We’re slated for some snow tonight according to the weather gurus. I could have predicted as much from the pressure in my head that is getting progressively worse as the day gets longer. I think we’re only going to get an inch or so but I say bring it on.
On a totally different subject, check out the House Proud section for a little homeowner introspection.
We’re in soul searching mode with the house right now. Over the weekend we were sitting on the patio since it was down-right balmy and both said it is a day like this where we can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Then we started getting practical and looked at the destruction in the basement and the need to waterproof it and then put walls back up and do something about heating and flooring down there. And then we discussed what our kitchen needs, what our hardwood floors need, the fact that the washer and dryer are in the garage, etc. The dollar figures for doing all of that work make our heads spin and we haven’t even talked to a professional yet. We got our tax assessment in the mail over the weekend and at least from that perspective our value has increased decently in the time we’ve owned the property.
We’re pleased to live on 7 acres because that gives us privacy we wouldn’t have if we lived in a subdivision or in a town. There is a trade-off though and that includes probably waiting another 3-5 years before a wireless network comes anywhere close to us so that our cell phones work or give us a fast connection to the internet. We’ve been told we’ll never have the benefit of cable because of the distance we are from town and the road we live off of is a historic road so that means no real digging, expansion, etc.
With all of that said, we really are torn between spending a shload of money on expansion on our house to have everything we want and selling the house and buying something in, say, Ashland-which is the area where the better-half grew up and is the proverbial small town.
I’m not sure what we’ll do. It is probably prudent to find out how much it will cost to do what we want to do to the house and then decide. Honestly, though, it isn’t that simple. We got married in this house and we planned on staying here until we were too feeble. Emotional attachment is definitely something we have to consider.
No, say it isn’t so…she lied. That revelation is totally from left field, isn’t it?
If you are in Memphis today you should head on over to Graceland. After all it is the birthday of Elvis.
Of course I don’t really understand birthday celebrations for people who are dead, but it sounds like there’s plenty going on in Memphis today.
I know I just posted about how glad I am that it is cold outside but if I’m not a tad unbalanced then I’m nothing. This post is about how happy I am that the better-half booked a reservation for a week’s vacation here in late August.
Winter has finally come to Virginia. I realize that other states have been inundated with snow and freezing cold but as recently as this past weekend we slept with the windows open. Today I broke out the down jacket. I’m so happy…yes, it is a weird world when someone says Amen it is cold. But the way I look at is this: if I live in a temperate zone then I’m supposed to have seasons–4 of them. How can I enjoy the Spring if I don’t have the Winter?
Speaking of weirdness, last night when I was driving home I noticed a car was entering the same ramp to I-95 as I was (I was coming from 195 and he was coming from I-64) and it had no lights on. For those of you who don’t live around here there’s really no reason why a car would not have its lights on already since it isn’t like that driver pulled out of a parking light and then immediately hit the interstate. His lights did come on and he and I exited I-95 together. At the light at the end of the ramp he rolled pretty far over the white line so I immediately thought that when the light turns green I’m getting as far away from him as possible. I’m thinking no lights+creeping way over the line=drunk. The light turns green and I am able to get in front of him because he’s driving so slowly and his lights go off again. Now I start thinking he’s not drunk he’s just driving a hunk of sh*t. As far as I know he drove along a very dark road for an extended amount of time with no lights on. I considered calling 911 but then I thought what do I tell them? I can’t see him, obviously, and he could have turned on a side street so I wished him and everyone else well and went home.
If there is one thing I can’t stand is me having to tell other people how to do their jobs…I had to complete paperwork yesterday for the contract job with the contracting company. I had my passport which the US GOVT gave me as proof of citizenship. Oh no, you need your social security card too. If you actually read the I-9 form then you’d see that no, all I needed was one item from column A…the passport. Even though I had it with me there was no copier in the Richmond office. Technically, it is my understanding that the employer must make a copy by his own hand so that it is “legitimate” and not some forgery I had my buddy do. Of course, I only worked in HR for 5 years and for half of those years as an admin in the hiring of employees. What do I know?
So now, when I ask how I can get onto the contractor’s website to process my timesheet I’m told I have incomplete documentation and when I get that done they’ll still take a week to get me access. It was all I could do to say I had my documentation but A)You are too dumb to read the I-9 and understand it and B)You have no copier in the office so it didn’t matter what I brought with me you couldn’t copy it.
Remind me again why I keep working for these people?
I’ve really missed my fast computer at the office over the past two days. The laptop I’m using at the contract job is slow. I, of course, once thought the laptop was pretty good because it is faster than the machine at home and faster than the other machine I used while on contract before. Now I’m spoiled.
I have, unfortunately, run into the numbering bug in MS Word again. I had happily pushed it out of my mind but now that I’m back working on documents that need numbering the agony has come back. No, Redmond, it isn’t me. It is your crappy code. How hard can it be to put out a patch on numbering? Don’t make me come over there.
After finding out about Eric Joyner from reading The Sneeze, I ordered up RoboKong. RoboKong went to the framer a week before Christmas and is due back tomorrow. I’m so freaking excited about getting the art back that I can hardly stand it. I think the frame and artwork are going to work together in perfect harmony. It is going to rock.
Anyway, I got home today and checked hotmail and Eric Joyner had written me a note! About the work that The Sneeze dude has been talking about! And I got to see a jpg of the work! It too is great fun. You should check out his work.
So, I’m a geek because I’m so thrilled about getting the email. Equally thrilling is getting a comment from the fabulous In My Kitchen.
Whooohooo. It makes the icky feeling I have about the THRASHED driveway a little easier to take.
Here’s the scenario: our health insurance company switched from one RX company to their own RX division to handle prescriptions. This is all well and good. I called on Friday to refill my order and got someone who clearly needed to go through training again. I specifically ended the call with a repeat of exactly what I needed–name of drug and dose–because the person on the other end of the line was so out of it.
Guess what happened and, no, you don’t even have to think about it. The company left a message on the home machine this afternoon asking me to call in again about the order. After a good 30 minutes on hold the very professional (I mean that sincerely) customer service rep asked me to confirm the dose.
Here are my complaints:
if on the first day of providing the new service you can’t get someone trained and ready to go then don’t put that person on the phones.
if I’m on hold for 30 minutes program your phone system to get my name and number and call ME back.
And, on a completely different subject but one that is pissing me off (yes, I’m hormonal)–we agreed to let our next-door neighbor use our driveway for some equipment to come in and rip out part of his backyard so he can put up a garage. Today I got home and the driveway is THRASHED. Of course it is dark so I can’t really see the damage but I can tell that it is THRASHED. Also, he has a 2 car garage attached to his house…how much more garage do you really need? GRRR.
