Question #1: is it wrong to leave the gym and go directly across the street for a beer? What if you have beer *and* a salad with chicken on it? Shut up, I'm pre-gaming for the Superbowl.
Comment: speaking of the Superbowl, remember how in 2010 I said that if they kept up the trend in half-time musical performers, pretty soon they's have to feature someone/some band that was actually, y'know, *dead*? Well, last year they backslid and had someone non-geriatric (if sucky) but this year we are back to Madonna. Now, Madonna is not The Who, but she also has to wear half-gloves to cover her old lady hands. All I'm sayin'.
Question #2: isn't Wachusett Blueberry good? <--related to question #1. Keep the fuck up, wouldya.
Comment: I saw something really sad when I was entering work yesterday. A woman on her cell, half-sobbing, on a bench outside the hospital, dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, a leather jacket, and boots. Evidently she came to the ED in the middle of the night with someone, dressed in what she was sleeping in + the first shoes and coat that came to hand. It was heartbreaking. Especially since the part of her phone conversation I could hear as I passed was, "...I've got no one else to talk to..."
Question #3: I've worked in healthcare my entire working life--when am I gonna harden the fuck up to shit like that?
Question #4 and comment: how hipster *is* downtown Salem these days? I give you as evidence: Gulu Gulu and Coven on the same block, two chichi pet boutiques within a stone's throw of each other, and (as came to my attention yesterday, though it may be old news) two bike shops on the same street. I have no problem with any of this. I do have a problem, however, with the fact that since Coven is closed for vacay, there is apparently a shortage of places with coffee + WiFi. I tried to get coffee and a snack after the gym yesterday, but at 4pm on a Saturday I could not get a seat at Gulu, Starbucks, or the Front Street Cafe (which I'm not even sure has WiFi because I never go there). Who the fuck are these hipsters and why are they all drinking coffee on a Saturday afternoon?
Comment: uh, go Pats! Brady, I still hate you and your supermodel wife, but I gotta pull for my hometown team outta civic pride.
xoxo
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
no brown-clad babies for me
I am out of love with my UPS driver. Well, actually, I must have a new one and he's the one on my bad list.
Through the miracle of online tracking, I knew my package from bodybuilding.com was due to be delivered yesterday. Somewhere around 6:30pm, I thought, hmmm, I better go check outside my front door, because perhaps I didn't hear the doorbell while I was upstairs. (My UPS driver's usual motus operandi is to come somewhere in late afternoon, give my bell one ring so I know he's been there, and drop my box in front of the door. Usually I get to the door in time to wave at him and say "thanks!" as he's getting back into his truck.)
There was no package. I go online and track. Oh! According to them it was delivered to me at 2:43pm and *left at my front door*. I (of course) panic and freak out. I go outside and recheck the area outside the door, not that I could possibly have missed a small-to-medium sized box there or anything. I navigate the UPS website to find a contact number. I call said number. Their phone tree gives me a.) absolutely no option to talk to a actual person--there's no "...or stay on the line and an associate will assist you." and b.) no option to report a lost package. I navigate the website some more.There's sorta kinda a place to report a lost package but it needs to be from the sender.
I say many bad words. Then I go on the bodybuilding.com site and find their customer service email. I write them a note, explaining my problem and the fact that I live on a cul-de-sac and there's absolutely no traffic past my front door, so I am pretty damn sure no one stole my supplements. (Plus, as I said to my weightlifting buddies, who would steal a box from bodybuilding.com if they don't go to the gym? It's not like it would have looked like it contained electronics or something.) Bodybuilding.com, in a display of stellar customer service, emails me back almost immediately. My representative "Matt" asks me to confirm my address (correct) and suggests that I check with the neighbors to make sure none of them has my package. If they do not, he will file a claim with UPS.
Well, I am pretty sure that if my package was left on any of the neighbors front doors, they would have walked it back down the hill. They may primarily be a bunch of douchebags, but face it, they don't want my creatine either. However, I figure I will take a little walk and see if there's a package outside anyone's door that has not been found yet. I have no luck, but as I am walking back down the hill, and thus approaching my house from an entirely different angle, I see my box. It was not left at my "front door." It was placed inside the base of the basketball hoop in my driveway. The UPS man, apparently new and not knowing my neighbors are not larcenous, had apparently hidden my box from being seen from the street. He did such a fabulous job, he hid it from me as well. Goddamn it.
