This was a strange way to end the afternoon. I walked outside and Sweet Pea was strolling down the path toward the patio with a lizard in his mouth. This is not uncommon on warmer days. I've rescued countless numbers of reptiles over the years.
I coaxed the lizard from his mouth and it hid under some leaves near a rock where I was standing. Sweet Pea isn't easily distracted at such times so I tried to lure him away. No luck. I went back to see if I could find the lizard and catch it so I could move it elsewhere. I heard it rustling through the leaves near my foot but I didn't see it.
As I backed away I felt something slightly scratchy in the leg of my pants. We have all kinds of scratchy grasses and weeds but I couldn't figure out how something like that could be nearly up to my knee in my jeans. I felt a lump and suspected it might be the lizard. I was correct. I had to drop my pants to retrieve it.
This was about the time txrad was coming home from work. I was having some difficulty holding a lizard with one hand and trying to button my jeans with one hand. It might have been awkward to try and explain to him why I was standing in the yard with my pants around my ankles holding a lizard.
But thank God for technology so I can at least get in 6 or 7 hours of work at home. This allergy is making me mega-irritable. I finally took a shower this afternoon around 5:00 -- my first since 6:00 Monday morning. I was beginning to look rather unkempt. And considering how many times I turned my head to sneeze this week and blew snot into my hair, it was getting to be essential that I shower.
I went to the bed at 1:00 this afternoon to rest for a few minutes and almost immediately fell asleep and didn't wake up until almost 3:00. That certainly cut into any hope for a productive afternoon.
I had the weirdest dream. I was on some open-air transport vehicle which could travel over land and water. I was in an undeveloped foreign country with very rugged terrain and beautiful bodies of blue water. The driver of this vehicle was taking a group of us to some village and rather than take the road which would have required hours of travel time he took us over extremely rocky terrain -- a path rather than a road. It was very jarring. And then we treaded shallow water which was also very rocky beneath the water. Finally we entered a pristine body of water which stretched to the horizon on the way to our destination. Total travel time would have been about two hours but I woke up before we got to shore.
I really wanted to know where I was and where I was going. It seemed like a place I'd enjoy visiting.
I am home again today feeling rather contaminated. This started on Sunday morning when I woke up and realized my lungs felt like I'd smoked 4 packs of cigarettes the night before. I was really lethargic all day. Then Monday rolled around and it was clear this wasn't going to be a 24-hour ordeal. I did go to work despite feeling like hell. My head felt like it was being squeezed with a vise. My energy level was much too low to deal with an office environment and I was getting irritable -- something that's not unusual when I don't feel well.
I left there and came home about 12:15 with the intention of taking a nap. I decided to try and finish up some things I'd wanted to complete over the weekend. I got Turbo Tax loaded and have the tax returns ready to submit. I also called the credit union to have them reset my online password but they said I'd have to come in to a branch to do that. The last thing I wanted was to drive out again but I did. At least I have two less things to stress about.
I suspect pollen might be a culprit. There was a thick yellow coat of it on the car last Friday. Then we plunged into the low 30s on Saturday and remained there until late morning on Sunday. The forecast today had been for 80 degrees. I have my doubts. It's still cloudy and 55. I need warm sunshine. And I need it NOW.
I stumbled across this one over at Kelly's spot this weekend and I was in a meme mood, so I snatched it.
50 Questions
1. How tall are you barefoot? About 6'1"
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No
3. Do you own a gun? Never have... except a BB gun.
4. Who's your best friend? Aside from my cats, I'd have to say txrad.
5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"? A little bit. We hadn't been together very long when I met txrad's family. They're very nice and it was a pleasurable experience.
6. What music are you embarrassed to admit that you listen to? I'm really not embarrassed to listen to any music I enjoy. And there are things I love in every genre. I'm really not into that mega-pop superstar crap. Britney Spears comes to mind. I'm not saying they are talentless; far from it. I just think it's misdirected talent. I used to cringe because some of these people would probably knock me for a loop if they ever just sat down on a stool, stopped prancing around in expensive outfits and dumped the light shows and pyrotechnics, and just... SANG. It's too much "show" at the expense of the music. I used to lump Christina Aguilera into that category and I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I'd like anything she did until she came out with "Back to Basics." I don't own it but I do like listening to it. But I'm more surprised than embarrassed.
7. What's your favourite Christmas song? I don't celebrate Christmas and I tend to despise those songs. But I do like hearing Fiona Apple do "Frosty the Snowman."
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee.
9. Can you do push-ups? Do I have to?
10. Why does one question always disappear? "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" That's what Kelly said. I can't think of a better answer.
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? It used to be an earring made by a friend of mine. I'm quite sure it went down the drain in a Vegas hotel some years back. I like pretty much anything made of sterling silver.
12. Do you like painkillers? No. I relish pain. Actually I take aspirin when I need them. That's about as far as I go with painkillers.
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? Acting gay.
14. Do you own a knife? My favorite is my chef's knife. I have a pocket knife or two somewhere.
15. Do you have A.D.D.? Only when I drink too much tequila.
16. Middle Name? DeWitt.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I'm sick of winter. I'm hungry. I'm anxious.
18. Name the last 3 things you have bought: tequila, tequila, tequila.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: coffee, water, beer
20. What time did you wake up today? Wake up or get up? I think I woke up at 4:00. I got up about 5:10.
22. Current worry? finances and having to take my company down the road to bankruptcy.
23. Current hate? being cold.
24. Favourite place to be? In my kitchen.
25. Least favourite place to be? Probably standing in a long line at the post office. I got a postage meter to avoid that agony.
26. Where would you like to go? Ireland and Norway.
27. Do you own slippers? No. Birkenstocks probably don't count.
28. What shirt are you wearing? a Dickies long-sleeve.
29. Do you burn or tan? I would burn if I wasn't careful.
30. Favorite colour(s)? yellow and purple
31. Would you be a pirate? Preferably not.
32. Last time you had an alcoholic drink? Last night. (Hell, that's better than saying this morning, isn't it?)
33. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower but I often have songs in my head. Sometimes I make the songs up in my head in the shower.
34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? Dolls that talk when you pull those strings on their backs.
35. What's in your pockets right now? Nothing except a hole.
36. Last thing that made you laugh? Watching Doris Day in That Touch of Mink.
37. Best bed sheets you had as a child? Any that I didn't pee on. What a stupid question.
38. Worst injury you've ever had? Probably getting hit by a car that was pulling out into the street. I was on a bicycle and went head over heels. I got up and had someone come fetch me and we went to a coffee shop like nothing had happened. Then about 2 hours later I had to go to the hospital to be checked out. I could barely move for the next two days.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? Three, but only one gets used.
