Quick Follow Up

I know that quite a few people who read blogs don't actually read comments so I had to repost this comment from my friend Reba about the jerkfaces I wrote about the other day

"When people say "think of those who have it worse" it actually does work for me but in the wrong way. I think a kind hearted person would feel even WORSE when they hear that because then they would be thinking of poverty and famine and a whole bunch of terrible stuff that isnt' going away anytime soon. Selfishly though, it makes me feel better about what I have. Which is the desired effect when poeple say it - to make the person feel worse for others or selfishly better?"

Yes! That was my point, only better said. So let's say I'm miserable and you say 'but it could be so much worse think of ...' am I supposed to feel better like a total bitch because other people have it so bad or am I supposed to feel worse because not only am I sad but I'm also apparently a horrible person for feeling bad since there are so many others who have it worse than I? Ha! People understand me!

Which isn't to say that I'm miserable right now, I'm not at all, I just get tired of people who say mean things or people who intend to say nice things but it comes out mean. For example, an elderly lady who I see a lot at work told me the other day "I can't get over that you are 29 weeks pregnant! You don't look pregnant at all, you just look chubby!' Annnndd, that's supposed to make me feel what? Good? No.

Pregnancy is a strange thing. People say bizarre things to you and you feel like you are living in another person's body. My hair is crazy nuts and there is nothing I can do with it. My fingernails are strong and smooth for the first time ever (they're normally very ridge-y but now completely ridgeless). My shoes barely fit. My rings hurt my fingers. All these things (plus a million more) make it very disorienting to be pregnant. The little parasite is changing my whole life and body and everything.

It's totally worth it though, you know.

Apparently it's French for 'to hatch'

Paul was playing his computer game and I was lying in bed behind him reading a magazine. I often read him things or tell him things while he plays knowing that I may get little or no response from him because he gets VERY INVOLVED in stupid World of Warcraft...but I talk anyway. I read to him last night about "Couvade Syndrome":

Me - So, apparently lots of men develop 'sympathy symptoms' of their partner's pregnancy. They can gain weight in their belly, or get back pain or even labor pains. Up to 25% of men experience this.

*he replies quietly without breaking stride from his game or even looking at me*

Him - I know, I've got bitchy.

A Very, Very Incomplete Types-Of-Idiot List.

Paul and I have been over-the-top filled with hate for people lately. We both (but more me) really struggle with the fact that when people do dumb or hateful things we get very angry instead of shrugging or laughing it off like most people would. It is actually quite a problem and we wonder sometimes if life is harder than it should be because we are so filled with dislike for so many people. I really would like to know why it bothers us more than most, by the way, so if any of you have any brilliant ideas as to what is going on in the psyches of Ms. Pop and Mr. Soda we would love to know.


Anyway, as an excuse to rant and rave about the idiots that fill the world I'm gonna make a list; Top Five People Into Whom I hope My Son Does Not Turn (and if you can give me better grammar for that I would love to hear that too. I could only come up with this one and one where it ended in a preposition and I knew that one was wrong so I stuck with this one.)


1) The kind of person who stands on the outside of the 'OUT' door at Wal-Mart and can't figure out why, to their mind I suppose, their body weight no longer triggers the automatic door. (We saw people waiting at both doors on the wrong side the other day, just standing there, utterly baffled)


2) The kind of person who does not use their turn signal while driving, even when changing lanes. (it is the LAW people and it is also greatly helpful to those around you)


3) The kind of person who pays for fertility assistance to have more kids when they already have six children who are solely supported by the government, AKA money out of my paycheck. F**K!


4) The kind of person who, after two years of a constant bombardment of messages saying that if you use a TV with rabbit ears it won't work after February 17, 2009, STILL could not manage to get their act together and needs another four freakin' months to get ready for the stinkin' 'digital transition'. (This may be solely an American thing, if it is, sorry to my non-America-living friends)


5) The kind of person who, in a grocery store, manages to take up an entire aisle by parking their cart at an angle and then obliviously staring at a shelf of soup cans while the other patrons stand there patiently waiting for him to notice that he is holding up the flow of the whole store.

Rant Complete.

Until a week or two goes by and I come up with another five.

