*Big DumpTruck*

Who would win: robert blake or saddam hussein?

I love people who take the time to think about stuff like this. See the list over at utter wonder?.

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Hey, Robert Blake, maybe after you asked five or six people if they'd kill your wife you should have figured they might TELL someone if YOU did it. And to those people who were approached: Could you have maybe mentioned it to Bonnie at some point? Are they facing any kind of charges for not going straight to the police when he asked?

I really wonder if it was his "celebrity" that made him think that killing another human being would improve his life. Does jail never cross anyone's mind? It does mine. Every time I inhale, as a matter of fact. This would be the primary reason I've never done recreational drugs. Or shoplifted. And prostitution is out of the question because about 20 years ago I actually knew a girl who was arrested for that, and if I ran into her today (and I think I might have last week, which is why it's fresh in my mind) I could think of nothing except the fact that she was/is a prostitute. We could both be in our 80's and I'd be thinking that. Who needs to have that following you around for the rest of your life? (Memo to OJ Simpson: Take notes)

Oh, and all those of you out there who have been offered $10k to kill me, could you let me know so I can maybe buy a disguise or something?

(Hmmm. I wonder if I should go over and make this an Open Letter. Probably, huh?)

Edit Mode

I have been editing my NaNoWriMo novel the past couple of days, and I have the big papercut to prove it (when did they start making file folders out of razor blades, I ask you?). Parts of it are not bad at all. I'm glad I waited so long before picking it back up, it really is letting me look at it with an unbiased eye. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say right now I'm at about a 5 for cutting out stuff that I think just pads it. That's the worst thing - cutting stuff until suddenly 130 pages is down to like 50, and you know that it's not really a novel any more and requires lots of fresh writing. Oh well, it's part of the process. Right now I can't picture myself writing new stuff for it, but I know I will have to, it's not novel lenght to begin with. But maybe after this first pass I'll make the first chapter available. Right now the story flows, and I knew very soon I'm going to hit the point where my plot took a left at the lights, and I'm going to have to decide which one works better and rewrite the other. See, if I hadn't been trying to cram out 50,000 words, I would have done that THEN, not now.

On a related note (which is maybe what got me to pick it up again?) I've been reading a book published by a relatively new company, and the books I've seen (in CVS of all places) seem to be comic novels about being a woman today. The publisher is Red Dress Ink (TM) and the one I'm reading right now is Loose Screws by Karen Templeton. I'm not that far into it, but it starts with a thirtysomething woman being left at the alter. Check out the website, there's lots of good stuff there. And I think my novel, if it's ever finished, would be perfect for these guys. So I'm keeping an eye on them.

Swim Lesson Day

I hope we can get through this morning without losing a major piece of the car. I got the estimate from the insurance estimater...over $700. Yikes. And while I've given my story over the phone several times, now I have to file out a written report. All this because someone ELSE backed into ME. I wonder if they ask you a bunch of times trying to trip up your story. There are only so many ways one can say "I was stopped in a parking lot and a guy backed into me." Oh well, at least today I can ask the parking lot guy if he actually saw what happened and can be put down as a witness (if they need one). I'm guessing he didn't see it actually HAPPEN, unless he looked up when I beeped my horn.

But enough about that, I don't want to dwell on it any more than I have to every time I see the front of the car. Because I can't get it fixed until the insurance company gives the authorization to pay. Sheesh.

On the good side, I made a perfect cup of coffee for myself this morning. I sucked that mug DRY. Mmmmmm coffee. Oh, and I did more research on other houses similar to mine and what they sold for and are valued at. I think if allowed to actually TALK to the assessors in person, I could explain my point and hear theirs, and I'd feel better about whatever was decided.

SURE it's worth that much

My request for a property tax abatement was rejected. Apparently an extremely similar cape (same development) with a garage sold for $242k. So they valued my house for $233 with no garage. I don't think I'd have a problem with this if the house next door, which is a colonial with a garage, slightly more living space and slightly larger lot, wasn't valued at 5k LESS than my house. I refuse to believe my house without a garage is worth more than her house with a garage. They were built in the same month. Same footprint. If I were house shopping I would NOT pay more for this one than that one. Period. It doesn't have a garage, for goodness sake!

They tell me a garage only adds about 7k to the value of a house. I think the person who paid 242k for the cape up the street is the person who had a major malfunction, that's what I think. Grrrrrrrrr.

