When did McDonald's quit serving sweet tea in the large cups?

If you owe me money for a vacation that was taken five months ago don't ask me what I want for Christmas. What I want for Christmas is my freaking money back. If you insist on a list it's only going to have one thing on it. My money. However, if it will make it look better I will list it multiple times phrasing it differently each time. And, if you owe me money for a vacation that was taken five months ago and think you're going to get a Christmas present from me, you are right, you will. A box with a note inside that says "Merry Christmas! You have received a five month interest free loan!".
Okay, not really, but that's what I would really like to do.

I have no problem with airport security. I will follow the rules, I will do what you ask of me, I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is lack of consistency. If you make me take off my hoodie forcing me to stand in the stupid line wearing a tank top that wasn't meant to see public with my bra straps hanging out looking completely like white trash then you darn well better make everyone else with a sweatshirt do the same thing. And, if that is the rule, make me do it everytime so I know to expect it and not wear that tanktop.

Lastly, to the jerk on the airplane....the flight attendant was not rude to you. You were just being a dumbass. When the flight is getting ready to take off you do not scream for the flight attendant's attention because you have some screwed up request to make about a drink you would like later during the flight. Especially when there isn't a beverage service because the flight is under 45 minutes/. When the flight attendant tells you to put your backpack under the seat and move your seat in the upright position after you make this request they are not being a jerk. They are making you do what everyone else is doing. Don't complain to the other flight attendatns that they were rude, and that "please and thank-you can go a long way". So can not being a dumbass. Like when we were getting off of the plane and you removed your bag from the overhead bin and knocked me in the head not once but twice and didn't apologize. Apologies can go a long way too. Or, when you then tried to close the overhead bin door (I don't know why...) and hit someone else in the head with it. Although you did apologize and your apology was clearly not accepted, it was unnecessary to explain to the other passengers it was fine that you knocked that guy in the head because he looked hard headed any way. And, by the way you are right, of course it was the airlines fault, they really should have put padding on those doors to protect others from dumbasses like you. Put some on your bag too.

Cheers.

Changes...

Right now my dinner arriving would make me really, really, really, really happy.
It's almost 8:30 and I am sitting in a stupid hotel room in Philadelphia. Which, if you know me, is one of my least favorite places to travel. It's dark. It's raining. I don't know where I am, and I refuse to go out...so, I'm waiting. Waiting. Waiting.
I've come to the realization that it might be time to change jobs. I don't enjoy my job. On top of that, I'm actually not very good at it. I'm finding a lot of things very frustrating and shady, and I'm just not into shadiness. I feel isolated. I no longer trust my boss, and if you can't trust your boss then who can you trust? Working from home is not all it's cracked up to be. I miss having friends at work. I miss leaving the house. I think that I am depressed, and working from home is certainly not helping. I think I need to leave the house and have human interaction everyday. Yes, I see Marc everyday, but not for very long since we have opposite schedules. And, I need to see people other than Marc. The problem is that I would be giving up a lot of good benefits, and I'm debating on if that is the right choice or not. I'm feeling that obviously all of this material benefits are not all that, if they were I would be happy, and they aren't making me happy. But, they do make things easier.
On top of that, I hate the travel. I don't think hate is strong enough of a word for how I feel about it. And, I dread the travel. When I have a trip coming up (a trip that involves a flight and spending nights some where...) I dread it from the moment it is booked. I then count the time down until I get to go home. And then start dreading the next trip. Right now, I'm in Philly dreading going to Detroit.
The next obstacle is that obviously this isn't a very good job market. There are zero jobs listed any where in my field. I'm fine with changing fields. I just don't feel that I'm qualified to do anything. Anything else that is.
Going back to school would be an option, but with this job that would be virtually impossible since I travel and my schedule is not consistent from week to week. Plus, I'm sort of into instant gratification, and going back to school would not give me that.
I'm also sort of stuck with location. Right now, I'm probably looking at an hour commute to get to Indy...and I'm not sure I'm feeling that.
I just don't know what to do, but something needs to change because this isn't cutting it.

People are Jerks.

So...you're wondering (probably not), has the money issue been resolved? The answer is a very loud emphatic NO.

I haven't spoken a word to them since we returned from our vacation. Marc has spoken to them, he's hung out with his friend several times since then. They've discussed the situation, and right after our return when this conversation took place the friend, K, said that he felt really bad and he became really upset that I was upset (seriously, like you didn't have a clue that might possibly happen....?). I now just feel that was a load of crap, and quite honestly, if I don't talk to these people again I am fine with it. We didn't have a strong friendship to start with, we were building a friendship, and this incident says so much about their character I no longer feel inclined to build a friendship. I'm done. That's not how you treat people. We weren't at a level of friendship where I feel they should even feel comfortable asking to borrow money from me, let alone what they have done now.