I email "Matt" back to tell him all is well and I praise his quick response to my problem. He writes back and thanks me for my "awesome" email. No lie.
And can I just say, this all could have been avoided by the UPS tracking saying that my package was delivered *to my driveway*, not to my front door. Then I would have searched the yard first before panicking.
So, yes, not happy with UPS anymore and I hope my regular driver is just on vacation or something. But at least I will be sure to check the bushes n' shit the next time I'm expecting anything.
xoxo
Through the miracle of online tracking, I knew my package from bodybuilding.com was due to be delivered yesterday. Somewhere around 6:30pm, I thought, hmmm, I better go check outside my front door, because perhaps I didn't hear the doorbell while I was upstairs. (My UPS driver's usual motus operandi is to come somewhere in late afternoon, give my bell one ring so I know he's been there, and drop my box in front of the door. Usually I get to the door in time to wave at him and say "thanks!" as he's getting back into his truck.)
There was no package. I go online and track. Oh! According to them it was delivered to me at 2:43pm and *left at my front door*. I (of course) panic and freak out. I go outside and recheck the area outside the door, not that I could possibly have missed a small-to-medium sized box there or anything. I navigate the UPS website to find a contact number. I call said number. Their phone tree gives me a.) absolutely no option to talk to a actual person--there's no "...or stay on the line and an associate will assist you." and b.) no option to report a lost package. I navigate the website some more.There's sorta kinda a place to report a lost package but it needs to be from the sender.
I say many bad words. Then I go on the bodybuilding.com site and find their customer service email. I write them a note, explaining my problem and the fact that I live on a cul-de-sac and there's absolutely no traffic past my front door, so I am pretty damn sure no one stole my supplements. (Plus, as I said to my weightlifting buddies, who would steal a box from bodybuilding.com if they don't go to the gym? It's not like it would have looked like it contained electronics or something.) Bodybuilding.com, in a display of stellar customer service, emails me back almost immediately. My representative "Matt" asks me to confirm my address (correct) and suggests that I check with the neighbors to make sure none of them has my package. If they do not, he will file a claim with UPS.
Well, I am pretty sure that if my package was left on any of the neighbors front doors, they would have walked it back down the hill. They may primarily be a bunch of douchebags, but face it, they don't want my creatine either. However, I figure I will take a little walk and see if there's a package outside anyone's door that has not been found yet. I have no luck, but as I am walking back down the hill, and thus approaching my house from an entirely different angle, I see my box. It was not left at my "front door." It was placed inside the base of the basketball hoop in my driveway. The UPS man, apparently new and not knowing my neighbors are not larcenous, had apparently hidden my box from being seen from the street. He did such a fabulous job, he hid it from me as well. Goddamn it.
I email "Matt" back to tell him all is well and I praise his quick response to my problem. He writes back and thanks me for my "awesome" email. No lie.
And can I just say, this all could have been avoided by the UPS tracking saying that my package was delivered *to my driveway*, not to my front door. Then I would have searched the yard first before panicking.
So, yes, not happy with UPS anymore and I hope my regular driver is just on vacation or something. But at least I will be sure to check the bushes n' shit the next time I'm expecting anything.
xoxo
Thursday, February 2, 2012
going all ebert on your asses
In the last week, I have seen three movies, totally because I realized that I'd seen absolutely nothing that was nominated for anything and because these three movies were playing at the (slightly) cheap(er) and very convenient theater. Plus, did I mention? My bank balance was looking satisfactory.
Movie #1: The Descendants
I don't think this is a spoiler, because it's all in the friggin' trailer to the movie, but this is a film in which George Clooney becomes a Better Man and a Good Dad when he finds out his comatose and soon-to-be-taken-off-life-support wife had been cheating on him. I have three things to say about this film.
