I got a call today to say the sofa is ready. I just have to go there, charge the rest on my credit card and make arrangements to have it delivered. Oh joy! The two IKEA armchairs already have found a new home, so have two parsons' tables, also from IKEA, now I just need to take the futon apart and recycle the wood and I'm set for the new sofa. As soon as I have a delivery date I will know when to do that.
Tomorrow and the day after I will go with two different friends to the Gem Faire and stock up on supplies.
How come some people have such a hard time accepting a gift?
I made a really nice necklace for one of them from lapis lazuli and silver beads for her graduation from the nursing program that made her an LVN. She accepted it gracefully.
The other one practically had a coniption fit when I told her to pick some beads/stones for a necklace and I would make it for a birthday gift. Oh no, she wanted to pay for it. What kind of a gift is that? She finally agreed to it under protest. I hope she picks some decent stones, my work will be most of her gift. She always wants to reciprocate for everything. That takes away from the feeling of giving. The stones are relatively cheap (just jasper) considering what the finished product would sell for, so I don't know what the big deal is about it. My labor is one of laove and cannot be paid for when I am giving it for a gift. She does the same thing with going out to lunch or a movie. This is not a give and take to make sure one or the other is not shortchanged. Why can't she just accept a gift, there are no strings attached.
Oh yes, I got a call from my source from out of state that the post office delivered a signed receipt from the deadbeat, this proves he received the first mailing, now off to the next one asap..
Thursday, August 19, 2010
I'm Flying My Flag and Some People Don't Think That's OK; the Pledge of Allegiance and Its Ramifications
What is it with some people who think it is perfectly ok for the US flag to be flown everywhere, including in other countries where the US citizen happens to live, but it is NOT ok for a foreigner in the US to fly his/her country's flag? Apart from the fact that the US flag is being used in this country to hawk everything from new and used cars to underwear, particularly on days that should? inspire patriotism such as the 4th of July and Washington's/Lincoln's Birthday, it is being displayed at gas stations, banks etc. Even churches and public schools are not immune. I would have thought that at least in a church nationalism or patriotism would not have a place. Religion is supposed to supercede all that. And public schools are there for ALL the children, not just citizen children.
In my opinion displaying one's national flag for commercial purposes cheapens its image. Seeing it everywhere all the time dulls its impact.
I have no problem with it being flown at government buildings and even then I think it should only be at federal buildings. State buildings can fly the state flag and municipalities can fly their city flag if they have one.
That way when you do see the national flag being displayed it means something, it kind of grabs you right there.
Now my gripe regarding that it's NOT ok to fly another country's flag here. Even then there seems to be a problem. It's not that ALL other countries' flags are looked upon with something of disdain if not downright loathing. Plenty of Mexican flags are flown here in Southern California, and the various "Little Saigons" fly their old national flag. That seems to get little notice. Neither do the various Skandinavian flags in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, or Italian in New York and plenty of others. But try a communist country's flag or some other country's that is not in the good graces of Uncle Sam right now (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan anyone?)
I fly my Black-Red-Gold flag of post-war Germany and I get static. Allegedly it has bad connotations for the Jewish population. That would be true if it were the old Black-White-Red flag which has been outlawed for over 60 years. And even if it does offend some old Jewish person who hates everything German, including me who has nothing to do with what happened so long ago, get over it: YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED!!!
Offence is something that happens every day, some big, some small. Get over it. Shall we hate some people forever because of something their forefathers did? Should the tribal people of this big country try to kick out everybody else because they stole this country from them? Should Black people forever hate Whites because they had been made slaves and were mostly treated abominably? Should people of Japanese ancestry hate everybody else in this country because they had been put in concentration camps during WWII?
I thought not.
Let me fly my flag, you can fly yours, and everybody else can fly their's.
So while I am at it, let me pose a question: what is wrong with the words of the German National Anthem?
First of all, it was written over 100 years ago when the boundaries of the country were different from those today. It talked about boundaries that were more a boundary of language and culture than natioanl borders and those borders are still valid today although diluted. OK, I can understand that those words have no business in today's anthem. Then the often-criticized beginning words of the first stanza: "Germany, above everything (NOT "over everyone else".), above everything in the world". Is there a person who does not value his/her own country above all others? OK, since the general misunderstanding is that Germany aspires to "rule" over all other countries, lets just strike that whole first stanza.
Now to the second stanza which says "German women, German faithfulness, German wine, and German song shall retain their ancient good reputation throughout the whole world. They should inspire us to noble deeds for all of our lives. Fatherland, flourish in the glory of this fortune. " Now what could possibly be wrong with that? Nevertheless, that too has been stricken from the modern German anthem as it is allegedly "sexist". What? Run this by me again as I don't get it. What's wrong with a good reputation of all these things just because it mentions women? Would someone rather have German women have a "BAD" reputation? I thought not. Well, whatever. The second stanza was stricken also.
In the end only the last stanza was retained and there is probably someone who objects to that also : "Unity and Justice and Freedom for the German fatherland, in brotherhood let us all strive for that in thoughts and deeds." Innocuous I should hope, it's all that's left.
At least they left the melody alone, written by Haendel, which is better than the melody of the US national anthem which is based on an old English drinking song and is almost impossible to sing (don't let me start on the words which glorify WAR! "bombs bursting in air" etc which is re-enacted every 4th of July!) That one really needs to go. "America, the Beautiful" would be a much better anthem.
Now to offend some more people: The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
What bunk. One does not owe allegiance to a printed piece of cloth but to one's country. Oh my, a flag has touched the ground, you must burn it. You must take it in at night, fold it just so, take it down in inclement weather, if you step on it that is sacrilegious (since when is a piece of cloth sacred in this country?), nevertheless it is used for cheap advertisments. There is a whole slew of rules and regulations that somebody made up. Apart from that, this Pledge is less than 100 years old, the words "under God" were added in the 1950's during the Communist scare and Communists were "godless", so let's put "God" into the Pledge to differentiate us from those "godless" people. This quasi-official pledge flies in the face of the seperation of church and state since those words were added. This is NOT a Christian nation, no matter how many people try to make it so. Oh, double bunk.
They make children recite this pledge in grade school. When I had a first-grader he refused to recite it. Teacher called him on it, wanting to know why. He said first he did not understand it all, and second he was too little to fight for his country. Out of the mouths of babes.