41. Who is your loudest friend? I'm not saying because she reads this blog.
42. Who is your most silent friend? I don't seem to attract silent people.
43. Does someone have a crush on you? I'm not aware of anyone.
44. Do you wish on shooting stars? I have in the past but I don't see them very often. I doubt I'd make a wish.
45. What is your favourite book? World Almanac & Book of Facts.
46. What is your favorite candy? I'm not a big candy fanatic.I never complain when someone sends me Godiva.
47. What song do you want played at your wedding? Assuming I ever get to have a wedding in the state where I reside, I think I'd want to pick something with an emotional kick.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I'd like to put together a compilation to be played if someone wants to do a memorial service. I don't want a funeral. The compilation would probably contain a variety of music that ties together nicely and summarizes my life.Or I could take the somber route and just do a bunch of tearjerkers. HA!
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? Sleeping.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? Will I be able to sleep another hour without taking a pee?
Lakshminarayana Shankar was 87 yesterday. We had the pleasure of seeing Ravi perform in London back around 1994 at the Royal Albert Hall. It was just a fluke. We were on the bus and passed the venue and saw that he was performing that night so we got tickets. I am such a Pavlov's dog. When I hear sitar I immediately begin salivating for a big dark Punjabi to pull some hot naan from his tandoor.
On April 7, 1988 Plasmatics singer Wendy O. Williams -- possibly the most abrasive voice in rock history -- killed herself near her home in Connecticut. I remember seeing this clip when it was originallly broadcast. I also saw the Plasmatics perform in... Pine Bluff, Arkansas of all places. They opened for KISS. I was such a young fool... I left after the Plasmatics' gig. I'll always wonder what I missed.
The collard greens are starting to produce tiny yellow flowers. Hopefully we'll get some free seeds for the fall crop. Meanwhile I should probably do another harvest and get more in the freezer. This never seems to end and for that I am thankful.
The roses at the garden fence are putting on quite a show. I think this one was called "Joseph's Coat" if I recall.
Climate change won't be pretty for tens of millions living in coastal regions.
A scientific panel released a 1,572-page report yesterday and it is alarming, although not surprising.
In its most detailed portrait of the effects of climate change driven by human activities, the panel predicted widening droughts in southern Europe and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, the American Southwest and Mexico, and flooding that could imperil low-lying islands and the crowded river deltas of southern Asia. It stressed that many of the regions facing the greatest risks were among the world’s poorest.
[...]
“It’s the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit,” said Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chairman of the panel. “People who are poor are least-equipped to be able to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and therefore in some sense this does become a global responsibility in my view.”
What's really inexcusable and pathetic is that we've known about this for years. Too few people are taking it seriously and I have my doubts whether the steps to reverse the trend, or even slow it down, will be implemented in a timely manner. We'll all pay dearly for our thoughtless excesses. The ones who will pay the most are the ones least responsible. Isn't that just typical?
What happened to April? We've had several days in the mid-80s and now we're having rain and it's in the mid-30s and I'm concerned it could possibly freeze tonight. At least I'm not missing anything by staying in the house today and doing some work, and hopefully some cleaning.
Since I have the day off I decided to spend a little extra time and put together all five of the kids in one strip. From top to bottom: Samantha, Sissy, Sweet Pea, Tiger and Tater Tot.
And it's about damn time. Kentucky and Virginia need to get on board this train and restore a basic right to people who have paid their debt to society.
Florida has as many as 950,000 disenfranchised ex-offenders — far more than any other state — the vast majority black. Other states have repealed or scaled back similar bans in recent years, but roughly five million felons remain barred from the polls nationwide.
I have already logged in way over 40 hours this week and I have more work to do tomorrow. The good news is that we're closed for Good Friday. I brought the company laptop home and will be working from my abode tomorrow.
Plus I can take breaks and blog. Damn, I can't complain about that. It'll be like old times. Maybe I'll even get the pussy blog done before noon.
Meanwhile, tonight is like a Friday night....and that means tequila, pizza, and music. Let's see, what can I find to entertain us.....
After someone pointed out to me that my Melissa Etheridge birthday post was off by about a month made me question the site where I gather this data. Also I just did a birthday tribute for Stan Ridgway or Ridgeway (the same site list both dates with each spelling) last weekend, and now he's showing up again in the list as having a birthday today.
So let's just stay away from all that and do something spontaneous. Brandi Carlile is one of my favorite new artists. We saw her last year at the Parish in downtown Austin and it was a phenomenal show (I did a blog post about it) and she's playing there again a week from yesterday. She lives in Seattle but she fits right in here in Austin, and needless to say, the lesbian contingent really turns out for her!
I need to be there again next week. She makes me feel alive. And whatever it costs is worth it just for the lesbian factor. The music becomes a fringe benefit of phenomenal value.
"It's a tough war," Bush said. "The American people are weary of this war. They're wondering whether or not we can succeed. They're horrified by the suicide bombing they see."
Let me correct the Commander-in-Chief. I'm not wondering a fucking thing, asshole. I've been quite clear in my beliefs since February, 2003 at least. And I'm horrified by YOUR administration, your actions, your disregard for your so-called "culture of life" and I'm gravely concerned about your ulterior motives.
I have no confusion in that regard.
"It makes me realize the nature of the enemy we face, which hardens my resolve to protect the American people," Bush said. "People who do that are not — it's not a civil war, it is pure evil. And I believe we have an obligation to protect ourselves from that evil."
Although Mr. Romney’s membership in the Mormon Church has often been discussed as a potential political liability, he has taken deliberate steps to turn his affiliation with the church into a fund-raising asset. He has tapped wealthy Mormons including the Marriott family, founders of the hotel chain, and Jon M. Huntsman Sr., who made a fortune in plastics packaging.
Don't stay at any Marriott hotels. Screw them. This is giving me indigestion. And let's stop using plastic products. Do we see the fucking connections yet?
Romney has taken a lot of "deliberate" steps, all bad. I hope money doesn't translate into votes (there's your opening for a free-for-all discussion).
There are aspects of my life I love and aspects I hate.
I have emailed a lawyer about the aspects I hate.
I'm going to focus on the aspects I love, until I hear from the lawyer.
Life goes in strange directions. Sometimes I feel lost. Disorientation is good.
Am I happy tonight? Not really. But the week is half over because we have Friday off.
Tomorrow I predict a slight improvement in mood, followed by a substantial improvement on Thursday.
Friday's mood remains to be seen. That's the best forecast I can provide for the week at this point. I can assure you it's more predictable than the weather.
Richard Thompson is 58. Here he is at Austin City Limits.