First thing: the beginning twenty minutes or so of it are so freaking slow and boring that had I not been sitting in the middle of a row, I might seriously have thought about getting up and leaving, which is something I never, ever do. After that, however, it picks up and I ended up quite enjoying it. I'm not sure Clooney is a great actor, but he does hold your attention on the screen. Second thing: this is exactly the kind of movie that always gets nominated for an Oscar. It's supposed to instruct us or illuminate for us the human condition, blah blah blah. I read an interview recently--I think it was Brad Pitt talking about why he chose to star in Moneyball, even though he's not a baseball fan--and the point was made that somewhere in the 80s or 90s, it became mandatory for the characters in a film to Grow and Change by the end of the film, and Moneyball was more of a throwback to the 70s kind of movie, where the character stays the same but maybe the world around him/her just shifts a little, and that was the appeal. Well, Brad's friend George's movie is a stunning example of the Grow and Change cliche. I mean, there's absolutely no surprise to the ending. (slight spoiler) Do we really think his little family is *not* gonna pull together and become closer and more functional? Do we really think he's *not* gonna make the noble business decision that's good for the people of his state, rather than the one that'll net him a huge amount of easy money? The only interesting twist to that is that the noble business decision also screws the guy who was screwing his wife, so at least there's a little depth there. Third thing: if I had known this movie was by the guy who did Sideways, I'd have never have gone to it, because that, along with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is one of my top two acclaimed movies of recent years that I hate with the fiery passion of a million suns. So, yeah, it's a good thing I didn't realize! Final Grade: B.
Movie #2: Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close
Another movie that is exactly the kind that always gets nominated for an Oscar, this one because it's supposed to be terribly touching and sad and uplifting and blah blah blah. It didn't touch me at all, yo. I could not have cared less about the kid in it and his healing from his beloved father's death in 9/11. The kid was obnoxious and unsympathetic. And I say this as someone who sobs every time she watches The Sixth Sense*** which it pinged for me slightly, even though there's no similarity between them other than being about a weird fatherless boy in pain. I am really over people with mental differences (this kid is supposed to be maybe Aspergers, maybe not) as protagonists just because their weirdness allows the film-maker or author to then do things with the plot that they couldn't if the character was "normal." (Know what other film I fucking despise? Forrest Gump. Yeah.) I also realized when watching this movie that there's probably never been a Tom Hanks movie that I've seen that I actually liked, though I will admit I've managed to avoid some of his most popular movies. This is not due to any dislike of Mr Hanks per se, not as a person or as an actor. I think I just don't like his taste in scripts! Finally, and this is probably a spoiler, but I have a plot question. When the kid meets The Renter, is that a set-up by his mother/grandmother so he'll have someone to watch over him on his search, and I'm supposed to infer that when his mother later reveals that she knew what was going on all along? Because otherwise, it makes no sense that his grandmother was out in the middle of the night. I mean elderly Jewish ladies from the Old Country are not known for being party animals. I mean, as far as *I* know. Also, the fact that The Renter was mute was another example of a ridiculous plot contrivance. I realize that's the fault of the author of the book, and not the filmmaker, but whatev. Final grade: C-.
Movie #3: My Week With Marilyn
I liked this one the best. No "message" but it was charming and touching and the acting was very good. I think they did a good job of showing just how fucked up Marilyn was while still making her sympathetic. And it was short. And the makeup/clothes/scenery were cool. And I would definitely read the book this one was based on. Maybe it was just more my type of film than the other two, but I enjoyed it. Final grade: A-
That's it, kids!
xoxo
***I was writing this review in my head the other night on my way home and I could not think of the title of this movie. It was on the tip of my brain and driving me insane and I couldn't wait to actually get home and look it up. So I texted Mr Indemnity "Dude! Help! What's the name of the movie about the kid who sees ghosts and Bruce Willis is his dead shrink?" But because I was trying to text with my gloves on, I accidentally texted it to M2 first. Twelve hours later when she finally checked her texts, she wrote back "Dude! It's the sixth sense. The ONLY good movie by m night shyamalan." Which frankly was hilarious. I will also say Mr Indemnity did *not* make his usual dig about how if I had an iPhone I could have looked it up myself. He's slipping!