This is just a way to indoctrinate children and to keep them from asking questions and just put up with the status quo. I'm glad my first-grader grew up to question things and hopefully think for himself. Unquestioning obedience just because somebody said so and said it loud enough and often enough has led to an awful lot of grief for a lot of people. Somebody said that if a lie is repeated often enough and with some authority it becomes the truth. Really? I say "question authority", what makes whoever such an authority on the given subject? If they don't have a satisfying answer then forget about them. I am not an authority on everything here either, so by all means question what I say also. It makes for good conversation. Also try reading "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, first copyrighted in 1935. Shades of Adolph Hitler.
Small update on the deadbeat: I got the "notice of mailing" back from my out-of-state source. However, I never did get back the second mailing to the incorrect address. So I will need to make a copy and sent that out of state to be mailed to TX from there. I want to make sure the deadbeat gets it.
Flash: the wife of the deadbeat's Colorado son contacted one of his half-brothers, R, on facebook, probably at the instigation of R's sister, but he never replied, he wants nothing to do with that clan. These must be some strange people that they would think that all of their half-siblings want to have a relationship with them. A pox on them all, none of us need any of them, only the money owed by the deadbeat.
I wonder if he will show up on Sept 23, 2010. In a way I hope he won't as I have no desire to see him amd listen to any of his raves or dirty language; on the other hand I would like to see what the years have done to him in the way of looks etc. and gloat as time has been rather good to me in that respect. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when he got that last missive! I bet the language turned the air blue. I just hope that the judge will have me attach anything he owns as I can't depend on him paying anything. 35 plus years show his word cannot be trusted. I want what's owed to me NOW, not in dribs and drabs which I might never collect, heck, he could DIE on me before it's all paid!!! I wonder if I could attach any estate he might leave?
In my opinion displaying one's national flag for commercial purposes cheapens its image. Seeing it everywhere all the time dulls its impact.
I have no problem with it being flown at government buildings and even then I think it should only be at federal buildings. State buildings can fly the state flag and municipalities can fly their city flag if they have one.
That way when you do see the national flag being displayed it means something, it kind of grabs you right there.
Now my gripe regarding that it's NOT ok to fly another country's flag here. Even then there seems to be a problem. It's not that ALL other countries' flags are looked upon with something of disdain if not downright loathing. Plenty of Mexican flags are flown here in Southern California, and the various "Little Saigons" fly their old national flag. That seems to get little notice. Neither do the various Skandinavian flags in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, or Italian in New York and plenty of others. But try a communist country's flag or some other country's that is not in the good graces of Uncle Sam right now (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan anyone?)
I fly my Black-Red-Gold flag of post-war Germany and I get static. Allegedly it has bad connotations for the Jewish population. That would be true if it were the old Black-White-Red flag which has been outlawed for over 60 years. And even if it does offend some old Jewish person who hates everything German, including me who has nothing to do with what happened so long ago, get over it: YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED!!!
Offence is something that happens every day, some big, some small. Get over it. Shall we hate some people forever because of something their forefathers did? Should the tribal people of this big country try to kick out everybody else because they stole this country from them? Should Black people forever hate Whites because they had been made slaves and were mostly treated abominably? Should people of Japanese ancestry hate everybody else in this country because they had been put in concentration camps during WWII?
I thought not.
Let me fly my flag, you can fly yours, and everybody else can fly their's.
So while I am at it, let me pose a question: what is wrong with the words of the German National Anthem?
First of all, it was written over 100 years ago when the boundaries of the country were different from those today. It talked about boundaries that were more a boundary of language and culture than natioanl borders and those borders are still valid today although diluted. OK, I can understand that those words have no business in today's anthem. Then the often-criticized beginning words of the first stanza: "Germany, above everything (NOT "over everyone else".), above everything in the world". Is there a person who does not value his/her own country above all others? OK, since the general misunderstanding is that Germany aspires to "rule" over all other countries, lets just strike that whole first stanza.
Now to the second stanza which says "German women, German faithfulness, German wine, and German song shall retain their ancient good reputation throughout the whole world. They should inspire us to noble deeds for all of our lives. Fatherland, flourish in the glory of this fortune. " Now what could possibly be wrong with that? Nevertheless, that too has been stricken from the modern German anthem as it is allegedly "sexist". What? Run this by me again as I don't get it. What's wrong with a good reputation of all these things just because it mentions women? Would someone rather have German women have a "BAD" reputation? I thought not. Well, whatever. The second stanza was stricken also.
In the end only the last stanza was retained and there is probably someone who objects to that also : "Unity and Justice and Freedom for the German fatherland, in brotherhood let us all strive for that in thoughts and deeds." Innocuous I should hope, it's all that's left.
At least they left the melody alone, written by Haendel, which is better than the melody of the US national anthem which is based on an old English drinking song and is almost impossible to sing (don't let me start on the words which glorify WAR! "bombs bursting in air" etc which is re-enacted every 4th of July!) That one really needs to go. "America, the Beautiful" would be a much better anthem.
Now to offend some more people: The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
What bunk. One does not owe allegiance to a printed piece of cloth but to one's country. Oh my, a flag has touched the ground, you must burn it. You must take it in at night, fold it just so, take it down in inclement weather, if you step on it that is sacrilegious (since when is a piece of cloth sacred in this country?), nevertheless it is used for cheap advertisments. There is a whole slew of rules and regulations that somebody made up. Apart from that, this Pledge is less than 100 years old, the words "under God" were added in the 1950's during the Communist scare and Communists were "godless", so let's put "God" into the Pledge to differentiate us from those "godless" people. This quasi-official pledge flies in the face of the seperation of church and state since those words were added. This is NOT a Christian nation, no matter how many people try to make it so. Oh, double bunk.
They make children recite this pledge in grade school. When I had a first-grader he refused to recite it. Teacher called him on it, wanting to know why. He said first he did not understand it all, and second he was too little to fight for his country. Out of the mouths of babes.