Goodbye, Mr. Rogers

I was a Mr. Rogers Toddler. It was one of the few shows I watched when I was really young. That, Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo. I've met Bob (Capt.) Keeshan, who is a lovely lovely man with the bluest eyes EVER, but I never got to meet Mr. Rogers, and I would have loved to, just to tell him how happy he made me over the years.

Junior wasn't crazy about his show, and I blame myself for not putting it on more often. Thank you Fred, for caring about the children, ALL children; for worrying about how they would deal with war, and the 9/11 tragedy. For being a calming presence in all our lives. You will be missed.

Hello Chocolate!

Funny thing...I was just looking at my user logs (which just gives a domain, don't worry, I don't know who you are) and saw someone from the Department of Justice. Hmmm. Well, I know the worst thing I've done lately is...hmmm. What's the worst thing I've done lately? I kid you not that nothing is coming to mind. Okay, probably broke the speed limit, but not much else.

Anyway, then I see someone from Hershey USA was here, and that's my new favorite Dump Reader. Hey, Hershey, if you come back, I want to be your new best friend! I like many many of your products. Feel free to hook me up with samples, and I will review them online, so it can be written off as a marketing expense!

Oh, so the funny thing is that when I got my hair cut Monday night, Peggy the hairdresser was talking to a guy about vacations, and was wondering when Hersheypark opened for the season. I told her I'd look it up on the web and then promptly forgot until I just saw that listing in the log! So thanks Hershey, for coming to visit! I need to call her and tell her the park is open for the full season on May 9th, but is open the weekend of April 18-20 for a special weekend where you pay as you go for rides. I think that's too late for when she wanted to go, though.

Big DumpTruck Store

I put the link to the Big DumpTruck store back up, but I decided I might try to do some new images, so feel free to browse, but if you are looking on Wednesday, there might be new stuff by Thursday, okay?

No, I Don't Shop There

The other night I happened to be driving in a part of Fitchburg I don't frequent that much, and noticed a new store in a strip mall - NY Bling Bling.

I'm pretty sure the space used to house a dollar store. Could still be a dollar store for all I know.

So many things I could say, but I won't. I have no idea why someone thought that was a good name for a store, or what they sell, or who their customers are. But I guess if I run short on Bling, I know where I can go. (Yes, I know what it means.) And this will tick off all the people from Fitchburg, but this illustrates why I think Leominster is classier. We don't have a NY Bling Bling store. Thank God.

Before I Forget

I also wanted to mention that the dream I had where Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were fighting over me was the best dream of the century.

Carry on.

I Guess I Did Okay

My personal war with my mailman seems to be over. It wasn't a big war, just a little one. See, we got 2 feet of snow last week (Monday night). I spent half an hour digging out my mailbox Tuesday. He delivered mail. Then, Wednesday there was mail. But Thursday there was no mail, which was very sad because my unemployment check and a check for the balance of a website I designed were expected. Fine. Friday, there was...no mail. Which is odd, because I don't usually go two days in a row without.

Saturday, I get mail. A big pile of it, wrapped with a rubber band (elastic, if you're from here, which I am). There is a sticker on the front that says I need to clean the "approach" to my mailbox or they won't deliver. WTF? For two days it was fine, THEN it got bad? And that aside, it was really pretty well cleaned, but they had a problem with the "approach". I'm confused. When I have a package, this same guy will walk up to my back steps to drop it, but cannot move at ALL when it comes to leaving checks in the box. Okay, so this counts against you come Christmas bonus time. Why was it okay on Tuesday and Wednesday and then not okay Thursday and Friday, is my question?

Also, this leads me into another rant - why are the plows not plowing closer to the side of the road? We're talking in excess of two feet away from the actual side of the road. Are they doing that everywhere? Are all streets losing 4 feet due to sloppy plowing? Seems dangerous, no?

I Don't Like Chocolate Ice Cream

I just don't like it. Does that make me a bad person? I don't mind vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce on it. But try as I might, I just don't like chocolate ice cream. Tonight I had a small bowl (no, really) of Breyers' Light Vanilla-choc-strawberry combo. I bought that flavor because a)it was "light" and b) this was the only light flavor that came in a container with "15% Extra" [free]. But I'm not digging the chocolate. If I eat all the strawberry and vanilla, and leave the chocolate (or rent a kid who will eat it) then what was the point of the 15% extra? I left 33% behind.

Next time I'll just get a flavor I like. And it won't be the butter pecan, because that was just vanilla with gigantic nuts in it. I mean, if you LIKE that, Breyers in the way to go. Whole pecans.