Movie #1: The Descendants
I don't think this is a spoiler, because it's all in the friggin' trailer to the movie, but this is a film in which George Clooney becomes a Better Man and a Good Dad when he finds out his comatose and soon-to-be-taken-off-life-support wife had been cheating on him. I have three things to say about this film.
First thing: the beginning twenty minutes or so of it are so freaking slow and boring that had I not been sitting in the middle of a row, I might seriously have thought about getting up and leaving, which is something I never, ever do. After that, however, it picks up and I ended up quite enjoying it. I'm not sure Clooney is a great actor, but he does hold your attention on the screen. Second thing: this is exactly the kind of movie that always gets nominated for an Oscar. It's supposed to instruct us or illuminate for us the human condition, blah blah blah. I read an interview recently--I think it was Brad Pitt talking about why he chose to star in Moneyball, even though he's not a baseball fan--and the point was made that somewhere in the 80s or 90s, it became mandatory for the characters in a film to Grow and Change by the end of the film, and Moneyball was more of a throwback to the 70s kind of movie, where the character stays the same but maybe the world around him/her just shifts a little, and that was the appeal. Well, Brad's friend George's movie is a stunning example of the Grow and Change cliche. I mean, there's absolutely no surprise to the ending. (slight spoiler) Do we really think his little family is *not* gonna pull together and become closer and more functional? Do we really think he's *not* gonna make the noble business decision that's good for the people of his state, rather than the one that'll net him a huge amount of easy money? The only interesting twist to that is that the noble business decision also screws the guy who was screwing his wife, so at least there's a little depth there. Third thing: if I had known this movie was by the guy who did Sideways, I'd have never have gone to it, because that, along with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is one of my top two acclaimed movies of recent years that I hate with the fiery passion of a million suns. So, yeah, it's a good thing I didn't realize! Final Grade: B.
Movie #2: Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close
Another movie that is exactly the kind that always gets nominated for an Oscar, this one because it's supposed to be terribly touching and sad and uplifting and blah blah blah. It didn't touch me at all, yo. I could not have cared less about the kid in it and his healing from his beloved father's death in 9/11. The kid was obnoxious and unsympathetic. And I say this as someone who sobs every time she watches The Sixth Sense*** which it pinged for me slightly, even though there's no similarity between them other than being about a weird fatherless boy in pain. I am really over people with mental differences (this kid is supposed to be maybe Aspergers, maybe not) as protagonists just because their weirdness allows the film-maker or author to then do things with the plot that they couldn't if the character was "normal." (Know what other film I fucking despise? Forrest Gump. Yeah.) I also realized when watching this movie that there's probably never been a Tom Hanks movie that I've seen that I actually liked, though I will admit I've managed to avoid some of his most popular movies. This is not due to any dislike of Mr Hanks per se, not as a person or as an actor. I think I just don't like his taste in scripts! Finally, and this is probably a spoiler, but I have a plot question. When the kid meets The Renter, is that a set-up by his mother/grandmother so he'll have someone to watch over him on his search, and I'm supposed to infer that when his mother later reveals that she knew what was going on all along? Because otherwise, it makes no sense that his grandmother was out in the middle of the night. I mean elderly Jewish ladies from the Old Country are not known for being party animals. I mean, as far as *I* know. Also, the fact that The Renter was mute was another example of a ridiculous plot contrivance. I realize that's the fault of the author of the book, and not the filmmaker, but whatev. Final grade: C-.
Movie #3: My Week With Marilyn
I liked this one the best. No "message" but it was charming and touching and the acting was very good. I think they did a good job of showing just how fucked up Marilyn was while still making her sympathetic. And it was short. And the makeup/clothes/scenery were cool. And I would definitely read the book this one was based on. Maybe it was just more my type of film than the other two, but I enjoyed it. Final grade: A-
That's it, kids!
