Archive for the ‘Life in general’ Category
The smartest man in Washington
June 15th, 2008
The smartest man in Washington, DC died on Friday. I was driving home from work when the radio announcer (I listen to the local news station these days) said that Washington had lost one its key news reporters. I figured it was someone well-known, but hadn’t been around in awhile. Then they said it was Tim Russert! Of course I was shocked, as was everyone. I didn’t think he’d been ill, and he certainly wasn’t that old.
I’m not a news junkie. About the only time I listen to the news is driving to work & back. That’s about all I can take. (And even then it’s sometimes difficult when the announcers are interviewing someone and start to get argumentative. It’s part of my personality that I hate confrontation. My Myers-Briggs profile even says so.) But in recent years I’d learned that I could make good, informed decisions on various issues by listening to Tim Russert. I knew that I’d not only have all the facts, I knew the information would be unbiased.
Although I knew who Tim Russert was, I never paid that much attention to him until the 2000 (fiasco of a) Presidential election. Here was the guy who’d said the results would all come down to Florida. I figured I should start listening to someone who understood the election down to that level of detail. And when I began listening to him in earnest, I found him to be totally unbiased, looking at all angles of the situation, giving me the information I needed to make up my own mind.
Oh, and his white board with “Florida, Florida, Florida” written on it is in the Smithsonian Museum.
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Friday the 13th on Thursday
June 13th, 2008
My computer died a couple weeks ago. After talking with Dell twice, I just gave up and said it’s not worth the effort (even though there’s a ton of stuff I’d like to have). I bought a new system, brought on partly by advice I’d been given at my LiveJournal blog that once it dies, it never really recovers.
Then I realized I could take the computer to some local repair store, since the warranty has expired. I did that a couple weeks ago. They ran diagnostics and told me they could fix it for a reasonable fee. It would take them 24-48 hours. That was over a week ago. I still don’t have it.
The new computer is quite lovely. It’s a Sony all-in-one with a 22″ screen, tv tuner, 2G RAM and 500G hard drive. And what am I doing with it? Playing Mah Jong. Actually, I hadn’t planned on doing much until I got my old computer back. But last night I sort of decided to not wait, and started downloading a couple programs I like. The good thing is both programs (MS Office 2007 and Paint Shop Pro X2) are in trial phase. If I get the other computer back, I’m hoping I can transfer MS 2003 (which I’m much more comfortable with) and PSP from it. We’ll see.
Yesterday, I locked myself out of my condo. I was rushing to get the trash out since I heard the trash truck coming. Turns out it was the landscaping truck and I hadn’t missed pick up. So I proceeded to get my tote bag & keys and head to work, and the door was locked. After knocking on a few neighbors’ doors with no answer, I ran into one of them out walking her dogs. She graciously let me in to use her phone. Unfortunately, the locksmith went to the wrong address and then got stuck in rush hour traffic. Once he showed up, he had a terrible time with the lock. After banging on the door know and jimmying the door jamb, the door popped open. Now there’s silvery flecks of door knob on the floor, which really glisten in the morning sunshine. Eventually I’ll have the whole mechanism replaced (lock and knob are supposed to be one unit), but it’ll cost me about $500. Then again, yesterday’s adventures cost me over half that.
I’m hoping that’s the extent of my Friday the 13th. So far, so good.
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I’m a fashionista, baby!
May 7th, 2008
I haven’t worn belts for a long time (because I’m too fat thick through my middle and they don’t fit). But I recently bought a top that came with a belt. (I was going to try to link to it, but the top is gone, i.e., sold out.) I’ve worn the top before without the belt, but when I put it on today, I decided to give the belt a try. Of course, I couldn’t find it. It may even be in the bag to take to Goodwill, but I didn’t look there. However, when I went into the living room, I found the detachable shoulder strap that goes with the new tote I’ve been carrying. (Can’t link to it, either.) I tried the strap around my waist, and it actually looks kind of cute.
On another note, I’ve been very lazy in updating any of my blogs. And I need to, especially Pack Brat, because I’ve made some great progress. But instead, I’ve been spending my time make little tiny pictures for the tv show Supernatural. Yeah, I know I’m obsessed. But right now, I’m probably more obsessed with making the little pictures than with the show itself. The writers’ strike, and the network’s treatment of the show during the strike, didn’t do it any favors, especially when it has to go up against Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and CSI. At least Supernatural’s been picked up for a fourth season already.
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Busy (and productive) weekend
April 14th, 2008
This may not be a newsworthy post for most people, but for a hermit in the making, it’s pretty awesome. Many weekends out of the year, I will go home from work on Friday and not go outside until heading to work on Monday. (And I like it.)
This weekend, I had something planned for every day, including Friday evening. And two of them actually required (more than) a bit of effort on my part.
Friday: finally got my taxes done. Last year I went to H&R Block since I didn’t want to deal with it myself. It was kind of annoying and I wasn’t going to do it again. But once again I didn’t want to do my taxes, so I went to H&R Block again. It was much better this time, very easy & effortless. I really liked the woman I got this time and plan to use her from now on. She even gave me some suggestions for even more deductions.
The only problem was that I was 1/2 hour late and ended up waiting for quite a long time. Fortunately, I’d brought along a book to read, so the time went fairly fast.