As I said, I haven't spoken a word to them since we returned. I would think that if someone felt really bad and was really that upset that they hurt someone and made them angry they would want to apologize. These people haven't. I live about two minutes away from them. They haven't called, sent a text message, written a note or stopped by. And, you know, actions are stronger than words and all of that.

They have been paid three times since we have returned (I might add, that Marc and K work at the same place, I KNOW when he gets paid), and I have been paid once. My math skills suck and all, but even I can tell that doesn't equal out. Seriously? You feel SOOOOO bad about it, and you can't stick to the payment plan that YOU suggested? The one time that I was paid I feel was really only because Marc asked. He was told that he could come over and get the money. Really? You can't even bring it to me...he has to go get it from you?

The fact that it now seems we're going to have to bring this up after every pay check is beyond frustrating. Seriously? You KNOW you got paid. You know that you owe me money. Do you really think that I'm going to forget. I'm not. I feel the lack of effort to make this up says a whole lot, and I just don't want to be friends with someone who feels that they can take advantage of me and not have the decency to own up to their actions, make things right, or apologize.

I don't understand what goes through people's minds sometimes. What ever it is, it's wrong. Who takes a vacation when they don't have any money to do so and just assumes someone else will fund it for you? It wasn't as though they needed to borrow money because they needed an operation, it was a trip to Floida. If you can't afford it you just don't go. At least rational people don't . Jerks go any way.

I'm now starting to get angry at Marc. He's been handling this because I told him that if he didn't do the talking I would, and I would not be nice. He's offered to pay me back multiple times, and that just isn't the point. If he paid me back, I would not be any less angry or ask about it any less. I know that he would not ask them for the money if it was him that was owed, he would just let them take their sweet time paying him back...if it's me, he at least asks sometimes...so I'm leaving it as is. The fact is that if this situation were reversed and one of my friends screwed him over my friend and I would have already had words. And, if the situation were at the point where this is now, we would have had words again. I get that this is his best friend and that it's difficult, but in my opinion the fact that it is his best friend just makes it worse and makes them even lower than before. I feel they're taking advatage of him and their friendship as well. And that's crappy.

Why is it that when someone does something shady to you, YOU feel bad bringing it up? Calling them out on their actions? The situation is uncomfortable, but THEY made it that way.

What ever.

I was really trying to build a friendship with these people. People who I had zero in common with, completely because they were so close to Marc. At one point during the trip I actually considered telling them to just pay for the rental car, and we would be good. Then they did this. Now all I think of is what the heck were you doing buying souvenirs for your family, for yourselves, why I am hearing about you being at the tavern multiple times a week, why did you call last week and invite us to go shopping with you when you owe me a ton of cash? It's really not okay.

It's just not really a good week. I'm frustrated, and unhappy, and just done with a lot of things. Done. Done. Done.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Can someone who knows me please explain exactly what it is about me that says "If you want to take a vacation, but can't quite afford it, go with Amie, she will front you until you can come up with the money!". I actually thought I've been quite vocal in my annoyance at that happening before, I've shared the story, in fact, I've shared the story with the new parties involved, but it didn't appear to sink in. Apparently, what ever it is about me that says "If you want to take a vacation, but can't quite afford it, go with Amie, she will front you until you can come up with the money!" is way stronger than anything else that I actually have vocalized.

Currently, I am sitting in a beautiful condo right on the ocean in Florida on the 22nd floor and I am so seething angry I cannot even go sit on my balcony to enjoy the view. Well, I also can't go because there isn't wireless internet and the cable won't reach the balcony.

This trip was planned weeks and weeks and weeks ago. The dollar amount was discussed multiple times before anything was booked. I booked the condo at the end of June and paid for it in the beginning of July. And by paid for it I mean with a check, not a credit card...there was no grace period. The rental car was discussed, the dollar amount was discussed, and I paid for it on MY credit card. I'm not sure what about this was difficult to understand...just because something is paid for on a credit card does not mean that you have eternity to pay it off, it's not a free ride, paying it off during that billing cycle is sort of important otherwise the cost just goes up. And, when something is paid for with a check, there is NO GRACE PERIOD. This was all stated, although a little nicer than how it's typed above.