xoxo
***I was writing this review in my head the other night on my way home and I could not think of the title of this movie. It was on the tip of my brain and driving me insane and I couldn't wait to actually get home and look it up. So I texted Mr Indemnity "Dude! Help! What's the name of the movie about the kid who sees ghosts and Bruce Willis is his dead shrink?" But because I was trying to text with my gloves on, I accidentally texted it to M2 first. Twelve hours later when she finally checked her texts, she wrote back "Dude! It's the sixth sense. The ONLY good movie by m night shyamalan." Which frankly was hilarious. I will also say Mr Indemnity did *not* make his usual dig about how if I had an iPhone I could have looked it up myself. He's slipping!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
life is just a series of small victories
I had a pleasant surprise when I checked my bank balance this weekend before mailing the city my big ol' whopping property tax check. There was more money in there than I was afraid there was going to be, which means my recent mega-economizing has worked. I have not been going out hardly at all. <--[that's a very badly constructed and grammatically incorrect sentence right there but I don't love all y'all enough to fix it and you know what I mean, even with the double negative.] I have been bringing food to work almost every day and not buying lunch. (Both the not-going-out and the bringing-my-sad-little-lunch were undertaken not just for economical reasons, but because I was on a diet for the month of January. And can I just say? thank god tomorrow's February. Dieting sucks, but dieting when you're not actually fat sucks more.) The thermostat in my house remains at 66 or under. Usually under. And I have held off on most discretionary purchases.
Extremely happy that I could pay my taxes and not be broke, I figured I could now buy some stuff which is not essential to life, but is damn close, and that I have been holding out on. I bought four different DaVinci syrups and the protein bars I like but have not had for months from netrition.com. I bought creatine and non-ghetto whey (chocolate peanut butter flavor--it better be good) from bodybuilding.com. I bought eye liner and primer (aka face spackle) from Sephora. And I bought a Buffy bar from Lush. And then I felt complete.
Oh shut up. Not really. But it felt good that scrimping here and there meant I could then buy some things I really wanted without guilt or worry. Or, y'know, debt. And that's even after losing five bucks last week! [insert winky face here]
I'm almost tempted to blow some money on a pedi too. You should see my feet. Not pretty. But I'll probably scrimp some more before that. I'm sure my new eye liner and face spackle will keep people looking at my beauteous visage and not my sad toenails! Ahem.
Happy final day of January in which there is no snow on the ground (unless it's snowing now, yo), bitches. Did I mention I'm loving this winter?
xoxo
Extremely happy that I could pay my taxes and not be broke, I figured I could now buy some stuff which is not essential to life, but is damn close, and that I have been holding out on. I bought four different DaVinci syrups and the protein bars I like but have not had for months from netrition.com. I bought creatine and non-ghetto whey (chocolate peanut butter flavor--it better be good) from bodybuilding.com. I bought eye liner and primer (aka face spackle) from Sephora. And I bought a Buffy bar from Lush. And then I felt complete.
Oh shut up. Not really. But it felt good that scrimping here and there meant I could then buy some things I really wanted without guilt or worry. Or, y'know, debt. And that's even after losing five bucks last week! [insert winky face here]
I'm almost tempted to blow some money on a pedi too. You should see my feet. Not pretty. But I'll probably scrimp some more before that. I'm sure my new eye liner and face spackle will keep people looking at my beauteous visage and not my sad toenails! Ahem.
Happy final day of January in which there is no snow on the ground (unless it's snowing now, yo), bitches. Did I mention I'm loving this winter?
xoxo
Thursday, January 26, 2012
life is just a series of minor irritations
I was gonna tell you the whole long story about how I came to have a $5 bill in my jacket pocket last night that isn't there this morning, but then I figured, dude! you are being one of those minor irritations. No one cares. So let's skip ahead to the fact that somehow, somewhere, on my way home last night I lost $5, and I hope whoever finds it a.) is a little kid or b.) really needs it. Nevertheless, losing five bucks pissed me off greatly this morning, mainly because I know it is my own stupid fault for putting money in my jacket pocket during the winter when I am also always shoving my gloves into my pocket so that I can do things like get my keys out or add money to my CharlieCard.
