CHICAGO BEARS WIN THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP !!!!

The Chicago Bears beat New Orleans 39-14 at snowy Soldier Field, earning the right to play the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI Feb 4, 2007 in Miami, Florida!

Chicago Bears Fight Song!

Bear down, Chicago Bears,
Make every play clear the way to victory.
Bear down, Chicago Bears,
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation,
With your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears,
And let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois,
Chicago Bears, bear down.

Yesterday was rainy and dreary. We made the best of it though. We went to the crater of Kilauea (kill-a-way-a) and saw steam vents of sulphuric gas all around the rim and basin of the crater. We walked through a Lava Tube, in the middle of a rain forest. A Lava Tube is a cave created by lava that you can walk through. The one we walked through, ran through was more like it, was about 500 years old. It was pouring rain while we were at the lava tube, we had no umbrellas and no rain gear. We looked like drowned rats when we we came out, lmao.

There was no active lava flows where we were at, that was all down by the ocean. We didn't have enough time to go see that, as it's best viewed at night. We were a good two hours from my sister's house, and wanted to get home around supper time. I did take some interesting pictures of the steam vents and of us (my sister, aunt and me) at the steam vents.

Driving to the volcano, we took the southern road around the bottom of the island, past lush greenery. Coming back home, we took the northern route, a few more miles, but less traffic, so also about two hours. We had the ocean on our right, and we'd pass over what they call gulches, but they were HUGE gulches, to the left were these awesome waterfalls. I wish we'd had a place to stop so I could take pictures. Words alone cannot express the beauty I saw. There were also massive grasslands with pasture after pasture of cows. I'm told there's a huge ranch on that part of the island that raises all the beef. It felt almost like home seeing all the green grass and cows, lmao.

The last part of the drive was through what feels like the middle of nowhere. Only fields to the left, fields to the right, no other cars on the road, no lights. There are no houses anywhere. The remoteness of it was eery, almost. But still such an interesting part of the island itself.

Today has been cool and rainy, so we're going to go and try to do a little shopping indoors out of the rain. I think we had enough of the rain yesterday. Aloha!

Yesterday afternoon we went snorkeling down at the beach. There's a little inlet where the water is calmer, it's not very deep, and there are lots of fish to see. They were EVERYWHERE, and SO beautiful. All different colors, yellow, and blue, and green, spotted, striped. At one point there were so many of them, I was afraid to put my feet down to get my bearings. They wouldn't let me touch them, but they would still come very close, sometimes brushing my leg, or staring at me with their mouth half open. Almost like they wanted to take a bite out of me. LMAO! Don't worry, they don't bite, I won't come home with some fish disease.

There was also one lone sea turtle in some very shallow water that some people were standing around watching. I walked over to look at it, but didn't want to disturb it too much, so I walked back over to where the water was a little deeper so I could look at the fish. The water wasn't as warm as I thought it would be, less than 80F, but once I was in it, I adjusted to it and it didn't feel cold. We were there for maybe 45 minutes, although I probably could have stayed for several hours.

There's also a chicken that wanders around by my sister's house. This morning between 7 and 7:30, it decided it wanted to try to be a rooster. It was a strange sort of incomplete crowing noise. This went on for about 15 minutes, then it went away. Then my sister's husband was up and outside, so I decided to get up also. My aunt is arriving today about 12:30pm, it will be nice to see her and share this wonderful experience with her.

Aloha!

Here I am in lush, beautiful Hawaii, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, looking out over the pacific ocean! OMG, it is GORGEOUS here! My sister's house has an outdoor shower, with a wall around it (of course) so no one can see you. I want one at home now, lmao. I'm waiting for my sister to come home from playing golf at the club. I think this afternoon we're going to go snorkeling! We had a little bit of rain last evening at the restaurant. I arrived at about 4:30pm Hawaii time; overall, about 10-1/2 hours travel time from when I left Chicago. Even napping on the plane, I was tired and HUNGRY when I arrived in Kona. All we got to eat on the plane was "food for purchase." WELL, I'm not gonna pay for my food on the airplane, so I brought a PB sandwich with me. I should have brought two, lmao.

When we stopped in Maui, I disembarked, bought a shotglass, then got back on with everyone else. It was nice to get up and stretch my legs a bit. Then the last part of the trip, to Kona, was about 30 minutes. Flying over the islands, looking down on the lush greenery, was breathtaking. After a few hours of nothing but water, it was very nice to see land again, lmao.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures, to bore you all to death with, lmao. I'm going to go back outside on the patio, read the paper, enjoy the sunshine, and look out at the ocean! Aloha!

Here's a picture I received in a Christmas card the other day. It's of my nephew Doug's family. Top left is his daughter Alycia, the boy waving in the bike helmet is his son Aaron, as is the picture in the top right. In the middle is my nephew Doug on his unicycle that he received this year for his 40th birthday. To the left of that is his wife Margie, below her is their son Aaron again. To the right of the unicycle picture is their daughter Alycia again, my nephew Doug and below him in the lower right corner is Margie.

It's been a few years since I've been out to California to see them. Aaron has Muscular Dystrophy, and the last time I saw him he was still walking on his own. Now he can't walk or even stand on his own anymore. He has a couple scooters he uses at school and home. He's 13 and I'm sure still has a lot of spirit and humor to share with everyone.

Alycia is 16, taking both high school and junior college classes. When she graduates high school, she'll be a sophomore in college. I'm told she's looking at a private art school in San Francisco. I'm so proud of her, as I'm sure her parents are.

With the upcoming wedding in March of Doug's younger brother, I'm looking forward to seeing the whole family next spring.

This is an article submitted to a 1999 Louisville Sentinel contest to find out who had the wildest Christmas dinners. This won first prize.


Christmas With Louise

As a joke, my brother used to hang a pair of panty hose over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted was for Santa to fill them. What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be true because every Christmas morning, although Jay's kids' stockings were overflowed, his poor pantyhose hung sadly empty.

One year I decided to make his dream come true. I put on sunglasses and went in search of an inflatable love doll. They don't sell those things at Wal-Mart. I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown.

If you've never been in an X-rated store, don't go. You'll only confuse yourself. I was there an hour saying things like, "What does this do? You're kidding me! Who would buy that?" Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section.

I wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll that could also substitute as a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool lane during rush hour.

Finding what I wanted was difficult. Love Dolls come in many different models. The top of the line, according to the side of the box, could do things I'd only seen in a book on animal husbandry. I settled for Lovable Louise. She was at the bottom of the price scale. To call Louise a doll took a huge leap of imagination.

On Christmas Eve and with the help of an old bicycle pump, Louise came to life.

My sister-in-law was in on the plan and let me in during the wee morning hours. Long after Santa had come and gone, I filled the dangling pantyhose with Louise's pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a nearby tray. I went home , and giggled for a couple of hours.

The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had been to his house and left a present that had made him VERY happy but had left the dog confused. She would bark, start to walk away, then come back and bark some more.

We all agreed that Louise should remain in her panty hose so the rest of the family could admire her when they came over for the traditional Christmas dinner.

My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in the door. "What the hell is that?" she asked.

My brother quickly explained, "It's a doll."

"Who would play with something like that?" Granny snapped.

I had several candidates in mind, but kept my mouth shut.

"Where are her clothes?" Granny continued.

"Boy, that turkey sure smells nice Gran" Jay said, to steer her into the dining room.

But Granny was relentless. "Why doesn't she have any teeth?"

Again, I could have answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance saying, "Hang on Granny, hang on!"

My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight, sidled up to me and said, "Hey, who's the naked gal by the fireplace?"

I told him she was Jay's friend.

A few minutes later I noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking to Louise. Not just talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we realized this might be Grandpa's last Christmas at home .

The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk about who had died, who was dying, and who should be killed, when suddenly Louise made a noise like my father in the bathroom in the morning. Then she lurched from the panty hose, flew around the room twice, and fell in a heap in front of the sofa.

The cat screamed. I passed cranberry sauce through my nose, and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. My brother fell back over his chair and wet his pants.

Granny threw down her napkin, stomped out of the room, and sat in the car.

It was indeed a Christmas to treasure and remember.

Later in my brother's garage, we conducted a thorough examination to decide the cause of Louise's collapse. We discovered that Louise had suffered from a hot ember to the back of her right thigh.

Fortunately, thanks to a wonder drug called duct tape, we restored her to perfect health

Ok, a week ago or so, I received an email from a friend. You know the ones...20 questions, all to be answered and sent out to all your friends so they learn new stuff about you. Well this one was about Christmas traditions, etc. I answered it, and sent it out. I got some very nice responses, some never responded, and then there was THIS response. (I've removed names to protect the guilty)

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Is the eggnog loaded? Meaning does it include whiskey? No. hot chocolate then. With lots of those mini can never seem to catch them in your mouth before they melt marshmallows.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Do I look like Santa Clause? How should I know what he does? I do know that he seems to miss my house every year though. Guess it has to do with not having a chimney.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? WHEN we decorate the outside of the house, we use colored lights. But we haven't done that in a couple of years. Hubby now threatens to make me do it. and I am NOT climbing my fat ass up on the roof. Not even for Santa.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. That gives hubby more incentive to try to kiss me. We wouldn't want that, now would we?