I was asked before we left it would be okay if I were given some money ahead of time and the rest when we returned, and I was fine with that. Only it didn't happen. Last night the guy from the other couple asked me if it would be okay if he and his wife paid me $50 each from their pay checks until it was paid off. I said okay. Now, you might be going "well, why the heck did you say okay?!?!?!"? I'll explain. This couple is my boyfriend's best friend in the world. It was obvious as this conversation took place that there was not an alternative, saying 'no, that's not okay' would not have accomplished anything because they obviously did not have the cash to hand over to me. Starting a disagreement with people that you have to spend the next day with and drive with for twelve plus hours on the way home would not be the ideal situation. It can be discussed later, but now isn't good.

My annoyance is that first of all, why in the heck would someone just assume that I have the cash to back their vacation? What about me says that I do? Secondly, why in the heck did this conversation take place DURING the vacation? Obviously the other couple knew well before mid-trip that they didn't have the cash available, wouldn't you mention it before hand? And, thirdly, if you want to make payments out of your paycheck every week, why the heck didn't you start that BEFORE we left, not after we return?

Let me also state that I did not want to go to Florida in August. I did not want this other couple to go on vacation with us, I wanted a vacation with Marc and I by ourselves. I also did not want to front this trip for them, but apparently I just don't get what I want. (Shut up, you're on vacation in Florida...I KNOW!).

And, while I'm complaining I'll also throw this out there....I spent hours and hours of time, and had the assistance of a friend in locating this condo. *I* found it. I checked condo after condo looking for the perfect one. The contribution of the other couple in the search for where to go in Florida was "Where ever is cheaper", because I'm a freaking travel agent and have the time and resources to look at every city and location in the entire state and figure out where the cheapest place to travel is. I booked the condo. I paid for the condo. We get inside, they waltz into the master bedroom and declare "We would like to have this room!". Really? You want the master bedroom with the view of the ocean? With the kink sized bed? With the private attached huge bathroom? Really? You want that? You don't want the tiny other bedroom with the double bed and small not so private bathroom and the crappy view? Really? Of course, take it...that's fine, I'll pay for your trip AND give you the good bedroom. (Marc actually told them that was fine they could have that room. I said we could switch half way through. Marc didn't see the big deal. Until we switched last night...now he gets it). I also see that "where ever is cheapest" should have been a clue, but when things are discussed MULTIPLE times and NO ONE indicates that price was a problem how in the heck should I know that it is?

Seriously.

Okay, I'm finished now. Venting here will allow the next couple of days to go by peacefully. I hope.
Cheers!

I need some more sweet tea...

So...allergies have been kicking my butt all week. Today I can actually talk. Which is a plus because for the past two days I really couldn't. Not only was my voice practically nonexistent...talking brought on coughing, coughing brought on a sore throat, which went back to the not being able to talk. Strangely enough, the allergy reaction put a stop to the ache in my back that has been going on for the past few months after I sleep on a mattress for more than four or five hours. Goodbye back ache, hello sore throat. I'm not sure which I would take if I actually got to choose.

Yesterday I called to cancel my electricity from my apartment. Yeah, I'm that quick at doing things. For some reason, I thought the apartment complex took care of that...and I was wrong. Duke Energy has a very helpful automated menu that asked twelve hundred questions from my account number, to the day I wanted service stopped to the name of my pets. When I finally got a human on the phone I figured everything would be right there in front of him, and he would know exactly what I needed and all of the details. And I was wrong. So...Duke Energy, I ask you, WTF is the automated system for because it didn't speed up my call, it ssssllllloooowwweeeddd it down? Is it really necessary for me to answer questions twice? Is it a test to see if the answers match? The CSR on the phone apparently was unable to access the twelve hundred questions it just asked, and I had to squeek them out again. I guess thank goodness for lack of a voice because the dude evidently felt sorry for me and just did what I asked without any other crap. Of course, this was the electric company, and I moved...it wasn't like there was another service he could push.

We're finally a stop closer to having a room addition. We're working on getting a loan to fund the project, and, due to the economy things have changed. Who knew what we were missing out on? Say goodbye to the days of construction loans that you could get money to fund your entire project...they aren't offerred any more. As for home equity loans, say goodbye to the days when you could borrow 95% of what your house is worth...it is now 70% (down from 75%, which it was two days ago...). It is supposed to take two to three weeks to get everything worked out with the bank, and hopefully while that is being done we can finalize things with our contractor (we've narrowed it down to two...), and get started. Hello new kitchen...hello countertop space...and my two favorite things, hello dishwasher and hello washing machine, you can finally come back home. I never thought things on my wish list would be a washing machine and a dishwasher. Apparently, I'm old. Or domesticated, I'm not sure which...but neither really sounds good.