In my effort to not be so irritated by this, I have told myself two things. #1, that this balanced out all those times when I have put on a jacket or pair of pants I haven't worn in six months and found cash in the pocket I didn't know was there. #2, $5 is a trip to Starbucks if you tip, which I usually do, so I can just tell myself that I went to Starbucks last night on my way home and I've developed amnesia about it. So that five bucks, while still wasted, was wasted on caffeine, not just wasted on nothing.
Whatever.
Put your cash directly into your wallets, kids, and learn from my stupidity.
xoxo
In my effort to not be so irritated by this, I have told myself two things. #1, that this balanced out all those times when I have put on a jacket or pair of pants I haven't worn in six months and found cash in the pocket I didn't know was there. #2, $5 is a trip to Starbucks if you tip, which I usually do, so I can just tell myself that I went to Starbucks last night on my way home and I've developed amnesia about it. So that five bucks, while still wasted, was wasted on caffeine, not just wasted on nothing.
Whatever.
Put your cash directly into your wallets, kids, and learn from my stupidity.
xoxo
Monday, January 23, 2012
on your television tonight
Okay, on my television tonight. Tomato, tomahto, cucumber.
I realize I am going to type all this out and it will amuse no one but me--and it's already amused me so very very much--because most of the joke would need to be explained if you aren't me. Nevertheless, onward we plow.
First up, new episode of Hoarders. One of the stories is a lady who has had no plumbing in her house for three years. With predictable results. Well, predictable if you've ever watched Hoarders. Think a house chock full of bottles o' pee and piles of human poop. (No, that's not the funny part.) The woman is very glib in being able to attribute her dysfunction to all the trauma in her life, including being raped twelve times. Or maybe it was seventeen. (No, that's not the funny part either, but it does make my bullshit antenna go up.***) The part which made.me.die. is the little reveal at the end where the crew has made a new room for her to meditate in and she is shown chanting at her new altar. Remember when M2 took me to the Buddhist chanting and I found it a wee bit cult-like and not for me? Um, yeah. That's exactly the chanting poop lady was doing. I cannot wait till M2 sees this episode. She will.also.die.
Then Intervention comes on. I don't watch Intervention ever, but since it's not time for me to take my clothes out of the dryer, I catch the first few minutes. The apparent subject is showing off a room in her house to the camera crew. "This is our wine room," she says slurrily, pointing to some mostly empty racks. "As you can see, there's not much wine in it. I drank it all." Oh, the lulz. Oh, the fucking lulz. Then my clothes were done.
In totally non-television-related news, I've been hearing this loud beep in my house on and off for like 3 days and I thought I was going insane because I couldn't figure out what it is. Until now. It's my FIOS setup in the garage, telling me the battery in the battery backup needs to be replaced. Damn you, Verizon.
xoxo
***When Our Lil MILF came by a couple months ago and was telling us stories about her new job with the Commonwealth, one of them concerned one of her clients calling to tell her that her landlord had raped her. Understandably concerned but also puzzled why the woman was calling her, not, say, THE POLICE, she ran it by a co-worker. Co-worker rolled her eyes. "Again? She gets raped every three months. Ask her how many months behind in the rent she is." Answer: a few. But it's totally justified because the light is out in her hallway!
I realize I am going to type all this out and it will amuse no one but me--and it's already amused me so very very much--because most of the joke would need to be explained if you aren't me. Nevertheless, onward we plow.
First up, new episode of Hoarders. One of the stories is a lady who has had no plumbing in her house for three years. With predictable results. Well, predictable if you've ever watched Hoarders. Think a house chock full of bottles o' pee and piles of human poop. (No, that's not the funny part.) The woman is very glib in being able to attribute her dysfunction to all the trauma in her life, including being raped twelve times. Or maybe it was seventeen. (No, that's not the funny part either, but it does make my bullshit antenna go up.***) The part which made.me.die. is the little reveal at the end where the crew has made a new room for her to meditate in and she is shown chanting at her new altar. Remember when M2 took me to the Buddhist chanting and I found it a wee bit cult-like and not for me? Um, yeah. That's exactly the chanting poop lady was doing. I cannot wait till M2 sees this episode. She will.also.die.