5. When do you put your decorations up? Please see question number 10 for my Scrooge reference.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? The big ole dried out turkey that Gramma "slow" roasts in the oven from midnight 'til noon. Thank God for gravy!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I was never a child. I was born infinitely wise. Okay even *I* can't say that with a straight face.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What do you MEAN truth? Santa's really a secret Russian spy who infiltrates US homes by cooking up some wild scheme about dropping presents off through people's chimneys that are actually small cameras and listening devices? I've known that for years now.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope. We begged Mom and always refused.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We're related to Scrooge at my house. To put up decorations means that one has actually put up a tree. In the last seven years that hubby and I have lived together we've not done that. so there's no need for decorations on it, now is there?

11. Snow? Yes PLEASE!! I would LOVE to see it snow in Florida. It'd be funny to see about a foot of it just pile up. *I* know how to drive in snow.

12. Can you ice skate? Yeah, on my ass.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Disclaimer: before you read this answer, please finish chewing and/or swallowing any food or drink like substance. Thank you. My favorite Christmas gift came from two of the best friends a girl could ask for. I was 21 and involved in a long distance relationship, so. well. I wasn't getting "any" on a regular basis. These two caring friends thought they would help rectify this problem. We threw a party and exchanged gifts. First I would like to point out that I purchased tasteful gifts for these friends. I was an innocent victim. My Christmas gift, ladies and gentlemen (drum roll please) an 8-inch cyber skin "feels like the real thing" jelly penis. Top that Santa!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? To stay as FAR away from malls as I possibly can. A person can lose themselves (or sell themselves, depending on the person, I guess) in a place like that.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Whipped cream. It's delicious, has a nutritional value, and can be served on a variety of desserts. not to mention body parts.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Gathering at Gramma's three hours before food and/or presents were ready to be dug into. Sitting there, listening to the constant bickering of my family. And waiting for the inevitable irritability of someone storming out, disclaiming that they don't know just WHAT the heck crawled up so and so's ass. but they're never coming back to this house EVER again. Ten minutes later the phone rings with the now cooled off individual calling to apologize and asking if they can come back. Aahh. the joy of family for the holidays!

17. What tops your tree? Let me tell you a story. if I had a tree, my cat would knock it over. Why? Because he's a damned heathen, that's why. So if I had a tree. and after continuously picking it up and redecorating it, I would have to say the cat. He would be my angel. Okay so now that I think about it. I wonder if he'd light up.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? That's a loaded question. I thought this was a nice, innocent Christmas quiz! Oh, you mean GIFTS! Right. Got it. Moving on.

19.What is your favorite Christmas Song? I like it when they're over, does that count?

20. Candy Canes yum or yuck? Oh I love month old candy that's been hanging on someone's Christmas tree. I particularly like the ones where half the plastic has "melted" off and have been exposed to the air and the dog licking them for the last week. Those are the BEST!

I GOT A PACKAGE WAITING AT THE POST OFFICE FOR ME!!!!!!!!

IT'S FROM CANADA, WONDER WHO IT'S FROM??????

/GIGGLE

Well, after that first adventure flying, do you think I was eager to do it again a week later? Nope, me either. This flight to Charlotte was earlier than the flight to Indianapolis. It was scheduled for 6:35AM, which means I was supposed to be at the airport at 5:30, I had to leave home at 4:45, I had to get up at 4:00AM. Me?? Get up at 4:00AM?? Kerry maybe...but ME????? Actually, it was easier than I expected it to be, lol.

Amazingly enough, our flight took off on time! Everything went well at the warehouse, counting the coils to make sure our records matched what the warehouse said was there, and was actually there. I got back to the airport in Charlotte in PLENTY of time to make my flight. In fact, I was so early, my flight wasn't even listed on the departure board yet. I didn't even know what terminal to go to. So, I wandered up and down the closest one, and by the time I returned to the departure board, my flight was listed. Lo and behold, my flight was scheduled to leave from a gate in the terminal I was at. Since I still had at least an hour to kill, I walked to a bookstore, bought a magazine and read through that. I returned to the gate and made myself comfortable.

As I sat there, I noticed the gate next to ours also had a flight coming to Chicago, leaving 30 minutes earlier. To back things up a bit, earlier in the day, I was talking to my boss on the phone and he told me my flight would probably be delayed coming home due to fog and a low ceiling. As I sat there at my gate, I began to wonder just how delayed this flight might be. The gate attendant came on the speaker to announce that the 3:33 flight leaving from the gate next to us, was not going to start boarding until 3:30, and that once boarded, the plane was going to pull back from the gate and the plane would be parked for an hour due to delays in Chicago. At that time, she had no idea how long the 4:00 flight (mine) would be delayed, but if any of us wanted to get on the earlier flight, there was still room. I figured with the delays, I might as well take a chance and hope to get home quicker.

I got re-booked onto the earlier flight, with a seat assignment of 20A. Then I went back to the bookstore and bought a book to read during our hour delay on the plane. Turns out, when we started boarding that row 20 was the next to the last row. When I got to the back of the plane, the flight attendant back there, suggested I wait to see what might be available closer to the front, since the flight was not full. There were also two other people standing back there waiting for better seats. Once everyone was boarded, she walked towards the front, then motioned us forward, and I ended up in row 5 (second row back after first class) in an aisle seat. Can't get much better than that! The doors were closed, we backed away from the gate, we parked, and I started reading to pass the time. It was a romance novel, three stories in one book, all having to do with NASCAR, one of my favorite things, lol. I finished the first story only minutes before we were able to start taxiing out.

After we took off, I reclined my seat back and snoozed almost the whole trip home. If my original flight had been on time, I was supposed to land at 5:30PM. After switching to the earlier flight, plus the hour delay, I ended up landing about 6:20PM. As I walked towards baggage to take the stairs down to the parking level, I was curious about how delayed my original flight was. Turns out it was 30 minutes out, so I did better by booking the earlier flight, despite the hour wait on the plane. Again, a long day, up at 4AM home at 7:10PM.

I hope my flight to Hawaii in January doesn't have any delays, lol.

Wow, it's been over a week since I've posted anything here. I guess I wasn't feeling up to posting anything, or I didn't have the time. So here I sit on a gray and dingy Saturday afternoon, with some time to kill (now that I've finally done the NTT playlist and sent it to Kerry.) So I guess it's a good time to get everyone caught up on the last couple weeks or so of my life. Beware, it may not be nearly as interesting as you might think.

First, despite things being generally slow at work due to the holidays and the coming end of the year, I seem to be constantly busy if not swamped. It doesn't help that in December so far, I have not been in the office for more than two days at a time. I ended up scheduling every Friday in December as a vacation day. Plus on the 5th I took a day trip to Indianapolis to see a customer. Then on the 12th, I took another day trip to Charlotte to do physical inventory at a warehouse. Both trips were eventful.

The trip to Indianapolis is about 30 minutes actual air time, but about an hour total, counting the time to taxi on and off the runways. My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:05AM and arrive at 10:00AM or so (one hour flight plus one hour time change.) At 8:00AM they announced a delay until 8:20. Then they told us we were switching gates. Fortunately, the new gate was only two or three down from where we were at. Then at 8:20 they delayed us again until 8:40. Then at 8:45, they delayed us until 9:00. With all these delays, they never once told us what was causing the delay, which I think added to the frustration. Finally about 9:00AM we started boarding. It was a small plane, only three seats in each row; One on your right as you got on the plane, and two on the left. I was sitting in a single seat on the right, in row 8 or so. Since I'd been up since 5:00AM, all I wanted to do was sleep. I got comfortable and closed my eyes for a snooze.

Very quickly, my legs got very cold. So cold that I was shivering, even with my coat still on. Finally, the flight attendants closed up the plane and the captain came on the intercom to introduce himself and explain what was going on. He told us that the plane had been having some "on board power" issues. They had tried to get power in the air, and that didn't work. Then they tried to get power from the ground; that didn't work either. They thought we might have to switch planes, but they were able to get it fixed. In the meantime, they had already taken some luggage and started moving it over to another plane thinking that we'd switch planes. When we didn't, we had to wait for the luggage to come back. By the time we took off, it was almost 10:00AM. As I mentioned above, the flight to Indianapolis is quick, only about 30 minutes actual air time, but by the time I landed in Indianapolis, it was 11:30AM. That messed up the entire day, because the customer I went to go visit is about an hour and a half drive east of Indianapolis. As soon as we landed and could use our cell phones, I called my salesman who was waiting for me. He called the customer to let her know I had just arrived and we were running late. She had a meeting to be at, about the time we would have gotten there. So instead of going to see her first, I called the warehouse where we store her material for her, and asked if it was ok for us to stop by then, instead of later that afternoon. Fortunately, that was fine with them, and it gave me an opportunity to meet some people that I'd only talked to on the phone. And, we were lucky enough to be there when the driver was loading up his truck to deliver more material to the customer, so I got to meet him too.