Ed, Edd and Eddie is on right now. (Well, it's on the TiVo). For one of the first times, I actually laughed out loud at something that happened in this show. If you've never seen this show, it's not going to be as good. You have to know Ed.

Edd: [As Eddie loses control of a tractor, accidently going in reverse] That's really something I'd expect you to do, Ed.
*pause*
Ed: That's really something I wanted to do.

Great Balls of Fire!

Holy cow, the wind last night was HORRIBLE! And it came from the west instead of the south, like it usually does, so it was hitting the front of the house full-on. I swear, the way all the windows were rattling, I was positive we'd have some damage by morning. Kept me up most of the night, actually, simply because it was so violent.

Its nice this morning, though, in a cold sort of way.

More Birds

Okay, I swear I'll stop posting pictures of the birds in my yard unless I get a really interesting one. After these posts, that is.

Junior got to see a woodpecker life and in person today, but it was too far away for my meager little digital camera to handle. If anyone wants to send me an expensive, high-end camera with a good optical zoom, I'd be happy to sit by the window waiting for him come back to my neighbor's yard.

We didn't make it out to the booksigning, but as I told someone in private email, I already have a signed copy of the book. I was only going to go to inflate the crowd. Oh, and before I forget, at one point today we had booming thunder around here and a downpour. Freaky weather this winter.

Before I Forget - Random Families Book Signing tomorrow

Head over to the Leominster Barnes and Noble (289 North Main St) at 2pm to meet Adrian Nicole Leblanc and have your copy of Random Families signed! And yes, I verified the time in the local paper. If I can get the boy out of the house, I might go just for support, you know, to make the crowd even bigger. I'm sure Junior could have his arm twisted, he loves the book store.

I bought myself some purple tulips this afternoon because Shaws has them on sale. I cannot resist sale tulips. Ever. What with all those spring robins hopping all over my lawn, I was filled with the spirit of spring.

Purple, red or pink, for those of you taking notes.

One of Dozens...

This guy and a couple dozen of his friends were hanging out today. I have to tell you, I was delighted to see them.

I just wish they weren't so skittish. I wanted to get a better photo, but this will have to do.

At the Feeder

It was worth getting snow in my boots and all over my pants to refill the birdfeeder with more expensive seed.

Ask A Simple Question...

Get a really really complex answer.

Melty Melty

It's very warm out, I mean, relatively warm, in the 40s. But some of my snow and ice isn't melting because it isn't in the sun. I think that's totally unfair. I was checking my mailbox (nothing yet...where are youuuuuuu Mr. Mailman?) and hit a patch of black ice. Did that weird arms "akimbo" dance and dropped a brand-new notebook into the snow, messing up at least half the pages. I'm just lucky I didn't fall or pull something. But why the hell was there black ice anyway?

NOT what I had planned for today

Some schmoe decided to try to park his truck closer to the curb by backing into me this morning in the Y parking lot. Right. I was standing still, and he used his bumper to remove my grill. I hope Junior doesn't actually retain ANY of the language his lovely and demur mother used when it happened. sigh

Swimmingly

Off to swim lessons. The Boy has actually amazed me with his enthusiasm, given that he's afraid of getting his face wet and to this day washing his hair is torture. I think a LOT of the credit should go to his instructor, Allen. Wish us luck.

Looking for Contacts

Do any of you know someone who works for OneSource Information Services in Concord MA? If you do, could you email me? jody at bigdumptruck dot com. You know how to write that, right?

A Darned Shame

Okay, what kind of diner doesn't have egg salad sandwiches? I spend 4 hours doing research at the library this morning, and decided after all my hard work I deserved lunch out. On the way home I decided to stop for an egg salad sandwich at the Northend Diner...well they don't HAVE egg salad. Actually this is the conversation:

Me: I'd like an egg salad
Waitress: Okay
Me: On wheat bread
Waitress: Ya, we don't have egg salad, only tuna or chicken salad.

Maybe she could have said that FIRST. Also, just because one wants egg salad does not mean tuna or chicken are an equal substitute. Silliness. So I got a burger to go, because my head shut down and I couldn't think of anything else I wanted. I suppose I could have just left to find another place, maybe Jaspers, or the Turnout, but it was pushing 1:30 and my blood sugar was starting to dip, y'know? Anyway, the burger was decent enough. Nothing to write home about, but I don't think I'll die from it.