Questions Du Jour

#1) How can I have lost a pound in the 19 weeks that I've been pregnant and yet have an increasingly giant belly? Does the weight migrate from, say, my thighs, to my belly? If so that would be FANFREAKINGTASTIC!

#2) What kind of socks can you buy when even little ankle socks cut off all circulation to your feet?

#3) Can I go for another 21 weeks without any sleep?

#4) Why do people hang their pictures anywhere but eye level? (My mom hangs her pictures like 2 feet from the ceiling and someone hung a picture across from my desk at work over the couch and the picture is one inch from the top of the couch. How much time per day can I spend in plotting to move that picture? A LOT)

#5) How do you get rid of a musty smell in your house caused by two separate floods in your house after less than two months living there?

#6) How do you get rid of a mouse in your house when the mouse seems to be subsisting on the food in your dog's dish?

#7) How is it that Hugh Laurie is so not-young, so kinda-wrinkly, so not-really-handsome and yet SOSOSO sexy?

Signing off,
Exhausted yet Frantic

Personally I think that's going WAY to far, but what do you think?

Answer me this. Yesterday at work Paul was chatting with someone and he used the expression 'let's call a spade a spade'. The person to whom he said this gasped and replied 'that's RASCIST!' Paul was momentarily baffled and the person quickly pointed out that a 'spade' is a horrible, old-fashioned slang word for a black person (although I can't imagine why).

Paul knew that but said that it had never occured to him that that expression referred to anything like that. We are, in fact, certain that it doesn't...but at the same time if it is going to offend people we don't want to use that phrase.

What do you think? Is it rascist? Should people stop using it?

Here's Yer Sign!

Maybe I should rename this blog 'stupid things people do' because I'm telling you there would be NO SHORTAGE OF CONTENT. One brief example:

Paul is waiting in line at K-Mart customer service behind a woman returning a Barbie:

Woman - I want to return this Barbie. Here is the receipt.

Customer Service Lady - Okay, (clickclickclick) here is your money, ma'am.

Woman - No, this isn't right, I should get more back.

Customer Service Lady - (checking) No, that's the correct amount. The Barbie dolls were 'buy one get one half off' which is equivalent to 25% off so you get back the original amount minus 25%.

Woman - (deeply irritated) I KNOW that they were 'buy one get one half off' so I'm keeping the one that was half off and returning the full price one!

Customer Service Lady - (sigh)

In a hurry, or really dumb, you decide.

I got an email from a client today but I didn't really understand it so I emailed him back and apologized for my ignorance but that I had not understood what his request of me was. He emailed back and said: "That email was meant for another Jennifer. Sorry for you're incontinence."

Honest to God.

No, it is not a word and you should stop using it now.

Paul is terrific. We have been having trouble with the devil known as the cable company...you know which one...for more than a month now and we had been trying to get then to come out. The first time they were scheduled to come out and try to figure out the problem they called beforehand and asked Paul to describe the problem (cause we hadn't described it TWENTY TIMES to FORTY different employees all of whom were BAFFLED and then LIED to us about what was wrong, but I digress). When Paul did describe the problem the tech said that it was almost certainly the box and if he had to come out to just switch the box he would have to charge us $30+. So we cancelled at at his suggestion drove to their office and switched out the box. We then repeated the procedure a week later with the modem. We still weren't working right so we scheduled another appointment. They didn't show up and somehow managed to call and leave a message saying 'you aren't home so we aren't coming' even though we had A) called them to make sure they were coming, B) were assured that they would call three times before giving up and C) called them to tell they we were getting spotty phone service but were home and waiting frantically for them to show up.

ANYWAY, Paul called them to tell them that this was utterly unacceptable and that they should get their asses here now. NOW. He went from the first CSR to the next and then asked to speak with the supervisor. The CSR, OF COURSE, tried to refuse to let him speak to the supervisor. He repeated his request over and over and then came the moment; the CSR said something (I couldn't hear his side of the conversation obviously) and Paul said 'irregardless is not a word and let me speak with your supervisor now!' It was awesome and as my sister said when I told her the story 'wow, that could make you fall in love with a guy'. Too true.

This is what it sounds like when my head explodes

At the bank, with a Canadian check in my hands:

Me - I'd like to deposit this please.