This is just a way to indoctrinate children and to keep them from asking questions and just put up with the status quo. I'm glad my first-grader grew up to question things and hopefully think for himself. Unquestioning obedience just because somebody said so and said it loud enough and often enough has led to an awful lot of grief for a lot of people. Somebody said that if a lie is repeated often enough and with some authority it becomes the truth. Really? I say "question authority", what makes whoever such an authority on the given subject? If they don't have a satisfying answer then forget about them. I am not an authority on everything here either, so by all means question what I say also. It makes for good conversation. Also try reading "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, first copyrighted in 1935. Shades of Adolph Hitler.
Small update on the deadbeat: I got the "notice of mailing" back from my out-of-state source. However, I never did get back the second mailing to the incorrect address. So I will need to make a copy and sent that out of state to be mailed to TX from there. I want to make sure the deadbeat gets it.
Flash: the wife of the deadbeat's Colorado son contacted one of his half-brothers, R, on facebook, probably at the instigation of R's sister, but he never replied, he wants nothing to do with that clan. These must be some strange people that they would think that all of their half-siblings want to have a relationship with them. A pox on them all, none of us need any of them, only the money owed by the deadbeat.
I wonder if he will show up on Sept 23, 2010. In a way I hope he won't as I have no desire to see him amd listen to any of his raves or dirty language; on the other hand I would like to see what the years have done to him in the way of looks etc. and gloat as time has been rather good to me in that respect. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when he got that last missive! I bet the language turned the air blue. I just hope that the judge will have me attach anything he owns as I can't depend on him paying anything. 35 plus years show his word cannot be trusted. I want what's owed to me NOW, not in dribs and drabs which I might never collect, heck, he could DIE on me before it's all paid!!! I wonder if I could attach any estate he might leave?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Mail Was Returned and I Still Don't Have a Buyer for my Dining Set, the Cats are Fighting and Some Guy Tried to Feel Me Up
I got the mail I sent to the deadbeat back in the mail, with a message from the post office "attempted, not known". That's strange. I had gotten that address from a reliable source, on the internet. So I called my source asking what gives. He checked it out, apparently had paid good money for whatever program he had, and after checking again said "oh, THAT person had died 4 years ago, same name, was only 40 years old, let me check in reverse" and he came up with a different address which also had the deadbeat's wife's name attached to it, saying " this one is ok, shows correct age and also wife with correct name and a Junior who lives in Colorado". Well, at least all of this matches. So I sent him this "notice of substitution of Attorney", told him to mail it to the correct address, he said he would mail it with receipt required so that somebody has to sign it, in his wife's name which is not known to anyone. That was a week ago and I have not heard anything else. In the meantime I expected the second mailing to be returned to me but that has not happened, still waiting. I want to make sure the deadbeat gets his summons to show up in court. If he doesn't it won't be my fault that he didn't get the summons. But I really need that summons back in the mail so that I can get it sent to a different address. And I need the "proof of mailing" to the second address so I can file it with the court. Why do some people drag their feet after they say they will help me out? That is really frustrating and angry-making. I think I will need a different person to do my mailing for me as I can't do it myself since I am the "interested person and part of this action". So much for that for the time being.
Two of my cats got into a fight today and I'm not sure which ones. I think it was the "new" cat who has been here three months now, a big Maine Coon cat named Rumpus, a cowardly lion who weighs only 11 lbs and should weigh 15 lbs, and my Birman named Capucchino, who is younger by several years but weighs as much as Rumpus. There was a lot of BLOOD on the arm of my new chair and on one of the sofa pillows, and I had left the room just long enough to go to the bathroom. So I had to get a wet towel and I scrubbed the arm of the chair to get the blood off, soaked the pillow cover and that's all clean now and drying outside. I didn't see any blood on any of the cats but Rumpus was on his tree, licking his paws, so maybe Capucchino got him on his paws. He won't let me look at them. The other two cats are not likely to have been in that fight: Sascha is too old and a lover not a fighter, and Ralphie was sleeping in the other room, he would have been the other suspect. Capucchino had started a fight once before so she is the prime suspect. And they say that a female cat doesn't have anything to argue about. Tell that to Capucchino!
Have you ever seen a cat that was concerned about the well-being of others, animal or human? Sascha is one of those. If he hears some commotion of the other cats he comes running, mouwing the whole time, I mean mouwing as he does not say "meow", but "mouw with out the "me" ", very pitiful. He does the same thing if I am in pain, very weird, I have never seen a cat do that and I have had plenty of them at one time or another. He was still going around "mouwing" when I came back into the room after the fight.
I keep my computer in the guest bedroom. They say it's not good for your psyche to keep it in your own bedroom and since I don't have that many guests this works out fine. But I am habitually not putting my paper work away, I just dump it wherever in the guest bedroom. So there is always stuff all over the desk, on top of the printer and sometimes on the bed. No wonder I can't find things. There is really no reason for this, it wouldn't take any longer to file stuff than to just dump it. So today I actually got things done in there. I put a small bookcase on top of the desk (shades of University times), put the one shelf really up high so that the monitor fits onto the bottom, got all the cables tamed (that was a real mess) and put an "in-box' on the desk to hold all the stuff I usually dump. At least there is a place for that now and I might even get around to go through all that stuff and put it where it belongs, maybe even just trash some of it. In any case, I actually found my desk under all of that stuff and I now have room to put some of the things where I can find them instead of burrowing like a mole in the dark without finding what I'm looking for. Wanna bet how long it will take me to make a mess out of my desk again?
Got a call from my cable company where I also have my internet connection. After I had someone work on my computer which I had messed up trying to get rid of some programs, I needed a password to get back into my Outlook Express (I also keep a hotmail address) and after trying in vain to talk to someone on the phone (on hold forever, being disconnected, being transferred etc) I gave that up as being not productive and just sent an e-mail.explaining my problem. It took two working days for someone to call me and within 3 minutes the problem was solved, I just needed a new password, for some reason it would not accept my old password which I had forgotten. Yeah, now I have my Outlook Express back and I still have my hotmail address too!
Still no buyer for the dining set. It's too big, the blond oak does not match anything else I have which is more contemporay, leaning on Danish Modern besides a real Mission rocker from 1908, signed by Stickley, which I will never get rid of although I want to get it reupholstered in leather to bring it back to its original state.