After spending about 45 minutes there, we left to drive the 90 minutes to the customer. The meeting went well, we just went over her usage, and what we have on order to determine where we wanted to order more so as not to run out. I had a 6:05PM flight back to Chicago, arriving at 6:10. Remember, an hour time difference, going backwards, so it was a 55 minute flight, minus the hour time change. So it feels like 5 minutes, lol. I got to the airport in plenty of time, the flight started boarding on time, we pulled back from the gate, taxied out to the runway, and just as we were ready to turn the corner and take off, Air Traffic Control stops us. Initially, all we were told was that ATC had called a stop to all traffic in and out of Chicago O'Hare, and we would be sitting there for an hour and 20 minutes. You can imagine the collective groan that went through the entire cabin. After about 10 minutes, the pilot came back on the speaker. Apparently, O'Hare Airport had decided to "switch runways", whatever that means, and that he was trying to see if we could take off earlier, instead of sitting there for an hour and (now) 10 minutes. He had already killed the engines, and allowed us to turn our cell phones on. Everyone was making calls advising whoever that the flight was going to be late. About 10 minutes later, the pilot came on the speaker again, and announced we had been cleared for takeoff, and for everyone to turn off the cell phones and buckle the seat belts. He started up the engines, we turned the corner, and ZOOM! We took off. I did go to sleep on that leg of the trip also, as I usually do on most airplane flights. As we started approaching O'Hare, I thought our approach was odd. I can't really explain it, other than it felt like we were moving too slow, or too high for how close we were, something... I could see the darkness of where Lake Michigan was off to our right, and I could see the lights of the streets and houses off to our left. Just as I was thinking it was my imagination, we turned to the right, out over the lake. We ended up in a holding pattern for about 30 minutes over Lake Michigan. By the time I got to my car it was 7:10, and it was 7:45 or so when I arrived home. I was just glad to be home!

More to come, later!

Your Life is 37% Perfect

So your life isn't exactly perfect, but it's not horrible either. Things are fairly bad at times... at least they're not likely to get much worse!

How Perfect is Your Life?

Your Vocabulary Score: A-

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Will the Christmas shopping ever be done? I'm one step closer! I found some things I think Kerry will really like, so I'll get those wrapped maybe Thursday night and mailed on Saturday. Yes, we have mail delivery and open post offices on Saturdays, lmao. The "other" item I bought that will be too late to get there for Christmas can just wait till next year. One of the items I bought was found sort of by accident. I was actually looking for something a little different, and while I was at that store, I thought I'd pick up something I still needed to get for a family member. While I was looking for that, I didn't see what I really wanted to get for Kerry, but then saw something else that I think she'll like just as much if not more. Confused yet? LMAO

So, while making that purchase, I got a discount coupon for the bookstore in the mall, and decided to look there for the book I needed to get for my adopted mom. They had it, and I got 15% off. Not bad! I was still walking around the mall, my feet were killing me, I was about ready to leave, when I passed this small kiosk selling stuff (don't all kiosks at the mall sell stuff?) Anyway, I stopped to look at what they were selling, considered maybe buying one for Kerry, and the guy really got me convinced of the benefits of it. I was trying to just buy one part of it, but then he offered me a deal ($15 off) the other item I wasn't going to buy, so of course, I had to buy it too! So Kerry gets both, lmao. And because I bought the second item, the first item wa s free! Really confused yet? Bwahahahahahaha

A friend called me tonight, asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her tomorrow night. I haven't seen her since the weekend before Halloween, so figured I better take this chance to see her. Who knows when I'll see her again. After some discussion about what movies we've already seen, which ones we don't want to see, and which ones we can't go see because we'll probably go see them with other people, we narrowed it down to The Santa Clause 3 and Deck The Halls. I would rather see The Santa Clause 3, I thought the first two were very cute, and can't wait to see this one with Santa battling Jack Frost. Should be funny and entertaining.

Well, it's after 10 now, I should get to bed. Didn't sleep well last night, and it didn't help that the guy living upstairs from me decided to ask an elephant to teach him to tap dance at 2:30am. They tap danced across the bedroom floor directly above my bedroom, out into the living room, got their feet tangled up and fell down. Loudly! At 2:30 in the morning! I wasn't sleeping well to begin with, and then to be woken up by that? *mumbles to myself about inconsiderate young men*

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over with, and my leftover turkey is almost gone, I have started focusing on Christmas. That one joyful day of the year that is preceded by a month of more stress than I normally like to deal with. There's Christmas cards, decorating, buying presents, wrapping the presents, shipping the presents, plus all the normal everyday stuff that still has to be done (work, eating, sleeping, paying bills, etc.)

I paid bills tonight, and I made a few purchases online, I'm only worried about one, though. Kerry's gift says the estimated delivery day to me is the 18th, which is too late to try to get to her by Christmas. I thought maybe I'd have it mailed directly to her...the website said states/provinces are required for shipments to the U.S. and Canada, but when I went to change countries, it only lists the U.S. So I guess I can't ship it directly to Canada. I really want her to have her present by Christmas, especially since last year my gift didn't get there in time. Yeah, I procrastinate for just about everything. Thought I was getting a head start this year, doing this before December 1, and well it didn't help me, lol. Then I had another idea as I was perusing another magazine, checked that item out, and it's out of stock too! So tomorrow night after work, I have to stop by a book store to pick up a present for someone, and the book store is by the mall, so I'll just zip over there and wander around, hoping I find something, lol. One way or another, I'll find something to send her, even if it's just a box of burned cd's! LMAO

So Kerry and Tori are having fun setting up their new blogs in beta. I don't think I'll have any time to do more with mine than what you see here, not in December, and probably not in January, since I'll be off the mainland for a week. That will be my big rest after the hectic pace of December, lol.

I had a nice five day weekend. Went shopping on Wednesday, then rested the rest of the days. Mostly I was a lazy bum, never even got dressed on Sunday, lol. But I didn't sleep that well Saturday and Sunday nights, so I wasn't ready to get up for work this morning. I watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on CBS last night, Candles on Bay Street. Those movies make me cry EVERY time! But I love them just the same. And I love the Hallmark commercials, but they really need to make new ones, they're all a few years old now.

Happy Thanksgiving to the residents of the United States who are reading this. To everyone else, I'll eat a piece of turkey and a bite of stuffing for you, lol.

Sorry I haven't been posting anything lately. I guess I feel my life is pretty boring right now, and I have nothing to talk about. I get up, I go to work, I come home, I go to bed, I get up, I go to work, I come home, I go to bed...and the circle continues. Work is ok, nothing really interesting there to report. My love life sucks, like always. My personal life is as boring as always. I chat some nights during the week, I stream on Fridays, some weekends I go see a movie. I watch football on some Sundays and Mondays.

Ya'll know I'm going to Hawaii in January, I've already mentioned that. I did get a "save the date" note in a bottle from a nephew, he's getting married for the second time in March. So it looks like I'll be going to California then.

Wednesday I'm taking the day off work to get a lot of my Christmas shopping done. Then after Thanksgiving, I need to work on Christmas cards and wrapping presents so I'm not rushing on Christmas Eve to get everything done.

That's about it for now. Hugs!

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest: You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary. At Your Lowest: You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in. In Love: You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated. How You're Attractive: Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room. Your Eternal Question: "What else do I need in my life?"

What's Your Power Color?

You Are a White Flower

A white flower tends to represent purity, simple beauty, and modesty. At times, you are dignified like a magnolia. And at other times, you represent great ecstasy, like a white orchid. And more than you wish, you're a little boastful, like a white hydrangea.

What Color Flower Are You?

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person. However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways. You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order. You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Short post tonight, going to go get ready for bed. Had MORE rain today, when will it stop?? (I know, I know...it'll stop when the snow comes.)

My trip to Hawaii is all settled. I leave on January 5th and return on the 13th. OMG, I can't wait! My sister and aunt are splitting the cost of seven hundred some dollars roundtrip, that is my Christmas present from the two of them. Keeping my fingers that I lost another pound or two when I weigh myself on Saturday. It would be great to be more lightweight when I go over there.

Have a great Friday!

