Happy new year!

Happy new year!

You better watch out. Video

You better watch out. Video poker will wipe you out! Spending too much on my vacation at home. Holy crap.

Got the new phone. V

Got the new phone. V cast not working well. Gotta call cust svc tomorrow. Also contacts didn't transfer at the store. Bummer.

Day after the big day.

Day after the big day. BORING. No money so no casino with everyone else. Stayed home. Boo.

Merry Christmas! I'm stuffed. Hope

Merry Christmas! I'm stuffed. Hope if you read this you had a good day. I'll write later.

Ennui

Don't know how to say it, but it's a good crossword word for:

bored: "Fatigued with dullness or tedium."

Me. Today.

Oh, Oh, Big News!

I bought a new phone! I called Verizon to renew my contract yesterday. The rep said first of all that a lot of their programs had changed and that I was currently paying more than I should be because I had piecemeal added stuff to my account as it came out - so she was able to cut my bill by about $15 - although that may be negated because I'm getting V-Cast free for a month and then it's $15/mo if I keep it, so I might end up being right back where I started - but with a bunch of new stuff. And a cool new phone.

Current phone: LG VX6000 - one of the first generation camera phones - no flash and meh quality photos.

New phone: LG VX 8100. Besides V-Cast and MP3 and easier access to the web, it has a 1.3 megapixel camera with a flash. So I'm counting on the pics being much better - you'll see for yourself because I'll be sending them to this blog and we can compare them together with the ones already here.

A flash. Yay! It was a wonderful day when someone invented cameras to put on phones. All-in-One works out great for people like me who are technology-challenged.

Yay, can't wait. She thought it might be here by Christmas - we'll see. Anyway, it'll give me something to play with next week while I'm home, right?

Up to the Minute News

I'll probably blog a bit today because it's SO quiet here - it's 9:00 am, we start at 8:00 am, we have about 175 people on our floor and here's who I've seen today: Josh, Jen, Taryn, Anita, Jim, Margaret and me. I can hear someone talking down the hall so I assume there are at least two more around (unless he's talking to himself, which is entirely possible).

I'll be on vacation next week, return on the 3rd, and then have to attack the 06/07 budget. There's no point in doing much before then. Most of the folks who need to send me financial information won't be back until the 3rd either. So, I'm not sweating it.

Anyway, my plan for next week is to sleep in, stay up late, clean my house, and get ready for the New Year. I have so much crap in my house that I know I can get rid of - it's just hard to actually get around to doing it. And, if I get rid of 5 or 6 bags of stuff, I always seem to end up bringing that much more back in so I never really get ahead. If I get really ambitious next week I'd like to put together a bunch of stuff, take it to Goodwill and make a final donation for taxes. We'll see how ambitious I really get.

Hello $, Goodbye

Well, yesterday was payday, and I am broke again.

Mostly because I paid $1,100 in property taxes so they would be credited for 2005 (and THAT was on top of the $$2,500 or so I paid just last month!) . Property taxes are out of control. There are idiots in this state who want to have a sales tax - on top of state income tax, county tax, property tax, all the local taxes, federal taxes, and what all, they want to have a SALES tax too..........idiots. Last time it was on the ballot the sponsors did not write it to exclude any current taxes, just to add the sales tax. What, do they think we're nuts?
Some people said they were willing to vote for the sales tax, but only if the state income tax was abolished, or property taxes were removed, or some kind of exchange. And I guess I could live with that but not IN ADDITION TO. Jeez. With few exceptions, people in this state do not have bottomless pockets.

Anyway, I'm broke again.

Pin Drop?

It is so quiet around here - the closer we get to the holidays the more vacant it gets around the office. Aimee's gone now until next week - so I'll have to figure out what to do with myself for breaks/lunch. Probably just read the paper and do the crosswords.

I made another scarf last night for Jen because I'm just not happy with the one I made her for Christmas. And, I think she'll appreciate that the new one matches her new coat she just got last week - it's the "Venus" color by Bernat Galaxy - very soft and tactile.

Hoping Julie got out of NYC before the transit strike - I hear through the grapevine she came into town this past weekend but I haven't heard from her - I have a gift for her just the same so I hope she comes in. Maybe on Thursday when we're planning to do a gift exchange.

God, this blog is boring...............Boring. BORING.

You know what I hate? I hate sending emails and text messages or whatever, and getting no response back so you're never ever sure the person read it, then hearing from them days/weeks/months later - "why don't you ever write(call)?" "Long time no hear?" "You never keep in touch", "why didn't you tell me about the party/deadline/whatever".