And, lastly...hey, Dish Network...it's Thursday, and it's almost 8:00. Even though it's sunny outside I expect that you're working out some way to screw up Survivor for me this week. Or, maybe you're truly evil and you're just going to wait until the finale on Sunday to pull something. You suck.

Cheers!

I want a new iPod Touch....

Dear Dish Network:
Let me start by saying that initially I loved you. You brought me things that Comcast could not (or, really, stopped bringing me, they too used to offer these things)...The Real Housewives, Project Runway, Top Design, Millionaire Matchmaker, Flipping Out and 90210 (the ORIGINAL, not the new...). I loved you, Dish Network...I looked forward to the day when I would be living in the house with you, and not just visiting you occasionally to have you tease me with the channels I could not view. I loved your DVR with countless hours of recording, by far superior to my puny Panasonic Showstopper which could only hold a 20 hours of programming, you held 100. Finally, the day came that I moved in with Marc and I could enjoy you for all of my tv viewing. I caught up seasons of shows that I had missed...The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of New York, Project Runway, Top Design...and still you had hours to record new shows. You were the most amazing thing ever.
Last week everything changed.
It was raining.
And...five minutes into Survivor a horrible thing happened.
You stopped working.
Sure, that had happened before....but never in the middle of something as important as Survivor. Instead of being able to see what Sierra's fate was, I could just see a message that said something like "Please don't call. We are aware of the problem and are working to correct it. You can continue viewing a non-local channel". What? What? What? Then it came to be time for Hell's Kitchen...and you still weren't working. I grew disappointed with you. But, as I caught up on The Real Housewives of New York I forgave you, I forgot about your errors. I knew you wouldn't do it again.
Here it is Survivor night...I wait until 8:40 to start watching so that I can skip through the commercials. I sit back and start the episode and about 8 minutes something horrible happens...right in the middle of the auction it ends. I will never see what what's his name purchased with his $160 because it ended. And the message reaapeared...don't call, we're aware of the problem, watch another channel...blah blah blah.
I look outside. Perhaps I was just unaware of the thunderstorm or the tornado that was outside that must have caused the satellite to allow me to watch survivor. Nothing. Completely clear and calm.
So, Dish Network, WTF? I don't want to watch another channel, I wanted to watch CBS. I WANT to call and yell at you, and if you do this again that's what's going to happen.
Are you doing this on purpose?
Are you teasing me? Because it just seems to coincidental that you stop working right after Survivor begins. This has to be done on purpose. Just know, it isn't funny.
Is this a challenge to see if I can now navigate my way to the CBS website to watch the episode online without seeing who was kicked off?
All I know is that our love affair is over. I now hate you, Dish Network. Keep it up and I'll be leaving you for your enemy, Direct TV.

I'm going to lunch tomorrow...but I don't know where...

Here's a traveling tip for you when flying. Always shave your armpits. Okay, let me correct myself. Here's a traveling tip for the ladies when flying. If you do forget, I hope you're not unfortunate enough to be wearing a tank top with a hoodie. Cuz when you go through security you're going to have to take that hoodie off. Male security cards seem to think they're jackets...and I just don't agree. It's a hoodie. It's part of my outfit, not outerware. But, what ever, you're going to have to take it off. You might think you're safe because you can just leave your arms down for those few moments you're without it. And, you might be wrong. Because if they make you go through the special security air blowing thingy you will have to lift your arms. That's awesome. Lifting your arms for ten seconds while everyone else going through security is staring at you. And your pits.

Here's another traveling tip for you. Well, for those of you who travel on I-465 in Indy. If you're driving on 465 and you suddenly come upon a group of cars (otherwise known as a wolfpack...there's a drivers ed term for you) that are going the speed limit, 55MPH, slow the hell down. There's a 99% chance they are doing so because there is a police car nearby. Don't be the jackass that has to try to weave through the traffic riding the butt of the car in front of you to display your impatience. We're all impatient. We're also smarter than you.

Here's a home remodeling tip for you...before you select a new bathroom floor go to all of the stores first. Don't go buy one, arrange for an install, and then come back an hour later to return it. Not that I've done that, I'm just letting you know to go see all of your options first. It's the smart thing to do. Otherwise you might feel foolish returning said bathroom floor. Maybe. Then again, I have a friend who once returned a house, so anything will seem minor to that.

Cheers!

My eighth move in thirteen years....