Teller - Um, k...just a second I don't know what to do with Canadian checks.

2nd Teller - *examining it* Hmm. I'm not sure.

*both staring at check, baffled*

2nd Teller - Oh, it should be okay since its in American funds.

Me - *not quite sure what to say as I know that it is in fact not in American funds* Well...

2nd Teller - *explaining to first teller* See, you know its in American funds because its in dollars.

(And that's when my head exploded and I explained oh so kindly that Canadians USE DOLLARS TOO F**K!!! The banks I've dealt with here treat anything Canadian as so foreign and so confusing they generally simply won't cash Canadian checks or even money orders, hello! They don't take Canadian currency to change into American or vice versa and they have no idea what an exchange rate is, never mind what the current exchange rate is. I have had HEATED discussions with tellers about the fact that I find it VERY OFFENSIVE that they are hesitant to cash a check from the GOVERNMENT of my country. Last time I got a money order they told me to go to the post office to cash it. Um. I could go on and on. Paul won't go to the bank with me anymore :p)

Love/Hate

Something I Love:

One of my sisters teaches Grade One and always has cute stories to tell about 'her' kids. Recently one of the six year olds came up to her and said 'Mrs. D., remember how I was going to bring in my bird for show and tell? Well, my dog ate my bird so I'll bring my dog in instead." And then she happily walked away, end of story.

Something I Hate:

I always thought that when you were upset you would say that you felt it in the 'pit of your stomach' as in deeply, to the bottom. Lately though I'm always hearing people say 'I was so upset I had a PIT in my stomach!' Like...a peach pit or what? I used to be convinced that my way was right but a lot of people say it the other way. A lot of people are painfully dumb though. What do you-uns think?

Oh, and as an addendum to the lovely southerners I now know: 1) Its 'Ill-i-noy' okay? Not 'Ill-i-noise'. Also, a bed, dresser and two nightstands is a bedroom suite - that's 'sweet' not 'suit'. And finally, my new favorite that is so awesome I won't even stand on my soapbox and correct you: sure, your dresser can be called a 'chesterdrawers' if you want it to.

Curdins

Around a month ago we FINALLY found some cheap curtain rods to go with my beloved old blue curtains that have been with me for 10 years. This meant that the living room would finally get curtains, yay! Of course, that worked out very poorly due to Waffles the Destructor.



As you can see, the left side are the lovely curtains the way they should look and the right side is half a blind, where Waffles chewed the rest off, half a pair of curtains, where Waffles chewed the rest off and a bent curtain rod because he yanked so hard on the curtains. I was SO SO SO PISSED.

Paul made the best of the situation though by giving me a second Valentine's Day card ( I know I'm a couple of weeks late with this post ), this one from the dogs:

Front

Inside

Totally cute, eh?

It ends good, I promise

So, getting the green card was only the first step in the 8 million steps I have to take to become a functioning member of American society. I don't understand why this isn't listed, set out step by step somewhere, but its not. So, first I had to get the visa, and we all recall that that took 2+ years. Then I get the green card, that took 6+ months. Both of these things did not go as outlined on the websites or as the CSR's at their helpdesks claimed. I studied and worked and learned and acquired documents only to find that they wanted information that I didn't have and didn't want the information that I had. Next was the Social Security Card. That went pretty well because I just brought the entire section of my filing cabinet labelled 'legal documents and important stuff' to the Social Security office. And inded they needed everything, eg. my divorce decree from husband #1 etc.

Now, keep in mind that since I got the green card everywhere I go they look at it as though they have never seen one before ( which, I suppose, they may not have ) and either refuse to accept it as legal ID or hesitate until I point out the the GOVERNMENT REQUIRES THEM TO ACCEPT IT. This happens everywhere, all the time. I also couldn't apply for most utilities or a credit card without 'state-issued government ID'. Apparently 'Department of Homeland Security issued government ID' is just NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Anyway, I digress.