Finally a day without rain! Of course, it's freaking COLD! And we're supposed to get more rain on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, lol. I'm hardwired, and I got my money back from Best Buy for the wireless router, USB adapter and 50 foot network cable. That was nice seeing a credit go back to my account for 170.00. Then I went to pay my first cable bill, which came in the mail at 257.20. I had complained about the installation charges and part of that had been credited to my account. So I was thinking about 220.00 would still be due. I went to pay online, and it said 257.20 was more than what I owed. Since I hadn't made a payment yet, I was kind of confused. I tried again for a payment of 200.00, again it said it was more than what I owed. Now, it does give you the option of going ahead with the payment, but I couldn't understand how I didn't owe all this money all of a sudden. I tried a new amount, 140.47...the amount just for the cable service from 9/29 to 11/10. Again, it said it was too much, but I didn't want to take any chances so I finished the payment for that amount. Will be interesting to see my next bill and find out why they said I didn't owe anything.

I went out to spend my normal Sunday afternoon with my aunt. She has had a taste for turkey with all the trimmings for about a month now, but never felt up for fixing it. She finally did, so we had a pre-Thanksgiving turkey dinner today. I didn't do too bad; I didn't over-stuff myself, I stopped when I got full. And I brought some turkey home for lunch tomorrow. After lunch we were supposed to go see The Prestige, with Hugh Jackman. But my aunt was not feeling well at all, so we felt it was best if we didn't go see the movie this weekend. Instead her sister and I drove to a small town west of there called Malta, where there's a farm that also grows apples. They have this little shop where you can purchase all different kinds of apples, you can buy fudge, a donut, apple pies, caramel apples...omg it was so tempting. The only thing I got while I was there was some Amaretto fudge. (winks at StygianMuse)

Last night we played NTT at www.thewolven.com. Kerry hosted and I kept score. Lainie missed another chance to get in my box...sigh! Voodooman won a close game. Most of the artists are ones you would recognize when you hear them, but not the song. And Kerry's hubby even came in and played! I had fun and I hope those who played also had fun.

Going to try to rip a couple cd's before The Amazing Race starts. Not sure if Kerry will pull her nose out of the book in time to watch it with me. Will wait and see.

If your apartment fills with smoke, what do you do?

Trivia question for you. Do you...

A. Open all the windows

B. Open the door to the hallway

C. Both


Under NO circumstance, if there's no fire, do you open the door to the hallway. All that will do is fill the hallway up with smoke, the fire alarm will be triggered, the building will be evacuated in the middle of ER, two firetrucks will arrive, firemen will bring in fans to blow the smoke out of the hallway, and you'll get the honor of standing outside in the cold for 20 minutes.

I thought this song would be appropriate since it rained AGAIN today!


Who'll Stop the Rain by Credence Clearwater Revival

Long as I remember the rain been comin down.
Clouds of mystry pourin confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, tryin to find the sun;
And I wonder, still I wonder, wholl stop the rain.

I went down virginia, seekin shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, still I wonder wholl stop the rain.

Heard the singers playin, how we cheered for more.
The crowd had rushed together, tryin to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pourin, fallin on my ears.
And I wonder, still I wonder who'll stop the rain.

Your 1920's Name is:

Blossom Esperanza

What's" Your 1920's Name?

I thought I'd post the letter written by the Management of my complex, to be given to the technician on Thursday.

Dear Comcast and Affiliates:

This letter is to allow Comcast Technicians and or any of its affiliates to run cable from a room through the common adjoining wall, which shall feed through bushings installed on both sides to make the additional outlets in the adjoining room.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the management office.

Sincerely,
Country Lakes Management


I decided to call the office and speak to Gwen, who I have been dealing with since Saturday. I wanted to make sure they were aware that I was wanting the 2nd bedroom wired, not the first bedroom. To give those of you that have not seen my apartment an idea of what's involved, let me describe my apartment to you. When you enter the door, in front of you is the living room. There is a bedroom to the right and a bedroom to the left. Straight ahead on the opposite wall is the sliding glass door leading out to the balcony. Right next to that, on the left, is the fireplace, which is at an angle (not perpendicular to the sliding glass door.) That wall that the fireplace is part of, is the wall that separates the living room from bedroom number two. The cable coming into my apartment from outside is on that same wall as the sliding glass door. The wall separating the livingroom from bedroom number one is where the tv is, due to the necessity of being close to the cable outlet. Bedroom number two is where the computer is, and therefore the cable would have to be split off (probably outside), run across the balcony and drilled through the bricks outside and into the second bedroom.

Obviously it would be much simpler if I were having the cable going into bedroom number one, they could split the cable off inside, go through the wall, put the outlet there, and it's done. NO, I have to be difficult and want cable in the opposite bedroom from where the cable comes into the apartment, lol. Gwen assured me that it was still no problem, and they should know what to do when wiring the bedroom. If they have any questions about what to do or how to do it, she told me I could call and ask them to page the Service Manager. Apparently, there's some Town Hall meeting they all have to go to, so the leasing office will be closed at 1pm. Just in time for my appointment from Comcast, lol.

Technology makes it possible for people to gain control over everything, except over technology - John Tudor

More computer issues! Grrrrrr!! I have been on this wireless cable internet for two weeks. I have streamed three times, not without problems, but I've streamed. Friday night, I go into chat, listen to Kerry stream, get all set up, reboot, come back in, connect to producer, 30 seconds later I get disconnected. I try again...same thing. I go in another room and talk to the owner, stream leader, and tech guy. They have me turn off a bunch of stuff that they feel is blocking me from connecting to the stream server. I try again...disconnected after 30 seconds. The tech guy has me set up to allow ports within a certain range to be accessed from my computer, I try again, doesn't work. I was on the phone TWICE with the stream leader. Nothing is working. After two hours, I give up for the night.

My only options are to see if I can get this room wired for direct connection to the cable and ditch the wireless, or go back to my dsl. Saturday I set the alarm for 9am, call my leasing office, and find out I CAN get this room wired for cable tv/internet. They state all I will probably need is a written letter from them to give to Comcast for permission to drill the holes for the cables. I call Comcast, and now have any appointment for Thursday afternoon between 1pm and 5pm CDT to have this bedroom wired. Saturday night before NTT I advised the stream leader and the site owner of what I'm doing and they both agree that will solve my problem.

So once I have the cable hooked up to my computer, and I am off the router, I should be able to stream again. Man, did I miss streaming Friday night! I hope Best Buy will let me return the router, adapter, and network cable. Although I don't have the original packaging for the cable, it was in that plastic crap that I had to tear to pieces to get the cable out. I would really like to get the $170 back I spent on everything.

So in a few days, I should be good to go, keeping my fingers, legs, toes, eyes...all crossed!

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary.If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not a lot to talk about this weekend. I hosted NTT last night (where was lainie?), with Kerry keeping score. We had a lot of fun, even with all the funny names that came in. A chat name was misspelled, instead of pilem, someone typed it as oilem, and it grew from there. Oilem became Oinkem, which became Boinkem, then of course, pokem, strokem, and chokem all had to come in. It was quite funny as I was running down the list of names in every mic spot, trying to kill time while Kerry was finishing up all the guesses and points. It seemed like everytime I opened the mic, another name came in and got me giggling again, lol. We finally asked all the names to leave, because it just got too confusing trying to keep score. One of the culprits for the names forgot which window she was in and accidentally sent her guess to Kerry using that name instead of her real name. NTT is Saturday nights at www.thewolven.com from 9pm-11pm EDT.

Some good football games were played this weekend, too. My favorite college team, the Iowa Hawkeyes beat up on the Purdue Boilermakers Saturday, 47-10. Today Da Bears beat Buffalo 40-7. Wish I'd been able to see that game. Maybe it will be re-aired again later tonight on cable. Then my boys, Dallas, well they got beat pretty good in a tough divisional game against Philadelphia. It was a close game when I was watching in the first half, but apparently things sort of fell apart in the second half. Oh well! Better luck next week!

Can't mention all this without lamenting about the Leafs losing to the Canadiens. Kerry and I were cheering them on while we tried to host NTT. The Blackhawks also lost Saturday, to Columbus. Chicago actually has a pro hockey team? lmao

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians reading this! Have some turkey and stuffing for me!

They say dreams are the windows of the soul--take a peek and you can see the inner workings, the nuts and bolts. Henry Bromel, Northern Exposure, The Big Kiss, 1991

I've had some really strange dreams the last couple of nights. They weren't very involved or long, but they were really really strange. And those of you that know me pretty well are used to my strange dreams.

Monday night I dreamed that I was outside my apartment building, and I noticed going from building to building were a couple of the maintenance guys from my WORK office building. They were carrying these black boxes with handles that were about the size of small shoe box. They would go into one building for a couple minutes, walk back out, then go into the next one for a couple minutes, etc. So I followed the one named Jerry (yes I know his name, no he's not single, lmao) into one of the buildings to see what he was doing. He went up to the second floor, stood in the hallway for a couple minutes, just standing there. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was getting GPS (Global Positioning System) readings for our building so the whole complex could be mapped out.

That was it, that was all of it. Weird huh? The next one is just as strange.