So...I've packed all of my food (the non-cold non-frozen food of course). I figured since I've packed all of my pots and pans it was useless any way (ha...like I USED pots and pans to prepare food). I stopped at Kroger's last night because I needed a breakfast food that could go in the car with me. I opted for PopTarts and cake. The cake wasn't for the car, the cake was because I wanted cake. And...yes, I'm aware it's still Lent, and I gave up sweets, and therefore I shouldn't be eating either of those things, but I received my Girl Scout cookies from Lynn, and that was it. I failed. Again. Any way, I went to the self check out at Kroger's since I only had two items (really I didn't want the cashier to judge my horrible eating habits...I would have had to grab a can of corn to feel better and I couldn't do that since all of the food is packed). At Kroger they have these machines that sometimes will print out coupons while your receipt is printing. Usually they are for something you bought. Yesterday mine was for Lean Cuisine. Thanks, Kroger's, I'm already aware.

I was waiting for Marc to get dressed for work the other day. He appears in the brown suit that is his new uniform and is covered in cat hair. He comments that he didn't know where it came from since he came home, took it off, and laid it out for the next day (it came from my sofa, where he had sat the night before...before going home to lay it out for the next day...). He then commented that he wished he had a hook to hang it up with. A hook on the wall where he could just hang it up and it would be ready for the next day, cat hair and wrinkle free. I was very excited to let him know that there already was such a hook, right there in his own house...an amazing hook that would allow him to hang that suit up every day, keeping it cat hair free...

Cheers!

I want a new bed...

Canceling credits cards is an almost impossible task. I don't mean that I find it difficult to let go of them, I mean that calling and actually getting them canceled is a challenge. I have had credit cards that I didn't use for years, and, I kept them not because of fear that I might need them, but because I absolutely hate calling to cancel them. I think that some of the companies must have in their training book the steps to wear you down so you eventually give up and just keep the card so that you can get off of the phone. American Express was by far the worst. They had a clever scheme where the original person you got on the phone (you know, after you went through the thirteen step voice prompted menu) wasn't able to close the account for you. Even though you told the voice prompt computer that's what you wanted to do. They would then keep you on the phone talking about the values of the card while you "waited" for the specialist to join or while you "waited" for the computer to process the request. This exchange from years ago scarred me, and I procrastinated on getting rid of other cards. Until today. Today I learned the values of my cards, the cash back rewards I would be missing out on, the low interest rate, the check for cash they could send me right away...and on and on and on...but, I succeeded, they are canceled and shredded and it is done. I thought it would be a simpler process today since I read yesterday that both Citibank and American Express were actually paying some people to cancel their accounts, I assumed that would mean they would be happy to get rid of any others as well. And I was wrong. Well, except for JCPenney, they didn't really give a crap.

I decided on giving up sweets/desserts for Lent. So far so good. Of course, I realized ahead of time that this decision ALWAYS coincides with the arrival of Girl Scout cookies and that my Thin Mints would have to go straight to the freezer to taunt me. This year stashing them at Marc's house so that I won't be tempted won't even be an option...soon enough I'll be following them there.

I have a love/hate relationship with Angie's List. I had the subscription a while back, and when I went to reinstate it, I was informed I would have to pay the "one time processing fee" again. The frustration I felt over that should be obvious. They made me so angry I just didn't reinstate it. I emailed their customer support with my frustration, and they didn't really care. I then sent a sarcastic email letting them know that I didn't think "one time processing fee" was the correct name for the fee since that wasn't an accurate description and suggested a few other names for them..."fee you'll pay once and then might have to pay again in the future", etc. They responded to me with a polite email saying they would take my suggestions into consideration and if enough people suggested that they would do so. I am a fan of the polite response to the crappy/rude comment. There's really nothing that can be said in response when that happens. Now, Awesome Man has subscribed to Angie's List so that we can find a contractor. Apparently, they remembered me and my crappy emails. I received a bag of M&Ms from them in the mail as a thank-you gift for referring Marc. Once again, a polite response, but I really think they knew about Lent and that's why they sent them so that they arrived the day after it started. I bet you think you got me there, Angie's List, but I might take you up on your polite offer that if I didn't like plain M&Ms I could request a bag of Peanut. Ha. Keep sending them biotches.

Cheeres!

Have you seen Lobbie...?

I'm trying to figure out what to give up for Lent this year. First off, I'm not Catholic, not have I ever went to a church that actually participated in Lent, but for the past ten plus years I've given something up. The past couple of years I've failed, and I need to do better this year. I've given up sweets, carbonated beverages, Coke and similar sodas, red meat...not all at the same time, of course. For me, carbonated beverages was the most difficult. Although I did succeed, I'm not feeling up to that challenge this year. I'm addicted to Diet Coke, and the year I opted to do that I worked as a waitress. It was like torture to pour Cokes for other people and not be able to have one myself. Sort of like being a crack dealer but trying to kick the habbit. And, although one would think eventually the desire for Coke would just go away, it didn't. Apparently, Diet Coke is like smoking to me...you sometimes hear some smokers who have quit say that they could just start again like they never stopped, that's how Coke was. I think I have a law suit against Coca-Cola...there isn't a warning on their can that it's addictive, that if I quit drinking it I will suffer from caffeine withdrawl headaches. I wasn't warned, and because of that I need 12 million dollars. But, back to Lent...I was contemplating giving up games...online, computer and video...but I think I'm going to go for desserts. And, I'm going to actually make it this year.