So, after 3 years of effort and around $10 000 I was now eligible to apply for an American Driver's Licence. I checked the website and called the local DMV and they told me that a Canadian licence isn't considered here so I would have to go through the process of getting a new licence just like a 16 year old would. I expected that but I was still scared. So, I took the practice tests online and just barely failed. Embarrassing, but understandable as 25% of the test has to be about alcohol and drugs and what the state laws are in regards to them. Plus, the rules are just a bit different here. Not so much that you really notice it when driving, but definitely when you have to write them down. So, I downloaded the two manuals, over 100 pages, and studied them like CRAZY! I'm sure I studied harder than I did the first time around almost exactly 20 years ago. Finally, I felt I could pass so Paul took me down to the DMV to take the knowledge test so I could get my learner's permit. A lovely woman there said 'do you have your driver's abstract?' I told her I didn't and was prepared to test. She asked if I really wanted to test rather than just getting my abstract faxed over. NO! No indeed! So, once again all my research and studying turned out, well, incorrect.

So, I looked up how to get my driver's abstract from Manitoba and sent them a fax. When I called the DMV two days later they hadn't received the abstract. So I called Manitoba again, they never got the fax, apparently. So, I refaxed, using my mother's credit card since they wouldn't accept an American credit card. They got the fax but said my mom would have to go the downtown office to sign for the $10 charge. Nope, can't do that! So, I refaxed again using the American credit card even though they said it wouldn't work. Of course it did work though and I saw the charge go through. So, I wait two days again and call the DMV. Nope, they didn't get the abstract. I call Manitoba again and have them refax the abstract and this time it works! So, yesterday we went down to the DMV (not the one in our town, no no, that would have been too easy, we had to go to the one two towns over) and I took a vision test and signed a bunch of stuff and I now HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENCE! WHEEEEEEE! It sounds so silly but since I've been here I've had no independence. Without any ID or job or driver's licence I was limited to....well, basically staying in the house. Now, I feel like I have some freedom and independence again. YAY!

So, this story has a happy ending. I got my licence, just like I eventually got my SSN and my green card and my visa, I just really don't understand why everything is always so difficult for me. Perhaps overplanning?

The next step is getting a new Canadian passport issued to me from the US. I have no idea how to do this yet, but I'm sure in time I will get it. All I care about at this point is that I get it by October or so so Paul and I can go to Canada for Christmas. Once I have that passport I am free to travel back and forth as much as I want. Yay again!

A Pet Peeve, a Fun Decision and a YAY!

So, pet peeve. I ordered a gift for Paul for his birthday on Wednesday, paying an exorbitant fee for 'guaranteed two-day shipping'. The way I work it, that means I should have gotten it on Friday, or Saturday possibly, but I got it Monday, which was after his birthday. So, I emailed the company and told them of the issue and asked for a refund of my shipping costs. After about ten emails they did agree to refund the difference between standard and expedited shipping costs, but what ticked me off was that in each email the customer service rep droned on about how their profit margins are razor thin and they don't make money on shipping and blah blah. This INFURIATES me! If you are not going to refund the money, that's one thing, but please, the customer is always right and the customer does NOT want to hear about your profit margins. If your business is doing poorly, then fix it. But don't take it out on your customers and never, never, ever tell the customer you can't do something because you business plan is so crappy. Bah!

**********

It is not easy selecting our wedding photos! Its fun, but its not easy. The website has 111 pictures for us to choose from. My first, second and today, third pass through has narrowed it down to 34, but that's still to many. Plus, when I've picked them then I have to decide between color and B&W and which size I want. Like I said, it is fun to a degree, but it is difficult because I want to buy every one and also because any girl will understand that staring at pictures of yourself for hours on end forces you to focus on each and every one of the flaws that make up the teeming flaw colony that is your body.

**********

Two weeks ago Josh left the body shop where he and Paul both work. Now, Paul was making an hourly wage, but Josh was making a wage based on how many labor hours the shop did in a week. When Josh left, Paul and I discussed whether he should ask his boss if he could move up to Josh's position. He did, and his boss agreed. So, now Paul's job has changed a bit. He, in essence, does the same stuff (although more painting of cars and less sanding and prepping), but he is on salary so he can take a sick day when he needs to and still get paid, he can earn more money when the shop is busy and...he is clearing approximately 30% more money per week. That's a heck of a raise, folks. I couldn't be prouder of him, he works very, very hard and deserves this.