Tuesday night I dreamed I was listening to the local country station, US99, in my bedroom. The morning dj was on, Ray Stevens. Not sure if it was actually morning in my dream, I just know he was on the air at the time. While I'm listening, this guy calls into the station and they put him on the air. He says to Ray, over the air, that he had called up the station for something (not sure what, he didn't say) and he talked to this really nice lady with a pretty voice. Well somehow, without them saying anything, I knew it was my sister. (For those that don't know, I have one full sister who isn't talking to me, and hasn't pretty much for the last 17 years.) You guessed it, it was this sister working at US99. So anyway, Ray Stevens tells this guy that he shouldn't have talked to her, and shouldn't have mentioned her on air, because she works behind the scenes and they weren't supposed to talk about her on the air. They told the guy, whoever he was, that he had to hang up and not call back to her, lmao. And I'm sitting here thinking, in my dream, Wow! I had no idea she worked at US99! LMAO

I will go weeks without remembering any dreams, then all of a sudden I'll have one or two that I remember and make absolutely no sense! Like this week, lmao.

Time to go get ready for bed, and hope for a peaceful nights sleep without any crazy dreams!

I finally reached a live human being tonight after sitting on hold for about 15 minutes. Here's a summary of our conversation:

The $140.47 was for the period 9/29 - 11/10, or 41 days. It's $99 monthly, plus part of a month, resulting in $140.47.

The $99 one time charge was broken down into two pieces. $59.85 and $39.15. I was told it was because two technicians came to do the install. I explained the whole story about the mixup with the times, etc, so she removed the $39.15 off the bill. I wish it had been the $59.85, but beggars can't be choosers. She also explained to me that when the technician installed everything, the workorders that I signed should have had the installation charges listed on them. I told her I didn't remember seeing any charges printed on them, the technician didn't point them out, and of course, I didn't read the workorders that closely. I didn't even think there'd be monetary charges listed there. I was too rushed to get to work so I didn't have to take more than a half a day vacation. She also told me that the amounts I was charged were also reduced amounts. Normally, the charges for installing the internet and voice is $99 EACH, and the tv is $44.95. So I still got a deal even when charged $99 total! Then I asked her, politely of course, why I would be charged an installation fee when THEY bought my cable company and THEY had to come out to hook up their own cable connections. She advised me that Comcast doesn't see us as TVMax customers, only as "new" customers to Comcast. So we're all being charged installation charges for whatever we're being suckered into buying.

Then I asked her about my TVMax bill. I just paid it when the Comcast guy came and switched everything over, and it was for the period of 9/17 to 10/16. I only used 10 days of the 30 days I paid for in advance. Was I going to get a refund for the 20 days I didn't have TVMax service? Apparently, there's a third party that's working on all that, to go through all the TVMax accounts and probably figure out what people are owed for pre-paid service that switched to Comcast in the middle. I have the number, and I might try to call tomorrow.

As it stands now, I still have my Comcast service, and I just need to cancel all my phone services now.

Got my first bill from Comcast today, was scared to open it. I was right to be scared! $257.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are gonna get a call from me tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a week this has been! Let me recap for those that don't know...

As I mentioned in a previous post, my cable company was bought by Comcast, so they were coming around a couple weeks ago to talk to all the residents about the switch over, trying to get new or additional services signed up. I had already tentatively planned on just keeping what I had, standard cable. When a Comcast rep showed up at my door one evening, I thought about it some more, and realized the "Triple Play" option would save me about $30 a month for the next year, and after that, I would be back to paying about what I'm paying now. Only difference is I would have more cable channels, cable internet (instead of dsl), cable phone, and only one bill instead of three.

So a couple days later this same gentleman calls me on the phone to schedule an appointment. I explain that I work during the day, and with the internet being installed, I'd like to be here to make sure everything works ok. He tells me that he has set me up with an appointment the next evening between 6pm and 8pm. I get all excited cause I'm getting new stuff! I come home from work the next evening, and I wait...and I wait...and I wait. At 10 minutes to 8pm, I call the guy who sold me this deal and gave me the appt. No answer, so I leave him a message! I wait 20 minutes. At 8:10, I call Comcast direct and speak to a representative there. He tells me I never had an appointment for 6-8pm that night, I had one from 2-4 that afternoon. News to me! But then things started making sense. At work that afternoon, I received a call from the leasing office, saying they had a technician there and could he go into my apt to install the cable. I said, "Hold on, they're installing both tv and internet, and I had an appt for 6-8 tonight."

She said she'd explain it all to them, so I "assumed" that I'd still get a technician here between 6 and 8pm. The second thing I realized is that when I got home about 5pm, there was a message on my answering machine that had been cut off. It was from a Comcast technician, there to install my cable. The time? 1:59pm!

So I arranged it with the representative on the phone to have someone come the next morning between 8am and 12pm, and I took a half a vacation day. He showed up at 8:40, and was very polite, and knew what he was doing. But there's a kicker! Something NO ONE told me during all of this signing up for new services...they aren't allowed (yet) to wire into rooms that aren't already wired for cable. So, my second bedroom, where the computer is, that isn't wired for cable, AIN'T GONNA GET DIRECT CABLE HOOKUP. I either have to move my computer into the living room right by the tv (NO WAY IN HELL) or I go wireless! And then! My phone was originally going to be installed on October 4, but he set it up while he was there. BUT! I can only have a portable phone hooked up to the converter box thingy, and it'll be the ONLY phone I have. Regular wall phones won't work no more. Ok, that ain't no big deal, I can handle taking the headset around my apartment with me, it's not like I'm in some huge ass house and have a phone in every room, lmao. But still, it would have been nice to know all this beforehand, cause I might have made a different decision!

So the technician leaves about 11:30am, I put on my work clothes and I head to work. Thank goodness traffic is light then, I made it to work at 12:00pm, and I didn't really need to be there until 12:30pm. After work, I head straight to Best Buy, because I've been told I now have to buy a wireless router, an adapter card, and because I'm not moving my computer, a 50 foot network cable to hook up the router and computer while it's being set up. Once that's done, I don't need the cable again. Someone suggested I then return the network cable, but what if my computer crashes, and I have to re-install the router? I'll need the network cable again, and it will be much easier to have it here, then to run out and spend another $36 for one.

All told I spent $140+ dollars at Best Buy getting all this shit. Fortunately, I brought it home, and it was very easy to set up. I haven't had a problem since I did. I've set up my new email addy, now I just need to tell everyone...OH YEAH! Forgot one other thing! I was originally going to keep my same phone number. HA HA, NOPE! Found that out at the last minute too, they can't do that, only way they could do it is if for a couple weeks until the router was updated or some shit like that, I could receive calls, but I couldn't make any. Now, I don't make a lot of phone calls, but just the thought of not being able to made me say Ok, give me a new number! So now I have not only a new email addy, but a new phone number to give to all my friends, family members, acquaintences, cute strangers on the street, just kidding on that last one.

Tonight I was planning on sitting here at the computer, logged into my old email account, sending emails to everyone advising them of my new addy. Well, that didn't get done, lol. Maybe tomorrow while Kerry's at school I can do it.

Time to start getting ready for bed. Hope you enjoyed my adventure in the world of Comcast Cable! LMAO

I've been sitting here since Kerry went to finish making dinner, by myself, in the quiet (except for the kids yelling outside and the dryer running). I'm caught up on the blogs, I watched the Bears beat Minnesota today, I called the cable company about my continuing cable problems. Right now, I don't get CBS. It's stuck on a frozen frame from last night sometime. I have sound, whatever is currently airing, I hear it. But all I see is a frame from last nights football game. I even unplugged the cable for a few minutes and plugged it back in, that didn't work. Not that I thought it would.

I'm not sure if I'm bored, or just undecisive of what I should do. I have things that are on tape that I probably should watch. I have a book I'm in the middle of that I want to finish. I also have a stack of cd's behind me that I should rip to my computer. But I'm not really in the mood to do any of that. So here I sit. I suppose I should probably start another load of laundry, but I just don't feel like it. Maybe I'll rip one cd then go read for a bit.

Ah, the joy of television! A few days ago, I got an envelope in the mail from a cable company in the area (Comcast). I don't have their cable, because the apartment complex I'm in only allows cable tv from one company, TVMax. Thinking I didn't need it, I tossed the envelope in the dumpster. In addition to the envelope, there was an oversized postcard from Comcast too, which said something about them buying out TVMax. So I realized right away I might want that envelope I just tossed in the dumpster. Fortunately, there was a lot of stuff piled up in the dumpster, and the envelope was sitting right on top. I reached in delicately, and pulled out the Comcast envelope.

Turns out, Comcast bought TVMax, so my cable is switching over to Comcast, and inside the envelope was a letter explaining some of the changes, and a form to fill out for approval to allow a Comcast technician into my apartment for the switchover. Now, keep in mind, I have basic cable. Not digital cable. Basic analog cable. I can't afford, nor do I need, all the additional channels I'd get with digital. I have no converter box, since I have no premium channels, and almost all newer tv's are cable ready. There should be no reason for a Comcast technician to come into my apartment, but what do I know?