I'm like, WHAT?, you never called back! or emailed back! or whatever back. Then they say, "h, yeah, I got that. Sorry." or they say they never got it. That's the downfall of email or texting over calling on the phone - unless they respond back that they got the info, you never absolutely know that they're getting the message and you may be counting on them having that information.

So I guess there may be millions of email and text messages floating out there in limbo-land that no-one ever receives.......................and we have no way of knowing it. " la-la-la...here I am floating in the ether, no one wants me...."

Check this out! Aimee made it.

Aimee surprised me with this VERY COOL hat this afternoon - my Christmas present! Love it!

Stuff and Stuff

Well, so much for that. I'm so glad that the storm only lasted a couple of days, and that it warmed up fast and melted it all away in most of the city. Jeez, I said it in the last post, we ALWAYS get ice. It drives me crazy.

I took a day of vacation yesterday - my personal test to see if it's OK to go to work is if I can get off of my porch. I went out yesterday morning and it was iced in and the steps were impassable. So, day at home. Watched "Murder She Wrote" for two hours in the afternoon. Cool.

Today, I get here and remember I have a two hour boring meeting on EEO stuff. They keep mixing EEO items up with affirmative action and diversity items and it drives me nuts because they have separate committees for them...why can't they keep it all straight? grrr....two hours. The actual EEO portion was over in less than an hour.

This weekend I finally got all the packages sent off to CA. Turns out that nephew Andy is engaged, which I didn't find out until the package was sent, but luckily I had included something for her......I met her in San Diego this summer and liked her very much. They seem to suit each other well, so I wasn't surprised to hear about the engagement. But it's pretty exciting.

I also got all the other presents wrapped (rolled up in tissue paper and stuffed in a bag - I only actually "wrapped" three) and it feels good to have them all done. I am now only waiting for the rest of mom's present to get here and I'll be done, done, done. It's supposed to arrive on Thursday.

Ice, Snow, Ice

Why, oh, why, can't we ever have snow without ice like everybody else? WHY?

Edited on Tuesday to say that it's gone now - overnight rain and warm temperatures did a great job of clearing off all the streets of ice and snow.

Expecting an ice storm. Time

Expecting an ice storm. Time to hunker down. 'hunker', hee. Need cigs right away.

TGIF

Yay, it's Friday!

The scary thing is that Christmas is only 9 days away and I still have presents to buy and presents to MAIL. Oops.

I'll get busy on that this weekend.

I just opened a box of Mon Cheri hazalnut/chocolate candies. I'll probably eat them all while sitting here at my desk.

Aimee's Boooyfriend

"Aimee's boooyfriend"............said in a sing-song voice, that's me teasing Aimee whenever we see gross street/homeless men in the building area. But, for you PC-minded folks, this is only after we see them lots and learn stuff about them. Sometimes gross stuff. Like about Aimee's latest booyfriend. Honest to God, he shits on the loggia (that's the porch area around the building) on nights and weekends. And he doesn't use toilet paper. During the day he uses the public restrooms in the building, but sometimes he can't flush it all down so he piles used toilet paper in the corner of the stall.

We have it straight from the mouth of our poor friend, Fran the Day Porter, who has to CLEAN IT UP!

So, every time we see him, here's me to her::
"There's Aimee's booyfriend...you want to kiss him." Sing-song along with me "....................you want to kiiiiisss him......."

One of these days Aimee is going to kill me. She's coming after me if she sees this post.

You live where?

Continuation of rant, see below:

Oh, and, by the way, I live in Portland, Oregon. My city is smack in the middle of 3 or 4 fault lines and is very prone to earthquakes. We have them all the time, and every once in a while we have one that we can feel and we get shaken around and stuff falls off the walls. So far, we've been lucky and THE BIG ONE hasn't hit. But it will. We know that. All the evidence points to a Big One happening every few hundred years or so and we're overdue. And, we're so stupid we continue to live here. How can anyone live here?

We have several volcanos on 2 sides of our city - to the north and to the east of us. Active volcanos. One volcano to the north of us erupted very recently and is still spewing ash and steam on a daily basis and is building lava domes as I write this. LAVA DOMES! STEAM AND ASH! PEOPLE DIED! I can look out my window some days and SEE STEAM AND ASH ERUPTING FROM THE VOLCANO! From my WINDOW! And, yet I continue to live here. One volcano to the east of us has recently started bulging - it's active and is growing full with magma and could erupt! We have an old volcano right in the middle of town. Not two miles from my house. It's called Mt. Tabor (get it? "Mount" Tabor - it's a volcano!) And we have concerts and picnics and parties in the crater. OF A VOLCANO. Don't Portlanders know that even dormant volcanos can become active and YOU CAN DIE?