I actually feel like I really just need to get myself together, in essence. I used to walk four miles a day. Now, I sit on my ass eighteen hours a day. Well, probably not, but it certainly seems like it. For all of you who think it would be awesome to have an office job and work from home, let me tell you, there are some negatives to this. I don't have to walk ANY WHERE. I sit at my desk, the printer/copier/fax is right beside me. The bathroom is ten feet away. The kitchen is practically as close. I walk NO WHERE. Unless, of course, I'm out on appointments, but that doesn't require THAT much walking either. And, to get there, I'm sitting in my car, sometimes for hours (Thursday it was over seven...). I need to get motivated to walk, to go outside (which would be a heck of a lot easier if it were not so freaking cold). I need to get my house organized and clean. Actually, the house cleaning task might be a little easier than it seems because:

I'M GOING TO BE MOVING SOON.

In case you were unaware, we're still working on renovations to Marc's house. The original plan was to renovate a bedroom, a bathroom and the kitchen and then I would move in with him. Then, we would start on an addition. Because this has taken soooooooo long, there's a change of plan. The bedroom is done with the exception of the closet which needs the shelving hung (the MOST important part of the WHOLE ROOM). The bathroom wil hopefully be began and finished this week. Of course, if the bedroom was any indication of the speed of progress, it will take four weeks. I'm going to move in after it's finished instead of waiting on the kitchen. We're speaking to contractors again about the addition which now includes the kitchen. This makes me incredibly happy because I cannot really express how ready I am to get out of this apartment.

My lease ended last July, and since we thought the renovations would be a fairly quick process I opted to go month to month instead of signing a new lease. Now, they raise my rent about every three months. I think it would have been more economical to sign the lease and just break it. Besides the obvious reasons (renting is like throwing money away, I have to be quiet, I hate sharing walls with others, I hate sharing a parking lot with others), there is a new very motivating reason.

I have new neighbors below me.

And they stink.

One would not think that would be an issue, but it is. It is when the smell from their apartment creeps into mine. I know it's coming through the vents because for the few days it was warm last week and I had the heater off and the windows cracked the smell disappeared. As soon as the furnace was on again, the smell returned. It's probably creeping up through the floor as well. All I know is that I can't stand it...it's like stale cigarette smoke and something else, which I cannot describe. Well, I take that back, I can describe it. BAD. STANK. NASTY. GROSS. I do not want to leave my house smelling like that, and I have a feeling as the smell penetrates my clothes that's exactly what's going to happen. So, if I'm hanging out with you and I stink that's why.

Cheers!

What ever is decided, the kitchen better have a wall for Speedy...

So...does anyone know anyone who has one really fat left arm and a normal sized right arm that would like some shirts? Because I have a feeling when my cast comes off on Wednesday I'm going to have several shirts and sweaters that will fit in that category. So...calling all people with a fat left arm, I might have some clothes for you.

Monday I was talking to Awesome Man on the phone. The weather was bad here, it was sleeting, and tons of snow was expected. He was deciding if he wanted to come over or not or just stay in because the weather was nasty with a forecast of more nasty on the way. He eventually decided he just wanted to stay in and not risk the roads. We talked for a few more minutes, and I'm not sure what lead to this, but it then came out that he was currently DRIVING around town, talking about how much he wanted to stay IN. THAT made perfect sense.