I want that oak set GONE. The price is right, but there is so much stuff for sale these days with the economy being what it is. I've put up an ad in two laundry rooms, I think I will also put it up at the local laundromat. I've had three nibbles from my ad on Craigslist, but nothing has materialized. The local consignment store won't give me enough, they take half of what it sells for plus $75.00 to pick it up. That won't leave me enough to be worth my time. I don't want the consignment store to get the lion's share. I have a perfectly good solid walnut table I want in the place of this huge oak table, I just need some nice chairs to go with it, preferably Danish Modern style. I have chairs from IKEA that are servicable but not what I want. But I need to get rid of the oak table and chairs first.
I got so much stuff done today I am amazed at myself. I had bought this bed from IKEA that has drawers underneath for extra storage (have you ever seen anyone who did have enough storage?) and of course I could not get it all put together in one day. The bed itself was actually the big job, I got that all done in one day, I was all tuckered out after that. Some guy I had met just puttering around in my mini garden plot came by yestrday just to say hello, so I told him I was busy putting this bed together, did he want to see how it was coming along. Yeah sure, he was quite willing to do that and actually pointed out where I was stuck trying to find the right pieces that looked too much alike and then he tried to feel me up! I could hardly believe it. Come on, at my age! Acting like a horny teenager. Let me get to know you first. Did this guy think I was really hard up for a man? Give me a break. I don't need a man just to scratch an itch.
Anyway, today I got all four of those drawers put together, went like a dream, and I promptly put stuff into them that usually just clutters up the place. Sets of sheets that go on my bed are in there, but also some mailing tubes that never have a good place, a record turntable that does not have a home right now. I also put some wire baskets under the guest bed for all the light bulbs, extension cords, powers strips, floppy disks and other computer stuff I don't use frequently.
I will tame this clutter yet. A place for everything and everything in its place. Hmm, I wonder how long that is going to last. Some people are just naturally organized, others have to work at it (I'm one of those) and then there are those who are so unorganized it's pitiful. Put that together with being a packrat and you've got a disaster. I'll talk about that another time as I have a friend who is one of those. She will probably be mad if she recognizes herself here. This is not the one who moved who was not a packrat, just one who had a hard time making up her mind about anything.
Two of my cats got into a fight today and I'm not sure which ones. I think it was the "new" cat who has been here three months now, a big Maine Coon cat named Rumpus, a cowardly lion who weighs only 11 lbs and should weigh 15 lbs, and my Birman named Capucchino, who is younger by several years but weighs as much as Rumpus. There was a lot of BLOOD on the arm of my new chair and on one of the sofa pillows, and I had left the room just long enough to go to the bathroom. So I had to get a wet towel and I scrubbed the arm of the chair to get the blood off, soaked the pillow cover and that's all clean now and drying outside. I didn't see any blood on any of the cats but Rumpus was on his tree, licking his paws, so maybe Capucchino got him on his paws. He won't let me look at them. The other two cats are not likely to have been in that fight: Sascha is too old and a lover not a fighter, and Ralphie was sleeping in the other room, he would have been the other suspect. Capucchino had started a fight once before so she is the prime suspect. And they say that a female cat doesn't have anything to argue about. Tell that to Capucchino!
Have you ever seen a cat that was concerned about the well-being of others, animal or human? Sascha is one of those. If he hears some commotion of the other cats he comes running, mouwing the whole time, I mean mouwing as he does not say "meow", but "mouw with out the "me" ", very pitiful. He does the same thing if I am in pain, very weird, I have never seen a cat do that and I have had plenty of them at one time or another. He was still going around "mouwing" when I came back into the room after the fight.
I keep my computer in the guest bedroom. They say it's not good for your psyche to keep it in your own bedroom and since I don't have that many guests this works out fine. But I am habitually not putting my paper work away, I just dump it wherever in the guest bedroom. So there is always stuff all over the desk, on top of the printer and sometimes on the bed. No wonder I can't find things. There is really no reason for this, it wouldn't take any longer to file stuff than to just dump it. So today I actually got things done in there. I put a small bookcase on top of the desk (shades of University times), put the one shelf really up high so that the monitor fits onto the bottom, got all the cables tamed (that was a real mess) and put an "in-box' on the desk to hold all the stuff I usually dump. At least there is a place for that now and I might even get around to go through all that stuff and put it where it belongs, maybe even just trash some of it. In any case, I actually found my desk under all of that stuff and I now have room to put some of the things where I can find them instead of burrowing like a mole in the dark without finding what I'm looking for. Wanna bet how long it will take me to make a mess out of my desk again?
Got a call from my cable company where I also have my internet connection. After I had someone work on my computer which I had messed up trying to get rid of some programs, I needed a password to get back into my Outlook Express (I also keep a hotmail address) and after trying in vain to talk to someone on the phone (on hold forever, being disconnected, being transferred etc) I gave that up as being not productive and just sent an e-mail.explaining my problem. It took two working days for someone to call me and within 3 minutes the problem was solved, I just needed a new password, for some reason it would not accept my old password which I had forgotten. Yeah, now I have my Outlook Express back and I still have my hotmail address too!
Still no buyer for the dining set. It's too big, the blond oak does not match anything else I have which is more contemporay, leaning on Danish Modern besides a real Mission rocker from 1908, signed by Stickley, which I will never get rid of although I want to get it reupholstered in leather to bring it back to its original state.
I want that oak set GONE. The price is right, but there is so much stuff for sale these days with the economy being what it is. I've put up an ad in two laundry rooms, I think I will also put it up at the local laundromat. I've had three nibbles from my ad on Craigslist, but nothing has materialized. The local consignment store won't give me enough, they take half of what it sells for plus $75.00 to pick it up. That won't leave me enough to be worth my time. I don't want the consignment store to get the lion's share. I have a perfectly good solid walnut table I want in the place of this huge oak table, I just need some nice chairs to go with it, preferably Danish Modern style. I have chairs from IKEA that are servicable but not what I want. But I need to get rid of the oak table and chairs first.
I got so much stuff done today I am amazed at myself. I had bought this bed from IKEA that has drawers underneath for extra storage (have you ever seen anyone who did have enough storage?) and of course I could not get it all put together in one day. The bed itself was actually the big job, I got that all done in one day, I was all tuckered out after that. Some guy I had met just puttering around in my mini garden plot came by yestrday just to say hello, so I told him I was busy putting this bed together, did he want to see how it was coming along. Yeah sure, he was quite willing to do that and actually pointed out where I was stuck trying to find the right pieces that looked too much alike and then he tried to feel me up! I could hardly believe it. Come on, at my age! Acting like a horny teenager. Let me get to know you first. Did this guy think I was really hard up for a man? Give me a break. I don't need a man just to scratch an itch.