We live at the confluence of TWO MAJOR RIVERS. Don't we know they can flood? AND PEOPLE CAN DIE? It's happened in the past! Haven't we learned anything? Not even 60 years ago the Columbia River broke through the levees that had been constructed to separate north Portland's area from the river - it BROKE THROUGH. And an entire community called Vanport was DECIMATED and disappeared forever. Doesn't anyone remember? Why don't we all move away? Why do we live in such a "dangerous" place?

These and other opinions will be shared by the collective media and ignorant non-Oregonians IF the big one hits, IF another major volcanic eruption occurs or IF the rivers get enough rainfall to flood. We're just like New Orleans! Natural disasters can happen here too!

We're not stupid. We're not ignorant. We know the limitations and the frailities of the place we live. And we continue to live here because it's home. Just like the people of New Orleans and the whole Gulf Coast. Somebody needs to clue me in to the special area in the world that is safe from volcanos, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, flooding, tornados, broken dams and levees, killer heat, snowstorms and blizzards and all other natural activities that can kill. Personally, I don't know where that place is. The media must know, because they like to say stuff like "they should have known that would happen. Why were they living there? tsk tsk."

I Wish

I just talked with my friend, Deena, who is coming back to work in my building. She's leaving a horrible position she's had for about three years, and she took a lateral transfer to come back to work in a different office. Her old position did not start out horrible - three years ago when she took it, it was a two-step increase for her, but the people in that office are impossible. They are isolated from the rest of the organization by their location and they want to do everything outside of the established policies and procedures. Anyway, they and their stupidity and pettiness and bickering will soon be left behind. My wish is that they have to come to the main building and see what working for this organization should really be like. That would shock some of them numb. They didn't deserve someone as wonderful as Deena and they treated her like shit. She certainly did not deserve them.

I wish I had loads of money. I want to travel. I want to be able to give my friends and family what they need and ease their burdens. I want to help the local food and toy charities that are running so close to the bone this year. And, I am still devastated by the catastrophe in New Orleans. I wish I could go to NO with full pockets and help. Even if only to hire a shitload of trucks to go in and start hauling debris, cutting trees and cleaning yards and streets. I think that if the garbage and debris was gone and the streets cleaned it would go a long way toward helping people be encouraged to make the move back in and re-settle. If I had evacuated and wanted to go back but first had to deal with the enormous MESS I don't think I'd have the energy to do it - it would make me too tired and sad to see the chaos. My friend Poppy and her husband have moved back in - they are unable to stay in their house and are fighting with the insurance company, barely see the Red Cross or FEMA, and are doing what they can to make it home again. She has posted pictures in her blog of trips she's taken around town and it is so disheartening to see areas where people have barely even entered yet. It is a horrendous mess that everyone has to deal with. Horrendous.

And, I don't know who started this whole fracas about Mardi Gras "yay or nay" but it is the stupidest thing I've every heard. OF COURSE, Mardi Gras must go on. Are these non-New Orleaneans who are promoting and spreading this stupid idea? Do they really think Mardi Gras is just about drinking and throwing up? Have they ever BEEN TO New Orleans? If I had lots of money (again, I think I need to win the lottery!) I would recruit Poppy and friends to plan and throw the biggest, goddamned party and parade NO has ever seen! Invite the whole city, barbecue and eat for days, dance till you fall down, give all the scattered musicians free tickets home, and drink till you puke if you want! Mardi Gras has never been just about drinking and if you think it is then you know nothing. It embodies the spirit of New Orleans, its history, its resiliance, and its pride, and in my opinion, this Mardi Gras festival, with all its potential problems and quirks, MUST GO ON - it's the most important thing they can do to start healing both the people and the City. The traditions must be maintained and re-built in order to salvage any city or culture that's been decimated. Always. Read your history books.

Or, if Mardi Gras really IS just about drinking and puking, then somebody better tell me and I'll shut up.