Oh, so the research was on job stuff, owning your own business stuff, and then I tucked myself into the "employees only" basement hole where they store all the genealogy stuff. Way very cool books there, made me wish you could borrow some of them so that you could maybe sit in an area that had, oh, say windows.

I didn't find out a lot of new information, but it did give me a chance to see some of the major resourses first hand. As in the Lynn Vital records prior to 1850. I had seen the content online, but I had the book in my hands today. It's very cool to be sitting there flipping pages. I got out of my "Dr. John Henry Burchsted" mode (trying to figure out when he arrived in the US, or when his parents did if he was born here) and looked up some more recent stuff. The Leominster Library has all the official city records bound up, and I was able to get some street addresses. Apparently my GG-Grandfather's farm was at 117 Lincoln Street. Pawing through books he's listed as a farmer until sometime around 1914, when he moved to 735 Main Street. GG-Grandfather first appears in the 1896 edition of this directory. Now my G-Grandfather, Frederick Roydon, was born in 1876 in Salem MA, so his dad must have up and moved the whole family here. Fred-Roy is not listed as living with David W. in any of the books I found. Actually, he wasn't listed at all until later, and then in 1914 he was removed from the town directory because he moved to Shirley. Hmm.

Oh, and I also looked up my paternal grandmother's family, just for grins, although I'm not working on that family right now (I do have that one traced back already to Scotland, but only to 1798). But my G-Grandfather MacDonald was listed in the 1908 directory as a shoemaker, and there were two addresses given, so I assume one was a store. 38 North St. was the business address, and 81 Myrtle was given as a home address.

Aren't you sorry you didn't ask? (I just wanted to type some of this up.)

(While I was in there I tried to find my grandparents' high school yearbook(s) but the year(s) when they would have likely graduated wasn't there. Or else they didn't graduate from high school. I need to ask my aunt about that.)

45! 45 today!

I'm going to be the one dancing naked in my driveway. I'd tell you how long it's been since the last time it was 45, but I can't find a website that has that kind of statistic. I'm guessing December, without exaggeration. If I find the actual date I'll update this space. In the meantime...45!

Snowbabies

I saw this in the Telegram: "It also surpassed Boston's previous 24-hour record snowfall total of 25.4 inches, which was set during the April Fool's Day storm of March 31 and April 1, 1997."

I remember that storm. I also remember that almost all of the women in my Lamaze class had conceived during that storm (my baby was the last one due in the class, he was conceived two weeks after that storm, actually.)

Lawn Watering Follow-Up

I was going to reply to a comment from CT Karen in the comments section, then decided it would be more appropriate to make it a full-fledged entry.

I don't have a well, and I do pay for my city water. I was exaggerating a bit when I said I would be watering the hell out of my lawn all next summer. For the past few years there have been water bans in town, last summer we were on odd-even for months. Low levels in the reservoir. The thing is, the extra 56 inches of snow will be a big help. But it won't solve the problem. The problem isn't a lack of rain and snow, the problem is our city has added hundreds and hundreds of new homes in the past, say, 10 year, and yet, nobody has raised a finger to look for additional water sources. We have had the one reservoir, Notown, since I was a kid. Okay, so add 1000 families (homes, apartments, etc.) to this mix. What's the average usage per family per day? Okay, so doesn't that tax the system? If you have n gallons of water available, the water level WILL BE LOWER THAN NORMAL because you haven't ever adjusted what NORMAL is. Duh.

That's like rationing the milk in my fridge because it's a lower level than normal, not taking into consideration I added permanently added three people to the household. I can't ration the old amount of milk I bought...I need to buy a new amount of milk. Or a cow. And in the water scenario, Leominster needs to buy a cow, as it were.

Anyway, I don't water my lawn much - usually only if I've fertilized. I think it's a huge waste of time, money and water. But I would like my son to be able to run under the sprinkler when it's 90 degrees out. I'm hoping 56 extra inches of snow will help.

p.s. Would the department of public works find it in their hearts to please knock down the mountain of snow at the end of my street so I'm not killed trying to pull out into traffic. It is literally impossible to see.

Wednesday Is Job Search Day!

Okay, every day is job search day, but today I'm going to work extra hard at it. I have two recruiters to call for follow-ups, just for starters. The big reminder of why this is so important is that the Department of Employment and Training website and phone system have been down for 3 days now (today is day 4) so nobody has been able to file their unemployment claim for last week. Normally we'd be getting checks today, but we haven't even been able to call in the claim, so the checks haven't been cut, never mind mailed. Do you think they'd have information on what to do on their website (i.e. go to your local office instead)? That would be nice. I tried calling this morning and the line was busy...that NEVER happens.