Anyway, today I got all four of those drawers put together, went like a dream, and I promptly put stuff into them that usually just clutters up the place. Sets of sheets that go on my bed are in there, but also some mailing tubes that never have a good place, a record turntable that does not have a home right now. I also put some wire baskets under the guest bed for all the light bulbs, extension cords, powers strips, floppy disks and other computer stuff I don't use frequently.
I will tame this clutter yet. A place for everything and everything in its place. Hmm, I wonder how long that is going to last. Some people are just naturally organized, others have to work at it (I'm one of those) and then there are those who are so unorganized it's pitiful. Put that together with being a packrat and you've got a disaster. I'll talk about that another time as I have a friend who is one of those. She will probably be mad if she recognizes herself here. This is not the one who moved who was not a packrat, just one who had a hard time making up her mind about anything.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Oof!
Well, I didn't get everything done but most of it. I went out and got a phone with an answering machine built in as I finally broke down and got a land line again, at $10.00 a month with no charge at all for the first 3 months I could not go wrong. It's bundled with my internet and cable TV with all calls within California for free. Whomever I call out of state I call on my cell anyway so this is a really good deal.
A landline is a godsend when there is an emergency as the operator will know exactly where you are, and when you can barely talk because you are injured or sick that is really helpful. Also I can locate my cell that way when I have misplaced it, again! That's just an extra bonus. Now I can also tell my friends to call me on my landline so I don't use up all my minutes.Who needs overcharges.
When I first went into my living room this morning it seemed to be empty. I guess it must have really been crowded and cluttered before I moved things around and out. I got 95% percent of the stuff off the table and either put away or discarded. I dreaded that job but now it's done and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The bathroom floor is washed and while I was at it I washed the kitchen floor with vinegar water too. That took all the left-over detergent off the floor and now it looks as if I had polished it, nice! I'll have to do that more often. The laundry is still waiting to be done, oh well, there is always another day and as long as I still have clean underwear and socks I'll be ok
Yesterday I got a call from a friend who had moved out of state. Talk about a one-sided conversation. She talks and talks and talks, can barely get a word in edgewise besides uhumm and oh-oh, and then she runs down after half an hour or so saying she has got to go and this will be continued. Rather exhausting, but she is like that in person too and really quite sweet, and I hate that she left. She just has too many things all going on at the same time and does not seem to know how to compartmentalize things, just do one thing at a time, you're not going anywhere so slow down, don't try to do it all at the same time as then you won't get anything done and it will keep until tomorrow, guaranteed. She's just not organized at all.
Her move was just about impossible. First she waited until the last minute to start packing instead of starting that as soon as she knew she was going to leave even if she did not have an exact date. And then she could not decide what she was going to take and what she would leave, donate or sell. Can you believe she was still packing on the last day and had to clean up her condo too before she could leave? No wonder she had three people helping her including me. She said she could not have done it without our help and I can very well believe that. Left to her own devices she would probably still be deciding what to take with her and she has been gone for over a month. But I do miss her and who knows when I will see her again.
So I will spend a quiet evening at home, have a glass of wine or two, drink to the health of my friends and go to bed early for a change. I'll do the laundry tomorrow, maybe even early as I have someplace to go at 9 a.m. Then maybe I'll do it after I return, it will all sort itself out in the morning..
A landline is a godsend when there is an emergency as the operator will know exactly where you are, and when you can barely talk because you are injured or sick that is really helpful. Also I can locate my cell that way when I have misplaced it, again! That's just an extra bonus. Now I can also tell my friends to call me on my landline so I don't use up all my minutes.Who needs overcharges.
When I first went into my living room this morning it seemed to be empty. I guess it must have really been crowded and cluttered before I moved things around and out. I got 95% percent of the stuff off the table and either put away or discarded. I dreaded that job but now it's done and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The bathroom floor is washed and while I was at it I washed the kitchen floor with vinegar water too. That took all the left-over detergent off the floor and now it looks as if I had polished it, nice! I'll have to do that more often. The laundry is still waiting to be done, oh well, there is always another day and as long as I still have clean underwear and socks I'll be ok
Yesterday I got a call from a friend who had moved out of state. Talk about a one-sided conversation. She talks and talks and talks, can barely get a word in edgewise besides uhumm and oh-oh, and then she runs down after half an hour or so saying she has got to go and this will be continued. Rather exhausting, but she is like that in person too and really quite sweet, and I hate that she left. She just has too many things all going on at the same time and does not seem to know how to compartmentalize things, just do one thing at a time, you're not going anywhere so slow down, don't try to do it all at the same time as then you won't get anything done and it will keep until tomorrow, guaranteed. She's just not organized at all.
Her move was just about impossible. First she waited until the last minute to start packing instead of starting that as soon as she knew she was going to leave even if she did not have an exact date. And then she could not decide what she was going to take and what she would leave, donate or sell. Can you believe she was still packing on the last day and had to clean up her condo too before she could leave? No wonder she had three people helping her including me. She said she could not have done it without our help and I can very well believe that. Left to her own devices she would probably still be deciding what to take with her and she has been gone for over a month. But I do miss her and who knows when I will see her again.
So I will spend a quiet evening at home, have a glass of wine or two, drink to the health of my friends and go to bed early for a change. I'll do the laundry tomorrow, maybe even early as I have someplace to go at 9 a.m. Then maybe I'll do it after I return, it will all sort itself out in the morning..
Buying New Furniture
It was about time. I've been living in hand-me-downs, thrift stuff, IKEA, you name it for too long. The last time I bought something new was about 6 years ago and then it was a futon sofa that had the most horrible futon mattress. That went out right away and I bought cushions from IKEA that were meant for their chairs but fit just great on the futon frame. A nice white quilted futon cover also from IKEA that fit like a bottom sheet for a bed made the futon look like a regular sofa. And I could wash it anytime it got dirty, so that was nice. But it always looked like something a student or a newly married couple without any money would have. The only good piece of furniture I had is a genuine Stickley Mission rocker which needs to be upholstered in leather to bring it back to its original state but which I can't afford. It was time to get some real furniture and while Mission is nice I do not want to live in a whole house full of it, not even just a whole room.