Billy Joe Royal is 65. "Down in the Boondocks." I had this on a 45 r.p.m. vinyl way back when. How old does that make me? Fuck, don't answer that.
Doris Day is 83. Thank you dear, for being my occasional involuntary sockpuppet.
Leon Russell turned 66 yesterday.
Emmylou Harris turned 60 yesterday. I saved the best for last. I heard on the radio at 6:35 yesterday morning that it was Emmylou's birthday and I said to txrad, "Minstrel Boy is going to be happy with my post." Only I didn't get it up yesterday.
It's been interesting at work lately. On Friday the mailroom on the 1st floor had a sewage leak from the 2nd floor toilets. They got it cleaned up. Then today it started again, only worse.
Thank God I don't work in the mailroom. But being on the 3rd floor I could still smell it.
Would I make more money cleaning septic tanks? You gotta wonder. And contemplate.
I spent my whole day stressing about whether someone was going to flick their Bic just before going out on the 2nd floor smoking deck, and then we'd have a potential explosion that would make the news.
Oh, and stressing about the fact that I had to go evacuate my bowels and wondering whether it was all going to wind up on the floor of the mailroom just to complicate the situation.
I was sitting here today trying to do some work but preferring to upload CDs to my Zen player and realized perhaps I needed to change some things in order to change my attitude. I've been in a real funk with my home office situation for quite some time.
Hopefully this change will bring about some fresh positive karma. My desk had been in the same position for years, probably through three jobs. I had the same work space when txrad and I were working for someone else out of our home -- that company went bankrupt and we lost our jobs. We had our own company in the same space for 2 1/2 years and I'll be having to visit with a lawyer soon to discuss bankruptcy for that one also. Needless to say, the space and the familiarity of it was really starting to get me down.
The desk used to be positioned where I was facing the window. There was a small filing cabinet on the right side of the desk and a wall of shelves to my right which are now behind me, and with quite a bit of available space there now.
Previously, due to the desk being so wide, it was quite cramped trying to access the stuff on the shelves nearest the windows. It was basically dead space. Not good feng shui.
I was also motivated to vacuum and rid the area of cat hair -- there was a LOT of it. And the really fun part: untangling all the cables from the two computers, fax, stereo, and phones. What I thought would be a 30-minute desk move turned into a 3 hour ordeal. I ended up having to unplug almost everything in order to untangle the mess. Don't you ever wonder how cables and wires always seem to tie themselves into knots when in close proximity? It's maddening.
But I'm done now. I feel organized again. Hopefully my mood will improve now. Next weekend I may start on cleaning the shelves.
"No one has the right to ever question my gender. Not you, not my doctor, not my friends, not my parents, not anyone." Kelly speaks. And clearly. Be sure to check out the "Male Privilege Checklist."
This should be required reading for all members of Congress. And like Kelly, I'm still astounded that the Equal Rights Amendment was never ratified. Not only is that an embarrassment for our country, but it says one hell of a lot about where we are today with other equalityissues.
Since 1699, about two centuries after the founding of the religion, Sikh leaders have prohibited their members from cutting their hair, saying long hair is a symbol of Sikh pride. The turban was conceived to manage the long hair and intended to make Sikhs easily identifiable in a crowd.
Stan Ridgway is 52. I saw Wall of Voodoo at a small club in Little Rock way back when. Being a young punk wannabe I thought it would be funny to pelt the stage with safety pins. I hit Stan in the face with one. Sorry dude. Didn't mean to.
Wikipedia lists his birthday as April 5, 1954 which would make him 53. My usual source says April 1, 1955. Whatever.
Marvin Gaye was shot to death on this day in 1984 by his father.
Sorry if I appear to be ignoring my blog. This is the first chance I've really had to start uploading music to my Creative Zen player and I'm on a roll. Got all the Patty Griffin stuff done, a few other things, and working on the k.d. lang collection now.
It would be nice if I could figure out how to upload some of the music DVDs. I haven't figured out that part yet.
I tried explaining to txrad yesterday about the perceived value in spending an extra $6.00 for a 750ml bottle of tequila vs. a 375ml bottle. It makes financial sense from a dollars per ounce basis, but rarely plays out as a "good deal" in the end. That is abundantly clear this morning.
TGIF. Pussy blog will be appearing late today. Work must come first.
This may fall in the "too much information" department. Sorry 'bout that.
It was another day from hell. We rushed to catch the 7:00 bus this morning and by the time it got there we were already on the 7:20 bus so we got to work 20 minutes later than expected and 40 minutes later than I needed to. It was downhill from there. By tomorrow afternoon things should start to lighten up a bit and just perhaps I can achieve some degree of bowel regularity again.
This does remind me quite a bit of the toilets at work:
But I deserve it. I did the work of 2 people today, and did what I estimated to be about 16 hours worth of work, and I managed to squeeze it into 10 hours. So when I went to buy tequila, I asked for the "small" bottle (200ml) of Hornitos. I was yapping with the clerk and when I got home I looked at the bottle and said, "Damn, that looks big."
It was the 375ml bottle. Oh well. I deserve it after a day like this....but tomorrow is only hump day. We shall see how that all plays out.
We do have dinner in the oven and that's a positive. I did not get muffins baked so I'll be grabbing one at Whole Foods again in the morning. Not terribly economical but extremely easy.
My latest infatuation is the breakfast buffet at Whole Foods. I'm not a big egg person. I don't even like eggs. But sometimes they have scrambled eggs, with potatoes, biscuits and gravy (all vegetarian, unless you count eggs as embryos in the fundamentalist sense -- I used to but don't any longer) and I am hooked on that. But this is damn good eats. I was so satisfied after breakfast, I didn't even eat my lunch until 2:35. I just want to pour gravy all over my biscuits, eggs, and potatoes, and that puts me in what some might call a form of heaven.
Time for another segment of "I've got a song stuck in my head and you're gonna hear about it."
What a day! Crazy at work, crazy commute home with the heavy rain causing traffic jams. Then a crazy mess to clean up in the kitchen. By the time we eat dinner it'll be time to go to bed and start round two in the morning. Oh yeah!
Maybe Toast will enjoy this one. None of that jazz shit... just straight ahead rock and roll:
I don't know how I missed this one on yesterday's birthday post. Aretha Franklin was 65 yesterday. Thanks to maurinsky for pointing this out in the comments.
I have a lot to do today and I'm sitting on my ass like it was... Sunday or something. The collard greens in the garden have gone crazy again and it's time for another big harvest, do some blanching and freezing. And leave enough out for dinner tonight perhaps.
Sometimes I'm amazed that I ever met txrad, that I was immediately in love, and we've been together almost 17 years. I'm not so good with friendships and I constantly analyze myself to figure out why I'm so content with virtually no social life.