HELLO? State of Massachusetts, little help here!

I did joke with the manager at Office Max that I should work there for the employee discount and she offered to get me an application. I'm torn about taking a part-time job, because if something full-time came up, it might impact my ability to work certain hours. I don't know that it would be fair to the store, you know? On the other hand, I could use the money. I guess I'll wait for another week or two before I make that decision.

Airport Story

Oh, so briefly I'll share Mr. Dump's airport adventure with you. He had a ticket for the 8:15pm British Airways flight to London. Got to the airport around noonish. They checked him in, assured him it would take off. He and I were both skeptical, but we're not the experts. He got on the plane and I started watching the online flight tracking. No sign that it took off. Still watching. It says the flight is "on time" but it's now 45 minutes after he was supposed to leave. I check the BA website...it still says estimated to leave at 6:05. Hmmm. So around 7:10 it says "departed." Cool. I can't believe his plane got out, NOBODY is getting out of Logan.

At 2:30 AM the phone rings...it's Mr. Dump. I assume he's telling me he's in London. He's telling me he's still in Boston. Spent 7 HOURS sitting on the runway, no food, barely any heat. Eventually they realize that sitting there all that time, there's ice and snow in the engine. They get everyone off the plane, give them back their luggage, and shuttle them to an Embassy Suites, where he has to share a hotel room with 3 strangers. I cannot think of anything I'd like less. That means sharing a BED with strangers, mind you. It's boggling my mind, but hey, there were 400 people on that plane.

He was back at the airport by 10ish this morning, and their plane is now scheduled to leave at 5, as an add-on flight because the regular 6:05 was already booked up. Oh, and the 8:15 BA flight? That one did take off, albeit very much later than 8:15. But why did the the 8:15 take off and not the 6:05? Who knows. I am just glad *I* wasn't the one stuck sitting on a plane for 7 hours in a snowstorm. I've had to sit for 4 hours on a plane on the taxiway, waiting for a thunderstorm or some nonsense to pass, but not 7 hours. Yuck.

From the Local Paper

"Monday's storm brought the snowfall total for this winter to 97.7 inches,
about 56 inches above normal."

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! 56 inches above normal! Well I can tell you this, I'm watering the HELL out of my lawn all next summer.

Okay, I'm Glad THAT'S Over

Snow is now out of the driveway and on top of the lawn. Again. Let's get with the warm already.

Is it okay if I don't actually go anywhere today? I don't feel like driving in a land where I can't see around corners. I hate big piles of snow at the ends of streets. You'd think I'd be used to it by now.

I Gave In

One pass on the driveway complete. At LEAST a foot of snow. Oh man, am I glad this didn't happen last week when we were sick. I'm feeling better and that still wiped me out.

Me Vs. The Driveway

I decided not to go out tonight. The wind is blowing these gigantic drifts, and leaving some parts of the drive almost bare. Very odd. I just feel if I go out now, I'm going to do all this work and the wind will recreate whatever I've blown away. Does it make sense to wait? Sure, I'll have more to snowblow, but what's the difference? As long as the damned thing starts, at least then I'll only be out there dealing with it once, right?

My neighbor Fran has already done his driveway once or twice. I have a good view of his driveway from here. Actually, when the snowcam was on, you could see his house. I saw him shovelling once, and snowblowing once. I wonder if he is just paranoid and can't handle not having his drive clear. Well, I'll think about it.

StormVision 2003

I have the webcam streaming storm video, if you're interested. I've had it on for a couple of hours, and I got an email from a friend letting me know that it was time to wipe the window. You totally couldn't see anything but the snow sticking to the window. So that gave me an excuse to open the window and let all kinds of precipitation onto the inside sill. Nothing but fun here, folks.

We've had a few Cheetohs. Actually, I ate mine with a grilled cheese at lunch. I can't believe it's already almost 4:30. I haven't been out for five hours. I think I might step out while it's still light and see how heavy this stuff is. Maybe get Junior out for a few minutes too. Well, we don't have anywhere to go. Oooh, there's the wind! That's what makes it bad out. The snow is coming down, but not as bad as I thought. It's the wind that's making for ugliness. Well that and the prospect of 12 more hours of this.