Then Intervention comes on. I don't watch Intervention ever, but since it's not time for me to take my clothes out of the dryer, I catch the first few minutes. The apparent subject is showing off a room in her house to the camera crew. "This is our wine room," she says slurrily, pointing to some mostly empty racks. "As you can see, there's not much wine in it. I drank it all." Oh, the lulz. Oh, the fucking lulz. Then my clothes were done.
In totally non-television-related news, I've been hearing this loud beep in my house on and off for like 3 days and I thought I was going insane because I couldn't figure out what it is. Until now. It's my FIOS setup in the garage, telling me the battery in the battery backup needs to be replaced. Damn you, Verizon.
xoxo
***When Our Lil MILF came by a couple months ago and was telling us stories about her new job with the Commonwealth, one of them concerned one of her clients calling to tell her that her landlord had raped her. Understandably concerned but also puzzled why the woman was calling her, not, say, THE POLICE, she ran it by a co-worker. Co-worker rolled her eyes. "Again? She gets raped every three months. Ask her how many months behind in the rent she is." Answer: a few. But it's totally justified because the light is out in her hallway!
cause and effect
That's right, isn't it? I never know when to use "affect" other than psychiatrically. It is, along with lay vs lie, my grammatical nemesis.
So, my water bill is $20 less this quarter and I wonder if that is due to my water heater dying for those two weeks or so. Did lack of bathing and extremely quick showers for two weeks really save me $20? Should I just start showering at the Y every day and use the proceeds to go on vacation?!?? Doesn't sound possible. My water bill is one of those things where I have no idea whether I am getting screwed or not. Sometimes it's higher and sometimes it's lower and I just can't understand why, in either direction. Hell, it probably should have been HIGHER this quarter due to those times I left the faucet running in the sink in my menopausal brain fog. Just imagine how much water that wasted! I am probably entirely responsible for the impending collapse of our ecosystem. On the other hand? Guess who has never watered her lawn EVAH?
I read an interesting discussion the other day about new appliances and how their being energy efficient is what causes them to break in 5 years rather than last 20 or 30 like they used to. I'm not quite sure I'm buying that. I think they're purposefully built to only last five years because the manufacturers have figured out that's how they make more money. Who is going to buy a new refrigerator if their old refrigerator is still keeping the food cold? (And their shelves aren't held together with duct tape. Ahem.) I mean, besides the stupid consumers who buy into "oh, it has to be x color because y color is out of style" or "ooo, look! it has a computer in the door!" I mean, you can always count on some people being a.) sheep or b.) distracted by shiny nonsense, but you can count on *more* people not wanting $100 worth of meat in their freezer to go bad.
I think I've tangented. Oh well. Happy Monday, all y'all.
xoxo
So, my water bill is $20 less this quarter and I wonder if that is due to my water heater dying for those two weeks or so. Did lack of bathing and extremely quick showers for two weeks really save me $20? Should I just start showering at the Y every day and use the proceeds to go on vacation?!?? Doesn't sound possible. My water bill is one of those things where I have no idea whether I am getting screwed or not. Sometimes it's higher and sometimes it's lower and I just can't understand why, in either direction. Hell, it probably should have been HIGHER this quarter due to those times I left the faucet running in the sink in my menopausal brain fog. Just imagine how much water that wasted! I am probably entirely responsible for the impending collapse of our ecosystem. On the other hand? Guess who has never watered her lawn EVAH?
I read an interesting discussion the other day about new appliances and how their being energy efficient is what causes them to break in 5 years rather than last 20 or 30 like they used to. I'm not quite sure I'm buying that. I think they're purposefully built to only last five years because the manufacturers have figured out that's how they make more money. Who is going to buy a new refrigerator if their old refrigerator is still keeping the food cold? (And their shelves aren't held together with duct tape. Ahem.) I mean, besides the stupid consumers who buy into "oh, it has to be x color because y color is out of style" or "ooo, look! it has a computer in the door!" I mean, you can always count on some people being a.) sheep or b.) distracted by shiny nonsense, but you can count on *more* people not wanting $100 worth of meat in their freezer to go bad.
I think I've tangented. Oh well. Happy Monday, all y'all.
xoxo
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