I only have one friend from high school with whom I've stayed in touch. Her name is Elizabeth (she sent the picture of Georgie in the cat post below) and we communicate almost every day via email or instant messaging. I was so excited to graduate high school and get away from that godforsaken town. Elizabeth and I wrote letters to each other for the first few years after graduation.
Five years later I went to London for 14 months. I felt as if I had a new life. I came out of the closet while in London and formed a bond with my co-workers. There were some fun parties and drinks at the pub quite often. I became very disconnected from my life in the states. I was also not enjoying my exchange of letters with Elizabeth. I know the reason was because I was gay and I had not yet made my orientation known back across the pond. So my letters to her were omitting a key aspect of my life.
I sat down one day to compose what I expected to be my last letter to her. It was the usual letter about what was going on in my life, and I told her I was gay. I wrongly assumed that would be the end of our correspondence and the last thread of contact with anyone from that high school would be cast away.
About two weeks later I received a letter from her and I was very surprised. The bomb I dropped about being gay didn't exactly detonate. It was as if I had announced that I like spicy mustard or something. And I felt rather silly for imagining the news would be received harshly. And so our friendship and regular communication continued -- only now it felt more real and honest.
I came back to the US in 1984 and slowly began to build a life here again. It was much easier as a gay person who was at least open about it with new friends. Once while out seeing a band at a club, a girl approached me to chat and I felt reasonably certain she was flirting. I nipped that in the bud immediately by mentioning something about my boyfriend being at the bar in the other room. Then she shifted gears and instead of leaving me alone as I expected, she continued chatting and we became friends. Rather than use her real name, I'll call her Ms. S.
This was 1985 and I was involved in a rather large circle of gay and gay-friendly people. I was constantly being introduced to new people -- some would drift out of my life as quickly as they entered it; others would be friends of mine for a few years longer.
I enjoyed Ms. S because she was loose and carefree and we both enjoyed music. Some of my experiences with her I treasure, such as our meals at an Indian restaurant. In 1988, at that restaurant, she introduced me to a guy who had just turned 18 -- I was 28. He and I had a fling for about 2 weeks, and then a longer period of major confusion and frustration, with an occasional fling thrown in just to really fuck things up. The relationship was doomed and that hurt. It seemed to hurt for years, but in reality it was only 2 years later when I met txrad. That's the part that really blows my mind: how, in retrospect, those two years seem to have lasted an entire decade now.
One of my other good friends was preparing to move to Denver. He encouraged me to move with him. It seemed like a good idea because I needed to get away from things for awhile. Ms. S was starting to get on my nerves frequently and it usually involved financial matters. Off to Denver I went -- hoping to find love, new friends and more adventure.
During the 18 months or so that I spent in Denver I did meet some new people and had a couple of friends with whom I was close. I hit it off particularly well with a woman (I'll call her Ms. K) I met there and she decided to move to San Diego and convinced me to move with her. I said goodbye to some of the friends I made in Denver, packed my bags, and moved. What's odd is that I didn't say goodbye to everyone. For a few people I just apparently disappeared. I had one close friend, another woman I met in an art gallery, and I was hoping we'd stay in touch. We basically hung around each other almost daily, and yet after I moved, I never heard from her again.
Ms. K and I found a cute little bungalow walking distance from the beach and began settling in. We'd barely been there a month when I met txrad. Ms. K and I had gone out to a club. I was sitting alone at a table sulking for some reason, and just staring into space when I suddenly noticed someone standing in front of me. It was him. Little did I know of the impact he would have on my life.
Ms. K seemed thrilled that I had the hots for someone. That thrill was short-lived. After a week or two, she became annoyed with me, and insisted it was just a temporary infatuation. The friction continued to build until one day she threw a diversion in my path. We had recently taken a day trip to L.A. together and she fell in love with the town and wanted to move there. My long-term plan in moving to San Diego had been to use it as a stepping stone to L.A. as well. So we plotted a move.
I made it quite clear that we'd only live together until I found a job and then I'd get my own place and txrad would then move to L.A. We found quite a nice apartment in Hollywood and I started the job search. Every weekend I'd drive back to San Diego to be with txrad. This annoyed Ms. K and our troubles started again. The situation quickly escalated into warfare of sorts.
Finally, after several weeks of searching for any kind of work, I landed a position at an advertising agency as a data entry clerk. The pay wasn't much, but I could afford an apartment, and more importantly, txrad could quit his job at Wendy's and leave San Diego to be with me. Thankfully, he did. And we proved Ms. K wrong. The friendship disintegrated.
Now, back to Ms. S. She had visited L.A. a few times and lived there a few times, and visited us there a few times. She had no problem accepting us as a couple, and there was no love lost between her and Ms. K., so in that regard she was our ally. Nevertheless, my level of agitation with Ms. S was increasing. I was settling down, had stable employment for the first time in years, and I was happy. Ms. S continued to drift from job to job, city to city, basically just surviving on the kindness of others. She was a skilled manipulator and took advantage of my easy-going nature and generosity on many occasions.
I can recall one such incident, long before I even moved to Denver. I was visiting her in L.A. after she had moved there (one move of several, back and forth) and she suggested we take a road trip to San Francisco for a long weekend. Gee, that sounded like fun, so we hit the road. We weren't even outside of Los Angeles County when she suggested we stop at a donut shop. She began digging around in her purse and proclaimed with some amusement, "Oh, I only have three cents." Not only did I pick up the tab for the donuts, but the rest of the trip was also on me. This was a typical scenario.
Another time I loaned her my credit card so she could get a plane ticket back home when she was down and out. She was going to charge the plane ticket, and once home she agreed to mail the card back to me. She was true to her word on that one. But when I got my credit card statement I knew it wasn't me that had gone out to eat, and also purchased a pair of shoes, and a few other things.
After a few years of working and getting promotions at my agency, and then moving to Austin after accepting a position at another agency, it just really bugged me for some reason that she continued to drift from place to place, holding down a crappy job here and there for a few days before moving on. She never seemed to take any responsibility for her actions. I still liked her as a person and a friend, but I just didn't want to be around her. We'd have long phone conversations but whenever she mentioned coming for a visit, it got to a point I'd cringe and make up some excuse for why it wasn't convenient.
She found a work-around for that little problem. I got in the car one day to run to the store and before I got out of my neighborhood, I saw someone in a car waving at me. I stopped because this person was vaguely familiar. It was her. She had driven down from Arkansas for a surprise visitation. I don't know about the rest of you, but konagod does not like those types of surprises -- particularly when they are coupled with an expectation to provide some food and definitely the housing aspect of this "vacation" she had planned.