Tomorrow I am off for Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love. I hate leaving on Sundays, I hate being gone two nights, and I hate going to Philadelphia. In my opinion, it's the city of homeless people and dirty streets. Obviously, I haven't been to the good part of town yet. Sorry to offend anyone who loves Philly, but I haven't found anything good about it yet. Except maybe the Liberty Bell, but I haven't seen it in person to really say so (nor have I had a true Philly Cheese Steak...which is odd, because I do love the rip offs). MapQuest, Google, Rand McNally and Yahoo have ALL failed at getting me out of the downtown area to get back to the airport multiple times. This usually results in my coming close to tears because of fear of missing my flight and being stuck there for yet another day. And, then we I finally get near the airport unlike any other normal city, a gas station to fill up my rental car tank is no where to be found. Not one near the restaurants and hotels...oh no, that would be foolish. The closest one is in this tiny little "town" about a mile away where you can't pump your own gas...instead this 90 year old man comes out to do it for you. Which, I'll admit, if I had tons of time and it was freezing cold I would be all for...but on every occassion I've been there I just wanted to get gas and go, not wait on him to walk out, fill my tank, walk back in with my credit card, walk back out with my slip to sign...and that's assuming he doesn't have another customer. Oy. The only good thing about Philly, or rather the outskirts of Philly is this: http://www.kingofprussiamall.com/ which I've read is the second biggest mall in America. This trip not only do I get to visit Philly, I also get to visit Harrisburg. Harrisburg offers two things I absolutely love...they have a super small airport and they're super close to Hershey, PA. The super small airport means no stupid shuttles, no long lines and fast security check. The proximity to Hershey, PA means fresh chocolate...and let me tell you, if you've ever tasted a fresh Hershey bar you will no longer want the stale shit they sell on the shelves else where. Obviously, I need more culture or I wouldn't be hating on Philly because of some ghetto looking streets and I wouldn't be so excited about Harrisburg just because of Hershey bars. Maybe some time, when my ultimate goal while visiting these places isn't to get home quicker I'll check out the historic stuff. Until then, I'll just complain.

Cheers!

Unicorns are just like horses...only they have a horn...

So...I get to go to Green Bay, WI tomorrow, the perfect Winter get away. I know you're all envious, wishing that you could take a trip to WI in January as well, imagining the fun in your heads right now...try not to be too jealous. As if Winter in Wisconsin isn't enough fun, I get to go to meetings for three days and share a room with a practical stranger. Practical stranger because we shared a room last year, and we've spoken about twice through out the year in between. So, I guess in my world where I never see my coworkers, she and I are close. I did just speak to her a while ago, and she told me the best news I've heard all week....it's snowing in Detroit. I got all excited and went to check out the weather on weather.com, because snow in Detroit tomorrow is what I've been hoping for since I booked my ticket. Since I have a connection in Detroit maybe I won't have to go. But, alas, it isn't snowing THAT much...flights haven't been canceled, and the chance of delays is low. Hopefully the snow picks up the pace early tomorrow afternoon. Knowing my luck I'll probably get to Detroit and be stuck there, which would be worse than actually making it to Green Bay.

While I'm gone, the kitties will be going to stay with Marc, which I'm sure they're all equally excited about. Or would be if the kitties understood that they were going. Sweet little Sasha has a respiratory infection and is taking medicine twice a day. So...guess what that means? Shoving medicine down her throat is a treat. Those of you who have met her understand. She's a kitty that you cannot pick up, if you do, she will growl, hiss, bite and kick. If you pet her too long or in a way she does not like she will growl, hiss, bite and kick. If you look at her wrong she will growl, hiss, bite and kick. And, I'm really not exaggerating. Marc has been practicing with the medicine...and doing really well, he still has all of his fingers and no blood has been shed.

Believe it or not, this is no more...
It had gotten quite a bit worse, and then one morning they were all gone. The sidewalk was clear. I was confused...why would my neighbor suddenly clean them all up? Did the Indy Star actually come do it for him? I now believe I've figured out the answer. It appears that my recluse of a neighbor has a friend. And by friend I mean girlfriend or boyfriend. I'm not sure which, it's just speculation after all since I don't even know his name. Yeah, I'm just that friendly...but seriously, if your neighbor left the newspaper piling up on the shared porch for months how friendly would you be? All I do know is he's been having a visitor...and he's spent a lot more time not at home lately. Yeah, I'm that into what's up with my neighbors...when you work from home, you notice things, give me a break. I just wish I could see my freak of a neighbor with his new friend and make a comment about the newspaper clean up...his new significant other should know just what a lazy ass weirdo they're getting involved with. I bet they met on the internet, and we all know you only met freaks that way.

I got my hair cut yesterday, something long over do. It was finally growing out, which I was happy about, but it needed trimmed, and best of all...a haircut would mean that someone would wash my hair for me. To fully understand that, tomorrow try to wash your hair with one hand. It's not fun. And, it's not attractive for the left side of one's head to look greasy because apparently the shampoo missed a chunk of hair. The experience ended up not being everything I was hoping for...as we were walking back to the sinks someone informed us that there wasn't any hot water. And, they were speaking the truth. It wasn't like it was just barely warm, it was frigid. I guess that's what days of 0 temperatures will do. I'm sure my stylist loved the fact that I did still want my hair washed. The appointment sort of went downhill from there. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding about exactly what I wanted done with my hair...I asked for the front of my hair to be cut like hers, instead the back of my head looks like hers and the front looks like it did before. Only everything is shorter, a lot shorter, way shorter than I wanted it to be. So much for it finally growing out.