Today I go to the Comcast website to see what channels I would get, what packages they offer, just in case I want to sign up for something different. My cable bill from TVMax was $37.15 per month, with Comcast it will be $44.04. There was an expanded digital package for only $2 more per month, that would require the converter box, and I would get a bunch more channels. I was undecided about whether to do it or not, after all, it's only two dollars a month, right?

After comparing the list of channels offered with the $44.04 Comcast package to what I currently have with TVMax, I'm gaining a few channels and losing one. I lose Sci-Fi Channel, but I gain TV Land, Hallmark Channel, Turner Classic Movies, Disney Channel (for all the rugrats I have running around here all day, lmao), CLTV (Chicagoland TV), Fox News, MSNBC, and Oxygen. What a tradeoff! I don't watch Sci-Fi that often; sometimes I'll catch an episode of Stargate, or a Star Trek marathon, or a Farscape marathon. Other than that, I don't watch it much, it's not a big loss for me. However, gaining Hallmark, Oxygen, TCM, and TV Land, is awesome!!!

The other thing I am considering, is the fact that if I upgrade to the enhanced cable option, I don't really get that much more in channel selection. I'd get the music channels, but what do I need them for? I have 11,000 songs on my computer! I would get some pay-per-view channels, because I'd have the converter box for them, but I don't buy pay-per-view movies. So in reality, I don't really need to go with the enhanced cable option. I think I'll be just fine with the standard cable options, and I highly doubt comcast will need to enter my apartment. Even if they did, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

So now I have this form giving them permission to enter, and this letter explaining everything. In the letter, it says, "Your building will be converted to Comcast services between Tuesday, September 26, and Thursday, September 28." That's all fine and good, but when I talked to one of the leasing agents tonight, that's when they will be here signing us up with the appointments to come and switch our cable over. Who KNOWS when the appointment will be! The letter also states that billing with Comcast will begin on September 29. What if I go there on September 28, wherever they are on the property, and they can't give me an appointment until September 30? Or October 1? Will I lose cable for two days? Interesting questions I can't wait to have answered!

It's Sunday morning, I'm listening to Kerry's stream, and felt the need to blog. Nothing real exciting to talk about, but I had to do it anyway.

It's been a busy weekend for me. Yesterday morning I got up about 8am, because I had a funeral mass to go to at 10am for my friend's mother-in-law. I know many people in her family from going to so many birthday parties, so felt I needed to be there for my friend and her husband. Afterward, there was lunch at a nearby banquet facility, so by the time I got home it was 2pm. I didn't get all the sleep I normally get on Saturday mornings, so I undressed, climbed in bed, and promptly went to sleep for an afternoon nap. By the time I woke up again it was 5:15pm.

I still hadn't watched Thursday and Friday's episodes of DooL, so I started watching them. I was almost done with the second one, and the phone rings. It's Kerry, telling me she won't be home in time for NTT. She suggests she could do it at 11pm instead of 9pm, but I insist that the people who play NTT won't be up that late to start the game then. I talked to the stream leader, decided I would throw a list together quick, he would keep score for me, and we'd do it as scheduled from 9-11pm EST.

We had a pretty good group there, Kerry ended showing up with two songs left, lol. Was a successful night, I believe. After that was done, I hung around to listen to another streamer for about an hour, then I went to relax in front of the tv again to watch a couple shows I taped Friday night while streaming. It was actually two episodes of the same show, Men In Trees. It's a new show this season starring Anne Heche. The series premiere was actually on Tuesday I think, but for some reason my ABC that night was having a sound problem, and I couldn't tolerate it. So when they re-aired it Friday night, followed by the second episode, I taped both and watched them last night. Very cute show!

After Kerry is done streaming in about 30 minutes, I'm off to go visit my aunt. We're going to go see The Black Dahlia, she'll fix me some yummy lunch, and I'll vacuum her floors for her. I have a load of towels in the washing machine, will have to do a couple loads when I get home later, so I have clothes to wear to work this week.

Have a great week, everyone!

Today was not my day, but tomorrow is already looking better. I think it's the weather. I don't remember the last time I saw the sun, and it seems everyone gets grumpy when there's no sun for an extended period of time. For the umpteenth day in a row it rained (surprise, surprise). We woke up this morning with this story. Fortunately, there hasn't been any flooding out by me, but the lake/pond by my apartment is pretty full. We certainly don't need any more rain, so I hope it stays away for a couple weeks at least, lol.

So today started out bad, before the rain even came. I have two alarms set to get me up in the morning...yes I said TWO alarms. The first one goes off at 5:00 AM, the second is set for 5:30 AM. I don't need to get up at 5:00 AM, it's just to start the process of making me conscious enough to get up by 6:00 AM, LOL. When the 5:30 AM alarm goes off, instead of turning it off, I (usually) hit snooze every 9 minutes until about 6:00. I distinctly remember checking my alarm clock before I went to bed last night. Either I was not awake enough to remember, or it decided to be obstinate and not go off. Either way, I didn't wake up until 7:42 AM. The big problem with that? That's about the time when I need to be leaving for work, not just waking up.

So I scramble out of bed, see the time, cuss a couple times, grab the phone, leave a message for my boss telling him I'm running late, and I should be there by 9:00. HA! The god's were against me today! I get showered, dressed, made my sandwich, and left my apartment by 8:30, which is pretty damn good for me, cause it normally takes almost an hour for me to do all that, lol. I get in my car, head out to the highway, and there's a huge traffic jam. It's all because of a new section of construction they started a couple exits up from me. They shifted lanes over, because they are going to start reconfiguring the off-ramp there. So of course, everyone has to come to a complete stop there instead of just moving over as the lines indicate. That section then sort of blends into the next section that's been shifted over about a half mile up the road for some bridge work being done prior to starting the road widening that is to start up again next year. Usually once we get past all that it opens up more and we can actually go above the posted speed limit instead of 30 mph under.

When I got to the toll booth to pay my $.40 right before I exit off and get on a different tollway, traffic came to a dead stop. All I saw in front of me was break lights. As late as I was, and not knowing what was causing the backup, I changed lanes and exited there to take my back way to another road I use as an alternate. Right after I got on that alternate road, it started pouring rain. Cats and dogs pouring rain. Buckets and buckets of water. So of course, everyone slowed down, cause you couldn't see where you were going. Back to 30mph...grrrr! By that time it was 9:05, and I was still at least 15 minutes away from work. Of course, once the rain started, there was NO WAY I was going to be able to get my cell phone out of my purse, dial my boss' number to tell him that I was going to be later than I thought. The time I finally show up to work? 9:30 AM. Now I have an hour and a half to make up for. Sigh! I figure I'll make up 30 minutes at lunch, stay 30 minutes late, and come in tomorrow (hopefully) 30 minutes early. No way on God's green earth I'm staying at work till 5:30 PM. I leave at 4:30 PM, the tollway I avoided in the morning was moving smoothly, I get just past the toll booth after getting back on the one that caused problems in the morning and traffic comes to a complete stop. WTF? About 10 miles up the road, there apparently was an accident. So we creep and crawl, and we creep and crawl, and we sit and we inch forward, and an hour later I finally get home. All in all, it took me 90 minutes to make a drive that usually takes an hour.

By that time, I was so frustrated and grumpy, the slightest little thing would set me off. I slammed the phone down after a possible collection agency called for the third time in two days, wanting someone who I have never heard of and obviously does not live here. I was starving, so I tried to make a fried egg sandwich. Since I was really really hungry, I wanted to use three eggs. So I plopped them in the same greased pan. Well, apparently, I didn't put enough butter in there, because they stuck like glue, and I mangled them trying to get them out of the pan. So I ate a scrambled egg sandwich instead. I tried to get on the computer when I got home, to surprise Kerry with some exciting news. I logged into msn, clicked it to try to send her a message, nothing happened. I clicked again, nothing. I clicked 30 more times in rapid succession, finally the msn window opened. I saw Kerry was on away, I sent her a message, filled with aggravation and grumblings about how I hate everything, no response. She was on away after all, lol. So after no response in about two minutes, I say "f**k it" and reboot my computer.