When I was finished, around 8 p.m., I went outside. The evening was gorgeous! It was one of those early summer evenings that I absolutely love. The air was warm and still, the sky had a glow to it, and it just made you want to sit on a bench and watch the night go by.
Saturday I had a hair appointment. Not much effort on my part, but I pulled out a Real Simple magazine from a couple months ago to read while “processing,” and found a couple of nice articles to take to heart. One in particular was how to match flowers and vases. Everyone needs more flowers in their lives!
Sunday I had a professional organizer come over. Not only did we come up with a plan of attack, but we actually started attacking. I was tired and smelly and dirty afterwards, but I sure felt good. And I rewarded myself by relaxing all afternoon, watching Dark Angel episodes (I have just gone bonkers for Jensen Ackles), playing computer games, and making cute little icon pictures.
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Oh the temptation!
March 26th, 2008
That darned Sue, one of my friends from LiveJournal. Every now and then she tempts me with real estate available in Mason City, Iowa. Today she spotted not 1, not 2, but 3 lovely homes to dangle in front of me. One is a bungalow, a little smaller than my ideal place (primarily in that it has only 1 bath, and I’d like to have 2), but for the price of the home, I could add another bath! Then one is in the historic district. It’s beautiful, but probably much too much maintenance for me. The third is a “Prairie School” design, very Arts & Crafts-y, which is possibly one of my favorite styles.
Coupled with what I mentioned yesterday, I really am interested. But I think I’ve come to a reasonable decision. Since my home is not ready for market, I’m going ahead with hiring the organizer. I really need a professional eye to help me out with those very hard decisions. And I have some really major ones. Like what do I do with winter coats I no longer want when they’re out of season? I figure the organizer will have resources to help.
While I won’t be able to make an immediate change, I’ll be able to work a little longer which will 1) give me more time towards retirement, and 2) get me oh so slightly closer to 62, so my cut in retirement pay won’t be quite as large. Plus I’ve learned that interesting homes come on the market all the time. And with Sue scouting for me (she really does have a fabulous eye!), I figure I’m in good hands.
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Thank goodness I have cable internet access
March 21st, 2008
It’s been awhile, no? Yes? And forget the Thursday 13 thing. I think they’re going to throw me out any minute. It was a good idea for awhile, but this networking stuff is damn hard! Especially when 95% of the blogs I’m supposed to network with can’t be accessed.
Last night was kind of interesting. I picked up the phone to make a call, but couldn’t get a dial tone. I checked all the other phones in the house (all wireless) and none of them worked. So I went around checking all the phone connections. All were ok, but the phones still didn’t work. Oh my God! How was I going to order pizza?!?!? Thanks goodness the cell phone was charged. 
I then tried to call home from the cell phone, but got a busy signal. Did that a couple of times, then misplaced the cell phone. Doh! And how could I call the cell phone and have it ring when I didn’t have a telephone line in the house?? Oh technology, you are a cruel mistress.
I ended up pulling out every single phone and the answering machine and unplugging them. At some point in the night I woke up and remembered I actually still had a wired phone. I’d long ago turned off the ringer and it’s kind of hidden in a far corner of the kitchen, so it’s easy to forget. Hmm, maybe the cleaning ladies accidentally knocked the receiver off the hook when they were there on Wed. No, I did not get up in the middle of the night to check it out. I’m not that desperate. But I did check it out this morning. The receiver was firmly in place, and I had a dial tone.
So I went about the house plugging the phones in one by one and checking them. I think the culprit might have been my old answering machine. I decided to keep things simple and leave it unplugged. And once I got the integrated phone system answering machine set up, I chucked the old one in the trash can. I figure it’s about 20 years old, and it’s had a good life. Time to move on.
I think I’ll head to the library this afternoon to see if I can check out Michael Critchton’s The Andromeda Strain. Why? Because.
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The bang that began 2008
January 30th, 2008
Did I ever mention I broke my foot? I know I complained about crutches being the bane of mankind, but don’t think I mentioned why I was using them. On the first Monday in January, I fell down the steps at work and fractured a bone in my foot. So much for even numbered & leap years being the best. Actually, I’m still not counting the year out. Throughout it all, I’ve maintained a good attitude, kept up with some of my plans and restructured the ones I had to.
I went to the orthopedic doctor yesterday for an update. My foot is healing well, but I could have told you that without the x-rays. I see (or rather feel) improvement just about every day. He said the foot would be swollen for awhile even after it’s healed. I knew that too, because I’d severely sprained my ankle many years before and it was still a bit swollen a couple months after I was up and getting around. He told me I could get out of the boot and start wearing shoes whenever I felt I was ready. Ok. And that I should see him in about 6 weeks. Also ok. Then he said that he only needed to follow-up because this was workman’s comp. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t have needed to see me again at all.
Huh?!? I’m still in a boot! And most likely will be for at least a couple more weeks. I can’t believe a doctor would be so flippant. Yeah, I get a follow up with him. But what if I’d done this at home? He’d just let me go off into the wilderness while still somewhat hobbled and never want to see if I fully recovered?? Guess who won’t be getting any referrals from me.
Tags: doctors
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