A year or so after that I seem to recall having a voice mail from her that she was in Dallas and was on the way to Austin for the weekend and wanted to see us. (Read between the lines.) Instead of calling her back, txrad and I packed some bags, got in the car and drove to Houston and Galveston for the weekend.
There was another similar incident about 3 years ago in which she and her husband planned a trip to Austin, showed up, and expected a red carpet to be rolled out. Rather than come right out and ask if they could sleep here, she just lingered, waiting for an invitation. I was annoyed and finally got up and went to bed, leaving txrad to deal with the situation. He stood his ground and finally Ms. S and hubby left in a huff I'm sure.
I don't think I've seen her again since that time. We spoke a few times on the phone for a couple of months afterwards. She moved to L.A. again, then moved to Dallas (which made me nervous), but she was never doing anything to improve her financial life and I'd just had enough. I had bought her a CD for her birthday 2 or 3 years ago and I never sent it because she was living with some guy after separating from her husband, and she was talking about packing up and leaving in a few days. I never knew her address, or if she'd even be there long enough for the package to arrive, before she moved on somewhere else. Finally, I quit returning her calls and I quit responding to her email messages. Her friendship was literally stressing me out and I have enough stress in my life.
So, dear readers, do I have the problem? Or do I just attract crazies and other people who succeed in making me insane? The people I consider to be my best friends all seem to be as aloof as me. Most of them I haven't seen or spoken to in years. I'll get the occasional email or holiday card and that's about it. The friends in my life with whom I had the closest connections all went sour for one reason or another. Another thing I've noticed is that the friends who actually had the most negative impact on me were also the ones who provided the catalyst for some of the most positive changes in my life. It's ironic that I might never have met txrad were it not for Ms. K and I moving to San Diego from Denver. And that friendship which started out so strong, lasted 2 years at best.
These days, my new friends are.... bloggers. Some of them (or some of you) I may someday meet, and hope to. Others I'm sure I'll never meet. But I'm OK with it. It's safe and it's easy. There's no baggage. You stop by my blog and chat awhile and I'll visit yours and chat awhile. No advance notice required, no urgent need to change any bed linens, I don't need to tiptoe around the house at 6:00 am, and you won't keep me awake by chatting long after I've gone to bed. No inconveniences whatsoever. It's relaxing and easy. And it's quite strange.
Oh, that graphic I inserted above... "Doesn't Play Well With Others" -- it's a sticker which was given to me by none other than Ms. S. Hmmm....
Yeah, I know it's Saturday. Yesterday was horrendous. It was time to start pizza prep as soon as I walked in the door yesterday and the kitchen needed to be cleaned first from Thursday night's cooking session!
This week's post is courtesy of two friends.
Rebecca sent in a pic of her Gidget in the trash can.
Elizabeth sent a bunch of pics awhile back. Here's Georgie in the all-too-familiar pose.
Finally, litbrit sent a link to the tainted cat food story which has also been stressing me out all week. I think the odds of my cats being poisoned by the one can I have remaining are slim, but still... it's something that you think about. If it weren't for Samantha I'd just stick with the dry food regimen until this is all resolved.
Samantha used to be 18+ lbs and as she entered the "golden years" she lost the bulk of that weight. For some reason she just doesn't seem to be absorbing anything from the dry food and I'm very concerned about her. She LOVES the canned chicken and I like to give that to her because she will actually eat the entire contents of a can. If she doesn't get this special treat, she howls and screeches until I give in. Finding something suitable for her is on my to-do list this weekend.
I was tagged -- and quite awhile back by the ever-lovely litbrit with this one. Poor kona is a busy boy these days but I get around to the memes eventually. I'm going to spice this one up a bit by doing a tequila shot before each of the five things. Yeahh, baby. Rock & roll. If #5 is incoherent, you'll know why. Oh, and I'm drinking beer between shots. I guess that's worth mentioning. Anything to keep me away from the threads over at Shakes' place for awhile can only be a worthy cause, right?
1. When I was about 7, I must have been lacking general social skills. My best friend, whom I'd known basically since birth considering the fact that we were born one day apart in the same hospital, was in the same grade school as me. We were out in the playground with other kids at recess playing around an area where the garbage cans were stored. It was an area bricked in on 3 sides. There were a few loose bricks around so in order to get some attention, and perhaps a laugh, I somehow thought it would be hilarious if I threw a brick up in the air while hiding behind the brick wall. The other kids would see this brick falling from the sky and maybe it would land on someone's foot and they'd wonder where the hell it came from. Yes, that was my thought process.
I remember hearing a commotion and I stood up to see who might be laughing. No one was laughing. They were all pointing at me. The brick landed on my best friend's head. He was bleeding and had to be taken to a hospital for stitches. I don't really remember too much after that -- whether I was questioned by any teachers, or anything. I think I just went on with my day as if nothing had happened.
That night our phone rang and it was my friend's mother calling my mother for an explanation. I calmly said there was a brick on the playground and I was throwing it back over to the garbage can area where it belonged ... and missed. What a liar I was.
Nothing else was ever said, and we continued to be best friends for years -- until we were 16 or so. Actually we ended up being --- I hesitate to use the word "lovers." But he was my first sexual encounter and that went on for 2 years on a regular basis. Life is weird, huh? And he's dead now. That's another story.
2. I love chocolate. It's probably one of my absolute favorite substances in the world. But I despise chocolate beverages. Hot chocolate, any chocolate-flavored coffees, anything chocolate in liquid form is probably one of my biggest turn-offs. I don't care for candy either. And don't like chocolate candy unless it's of high quality. About the lowest common denominator of chocolate I'll eat in candy form is Godiva. I like most of that stuff. There's also a chocolate bar at Whole Foods Market with dried raspberries in it that I enjoy. But I can make one bar of that last me at least a week. I have incredible self-discipline when it comes to devouring chocolate. (Too bad I have NO self-discipline when it comes to tequila. Which reminds me, time for another shot if I'm done with #2.)
3. Let's talk about body fluids, and get this out of the way, all in one (wad) shot. About 2 weeks ago, I awoke about 4:00 am from a dream (in color as always) in which I was in a department store of some type. It was one of those multi-level stores with an elevator. I was shopping for merchandise when I suddenly realized I'd hit the stop button on the elevator when I got out, so the elevator was stuck there. About the time I realized I needed to run release the stop button so other people could use it, I awoke with the sensation that I needed to urinate. Actually, what was happening was a wet dream. I thought that only happened to younger guys. Live and learn.
In a similar vein (you can call this 3a if you wish), you've all heard the expression about having it coming out of both ends at the same time. Only once in my life have I been vomiting and had diarrhea at the same time. I was a teen and very sick with the flu or some bad bug. I had to crawl from the toilet to the bathtub. Fun!