I actually saw a set at Living Spaces that looked really nice, was not too big or too expensive and from across the room looked like it was upholstered in leather and it was actually a fabric.
My bank had a new credit card where you get cash back for most purchases and for the first 6 months there is NO INTEREST! So I turned in my old credit card and took the new one. Since buying furniture is a major expense I had been putting it off until I could save up enough to pay cash as I really hate to pay interest, I pay off my credit card every month just so I can avoid that. So not having to pay interest for 6 months was just the ticket to get the furniture NOW.
I started in June casually looking around to see what is out there: everything is beige, grey, white, brown and black microfiber, how boring, everybody's house looks the same. And these god-awful chaises sticking out on one side! Makes you stuck with one set-up in your room.
And the seat cushions are short or they are not reversible. Since I am going to live with this furniture for more than 10 years I want something that is contemporary but not too trendy, that wears well, doesn't show dirt, is comfortable, not too big or too heavy as I might want to move it around and clean up under it, and not too expensive. Where to find this?
After many visits to many different stores I finally found one that makes custom furniture (or sell it to you the way it sits on the floor), that is they make it in any configuration you want and with fabric of your choice. You can go cheapy or go really expensive. I found just what I wanted and the price was comparable to the ready-made in many places.
So what am I getting? An L-shaped sofa with equal length on both sides with a nice high back so I can watch TV without having to stuff a pillow behind my neck, it will be upholstered in a tapestry with vines and leaves on it in grey-ish sage with some pinkish background tones. Looking across the room the pattern does not really show up and up close it is nice and soothing, nothing garish or too formal. All the cushions are reversible for extra wear and the seats are deep enough that the sofa can be used for overnight guests. It will take about 3 weeks to get it which is pretty short for custom made furniture. No delivery charges either and that can get expensive too. Got a "senior discount" also. Sometimes it helps not to be a spring chicken anymore.
I also needed a nice big chair and just could not find anything, and where I am getting the sofa a chair like I wanted would have been more than my budget would hold if I did not want to pay interest.
I had checked out Living Spaces before but found their selection to be the same old same old. However, they did have one set of sofa, loveseat and chair with ottoman on sale because it was a floor model and getting a little tired. The price was cut by 50% but I do not like loveseats and they would only sell the sofa with the love seat or the chair with the ottoman. The set was oatmeal in color with a slightly nubby texture and that chair was a chair-and-a-half with the ottoman to match. I went back three times to look at it and then I bought it, brought the ottoman home right away and then went back with a neighbor who has a big pick-up truck to pick up the chair.
But once it was inside it looked like there was no room for anything else. Omigod, what did I get myself into? I'll have to move furniture and get rid of some of this old and shabby stuff. I had already measured to make sure that the L-shaped sofa would fit and it is no longer than the futon that is there now. So after moving just about everything I actually made the place look spacious, monster chair and all, and the new sofa will work just fine, I can't wait.
After all that moving of furniture can you imagine what my back felt this morning? I had painful muscles in places where I did not know I HAD muscles. But it's ok now, I just had to work out the kinks by moving myself around a bit. And I slept like a baby, didn't wake up even once.
I am also selling my big dining table and 6 chairs which I really don't need as I have a smaller, solid walnut one that will fit just fine. I've got an ad on Craigslist and several people have shown interest but so far nobody has come through. I had checked with a consignment store but they would only give me half of what they would sell it for and they would charge me for picking it up too so that I would end up with hardly anything, so it's Craigslist where something will come through sooner or later. I hope sooner.
Of course right now that table is loaded down with all kinds of stuff, mostly paper that I have to go through, but also with stuff for which have not found a place and some of that will be tossed or donated. I have that nasty job scheduled for later today, also laundry and one of my cats peed on the bathroom floor, I don't know why as the box is clean, so I will have to wash the bathroom floor with vinegar to make sure that the stink is gone. Plain white vinegar is really good to get cat stink out of things, including carpet, but then you have to soak it overnight and blot it up the next day, an extractor works well for that, and then let it dry. It usually gets rid of the stink and the scent of the vinegar usually lasts long enough for the cat not to go back to that same spot (they don't like the smell of vinegar) and that usually stops that behavior.
I also don't want any cat to use the new furniture as a scratching post. I have found that if you use packing tape, the clear stuff used for mailing packages, on whereever the cat has decided to sharpen claws that they don't go back there, they don't like the slick stuff. It worked when one of them attacked my tall stereo speakers. That one has never gone back there even after I took the tape off, so that problem was solved.
I have two tall cat trees and two scratching posts and a corrugated cardboard for them to scratch, so there is no reason for them to attack my furniture too.
So off I go to attend to these chores which I really don't want to do, but if I don't then who will?
I actually saw a set at Living Spaces that looked really nice, was not too big or too expensive and from across the room looked like it was upholstered in leather and it was actually a fabric.
My bank had a new credit card where you get cash back for most purchases and for the first 6 months there is NO INTEREST! So I turned in my old credit card and took the new one. Since buying furniture is a major expense I had been putting it off until I could save up enough to pay cash as I really hate to pay interest, I pay off my credit card every month just so I can avoid that. So not having to pay interest for 6 months was just the ticket to get the furniture NOW.
I started in June casually looking around to see what is out there: everything is beige, grey, white, brown and black microfiber, how boring, everybody's house looks the same. And these god-awful chaises sticking out on one side! Makes you stuck with one set-up in your room.
And the seat cushions are short or they are not reversible. Since I am going to live with this furniture for more than 10 years I want something that is contemporary but not too trendy, that wears well, doesn't show dirt, is comfortable, not too big or too heavy as I might want to move it around and clean up under it, and not too expensive. Where to find this?
After many visits to many different stores I finally found one that makes custom furniture (or sell it to you the way it sits on the floor), that is they make it in any configuration you want and with fabric of your choice. You can go cheapy or go really expensive. I found just what I wanted and the price was comparable to the ready-made in many places.