**********

One more yay...my brother-in-law most certainly does not read this blog, but nonetheless I want to congratulate him for his accomplishment. Bob successfully qualified for and completed the very prestigious Boston Marathon. I'm amazed and awed by the physical and mental determination he has. I could learn from him.

IRRITATION!

So, today's project was supposed to be changing all of my Canadian identification to reflect my new last name and address. I called Revenue Canada and did that successfully (although spoke to someone so heavily accented that I had to ask him to repeat himself about twenty times and when I asked him to repeat the information back to me he kept saying "Atlantic, Georgia' and it took me quite some time to explain that it was 'Atlanta, not Atlantic!') and also called Manitoba health and was successful. However, Revenue Canada does not issue any ID cards and MB Health will not issue a new card to a non-resident, even for the purposes of identification, and none of the other places would change my information so I am currently ID-less. It is a very awkward feeling.

I can change my SIN (Americans, that's like your SSN) but only by sending in my ORIGINALS of my marriage certificate and birth certificate. So, in other words I can't do that because then I couldn't change anything else until they sent the originals back, which could take 6-10 weeks. I can't change my driver's licence except in person, although after explaining the situation numerous times they have said that they will try to let my dad do it if I fill out a mass of paperwork first, but that will also take weeks if it even happens. And I can't change the passport until I have at least one piece of legal ID in my new name. So...nothing. What the heck do I do now? I can't get any American ID until I have proper Canadian ID and I can't get any proper Canadian ID for, at minimum, a month, probably more like three.

I'm just baffled as to what to do here because I kept telling people on the phone that this could not be the first time this situation happened...but they tell me that it is. And regardless, most of them didn't give a shit. So, I guess I can cross this off my list for now! Grrrr!

**********

On a positive note, I love getting the mail now! Before the wedding I got several packages of stuff that I ordered for the wedding itself. Then now we have been getting wedding cards and birthday cards (Paul turns THIRTY on Sunday. Youngster). Plus we got a gift card for Target from my sister which I used to get some of that bedding that I posted pictures of a while ago. I ordered a mattress pad, sheets and pillowcases and for some reason they are sending them all separately so I get a neat new package every couple of days. PLUS, since we successfully paid off some of our debts we get the best letters now. Instead of 'YOU OWE US MONEY, YOU BASTARDS. THE LAWYERS ARE COMING. YOU ARE SCREWED!' we now get these one line letters that say things like 'your obligation toward us is fulfilled' and then I do a little dance. I've also been getting fantastic free samples lately which is always fun too so, yeah, yay, I like the mail now!

A random pet peeve

You know what I HATE?! This is something that drove me crazy about my ex husband and I hear other people do it sometimes too; calling famous people by shortened versions of their names. My ex would say things like 'let's rent that new movie with Sam Jackson' or 'I loved that one with Nic Cage and Liz Shue in it'. No. NONONO. You do not know them, you are not friends with them. Just no! GAH!

When Does It End?

So, can somebody explain to me what this thing called a 'bank' is? The banks here do not take coin, even rolled coin. The banks do not change Canadian cash into American or vice versa. The bank would not take a partial bill (more than half) even though the freakin Federal Reserve told us that they are required to by law. The bank would not take paychecks, DRAWN ON THEIR BANK, from Josh's work, a major corporation. Josh signed the checks over to Paul and Paul tried to cash them at his own branch and they won't do that either. So...what exactly does a bank do? I must be confused here because banks, I thought, dealt with monetary issues and yet in the past week we have had numerous monetary issues and the bank won't deal with any of them. Do banks simply exist now to give out credit cards and sit back and enjoy the interest coming in? I notice that some banks are now called 'wealth management centers', does that mean that they cater only to the wealthy, is that the problem?

Really, I'm goddamn tired of money stuff. Servers down here get $2.13 an hour and must rely on tips, yet people are so fucking cheap that it's not enough. Just the other day there was a problem with a woman's bill at work and one of the things she said was ' I tipped really well'. You know what 'really well' was in her books? $4 on $50some. So, significantly less than 10% at a good restaurant? Nice. Then the government takes out their chunk of the tips and paychecks of course. Then we have to pay for health insurance. (I'm not trying to complain about America here...it's just as bad in Canada, you just pay in different ways) So, basically, Paul works his ass off 6 days a week, sometimes 8 days in a row, for barely enough to scrape by. And I sit on my ass at home watching him be miserable and there is nothing that I can do.