Cheers!

Someone already has a black marc...

In search of a stackable washer and dryer for next to nothing in cost, I joined FreeCycle. In case you don't know what that is, Freecycle is a group/organization (I'm not sure how to classify it...) that promotes recycling of objects. Meaning that if you have something you no longer want you can post it to the Freecycle board and hopefully someone will want it and then you give it to them. It has to be completely free...no trades, no charging...and usually you have to go get it. I know that the washer/dryer is a long shot, but a friend of mine has gotten appliances for homes that her husband is flipping before, so I figured it couldn't hurt to check. I accidently signed up to receive the emails of the items, and my inbox now has 379 messages. There are all sorts of random things listed...beds, books, clothes, lawnmower...it's like a virtual garage sale, only everything is free and you can't see it before hand. Along with the listing of what you have to give, people can also post their wants. Sometimes people have realistic dreams...baby clothes in a certain size, a VCR, puzzles...okay, you might actually get these things. Then, there are the dillusional folks who seem like their wishes are a little out there, IMO at least....a CAR, and not just any car, but a running car...a laptop...rims for their car...are you kidding me? Sure, it could happen...but I'm going to guess the chances are slim. And, with the exception of the rims, I saw multiple posts for cars and laptops. So good luck to them, I guess, I'm sort of torn between wishing them luck and wanting to call them greedy bastards. Some of the wishes are completely stupid, I think at least...someone is after a long phone cord. Seriously? You're willing to drive across town for a phone cord? How about you head over to WalMart and spend $5, or better yet, if you're going to ask for that, go all out and ask for a cordless phone. But, what do I know...maybe some kind soul practically next door just found a long phone cord and wasn't sure what to do with it.

I just returned home from a lovely trip to Detroit. The Motor City. I was told twice I should visit the Ford Museum and I finally figured out that it's probably a car museum. Duh. This was my first trip to the brand new Indy airport...I wasn't there long enough to comment on a lot...but, my only real observances are that they have a ton of shopping, which is great, because the terminal I was always stuck in had absolutely nothing to look at besides Subway, a tiny bookstore and a convenience store. The security line was SLOOOOOOOOW. It wasn't a long line, there were probably five people in front of me, and it took quite a while to get through. Oddly, they pulled me to the side to test my cast in Indy (I'm not sure what for...), but in Detroit, nothing...I just went through. Guess they weren't worried about what ever Indy was looking for. The only other observance I have is that the new moving sidewalks (yes...Indy has finally caught up with every other airport in the world and has moving sidewalks for the lazy) were annoying. They had a recording that would constantly repeart "Warning, the moving sidewalk is about to end" that was so loud you could hear it while you were sitting waiting for your flight to board. Every ten seconds, over and over and over again...if I worked there I would have went insane and poked something into my eardrum as I frantically searched for the mechanism creating the recording. For the first time NWA didn't piss me off...they actually helped to get me off of stand-by and into a seat for an earlier flight. Oddly enough though, just as the woman was doing this for me, the gal next to her was helping someone else who wanted the exact same thing and she told him the flight was overbooked. What ever. At least I was on the good end of the exchange.
Cheers!

I need a cheap stackable washer and dryer...

So...as you may or may not know, I broke my wrist. I fell on ice, I caught myself (well, not really...), and wristie was broken. Luckily, it was my left hand, and I'm right handed...but even so it's been a giant pain in the ass. Or wrist. You don't actually realize how difficult it is to do things when one hand is useless, and for a while it was because moving my fingers caused pain. Now, it feels better, and I get a new cast tomorrow which can get wet which means showering and washing dishes should be easier. Eventually I can move on to opening a bottle of Diet Coke or my hair gel. And, the point of that was that it was a giant pain in the ass to type one handed and I opted not to unless absolutely necessary. So...no blogs. Like anyone cared.

With the economy in the state that it is in, everyone is trying to save money, and find less expensive ways to do things. A simple thing to do is cutting out eating out, as Awesome Man would like to do. So...for cooking at home you need recipes, and I found a suggestion for you. A cook book that is centered around a natural ingredient that you do not have to pay to obtain. So...here's the link, go forth and cook. Natural Harvest Dinner guests beware. Oh, and as a side note, Awesome Man would like to stop eating out...he did not however suggest this cookbook as a way to help save money.

Cheers!