4. I love looking at porn. Oh wait, no one is going to be surprised by that. Let's start over. Hmm, I think I squeezed in an extra shot there somewhere. Oh well, a boy needs his think time; these memes are not easy.
4. I probably could have earned my living as a pianist. When I was 7 I started taking piano lessons from the same woman who taught my brother. He was good. Damn good. My teacher told my mother I had far more talent than my brother. I took lessons until I was 9 and suddenly lost interest. It's a shame, because I enjoyed it, but there were certain aspects of it that frustrated me, and it was because my teacher didn't know how to teach. She couldn't explain things to me in a manner in which my mind could comprehend. (And she was an alcoholic.) I have similar problems to this very day with learning new things. I don't respond well to instruction without understanding the why or the history behind it. I need full-spectrum instruction or I lose interest. And so, I'm not a pianist. I'm in advertising and experiencing some of the same frustration I experienced as a pianist-to-be.
One more shot to go, and then I'm done with this meme. Oh, what to confess, what to confess!
5. I am not happy about aging. When I turned 40 (which wasn't nearly as hard for me as turning 30), I was still getting carded occasionally for alcohol purchases. In fact, I've become quite the pal with the woman who works at my liquor store and I first met her about 6 years ago. She carded me when I bought a pack of cigarettes from her for the first time. I remember saying, "Jesus, how old do I have to be to buy cigarettes?" She said, "18." I said, "Well, I believe I got that covered." She examined my ID and said, "You look young." The rest is history. Literally.
I'm actually planning a separate post about the transition from 4o to 50 and it's likely to take awhile, but this is as good a time as any to introduce it. I have never identified with people my own age. Oh sure, I've had friends older than me for the past 20 years, and I get on dandy with people 5, 10, 15 years older than me. I borrowed a Janis Joplin book from a former co-worker who is probably 20 years older than me, and I can certainly relate to her. But I do not ever care to act my age, if that makes any sense.
It's been quite an experience for me starting my new job. I've worked at home, away from society at large, for the past 6 or 7 years. Getting back into the work force has been a huge challenge. I'm now back in an environment with people 20+ years younger than me, along with a sprinkling of people my age, or a few years older. And folks, it's an adjustment.
But I refuse to conform. I refuse to act my age. I refuse to cast away my creativity for the sake of fitting a mold. I will not be manipulated and I will not be controlled. And apparently I am lucky to have that luxury.
Time for another shot. And maybe load the pipe. Tagged: Take it and run with it if you are so inclined.
And why don't people younger than me know who he is?
The agency I work for has a professional photographer to take a photo of each employee which is hung outside the cubicles and also posted on the internal web site of the company. I haven't had my photo taken yet so I decided to do something funny and put up a photo of my favorite advertising executive and I selected this one.
No one so far seems to have a clue who this person is. I thought it was funny. I guess I'm alone. Come on, people: he worked for McMann & Tate. Has everyone lost touch with the 60s?
Eddie James "Son" House was born on this day in 1902. Had I known this when I got off the bus today, I'd already be 4 shots into the bottle. Due to my lack of information, I have none. Wine will do nicely however.
Keep an eye on this one. The Supreme Court could potentially find another use for duct tape. I can almost hear the whrrrrr of the paper shredder. The Bill of Rights is at risk yet again.
A majority of the court seemed willing to create what would amount to a drug exception to students’ First Amendment rights, much as the court has in recent years permitted widespread drug testing of students, even those not personally suspected of using drugs, under a relaxed view of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches.
Ornette Coleman is 77. Wikipedia lists his birthday as March 9. The website where I gather this data says March 19. Who knows?
Randy Rhoads heavy metal guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, died in a plane crash at 25 in 1982. I guess that's the "other unpleasantries" portion of this post. Tragic. What a friggin' loss.
I've been a "member" and carried a "Card" from a certain credit card company since 1983. That dates back to when I was a status symbol-obsessed youth. Since that time I have been accruing points on every purchase and never used them. I treat it like a savings account of sorts. If I ever wanted to take a free trip, the points are there. I had about 328,000 points as of this morning. That's good for quite a few trips! Too bad I never fly. I don't even like to be in close proximity to an airport.
Several years ago, probably more like 12 or 15, I was "invited" to upgrade to a Platinum card. This was before every other institution began issuing Platinum VISA cards out the ying-yang. I felt like I was part of an elite class; I felt special. Now I just feel rather stupid for playing along.
I've toyed with the idea of dumping the Card for the past couple of years. By the time I hit the bottom financially in early January I had decided to cancel my membership in this elite club when my next membership fee comes due in September. I already cancelled txrad's card in February.
Keep in mind, this Platinum card isn't cheap. It does come with some nice amenities for those with the finances to use them. A free companion ticket on certain overseas flights for business and first class flights is quite a perk. One such trip a year would offset the $395 annual membership fee for several years. But how many such trips have I taken? Zero.
After I found lucrative work again at the end of January, and txrad began working again last week, it had crossed my mind that perhaps I could hang on to my beloved Card now. I don't know why I have this completely irrational emotional attachment to a piece of plastic, and the tyrants behind it. (Ever been late with a payment to those folks?)
A letter I received this week from the Centurion has sealed the decision. I may have a job, and life may be grand again, but I have not forgotten how easy it is for situations to change, to go from rolling in the dough one day to wondering how we're going to feed the cats a week later. I'm enjoying being frugal, and honestly, I got over the Platinum status symbol honeymoon at least a decade ago.
The Centurion has informed me that my membership fee will be increasing to $450 this year. Umm, no it won't. And so, the Centurion has forced me to begin a shopping spree. Now I'm having fun.
This Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player is on the way. And yes, in GREEN. Why the hell not? I'm Irish! And I can start doing a Friday Random 10.
Regular readers know I do some frequent birthday tributes here, and will also note certain days on which someone died. I retrieve this stuff from a "Today in History" website. There were a couple of odd entries there today:
1996 ? son of woman in coma raped by John Horace
1997 ? raped comatose woman who bore a child 1 year earlier, dies at 30
I haven't posted anything today. So this is just a test post to make sure I'm still alive and kicking.
Actually, it's soul food night in the kona household. txrad went out and picked some collard greens, he got some purple hull peas going, I washed the greens and got those going with some onions and red pepper flakes, I have the corn bread ready to go in the oven as soon as the mac & cheese comes out, and then we're done.
Well, not really. I can't really complain about a job where a band (whom I happen to like) comes in for a private in-house concert and to "premiere" their music video, and there was free beer, and this was at 2pm. I had 2 beers and went back to work afterwards.