Dude.

"Total storm accumulations 12-24 inches.". Dude. I am SO not in the mood for this. Sheesh.

One, Twelve, close enough.

Junior wanted to go on "ad adventure," exploring as it were. Of course, he means he wants to go visit friends, I tried to come up with someplace we could go. I picked Parker's Country Store (actually, a penny candy store...fill a bowl) and Tatnuck's Booksellers. My parents had given him money to buy a book for Valentine's Day. Well we got there and they were having a buy three get three free sale on a ton of kids' books...so of course that meant we needed to get six books. But he couldn't pick less than 8, so then we had to get 12. You see the logic, right?

And then he wanted Papa Ginos for dinner. I think I've had enough crap to eat today. I'm going to have a pear.

Snackfood for a Snowstorm

Thank goodness people stocked up on supplies for a terrorist attack. Apparently the terrorist chose the insidious "drop a foot or two of snow on 'em" kind of attack. They're saying we'll get 12-15 inches total here in Leominster. I'm guessing that means we'll probably get more like 20. That's how it's worked ALL winter.

The snowblower is gassed up, and I have 5 gallons of water around here somewhere. And Ring Dings. And Cheetohs (which, by the by, Junior tasted for the first time and now his fingers are stained orange. I love when he discovers a new food to eat, even when it's total crap like Cheetohs.) I'm certainly glad I'm feeling better now, given that I've got two days of shoveling ahead of me. I wonder how busy the grocery stores are today. Everyone getting their milk and bread. Is a lot of milk and bread consumed during storms, I mean, more than usual? Are people making bread pudding? (That would be REALLY tasty, wouldn't it?)

Lucky Day

I think I forgot to mention here - I got a call yesterday from my bank that I had won their weekly contest. The prize was a $20 gift card to Shaws (where the bank is located). How cool is that??! I mean, I was suspect when she asked if I wanted to sign up for the drawing, you figure it's like those forms where you sign up to win replacement windows and basically all you're doing is signing yourself up for mailing list and telemarketer hell. (You all knew that, right? Don't sign up for drawings at the home show either.)

So I picked up the gift card this morning and immediately used it. I did buy some stuff I would have bought anyway, pasta (on sale), Barqs (on sale), chicken nuggets (not on sale). But I did treat myself to a couple of things I wouldn't have bought normally. Is that bad? I got some Ragu Alfredo sauce, Mint Skittles and a bag of Cheetohs. I don't think I'll be eating them all at once, before you jump to conclusions.

Reminiscing

I remember back when I was in college, must have been my sophomore year, that there was a February Saturday that hit almost 70 degrees. I remember this because we went to the drug store and bought a kite and I wrote one of my best poems ever about that day. It was outstanding, it just what everyone needed to make February disappear for just the day.

So it's a Saturday now about 18 years later (I was going to say less but why lie) and the high today is 14 and the low is -7. There is no end of this weather in site. The best we might do is apparently on Feb 21st, when they predict a high of 40. Then it goes back down to a high of 27.

I would like a 50 degree day. Just one. I'm not even asking for 60, just 50. No windchill. No snow. I can't believe how cold this winter has been. I really really need some warm out there. I heard birds this morning and it felt exactly like a spring morning with the sun and the tweeting. But I knew better.

Animal Crossing

Tammy, my person in Animal Crossing, really needs some decent furniture. I was psyched to get a bed though...she will actually sleep on it! I tried doing some of the suggestions given by the Dump fan in the earlier post about A.C. but I got tired of having to get through all the stupid screens to keep creating cities that don't have pears. Is there any code or something someone from "out there" can email me that the game would interpret as someone sending me a pear in the mail?

p.s. Why can't I mail fish? Maybe I don't like the guy who lives in the house across from me....

Staying In For VD

Junior and I are not going out this evening. He's low on funds, and well, it's friggin cold out there. Like way below zero nose freezing cold. I am so DONE with the wind chill. We were going to go to Barnes and Noble but I decided we're in for the night. We've already been out most of the day - he had his first swim lesson this morning (EXCELLENT job, handled it like a pro! I love his swim instructor, I think that's the kind of guy Junior needs to get over his loathing of getting his face wet) and then we spent the rest of the day with his cousins. I'm tired, actually. I still haven't shaken enough of this illness...actually right now I feel like just a teeny bit worse than yesterday. I don't think I got enough sleep last night.