Rebooting solves all problems, right Kerry? LMAO While the computer was rebooting, I made my scrambled egg sandwich, fought with the eggs, the pan, the bread, the butter, some spice containers on top of my stove, I was rarin' for a fight with anything in front of me, lmao. After watching DooL, sort of (I ffw through all Hope/Patrick scenes and some Billie/Steve scenes), I was feeling much calmer, so I got back on my newly rebooted computer. It worked like a charm. Of course, by that time, it was 7:45 PM EST, and Bones was going to start at 8. So Kerry and I had about 15 minutes to talk before I went to go watch tv, and she was going to zone out and probably go to bed early. No Chris Young music tonight, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Now it's 9:30 PM CST, about time for me to start getting ready for bed, instead of midnight, and I haven't ripped a cd tonight. I have the hugest stack behind me on the bed, just waiting to be ripped to my computer. I hit the motherload last night at Target. Lionel Richie new cd, John Mayer new cd, Everclear new cd, Barenaked Ladies new cd, Papa Roach new cd, Bob Seger new cd, and Black Sabbath Greatest Hits 1970-1978. That makes 19 cd's I have to rip to my computer, lmao. OMG! I need to stop, I think I'm addicted! I wonder if there's a CA...Cd Anonymous?

Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment.~ Robert Benchley


This was the closest I could find to a quote that summed up my evening. I'm going to go all somber on everyone and talk about today and the great sadness on this fifth anniversary of the attacks in NY, Washington and PA. I did my best, as I'm sure many people did, to not dwell on it all day, and to do our best to go about our daily lives.

The day started out awful, pouring rain, heavy traffic, I was exhausted because I stayed up too late last night watching some stupid Chinese movie on The Sundance Channel. It finally stopped raining, oh some time today, not sure when, and it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, and tomorrow night, no end in sight. If I don't post for a while, I've floated away, lol.

Traffic coming home was very light, which suprised me. It normally takes me about an hour to get home, tonight it only took 45 minutes, and I left 20 minutes later than I normally do (because I was so late this morning).

So I come home (thankfully it wasn't raining), I start a load of laundry, I watch Days of our Lives, I send some songs to Kerry, she sends me some songs, I fixed some pasta for dinner...I feel like I got so much done tonight, although I know in reality I didn't do much, lmao.

The football game is boring, so I guess I'll go watch something else for an hour or so. Until next time...

Well! What can I say that Kerry hasn't already said? It was a WONDERFUL weekend! It was so nice to spend some time with Kerry, and Mike too, of course! LOL

We did go shopping on Saturday. She wanted to see Chicago, so what better way to do that than to walk up State Street. We were working our way up to Marshall Fields, when we passed by an Avenue store. They sell plus sizes, and it's where I buy a lot of my clothes. I pointed it out to Kerry, she didn't believe me that they sold plus sizes. I said uh huh they do, I buy my clothes from there. She needed no more convincing to go inside. She would have bought the store out if she could have, lol. Instead she proudly purchased a few nice tops that will remind her of Chicago every time she wears them.

On we walked, eventually reaching Marshall Fields, where Kerry would find a new purse. She actually saw three, but the first one had a clasp that went over the top, which she wasn't crazy about. Then she saw a tan one, similar to the one she had with her, and she was about to get it, when I suggested she look over in one other spot she hadn't looked yet. Wouldn't you know it, she ended up finding a purse that was quite different from the one she had been thinking of buying. It's one of those purses with such a unique design on it, people will ask where she got that purse, and she can proudly say she got it in Chicago at Marshall Fields.

We decided to start working our way back to the car, and decided to visit Tower Records on the way back. That was the other major purchase Kerry had to make while here. She ended up getting 11 cd's. They were having a sale, buy 4, get the 5th one free. Can't beat that! A bunch of stuff she was wanting to get, except she didn't see John Denver Unplugged (wasn't he always unplugged?) $142 later, we trudged back to the car, headed to my place to relax a bit before the concert.

Kenny! What can I say other than fantastic? I was singing so much, I almost lost my voice. It's been a long time since I've been to a country music concert, and it honestly wasn't much different than any rock concert I've been to recently. There were drunks there, there were potheads, there were a couple arguments, the usual stuff for any concert, lol. Our seats were about as far away from the stage as you could get without actually leaving the stadium, lol. Opposite end of the stadium, very last row. But the sound was great, and there were enough big screens so we could see most of what was going on. I was really surprised to hear on the radio that morning that there were still tickets available. For Kenny Chesney, I thought it would have been sold out instantly, but I guess not. There were a few empty seats around us, which was nice, we weren't squished between people where we couldn't move. And the seats were bleachers, with backs; I thought they'd be stadium seats. Oh well, at least the backs helped. The concert was over about 10:30pm, we probably got home about midnight.

The next day, I had wanted to take them up to Wisconsin to see The House On The Rock. But with the Brazilian restaurant being in downtown Chicago, and the fact that we were also supposed to go see another friend about 3-1/2 hours from Chicago, there was no way we'd be able to drive up to Wisconsin, back into the city, and then out StygianMuse's house. As it was, we still didn't get to her house until at least 9pm, lol. Kerry just LOVED the double-decker bus tour. We went all over the downtown area, the guide talked about a lot of the buildings, the history behind them, which ones survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, where street names came from, why certain buildings were built the way they were. I learned a lot too. I've taken a tour of the city, but this one was the best I've been on. It put us behind schedule, but it was well worth it!

What an absolutely wonderful visit! I can't wait for my turn to go back to Toronto and have Kerry show me more of Canada (Hopefully PK can go with me again!)

Hump day is almost over. And what a quick day it was! I got to work about 8am, left at 9:45 to go to lunch with a customer, got back to the office about 1:45, and was heading home at 4pm. And I was able to get pretty much most everything done that I needed to!

My plan this morning was to leave between 9:15 and 9:30. The customer is just over an hour away, and I wanted to allow for enough time just in case. We have two company vehicles. One, the van, was being used today by a salesman in town. The other one, a Mitsubishi Galant, has been in use by a new employee from Japan. He couldn't purchase a car until he was able to get a US drivers license, so for the last two months, he's been driving the company car. Anyway, I found out from other people that he was getting his own car last night, and would be turning in the company car this morning. So I waited this morning, patiently, for him to come in to the office. At about 9:10, I go down where the logbook is kept for scheduling the car, and where the keys are kept, and no keys. I go ask him if he is using the car. He says he is turning it in today, and asks if I need it. I say yes. He asks when, I say now! lol. One of the requirements of using the car, is you can't return it without gas. It apparently was at half a tank, and he thought he'd be nice and go fill it up for me. It's now 9:20. He says, "I'll be back in 10 minutes." I say ok, I will wait. Patiently I wait at my desk. 10 minutes pass...15 minutes pass...20 minutes pass...I'm starting to think I should just take my own damn car and worry about reimbursement for the miles later. Keep in mind, the gas station is less than a block away! Another five minutes pass, and finally he walks in with the keys. I stand up, expecting him to walk towards me to hand me the keys. No, he wants to go talk to our HR person, I guess to let her know he was turning the car in and that I was using it. After another minute that seems like five, he finally brings me the keys, and I'm out the door like I'm being chased by bees. Oh yeah, he also had to explain to me, in detail, where the car was located in the parking garage.

I go out to the car, climb in, adjust the seat, adjust the mirrors, pull out, and get on my way. I needed an hour 15 minutes to get there. And I turned on the wrong street. I couldn't remember if it was the first light or the second light. So as I'm sitting at the light waiting to turn left, I'm calling a co-worker to get the salesman's cell phone number so I can call him and find out where to turn. As I tell her where I am, she says, "Doug said to turn at the Culver's." Hooray, I was only a block away. The light changes and I head to the correct street where the customer is located. We talk in his office for a few minutes, then head to lunch. I had the most delicious pulled-pork sandwich. We were there about an hour or so, we go back to the customer's office, and off I head back to work, while the saleman goes to another customer for the afternoon. 4pm never came so fast, lol.

So I got home this evening, I finished cleaning the bathroom floor, cleaned the toilet, and discovered I need to have maintenance come fix it. I'll talk to them tomorrow when I drop off my rent, they should come on Friday when I'm home from work doing other stuff. I noticed that most of the seal around the base of the toilet is gone, and will ask them to caulk that, hopefully that will help curb my ant problem next spring. I will also, hopefully, have them fix or replace the blinds in my bedroom. The pole that you twist to open and close them broke, and I've just kept them closed all summer, no need to open them when the room will stay cooler with them closed. Now that I will want to start having sunlight in to warm the room, I need them to open, lol. Oh yeah, will also ask if they can pull the dryer out so the air vent going outside can be re-attached. It's on the floor behind the dryer, and it's letting the warm air out and lint is collecting on the wall and the shelf above it, lol. Once they fix all that, I'll talk to them about renewing my lease. I got a note from them today, asking me to stop by before September 15th, to sign a new lease, since my current one will expire on November 30. And I have no problem signing it this early, unless I get let go from my job right afterwards, lol. That happened to me in 2003.

Ok, enough of this rambling, I still have to go watch DooL, and get to bed, I've been staying up WAY too late all week, and it's getting hard to get up in the mornings, lol.

Oh, Lainie? You were in one of my dreams last night. I can't remember now what it was about, but you were in it, that much I remember, lmao.

Wow, where to start! It seems like forever since I posted last. Oh wait! It HAS been forever, lol.

