. I can't turn it on, open it or get any of the buttons on the remote to work.

At least I have my laptop and my PlayStation 2 as backups. I don't have to stick with my library AV room ban!

Sooner or Later

After my shower this morning, I heard a hissing sound coming from the basement. I got downstairs to find my hot water heater had sprung a serious leak. Water was on the floor and streaming out of the bottom of the hot water heater. I turned off the water and the gas supplies and cranked up the dehumidifier. Once the water heater stopped leaking, there wasn't that much water on the floor -- not 40 gallons, for sure. I guess I was lucky that the big leak happened right after I exhausted most of the hot water in the shower. Since some of the water on the floor found its way to the drain, I'm going to wait and see if the basement dries up without my active participation.

It's time to get a new water heater. The thing's been leaking a little for a long time so this wasn't a surprise. For now, I'll have to heat water in the kettle. At least I can use the shop vac in the basement without fear of blowing out the water heater's pilot light. I've been meaning to do that for a long time.

TV on DVD

Here's a list of the television shows that I've been watching on DVD. This list is nothing compared to the movie list, but I'll leave that for another day.

Extras, Seasons 1 and 2 and Series Finale
Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seasons 5 and 6
The Tudors, Seasons 1 and 2
Hustle, Seasons 1, 2
Freaks and Geeks
Torchwood, Seasons 1 and 2
Jekyll
Eleventh Hour (the one with Patrick Stewart)
Ugly Betty, Seasons 1 and 2

Fly, Fly Away

I keep seeing these little flies around my kitchen. Other than not leaving fruit on the counter, what am I supposed to do to avoid these stupid flies? I hope they're seasonal. I also see them when I have my computer on at night. So they're attracted to food and light?

I hate 'em!

Only Bores Tell People Their Dreams

I fell asleep watching tv and updating this blog last night and woke up around 4 AM. I went to bed but woke up around 6:30 to take the garbage out and pretty much stayed up since then. My cold is nearly full-blown, and the lack of sleep probably isn't helping with my recovery. I got a few winks in this afternoon, but the ring of the phone woke me up more than once.

I have nothing to say about dreams. The title is a quote from a movie I'm watching. I actually like hearing people's dreams as long as they don't talk about them for more than a few minutes. Twenty minute dream synopses can be boring.

Sniffling

I think I caught a cold. My throat was a little sore this morning, and I've had a few sneezing fits today. But what's really annoying is the constant sniffling that's been going on all day.
I know a few people with or just getting over a cold. I don't know who to blame.

Two For The Show

My arms, especially my left arm, are aching from carrying around two different 20+ pound babies two nights this weekend. It didn't dawn on me when I agreed to watch these kids that I would be doing nearly back to back babysitting of children that aren't independent walkers.

Both boys are such good kids. I've had to watch nightmare children in the past, and I'm so glad these kids are good baby guys.

Fresh Eyes

I made chocolate chip cookies for the block party tonight. This is the first time all of these relative strangers have had my baking so I was anxious to hear what, if anything, people would say. I sometimes feel like my reputation precedes me when I make cookies or cakes and that people compliment me before they taste anything. Or that people I know will tell me something is good whether it is or not.
Although now that I think about it, why wouldn't these people lie to me? The compliments seemed genuine, but there are a lot of theatrical people on my block so maybe I wouldn't know if they were lying. I've lost the abilty to tell whether the cookies are any good. I like them straight from the oven and less and less as the days pass. I've also been making them without wheat flour so they taste off to me. I should buy some wheat flour.

Full TiVo

I'm not sure how it happened again, but my TiVo is full. I have 0 deleted programs. There are a lot of Friday night shows that get recorded, so that's part of the problem -- although two of them weren't on tonight so that can't be the only problem. I recorded a few movies, which is another part of the problem.

It's just unbelievable because I had 17 deleted programs earlier in the week. I must not have watched enough tv this week.

This simple solution would be to get a bigger TiVo. I'd love an HD TiVo.

Sloppy Joes

I'd say I was about halfway done with my office reorganization. I can only work on it for an hour or so at a time because it's too overwhelming. I'm doing my darnedest to purge as much as I can. The biggest problem is that my office has become a repository for miscellaneous papers, toys and other stuff over the years. It's frustrating, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.

No News is Good News

I finally got through all of the newspapers that I had in a pile in my living room with the exception of those sections I saved so I could cut an article or two out of them. I'm going to have to go through that bunch next.

It was a perpetual pile that grew and shrank as I added new unread papers or I read and/or flipped through the old ones. I never thought I'd read the whole stack. It's nice to have the corner in front of my fireplace bare again.

Never Trust a Junkie

I totally broke my ban on going into the AV room at the library. I went to pick up a book (and DVD) I reserved and the reserved shelves are so close to the AV room that I couldn't resist. I can't help that I'm a movie junkie and that there are so many movies that I need to see. I guess I don't "need" to see them, but I want to see them.

I can stop at any time.