Sorry for the lecture - I sure took a crazy turnabout to get from my happy little news about Deena coming back to my building to giving my highly un-educated opinion about New Orleans, since I don't live there and never have, but I feel strongly that the people who live or lived there deserve respect, not derision; they need our help not our sympathy, and they need us to understand that they are not stupid because they live there and "we" think they should now abandon it. Their crime is not in living in a hurricane-prone region, their crime is not in living below sea level. If there was a crime committed it was by the Federal Government who told them they had made it safe for them to live there and raise their families. The Federal Government told them the levees were made safe by the US Army Corps of Engineers; they TOLD them they would not fail except under the most horrendous wind conditions, WHICH WERE NOT EVEN CLOSELY MET BY KATRINA. They were told the pilings were stuck deep into the earth, which THEY WERE NOT. Some of the levees were held up by pilings that were not even deep enough to get past the mud and goo, let alone drilled into the solid earth and bedrock which USACOE told them had been done. NO WONDER THEY FAILED. And some of them weren't even made solid - just a bunch of crap and garbage piled up over and over again and covered with grass so nobody would see. Holy crap, it's a wonder they hadn't failed before Katrina - it was a disaster just waiting to happen. And the people who lived there, who depended on the levees FOR THEIR LIVES, were LIED TO by the Feds over and over again because they did not want to spend the money to really fix the problem, even though the solutions were presented to them over and over again. The decimation of New Orleans was not Katrina's fault - it was the Federal Government's fault and they know it whether they'll admit it or not. Katrina was just a catalyst that unleased hell on earth for everyone who lived within New Orlean's failing walls.

And, once again, I've gone on a rant. Sorry. And, if anyone from New Orleans ever reads this, which I doubt (I presume I'm basically talking to myself here) I apologize profusely if my outsider views are presumptuous or wrong in any way. Just ignore me. And, if anyone from the Federal Government is perusing these blogs for "terrorist" (keyword: terrorist) information or other un-American activities, feel free to admit your guilt in the destruction of New Orleans and get off your collective butts and FIX IT!!!!!!

It's Monday

Today, my knees hurt and I just spilled coffee on myself. My friend is on vacation and I miss her here at work when she's gone because it's very boring. I actually have to go to break and lunch by myself or see if someone wants to go with me, instead of just knowing someone's there. I hope she's having a great time.

It's 29 degrees out - it's so cold my hands were numb when I went out and had a cig. I have gloves in my pocket but I'm too stupid to put them on, plus I hate to wear them when I smoke because then they stink.

OK, what else? I missed the final "Survivor" last night because I'm a dork and I forgot it was on. I was watching Extreme Makeover which was very good, but I would have at least turned over during commercials if I had thought of it. I did watch the reunion show, though. I'm happy Dani won - she had everything against her but pulled it out. Sometimes it pays to stay non-allianced and watch the alliances crumble around you (and if you can help crumble them all the better). AND, if Aimee had been in town last night we would have talked about Survivor so I wouldn't have missed it!

Can I sell this autograph?

Close-up of the note that came with the wreath. (see below) It says "Buy Me" but the foliage is in the way so it's hard to see.......any takers? Oh, come on! It's Aaandy.

Andy Carson's Wreath

This won't mean anything to you if you're not in the Portland area, but this is the/one of the wreaths Andy Carson made on Good Day Oregon. I bought it from the Parks Bureau today. As soon as I find my wreath hanger in the nightmare room I'll stick it up on my door.

Pretty.

Concerts #5

PBS had a wonderful show on last night. They've run it before - always at fund raising time. The show was "Roy Orbison and Friends, a Black and White Night." Roy sang all of his hit songs; Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Jennifer Warren, k.d. Lang, and numerous other folks performed with him. It was fabulous.

Roy Orbison
AND, it reminded me that I saw Roy Orbison live back in the 70's at either the Auditorium or the Paramount........that was a LONG time ago and the mind was fuzzy then, let alone now. Anyway, I remember this much - it was WONDERFUL! I love his voice and when it soars on the high notes, it's like listening to angels (and I guess that's even more true now, huh?).

Here's another I forgot, and I CAN'T BELIEVE IT:

U2
I went to see U2 in Seattle way back when. I was with a guy from college - if there was a Portland concert it must have been sold out so we got tickets up north. They had a rougher edge at this time (it was only their 2nd or so tour). I can't remember if this was the tour before or the one after they refused to come to Portland again because someone here stole their equipment - and they didn't come back here for years and years......anyway, it was awesome. Bono was real cute during this time.

Isn't it weird that I'd "forget" I saw U2? Especially when I left town to do it! But these years tend to be pretty hazy so there's probably a lot I don't remember.