So what am I getting? An L-shaped sofa with equal length on both sides with a nice high back so I can watch TV without having to stuff a pillow behind my neck, it will be upholstered in a tapestry with vines and leaves on it in grey-ish sage with some pinkish background tones. Looking across the room the pattern does not really show up and up close it is nice and soothing, nothing garish or too formal. All the cushions are reversible for extra wear and the seats are deep enough that the sofa can be used for overnight guests. It will take about 3 weeks to get it which is pretty short for custom made furniture. No delivery charges either and that can get expensive too. Got a "senior discount" also. Sometimes it helps not to be a spring chicken anymore.
I also needed a nice big chair and just could not find anything, and where I am getting the sofa a chair like I wanted would have been more than my budget would hold if I did not want to pay interest.
I had checked out Living Spaces before but found their selection to be the same old same old. However, they did have one set of sofa, loveseat and chair with ottoman on sale because it was a floor model and getting a little tired. The price was cut by 50% but I do not like loveseats and they would only sell the sofa with the love seat or the chair with the ottoman. The set was oatmeal in color with a slightly nubby texture and that chair was a chair-and-a-half with the ottoman to match. I went back three times to look at it and then I bought it, brought the ottoman home right away and then went back with a neighbor who has a big pick-up truck to pick up the chair.
But once it was inside it looked like there was no room for anything else. Omigod, what did I get myself into? I'll have to move furniture and get rid of some of this old and shabby stuff. I had already measured to make sure that the L-shaped sofa would fit and it is no longer than the futon that is there now. So after moving just about everything I actually made the place look spacious, monster chair and all, and the new sofa will work just fine, I can't wait.
After all that moving of furniture can you imagine what my back felt this morning? I had painful muscles in places where I did not know I HAD muscles. But it's ok now, I just had to work out the kinks by moving myself around a bit. And I slept like a baby, didn't wake up even once.
I am also selling my big dining table and 6 chairs which I really don't need as I have a smaller, solid walnut one that will fit just fine. I've got an ad on Craigslist and several people have shown interest but so far nobody has come through. I had checked with a consignment store but they would only give me half of what they would sell it for and they would charge me for picking it up too so that I would end up with hardly anything, so it's Craigslist where something will come through sooner or later. I hope sooner.
Of course right now that table is loaded down with all kinds of stuff, mostly paper that I have to go through, but also with stuff for which have not found a place and some of that will be tossed or donated. I have that nasty job scheduled for later today, also laundry and one of my cats peed on the bathroom floor, I don't know why as the box is clean, so I will have to wash the bathroom floor with vinegar to make sure that the stink is gone. Plain white vinegar is really good to get cat stink out of things, including carpet, but then you have to soak it overnight and blot it up the next day, an extractor works well for that, and then let it dry. It usually gets rid of the stink and the scent of the vinegar usually lasts long enough for the cat not to go back to that same spot (they don't like the smell of vinegar) and that usually stops that behavior.
I also don't want any cat to use the new furniture as a scratching post. I have found that if you use packing tape, the clear stuff used for mailing packages, on whereever the cat has decided to sharpen claws that they don't go back there, they don't like the slick stuff. It worked when one of them attacked my tall stereo speakers. That one has never gone back there even after I took the tape off, so that problem was solved.
I have two tall cat trees and two scratching posts and a corrugated cardboard for them to scratch, so there is no reason for them to attack my furniture too.
So off I go to attend to these chores which I really don't want to do, but if I don't then who will?
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Why Would Someone Tell Me That He/She Is Not Going to Read My Blog?
The person who has a recent picture of the deadbeat and won't share it has informed me she is not going to read my blog. Not that I care if she does or does not, but I wonder why she felt it necessary to tell me this? I am sure if I had not told her that I am writing a blog and she found out later that I did she would be even more upset. Maybe she is secretly reading it but wants me to get upset by thinking that she is not. Fat chance. I don't care who reads this blog if anyone. As I already heard from at least one person I know that someone reads it, so I know that my ruminations are not totally going to waste beyond it just being cathartic for me.
This same person also finds it necessary to contact every person who is in some way related to her although some of these people have never heard of her, or had no contact with her practically her whole life. She claims it is so her child will have an extended family as this child has none from the father's side (we don't want to go into why this is so). This child has a perfectly good extended family on the side of the man who helped raise it since age two, they all love it and include it in their life and the child probably could not care less about all these blood relatives. So what is it with this person who needs to contact them all and wants to have a relationship with them? What kind of weird need does she have for this? Some of these relatives don't speak English as as a first language as they live in other countries, she did not contact them. To my knowledge only a few of those she contacted responded.
This same person also finds it necessary to contact every person who is in some way related to her although some of these people have never heard of her, or had no contact with her practically her whole life. She claims it is so her child will have an extended family as this child has none from the father's side (we don't want to go into why this is so). This child has a perfectly good extended family on the side of the man who helped raise it since age two, they all love it and include it in their life and the child probably could not care less about all these blood relatives. So what is it with this person who needs to contact them all and wants to have a relationship with them? What kind of weird need does she have for this? Some of these relatives don't speak English as as a first language as they live in other countries, she did not contact them. To my knowledge only a few of those she contacted responded.
I'm Surrounded by Hypocrites
One thing I can't stand are people who say one thing and do another, who smile in your face and kick you in the butt, who promise you the sky and never follow through. I am also very poor at getting double entendres, you know, the kind of thing that has two meanings and you're supposed to "get" what the person saying really means, not necessarily what he/she said. That used to get me into trouble when I was very young because I was afraid to say I did not understand. Now I just stare at the person saying "yeah, so?" who will then feel inclined to say what he/she really meant and whatever joke was supposed to be there now falls absolutely flat. Their problem, not mine. I am not here to be someone's butt of a joke or to make them feel better or superior or witty or whatever. Say what you mean and then there won't be any misunderstandings.