Damn, life is hard sometimes.
I didn't get one of the free CDs though. I kept trying to position myself where I thought they were going to put them and wherever they did put them, they were all gone by the time I figured out where they were. Then they brought more and I had moved to where I thought they had been before. That was wrong. They put them where I had been.
Tater Tot is being a bad boy, both this morning when I took this photo, and this afternoon. He likes to tease and torment Sissy. She'll only tolerate just so much.
I can't help but wonder what goes on around here now that both txrad and I are working downtown and out of the house all day.
I'm happy and there's nothing wrong with me that a little money can't cure. (hat tip to the Waitresses for that line)
The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has suggested that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.
Can someone find that passage in the Bible and let me know where it is? The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., expressed these views on her personal web site earlier this month.
The article, published on March 2, carried a long but intriguing title: “Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?”
In Las Vegas apparently. How sad. One of my favorite attractions on the Strip was not the volcanos at the Mirage or the fountains at the Bellagio. It was simply those small fountains in front of the Startdust which would squirt water from one pool to another. It was simple and classy, and a little sexual. I wonder if those are gone as well. We can't salvage much in Vegas these days.
“It’s always a little sad to see these places go, but that place was so old and gross — and old and gross don’t belong in Vegas,” said Jeff Remini, 49, of Los Angeles.
[...]
The oldest casino structure on the Strip now is a part of a coffee shop at the Sahara and dates back just 55 years.
I just realized I haven't done a post since Monday morning. That's what working hard will do to ya.
txrad finished his 2nd day at work today and all is going smoothly. It's kind of strange having him at the same place I work since it's been almost 7 years since that happened -- outside of us working from home, of course. Nevertheless I find it somewhat relaxing because I'm no longer in such a big hurry to leave work and get home since he's there now!
The good news is that we continue to come home and prepare dinner which is also relaxing. I'm not as tired as I used to be either. We're getting into a groove apparently.
Anyhoo, let's have some entertainment. Adam Clayton, bassist for U2 is just SLIGHTLY older than I am. He turned 47 today. Neil Sedaka is WAY older than I am and turned 68 today.
Caption: A Palestinian youth threw stones at Israeli soldiers in Ramallah, West Bank, last week. Parents fear that the atmosphere of despair has destroyed their children's sense of hope.
Hmmm, ya think?
The photo should link to the NY Times story. Print version link is also here.
Hey, I like to get naked as much as anyone, but this is not my idea of a vacation.
Source Events, a gay travel company, is offering the first gay nude luxury cruise this May in connection with Gay Naturists International, a nonprofit social organization.
[...]
Staterooms on the cruise start at $3,199, not including airfare and port taxes.
I've had too many dreams already where I'm out in public and can't find my clothes. Maybe if they'd pay me $3,199 to get on the ship and travel light, I might consider it. Probably not. And I'm sure that price doesn't even include an all-you-can-drink tequila bar.
Of course, he'd bring this up while in Uruguay. There's got to be a few dozen in Congress who would love to slap the shit out of him. Fortunately for him, he's safely out of their reach for a few days.
Today we dined out for the first time in about 2 months. We still opted for cheap since we're trying to be conservative with our money. (Imagine konagod describing himself as a conservative!)
txrad decided we'd try a new place not far from the house called Taco Del Mar. The menu online looked acceptable for a couple of vegetarians. $4.99 for a jumbo burrito with guac and sour cream is right within our budget. Elsewhere on their website there is some fine print which is the title of this post.
Notice at the top of this menu it clearly states the burritos include rice, beans, cheese, salsa and chips too. Well, I assumed the rice, beans and cheese would be IN the burrito since it's a veggie, and that was a correct assumption.
The store location we visited added a twist on the "prices may vary" caveat. Upgrade to a "combo" for an additional $1.99 and you get chips & salsa and a 22 oz. drink. The burritos do not automatically come with chips and salsa without upgrading to the combo plan. And honestly, it's a big rip-off.
I had already planned to get a small drink anyway, but a handful of chips, and a small plastic container of salsa with a drink for $1.99 is not what I'd call a "deal" for the customer. It's a sweet deal for the store since their product cost was probably in the neighborhood of 25-cents....
For a customer already spending five bucks on a burrito (considerably less hefty than the Chipotle burritos, I might add), I would expect a better upgrade deal on that combo. Or how about just throwing me that handful of chips and salsa, and let me pay $1.09 for the drink.
I'm just sayin'. Buyer beware. It was tasty though. They just had far fewer options for stuffing that burrito with goodness than what I've seen at other joints around town.
Oh, and notice the option at the bottom of their menu: "add enchilada sauce to your burrito for $1.00."
It's been 6 weeks now since I started a "real job" outside my home. I knew this meant an end to very much blogging during the week but I had no idea how close it would come to a total end of my blog. Originally I planned to get up and do a blog post in the early morning or do most of my blogging in the evening when I got home. That hasn't materialized, aside from the birthday and other tribute posts which don't require any of my own personal writing or thinking skills.
One victim has been my political posts. I barely have time to read the paper. And in all honesty, I'm going through a period of total burnout with the Iraq war situation. I'm not disengaged and I haven't stopped caring; but I just cannot get myself into a position where I want to write anything about it. Plenty of other bloggers do a fine job of that anyway.
Frankly, I'm sick of seeing, hearing and reading about Bush, Cheney, war, Libby, torture, lies and the fucking liars who tell them. The entire situation makes me want to puke so why the hell would I write about it? Politically, the only thing that excites me is 2008, and perhaps the last couple of months of 2007 leading up to the initial primaries. Like most of you, I am desperate for a radical change. And I use the word radical rather loosely here since it wouldn't take a hell of a lot to produce a radical change at this point.
Having said all of that, I have no idea what direction or focus I intend to pursue with my blog. There were several days when I seriously wanted to throw in the towel. And then something would happen to make me realize how much I love doing this. So I will continue, and in the meantime I'm going to ponder my focus, or the theme with which I want this blog to carry, not that I really need one.
Heavy posts will appear from time to time, some political in nature, but I can no longer stress about the fact that I can't do serious hard-hitting posts on a consistent basis.
This has been a strange and difficult year for me already. The year was barely 24 hours old when I came to the stark realization that my business was a mess, the debt was nearly impossible to manage due to lack of clients or clients in arrears with payments, and that hasn't changed. I still need to deal with that soon.
We were discussing the possibility of selling our house, packing up and moving to Arkansas. In fact, that much had been decided. My goal was to purchase a very inexpensive fixer-upper, pay cash for it if possible to avoid any monthly mortgage payments, and then use the profits from the sale of this house to erase our debt. I wanted to be in a debt-free situation and know that I could get by on a minimal income if necessary.