Anyway, my suggestion for anyone staying in is to watch Nickelodeon at 9pm tonight for a brand new Fairly Oddparents Love-themed show. I love Fairly Oddparents...it's one of the best shows on tv, bar none. So it's a new one and I think you should all take a moment to enjoy it!

p.s. Yes, I got flowers today - from my niece and nephew. My sister let them pick the flowers out, and I got some little purple flowers that are usually meant to be used as filler in a bouquet, like statice (?). However, my niece insisted on these for me, because we both like purple and I love them SO much more because she insisted on them! Thanks sweetie!

A Soldier's Viewpoint

This article will calm a LOT of nerves. I know it calmed mine, and I thought I was already pretty calm!!! I guess we can start eating some of the canned goods? Go read A Soldier's Viewpoint on Surviving Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Attacks

Ahh, here's how to handle it!

Laughed my butt off. Amy over at Living Reflections From a Dream is "Ready for the Bioterror". You can use this as a shopping list.

New Music

I participated in a "share your music" exchange with some friends. Burn a CD of some stuff you own, that you think others should be explosed to, and share the CD. Maybe people will find a new singer/band and will buy some new music.

The CDs were mailed out. I just put one in, and the first song on the first one I picked? I'm already thinking of checking out the band a little more. Jellyfish. Okay, just got back from Amazon. In some of the reviews for one of their CDs ("Spilt Milk") there are comments about Queen and ELO being influences, and one song sounding like an Alan Parsons Project style song. I mean, if you wanted to sell me on a group, these words would do it.

This War Thing

Okay, it's really starting to depress and scare me. I don't like it, not one bit. I don't like that bin laden has these psycho people just waiting for him to give the secret message before they do some stupid action against us. I hate having to sit here, reading about duct tape and plastic sheeting and have to think "Do I have any? Do I want to look stupid and go buy some? Will a tarp and garbage bags work?"

And then, how do you decide what room you are going to seal up? I was considering the spare bedroom, which is on the 2nd floor, because it only has one window. But there's so much crap in that room that we couldn't even sit down, never mind sleep in there. So maybe my bedroom is a better choice because there's a queen-sized bed.

But this three-day thing. I mean, why do we need to hole up for three days? Why not two? Why not four? If we enter a room and seal it up, we can't leave it for three days? How long do I have to get my gallon jugs of water, canned goods and manual can opener into my bedroom and get it sealed up? Will there be a grace period? My normal storage for canned goods, etc. is either in a closet in the 1st floor bathroom/laundry room or down in the basement. Maybe it would be better to head for the basement cause the canned goods are already down there. There's no bed, though, and it's even further from the bathroom. I suppose we have to go potty in the sealed up room, huh? That will be pleasant. I just thought of a brand-new use for all my Tupperware.

Okay, I'm done talking about this for today. I'm even done thinking about it. I am the type that freaks over impending bad weather, so you can imagine I'm just handling all this so well. I'm sure my town is not the target, and I've got nothing to worry about, right? Right.

Why Do They Tease Me?

The subject lines for some spam really make me angry. Today there was a note with "What do you have planned for Sunday" in the subject line. "Ooh" I thought. "Nothing! What do you have in mind?"

It was spam for some hair restoration drug or something hair-related. For all I know it was about bikini waxing. I only read the first line, saw the fancy HTML-ness and deleted it without reading the whole thing. I hate when they suck me in like that.

And now that means I'm back to not having anything planned for Sunday.

What Day Is This?

I have completely lost track of the day of the week, I kid you not. Kept The Boy home with me again...his cough is just so nasty, and I don't want to force his daycare provider to have to make sure he takes it easy. Easier for me to just keep him here. Of course, I'm aware that every day he doesn't go it's going to be that much harder to get him back there. And then there's the whole "Gee, I'm paying her for watching him and he's here with me." That's an excellent use of my financial resources. Oh well, what are you going to do. If I was working, this would be a non-issue, he'd be there and I'd be at the office.

He's eating "Waffle Stix" this morning. Prior to today I refused to buy them because they are about twice the price of regular frozen waffles, and I'm not in a position to pay extra for, well, marketing. But yesterday in the store he asked for them and I figured if it gets into his body, I'm ahead of the game. So far he's eaten 2 of them...3 of them equals a regular-sized waffle. I'm going to count that as a full meal. Whew. I also splurged on orange-pineapple juice. They really need to put more pineapple and less orange in that mix. I think I've had this conversation before...I should just buy straight pineapple juice.