A particular gripe I have is with the people who trot out their religiosity but don't live by it. Case in point: another Texan. This was a woman who was a buyer for Neiman-Marcus at a time when that store was strictly a Texas store in Fort Worth. Her job required a lot of travelling out of state. When she was in her home state she was a "good Baptist" and those folks don't smoke, cuss, drink, dance, drink coffee or Colas, but go to church - a lot! like twice on Sundays and also on Wednesdays. That's fine with me as long as they don't make me follow those rules. They also talk a lot about all these rules and how folks shouldn't be doing this, that and the other. In Texas at that time you could barely buy any alcoholic beverages unless you went to a "packing house" which is a liquor store, in a "wet" county. A dry county was one in which you could not buy anything stronger than beer or wine, if that. So come evening after work you'd see whole caravans of cars heading for the border of the next "wet" county to buy their supply of booze. Then they'd go on the weekend usually to a "private club" where they would buy a "guest pass" for a dollar or two which made them a "guest" of the doorman and they could get any mixed drink they could think of. If that was too hoity-toity for the average dudes they'd put their bottle of booze into a brown paper bag, go to the nearest bar which would only serve beer or wine and put the bottle in the bag on the table and ask for a "set-up". That meant a glass of ice and a soft drink. Then the booze would be poured into the soft drink. Voila, mixed drink! So here we have: Rum and Coke, Whiskey and Seven-Up, Vodka and orange juice, the list goes on. All of this was quite legal but had all these weird little "laws" to go with it: the bottle of booze if it was less than a quart had to lie down on the table, quarts had to stand up, they had to stay inside the paper bag unless you had one of those fancy cloth bags but they had to stay in there too, the server had to pour some of the soft drink into the glass.
But back to the Neiman-Marcus buyer. I found myself going from Dallas to NYC and saw that the buyer was on the same plane just a few rows in front of me. She did not know me well so she probably never saw me or did not recognize me. As soon as the plane had left Texas airspace she was ordering one of those little bottles of booze they sell on planes. And another and another and.........By the time she got off the plane in Idlewild (NYC) she was staggering, she could hardly walk. So much for that "good Baptist". What a joke. But confessing your sin of drinking and promising not to do it again will get you straight into heaven as your sins will be forgiven no matter how many times you backslide. Of course anyone who is not a Baptist is going to go straight to hell. Well, I don't want to be with all those killjoys anyway.
There was also such a thing as "Blue Laws". Not just in Texas but all through the South at least. A Blue Law meant that on Sundays you could not buy anything but food unless it was something you absolutely could not do without, such as band-aids, or sanitary napkins, or a tire because the one you had just ruined was beyond repair and you had to get to work and there were no busses to where you were going. You can imagine the abuse those laws got. From what I hear those Blue Laws do not exist anymore and that the whole state of Texas is now "wet". Somebody probably decided to sue the state saying that those laws were unconstitutional. Maybe that had something to do with good old Dubya who was known to like just a few too many beers.
Speaking of him that reminds me: remember when Clinton was elected the Republicans acted as if somebody had killed their baby? The Democrats had "stolen" THEIR presidency. They had been under Republican presidents for so long they could not imagine any other way, this was the "normal" way that the presidency was supposed to be. Then when they had to swallow that bitter pill they expected Clinton to solve all their problems within 100 days as if anyone could do that. Dubya sure couldn't when he came in. Now they expected Obama to do the same thing and there was a lot of noise made after that did not happen. How soon they forget that one of their own couldn't do it either. Hypocrites, all of them.
A particular gripe I have is with the people who trot out their religiosity but don't live by it. Case in point: another Texan. This was a woman who was a buyer for Neiman-Marcus at a time when that store was strictly a Texas store in Fort Worth. Her job required a lot of travelling out of state. When she was in her home state she was a "good Baptist" and those folks don't smoke, cuss, drink, dance, drink coffee or Colas, but go to church - a lot! like twice on Sundays and also on Wednesdays. That's fine with me as long as they don't make me follow those rules. They also talk a lot about all these rules and how folks shouldn't be doing this, that and the other. In Texas at that time you could barely buy any alcoholic beverages unless you went to a "packing house" which is a liquor store, in a "wet" county. A dry county was one in which you could not buy anything stronger than beer or wine, if that. So come evening after work you'd see whole caravans of cars heading for the border of the next "wet" county to buy their supply of booze. Then they'd go on the weekend usually to a "private club" where they would buy a "guest pass" for a dollar or two which made them a "guest" of the doorman and they could get any mixed drink they could think of. If that was too hoity-toity for the average dudes they'd put their bottle of booze into a brown paper bag, go to the nearest bar which would only serve beer or wine and put the bottle in the bag on the table and ask for a "set-up". That meant a glass of ice and a soft drink. Then the booze would be poured into the soft drink. Voila, mixed drink! So here we have: Rum and Coke, Whiskey and Seven-Up, Vodka and orange juice, the list goes on. All of this was quite legal but had all these weird little "laws" to go with it: the bottle of booze if it was less than a quart had to lie down on the table, quarts had to stand up, they had to stay inside the paper bag unless you had one of those fancy cloth bags but they had to stay in there too, the server had to pour some of the soft drink into the glass.
But back to the Neiman-Marcus buyer. I found myself going from Dallas to NYC and saw that the buyer was on the same plane just a few rows in front of me. She did not know me well so she probably never saw me or did not recognize me. As soon as the plane had left Texas airspace she was ordering one of those little bottles of booze they sell on planes. And another and another and.........By the time she got off the plane in Idlewild (NYC) she was staggering, she could hardly walk. So much for that "good Baptist". What a joke. But confessing your sin of drinking and promising not to do it again will get you straight into heaven as your sins will be forgiven no matter how many times you backslide. Of course anyone who is not a Baptist is going to go straight to hell. Well, I don't want to be with all those killjoys anyway.
There was also such a thing as "Blue Laws". Not just in Texas but all through the South at least. A Blue Law meant that on Sundays you could not buy anything but food unless it was something you absolutely could not do without, such as band-aids, or sanitary napkins, or a tire because the one you had just ruined was beyond repair and you had to get to work and there were no busses to where you were going. You can imagine the abuse those laws got. From what I hear those Blue Laws do not exist anymore and that the whole state of Texas is now "wet". Somebody probably decided to sue the state saying that those laws were unconstitutional. Maybe that had something to do with good old Dubya who was known to like just a few too many beers.
Speaking of him that reminds me: remember when Clinton was elected the Republicans acted as if somebody had killed their baby? The Democrats had "stolen" THEIR presidency. They had been under Republican presidents for so long they could not imagine any other way, this was the "normal" way that the presidency was supposed to be. Then when they had to swallow that bitter pill they expected Clinton to solve all their problems within 100 days as if anyone could do that. Dubya sure couldn't when he came in. Now they expected Obama to do the same thing and there was a lot of noise made after that did not happen. How soon they forget that one of their own couldn't do it either. Hypocrites, all of them.
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