As some of you know, I am having visitors this weekend. My bestest friend (and her husband) is coming to visit me! I am SO excited!!! We have Saturday and Sunday to go...go...go! Saturday morning, bright and early, I'm going to pick up her up and we are headed downtown for some SHOPPING! I'm taking her to Marshall Fields (it's SO Chicago), and Tower Records (she insists on buying a TON of music while she's here), and for lunch I'm thinking Ed Debevick's. While we do that, her husband is going to go see a Chicago Cubs baseball game. Even if they lose, I still think it's a great opportunity for him to visit Wrigley Field. There's no other baseball field like it, with the Ivy, and the bricks, and the bleachers, and the rooftop fans.

After all that exhausting shopping, we're coming back out here to rest for a bit, and hopefully meet up with her husband in the late afternoon, but unless he leaves the game early, we'll probably miss him. And he might just go from the game straight downtown to do some sightseeing...Sears Tower, Buckingham Fountain, Navy Pier, etc. After our rest, my friend and I are going to see Kenny Chesney in concert! *jumps up and down* What are the odds that he's in town for a concert the SAME weekend she's coming into town, and there were actually tickets available????? It's fate I tell ya! His opening acts are Carrie Underwood and Dierks Bentley. I've heard Dierks does a really great job, as does Kenny.

By the time we get back to her hotel after that, we should be REALLY exhausted, and I'm going to drag them out of bed early the next morning so we can go up to Wisconsin, about 2 hours away, and go to The House On The Rock. It's like a museum, but it's in this HUGE house, and it's this amazing collection of things you wouldn't believe were collected, including the worlds largest carousel. It's truly a once in a lifetime experience. We should be done early afternoon, will head back down to the Chicago area to eat at Fogo de Chao. It's a Brazilian Steakhouse, and my friend's husband says the food is to die for! I'll have to bust open my piggy bank to eat dinner, lmao.

After all that, after dinner, we're going to drive a few hours to go visit another friend who lives in the general sort of vicinity of me, lol. It's been a few years since they've seen each other, so it will be a nice visit. We're all going to collapse in bed that night, and whenever my friend drags her ass out of bed the next morning (will probably be 4am, lmao) they'll start their trek home.

In the meantime, I've started some cleaning, want the place to look nice when they see my apartment. It certainly won't be perfect, but I'm trying to get a few things done that needed to be done before. Like my bathroom floor. No matter how much I mopped it, vacuumed it, mopped it, scrubbed it, it just wouldn't look clean. It will be now! I realized that the only thing that would get it clean would be a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! Boy howdy is it clean now! The only hard part is being down on my hands and knees to scrub, lol...even with a cushion to kneel on. I did a third last night, a third tonight, and the other third tomorrow night. And when I was at Target tonight, I wanted to get some heavy duty Magic Erasers, and I FORGOT! I knew there was something not on my list that I wanted but I couldn't remember. Once I got home, I remembered, of course!

Speaking of Target...I bought more cd's (said in a sing song voice, lmao). I got the one last Kenny Chesney cd that we (Kerry and I) were missing for our collection. Now we have every cd he's released, lmao! I got the new cd by Crossfade, and alternative rock band. And, I got a cd of the soundtrack to a movie called Broken Bridges. It's a CMT Films and Paramount Home Entertainment Picture. I'm assuming it will be coming to theatres soon. Anyway, Toby Keith is on the cover, and he does almost half the songs on the soundtrack! He's in the movie too! I don't know what the movie is about, but with Toby singing the songs, the music at least should be good.

Tomorrow at work, I'm going to lunch with one of our salesman and a customer. So I get to leave the office about 9:30, and I won't be back till about 2pm, lol. Makes a nice short day in the office. Good thing I'm not swamped with work right now. And I took Friday off so I can be all set when my friend and her husband arrive after dinner, barring any unforeseen delays at the Canada border, lmao. Since it's only going to be 73F tomorrow, I don't want to wear a summer outfit and freeze all day, so I have to go decide what to wear tomorrow! It's hump day!

Yesterday I went to see the movie World Trade Center. I cried through at least half of it, and I forgot tissues. It wasn't a movie so much about the buildings and what happened on September 11, 2001; it was more about two Port Authority Police Officers that were trapped when the buildings collapsed. A very emotional movie! Since I knew I was going to see it on Sunday, Saturday night I watched United Flight 93 on A&E. I would like to think that I would have shown just some of the bravery those men and women had in trying to take the plane back before it hit another building.

On a lighter note, I've been having some strange things going on at work that I wish I could attribute to a full moon. Alas, that is not to be; the moon was full about two weeks ago. First, let me give a brief explanation about what I do and where I work.

I work at a steel trading company. We buy steel coils. Think about a roll of toilet paper, and we buy those in steel, about 4-6 feet (1-2 meters) wide. They weigh anywhere from 10,000 lbs to 45,000 lbs each. We have customers located all over the east coast, south and midwest of the U.S., and my department purchases steel from mills located in the midwest, west coast, and east coast of the U.S. My particular story has to do with a steel mill located in West Virginia (in the tiny narrow point that is smushed between Ohio and Pennsylvania) and a customer located in Alabama. There are three ways for us to ship these steel coils from WV to AL. We can load them on trucks, we can put them on railcars, or we can put them on barges and they would go down the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers to a barge terminal in AL where it would be unloaded. As for cost, trucking the material is currently the most expensive method, then rail, then barge. So to save the customer some money due to high steel costs, we agreed to barge several of his orders down there. Now, the other thing you have to understand is that these orders total several hundred thousand pounds.

We had some of the material ready for a barge that left the mill the end of July. On that barge we loaded about 827,000 pounds of steel coils (I'm not even going to TRY to convert for ya Kerry, lmao). While on the Tennessee River, after entering Alabama, the barge has to go through a series of locks. I'm sure this is due to different water levels in that area of the river. Apparently, sometime before our barge was to enter the locks, another barge hit one of the doors to the locks, and jammed it. Because of this, the door couldn't open and close normally, so they had to bring the barges in to the locks one at a time instead of several at once. They may have also wanted to get them fixed. All I really know for sure is that our barge would be delayed by at least another 4-7 days, on top of the approximately 2 weeks it had already been on the water.

Another mill, which had originally contracted for the barge, and who also had material on the barge, needed their material delivered or a customer would be shut down. So, unbeknownst to us, they diverted the barge over to the Yellow Creek Port Authority in Iuka, Mississippi, about 65 miles further away than the original destination. We did not find out about this until after the barge was completely unloaded, not that we would have had any say in the matter, but we could have started discussions about costs with the necessary parties. So now, we've been scrambling to figure out who will pay the extra costs for our customer to truck freight the coils 65 miles instead of 20 miles, plus storage costs since the coils were unloaded without telling us. Storage costs are $.90 per ton for a minimum of 30 days, so for 413.6 tons that $372 or so. Not a lot, but it's extra cost our customer shouldn't have to pay. Then there's the freight costs. That's a difference of about $12.60 per ton, or just over $5000. That's a chunk of change!

Here's a picture of a barge being unloaded, that's what our coils sorta look like, except ours are not rusty, they are wrapped in paper, and the barge is covered. But it at least gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

Fast-forward to today. I get an email from the same mill that produced the material that was on the barge. They had 40 more coils, totaling about a million pounds, that were supposed to go on another barge down to THE SAME CUSTOMER. Any guesses on what happened? You'll never get it, lol. The mill loads the coils into rail cars to go up to the other mill that contracted the barge (and where they buy the bare coils that they coat), but instead of the coils being unloaded off the rail cars and loaded onto the barge, they continue on their merry way down to Alabama! That million pounds of steel, would have cost about $15,700 total in freight to go down by barge. By rail it's almost double that, $26,000. I'm told that to bring the railcars back to the mill and wait to go on another barge would be difficult, because they don't know for sure if or when the next barge will be going down to Alabama. My first question was, what freight are we being charged? The answer: the barge rate. Whew! So our only solution is to let the rail cars continue on their merry way down to Alabama, we'll alert the customer that he'll be receiving A LOT of railcars in a week or two, but that he's paying the cheaper barge rate, lol.

All this while we're trying to renegotiate the new contract with that customer, lmao.

Ok, I tried posting a picture here at the end of my long-winded tale. I wanted it at the end, not the beginning. Well, I didn't think it worked the first time, so I did it a second time. Then I had two pictures at the top of the same thing. I tried to cut and paste, but it didn't work. So I deleted the two pictures, saved my post, went to help to see what it said about placement of pictures within your text (first vs last...not just centered, left or right). It didn't help, so I figured I'd come back, put the picture in again, and try moving the text around instead. Well I tried that three times, now I can't get the darn picture to post at all, lmao! Ok, while I still had this open, I went and deleted all my cookies and temp internet files, and now the picture shows up! *rolls eyes* Let me try this. I think it worked!