This was on Oprah a while ago and it is so true - we think of 'the poor' as people who don't work hard enough or don't even have jobs or never went to college or what have you, but what about the millions that work their asses off for minimum wage, many even after getting a 'good college degree'? Minimum wage isn't enough to rent an apartment and eat, never mind for those who have children. And what about the student loans that the people who went to school have, how do they pay those back? The rich get richer, and the hard working average joe can barely scrape by. And there is nothing whatsoever that we can do.

I Never Told You About Our Last Week, So, Now I'm Telling You! (**Now with lengthy update masquerading as a comment**)

So, Paul usually gets one or sometimes two days off per week, but last week by some fluke, he got Wed/Thu off and then Sunday off as well! It was awesome. On Wednesday we both went to get haircuts. Paul looks gorgeous as always with his newly shorn hair and my hair turned out cute as well. We just go to a cheap place but the woman who cut my hair was good. I love getting my hair cut because A) I feel so much better when its thinned out and not so hot on my neck B) It feels SO GOOOOOOD to have someone brushing my hair and pulling on it gently and rubbing my head C) The people who cut my hair always gush 'your hair is so thick and healthy, what's your secret?' I could do with hearing that every day. (Btw, my secret for great hair is...get ready... genetics).

After that we went to his work to drop something off and sat down for a bite to eat. They have great food there and I love the fact that Paul's coworkers feel free to sit down with us and chat, they are almost all really nice. (Plus his boss showed him the paperwork that he got from a recent secret shopper - Paul was keying that night and he got 100%, they referred to him as 'actively interacting with and leading the employees' 'neatly groomed and easily identified' 'friendly and energetic' etc. In other words, Paul rocks, which I already knew, but its nice for head office to know too)

Then we headed to Walmart for some groceries. We also wanted to pick up a bathroom scale cause I get nervous not being able to weight myself. I have some sort of unformed fear that if I don't weigh myself regularly I will one day be so fat that I can't get out of bed. So we looked in small appliances and the bathroom section, but there was no sign of scales. So, I finally found an employee who, of COURSE, did not speak English. Then we walked around still more and saw only the same employee. Paul said he would go ask her in Spanish, but as he was walking towards her, he looked at me and said 'I have no idea how to say "scale" in Spanish'. So we kept looking. Finally, we found another employee who took us to the two sections that we had already been, then finally found the scales - in the hardware department. They were, inexplicably, right next to outdoor light fixtures. But, we did find a nice, cheap, accurate scale and all three of us were pleased with what it said. Paul also bought a $5 movie. It was 'Hudson Hawk' with Bruce Willis and we watched it that night, it was really good.

The rest of the week we didn't do much, but we got a lot of time together, even some nice alone time, so that always makes me happy. At one point, for some reason, Paul said the word 'Jenga' and so the rest of the weekend I could only pay a portion of my attention to everything because at least 50% of my brain was occupied saying this ' You take a block from the BOTTOM and you put it on top. You take a block from the MIDDLE and you put it on top. That's how you build a tower, you just can't stop. Then you start all over PUTTING BLOCKS ON TOP!!!!!' At least, that' s how I recall the song going. I also recollect it as being sung by children, well more chanted by children. And it seems to me that they sang it very agressively. ' You WILL START ALL OVER!!! You WILL PUT BLOCKS ON TOP!!!'.

This was a boring post and not very well written. But...I dunno, I have felt unpostish lately and this is what you're getting. Now, go out and PUT BLOCKS ON TOP!

Tuesday Evening Tidbits

Running Man

My brother in law and sister went to Fargo, ND this weekend for my bro to participate in a marathon. At the age of (I think) 44, he ran it in around 3 hours and 21 minutes and ...qualified for the Boston Marathon! I could not be more proud or impressed.

Pet Peeve

Yet another of my pet peeves - people who pronounce 'S' as 'SH'. The primary example of this is regarding our pug, Smeagol. Her name is "Smeagol", not "SHmeagol". Yet, I would estimate that 50% of people call her that. Insane it makes me.