I have some more I'll get to: I went through a "country music" period and there are a few country artists that I haven't gotten to yet.

The Fart Wave

My friend, Camille, has this certain wave she does - it's the fart wave. We both think farts are the funniest thing and when she lets one go she has a little wave she does moving the air from the area of her butt toward whoever is closest to her. She'll just keep talking to you but her hand will be doing the wave.

Those of us who know her know to move away fast when the hand starts waving by her butt. And, if you don't know her, she usually gives it away anyway by cracking up. No sneakers for her.

It Wasn't Me

Boss S was just standing at my desk talking with me when I couldn't help it - I had to fart. And it was a STINKY one. I just kept talking like I didn't do anything, I didn't smell anything, and I dared him to say something....which he did not. Luckily for me, someone else had walked into the area just then and maybe he thought they did it.

IT WASN'T ME!

I'm five - I still think farts are funny.

ow! ow! ow!

For some reason my right leg has been ACHING the last couple of days. It's usually my knee - this started in my knee but now it's below the knee.

Hey, you, stop sticking knives in my leg!

It's very uncomfortable. And, of course, my pessimistic side thinks it's a blood clot or something that's going to go straight to my heart or brain and kill me dead. It feels like it's already started killing my leg - if it starts working its way up I'll let you know.

ow

Scarves

More scarves. The pink and blue ones are skinny scarves made out of Mambo fur yarn. They are very soft and cool. The red one is Light & Lofty and is a little brighter in real life, and has flower decorations in a pinkish base, with a purple inner flower and Jewel FX centers.

GOTTA GO!

The weekend was OK, I made some progress on stuff for the craft sale this Thursday. Yvonne, Jazmyn, and Aimee came over on Saturday and we played with yarn and knitting and crocheting - Jazmyn brought oodles of Bobber Heads cats (I think these are part of "Little Pet Shop" or something) . Anyway she has lots of fun with them.

Went to the Dollar Tree on Friday and spent $85 - how is that possible? I just kept shoving things in the cart thinking "it's only a buck" and pretty soon I've spent real money. Lots of Christmas bags and Secret Santa stuff and some toiletry items for the charity we're doing and it all adds up.

Yesterday? Had a birthday party at the house for Skip and Jeff. Confession: I got cranky at about 3:30 because Ken, Steve and Dad all were making noises at me that they "had to go", "gotta go", "it's getting dark", "Dad wants to go","hurry up, Dad wants to go" and I finally said "if you need to go then just GO!" I don't think I said "just fucking go" but I was mad so I might have. Hope not. The room got silent - then Camille and Skip started laughing at me because I don't usually have temper tantrums, but Jeez! Enough already - I knew they wanted to go before it got dark but I just wanted to sit down and finish my cig first. I enjoy having the bday parties, I like having everybody over, but I DO NOT like that everything goes along fun and fine and then all of a sudden "WE GOTTA GO!" Hurry Up! Serve that cake and ice cream and we'll scarf it down and go home. Bah! I understand it because Dad doesn't like to drive after dark anymore, but really they don't need to all take it out on me if the cake isn't served by the time Dad decides they GOTTA GO! And they don't have to all come at me at once!!!!!!! And also? Am I the only person who can cut cake? They don't have to wait for me to get started - they can scoop ice cream and cut cake, can't they?

So, my solution for next time is to serve the cake and ice cream early with the other food, open presents right after, and THEN sit around and talk. Then people can GO whenever they effing GOTTA GO.

What a crazy day

This has been a looooong day. I'm taking a few minutes to send this instead of going on a break and having a smoke because otherwise I won't get anything sent out again until Monday (unless I send a message by phone but that's a pain in my butt).

Anyway, I thought of another vignette - another story starring Camille - so I'll think on that one this weekend and maybe get it written and sent next week. I had it written up once, but I can't find it............it features me, Camille and !FREE CHILI from Wendy's!

Birthday party at my house this Sunday. For Skip and Jeff - what do you get two guys? All Jeff will say is he wants tequila, so I bet he gets about half a dozen bottles. That WILL make him a happy camper.

Here's one of the scarves I recently made - the pic is terrible but the scarf is pretty cool.

This is one I'm keeping for myself. I'll be selling a bunch of the others - I've sold about thirty of them so far; I shoukld have taken pictures before I got rid of them. I'll try to take pics of some of the cooler looking ones I still have. Most will go on sale at a craft sale next Thursday.