Then, very unexpectedly, I received a tip about a freelance position for which I was highly qualified, and which paid quite well. Clearly I would have been a fool to turn it down, but this did turn my life upside down yet again.
The first three weeks were absolute hell as I attempted to adapt to a vastly different work environment outside my home, not to mention the commute which has since become the most relaxing portion of my day thanks to convenient, cheap, and fast public transit. Then suddenly I began to make an adjustment at work. Rather than questioning myself for getting into this, I began to enjoy it, and by the end of the 4th week, I was truly loving it.
During this time, txrad also interviewed for a position with the same company and was hired. His first day on the job is Monday. During the past 6 weeks I've been relying quite heavily on him for everything during the workday which needed to be done, whether it was wrapping up loose ends with our business, shopping for groceries, or dealing with the banking. Obviously, that luxury is about to disappear and we're in for another period of adjustment.
When we lived in LosAngeles, we both worked for the same advertising agency for about 6 or 7 years. Life seemed so simple then. And the future seemed much more clear.
I'll get through it. We'll get through it. And the blog will continue.
When I was in my teens my brother was a scoutmaster and arranged to take his troop to the Minnesota/Ontario border region in March for a week of ice camping. I was never a scout but he invited me along. It was a chance for me to blow off a week of school.
We loaded up the bus with all our supplies and left Arkansas on a cool morning for the trek north. The bus was equipped with what I would assume at the time was an 8-track tape player and one of the boys brought along the debut album from the band Boston. I'd probably heard a song or two on the radio and don't recall thinking this was anything I'd ever want to own. But after hearing it for hour after hour on a long road trip I began to appreciate what a phenomenal talent they had.
For me, this is one of those few albums that is forever linked to an unforgettable experience in my life. When I hear it I remember so many details of that week in Minnesota, and of course the hours and hours spent on the road.
Tom Scholz, guitarist/keyboardist for the band, is 60 years old today. And I had no idea he has been a vegetarian for 25 years, or that he received a Mahatma Gandhi award in 1987 for his charity work, and a Man of the Year award in 1988 from the National Hospice Organization.
“Boston,” largely recorded in Mr. Scholz’s basement, has sold more than 17 million copies in the United States.
Brad Delp, the band's lead singer was found dead at his home in New Hampshire yesterday. The cause of death is under investigation. He was 55.
Samantha loves to curl up in a box. I had been using this basket to display some funky squash between October and when they started to rot in early January. Then Samantha decided she liked the basket. I could have done the red eye correction but I thought they matched the basket quite nicely. And since she is the spawn of Satan, they are appropriate.
I average 70-100 visits a day. Yesterday when I got home from work it said I'd had 8 visitors all day.
So far today, it has registered zero.
At this rate I'll never make it to a million.
Aside from that, it's Thursday and I'm about to conclude a very interesting week at my "new" job. The company I work for is so large, we can have our own in-house web pages and even our own in-house blogs.
I got to my car just after 5:00 and headed towards the traffic light and noticed a strange noise. I pulled over and got out to inspect my tires and the right rear tire was completely flat.
Damn.
I had to change a tire and fortunately was able to drive across the street to the Firestone place and drop it off for repair.
The mistake I made was washing my hands there with their degreaser soap. I can't get the odor off my hands now.
This is related to my post early this morning, but I can't stop myself.
What is it with these friggin' banks/credit card issuers these days? I have a MasterCard payment due tomorrow. I went to their website to pay online. After going through a lengthy registration process and entering my bank information, I was informed it would take 6 business days before the process would be completed.
That wouldn't work since the bill is due tomorrow. So I called their 800# and went through a long automated process and found an option for doing the same thing on the phone using the automated service. After I had entered the bank information again, I was informed there was a $15 charge for using this service.
Well, excuse the fuck out of me! I'm trying to pay THEM what I owe them and they want ME to pay for the privilege of paying THEM. Go figure.
I called and bitched and they processed the payment at no charge. God, these people make life unnecessarily hard. And talk about greedy. Trying to screw me out of $15 now or $39 is my payment is late due to their inexcusable 6 day delay on setting up my online payment is not only absurd but immoral.
Are the US markets going to take another big dump today? I'm tired of this.
And this little tidbit got me thinking... so, I'm supposed to feel guilty about possibly having to file for bankruptcy? I think not.
For Kal Elsayed, a former executive at New Century Financial, a large lender based in Irvine, driving a red convertible Ferrari to work at a company that provided home loans to people with low incomes and weak credit might have appeared ostentatious, he now acknowledges. But, he says, that was nothing compared with the private jets that executives at other companies had.
One red Ferrari would wipe out all my corporate and personal debt. Guilt be gone!
After reading about all the potent brews present at the Tartfest, I decided to spend a few extra minutes today in the supermarket checking out some I've never tried. We picked up a six-pack of these.
The wallop started with the $10.99 price tag. The next wallop will be delivered courtesy of the 8.5% alcohol content after I've had a few shots of tequila. I'll post my comments later, but wanted to give a heads up that we have new brew in the house. This stuff comes from Downington, PA. "Hops, hops and more hops."
Don't I know some bloggers around there?
The verdict is in: This is quite good.. Very hoppy, but smooth. A little bitter but I'm not having to force myself to drink it. It's smooth and pleasurable with a hop bite. And txrad is laughing at a Hitchcock film, so all is well in konaville.
"No, mother, I have NOT been drinking. These two men, they poured a whole bottle of bourbon into me. No they didn't give me a chaser."
Jon Bon Jovi is 45 Is he ever going to start looking like...old?
This clip is hilarious (especially after a few shots of tequila)
Dale Bozzio is 52 Call me shallow, but the Missing Persons CD is one I'd haul off to the proverbial desert island. Brilliant for the era, and has withstood the test of time. Terry Bozzio, the band's drummer and Dale's ex-husband is phenomenal as a drummer. IMHO.
Lou Reed is 65 From 1974, live in Paris...ahhh, my era. Margot, are you listening?
Dr Seuss was born on this day in 1904
These photos I just took of a Dr. Seuss book I had when I was probably 4 years old. If you'll look closely you'll see I was somewhat obsessed with anatomy, or pornography, depending on your political persuasion. I drew tits on everyone regardless of gender, and I drew very long dicks on everyone regardless of gender. This isn't the only book I own where there is evidence of this obsession. Strange. Later, probably when I was 6 or 7 and learned the value of an eraser, I can see where I tried to go back and destroy the evidence. Too late. Now the entire world knows. Or at least the few dozen people who read this blog.
Hop on Pop. Yeah..... Sister and Brother seem to have been spared my destructive path. At least on THIS page.