It Pays To Enrich Your Word Power

I have been using this word incorrectly for years now, and I bet some of you have too. I always thought that 'to make a concerted effort' was to make a specific, concentrated effort to do something. But, it isn't! According to dictionary. com it means 'Planned or accomplished together; combined: We made a concerted effort to solve the problem. ' In other words, to do something 'in concert' with another person. I've asked a couple of people about this and they were all using it wrong too.

Racquet Sports

Apparently, squash is not a sport that Americans participate in. Nobody down here has ever heard of it. Does anyone know if it is just called something else down here?

What's My Line?

The new ( I assume ) tagline for Bacardi & Cola is, drumroll please,

"Bacardi & Cola, they get the job done!"

In other words "Bacardi & Cola, they successfully get you drunk"!

I cannot tell you how many things I find wrong and offensive about that.

The Moment I Officially Became Old

So, I have this mp3 CD that was made for me by an old friend. It has 6 hours of music on it. I hadn't listened to it in a while, but recently started listening to it a lot again cause it has a very ecletic mix of music on it. Moments ago, I was listening to a song ( I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats, if you must know) and I thought "Man, they sure don't ever make music like this anymore". I swear, I thought it, and then whimpered with sadness for my elderly-ness.

I did feel slightly better though, a few minutes later when Eleanor Rigby and then Good Vibrations came on, (editors note - Good God I have great taste in music) cause probably when those songs came out, the listeners thought the same thing, and there has certainly been a lot of great music since then. Perhaps part of my problem now is that I only listen to the radio in the car and then I mostly let Paul pick the station and he really prefers that rap/hiphop stuff, which, with a few exceptions, sounds all the same to me. For example, Usher. So far as I can tell, Usher has one song, the speed is varied, and sometimes he's singing about sex and other times about love, but its still the same basic song. I deem it crap! I have spoken!

Now, I'm listening to Let It Whip, by the Dazz Band (which I first heard on a tampon commercial years ago and spent hours trying to locate), which I'm afraid can only be considered disco music. But I am not ashamed!

In other news...um...all is well...um... yeah, really there is no other news. The things that I do are clean, cook, take care of Smeagol and occasionally watch movies or go out for a meal with Pauly. So, the apartment is clean, the cupboards and fridge are bare, so little cooking is being done, Smeagol is happy and snoring beside me(although I need to take her to the groomers when we can afford it cause she is starting to slide along the linoleum on her long nails, and I need to wash her face wrinkles more thouroughly than usual tomorrow since Paul pronounced a short time ago that her face smelled of 'old waffles'), and Pauly and I watched Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels tonight and it was fairly good.

There is a bit of a backlog on some things that I'm in charge of, but they are mostly due to money. For example, as I said, Smeag needs to be groomed, and also, we have a laundry crisis since our damn dryer conked out. I've been doing undies and socks as necessary and I brought a load of work uniforms to Alet's last Friday when she invited us over (for an oil fondue, SO good), Other than that, I wash stuff when we need it and then hang it over various pieces of furniture to dry. But that kind of sucks since things get so stiff then. I hate putting on stiff panties in the morning! And, also, as I mentioned, we are in dire need of groceries. Well, that's not true, we are reduced to ramen and mac and cheese, which is fine and all, just boring :)

My mom (I've related this story earlier about what she said to me and then apologized, and then apparently felt really really really guilty, since she) sent me a Canadian $50 bill in the mail a while ago. I thanked her profusely but pointed out that perhaps she shouldn't send cash in the mail? She was slightly embarrassed, but pointed out that her only other option would have been to write a cheque, and then my dad would have seen the entry. In other words, dad said no and she sent it from her pension cheque. Ask me how that makes me feel?! Conflicted!! Anywho, we could surely use the $40ish that that would give us, but we have yet to find a BANK that will CHANGE Canadian MONEY. Sincerely, banks, which, it was my understanding, dealt with monetary issues, do not change Canadian money here or allow you to cash in your change. Don't even get me started on this subject. *pant pant* But when we do get that changed, I will have big decisions to make as to whether to use it for bills and necessities, as we need to do, or for something to ' brighten my day' as my mom requested. But, that's a fun decision to make.

Bout it for now. Y'all have a good day now, y'hear!