Oh, and as for the weather. Geez. I had hoped that February would be a vast improvement over January. The sun rises earlier and sets later (I can't begin to tell you what that does for my outlook on life) and yet, the 5-day forcast says today will be the warmest day with a high of 25, and the lows will be below ZERO (without wind chill, my friends) for most of the week. By Sunday, the low will be 10. Woo hoo. According to this forecast, we're expecting 1-3 inches of snow, and 25-35 MPH windes, giving a wind chill of -15. You'll forgive me if I have no interest in ever leaving my house again.

I could REALLY use some spring flowers right about now. In my yard. And less snow. None, in fact.

Brilliant Idea

I'd like to share with you a little something I spotted on theworkingmom.net about paying bills. I laughed my head off, especially after following the link to see the picture of the stamps in question.

Also, here's a project that would have been PERFECT for this site. I'm just not that creative, I guess.

Fame and Fortune

Oh, as a follow-up to the article in the paper, yesterday two different people (my physician and my accountant) both told me they saw it. Yikes, that's true, people I know will have seen it! I don't expect to go to say, Shaws, and have people say "aren't you?...." but then again, I haven't really been out much since it was published. I will make sure my hair is combed and I'm wearing deodorant, though, just in case. Lipstick would be pushing it, though, right? Is tinted chapstick okay?

Better Today...Finally

I think we're on the upswing. The nasty cough lingers (I think it's bronchitis, actually) but we were both pretty bright-eyed this morning...I took a shower and then gave him a bath (which wiped me out, briefly) and then he had all sorts of energy. He ran down to the basement to play Arthur on his computer and I actually did some of the dishes that have been piling up. (I did a load in the dishwasher the other day, but didn't empty it, so it was almost easier to just hand-wash the mugs and plates that were on the counter.

So, here we are. I can't believe that I need to rest from such ordinary activities as doing dishes and making breakfast, but there you go. I need to go to the bank later so I want to give myself a little break before I do it. I need gas and I'm going to go to the full-serve place. Seriously, I can't believe I'm so wiped that I can't even pump gas, but there you go. This is NOT a fun illness. But thanks for all the get well notes, I do think we are getting well...finally!

So Nobody Panics

Junior has eaten a banana, one bite of applesauce, grapes, saltines and goldfish crackers. I don't count that as a "meal" but it's a damned site better than what he'd previously eaten.

As for me, I'm living on Salada Green Tea - decaf with extra vitamins and a splash of citrus flavor. I love that stuff. You guys need to try it. If you mail me postage, I'll mail you a t-bag. (Do you think that's even legal these days?).

Okay, back to the couch.

Monday

Sorry I missed an entry yesterday, but I'm still very much down and out with this illness that I call "The Black Plague of Misery". And it's twice as hard to be sick when your kid is also sick. He hasn't eaten a meal in 5 days...I had to fight with him this morning to eat a banana. Not cool.

Okay, off to curl up on the couch for a few hours.

Health Status

Jr. stopped throwing up, Mama now has upper respiratory deal. Not good. Turning off computer now...

Flake-y

Tis snowing. I wonder how much we're going to get. I'm hoping for um, none, but because there is actual snow falling, I know I'm going to get more than none.

We're playing Animal Crossing here today. Day two of the fever, actually. Poor kid missed his first swim lesson, he was devastated. I haven't told him he's probably going to miss a birthday party tomorrow too. That will be WORSE because he was going to get to be a pirate at the party. I'm actually bummed about that one. Poor kid...it's an odd illness, mostly a fever. I keep wondering if it has something to do with his MMR vaccination from last week. But would it take a whole week to hit him?

Anyway, Animal Crossing...I had a question I was going to ask people who maybe have been playing for a while. Is there no way to get a fishing pole until Tom Nook has one available for sale? What about pears...how am I supposed to get Portia a pear? It's obviously winter in "boston" but we have peaches. Do random trees sprout other fruit as a few days have passed?

That's the problem...it's a real-time game, but that means it can be a little slow. Like I really want them to deliver some more mail to me...but do they only do it once a day? *sigh*

No Chance to Bask in the Glow of Celebrity

I may have neglected to mention that Junior, the handsome young lad who was in the newspaper photo with me, woke up with a 102.3 fever this morning. I got it down but it did spike back up at one point. He seems better but he still hasn't gone below 99.7-ish. I just hope he gets a good night's sleep tonight, because I'd really like one myself.

The newspaper article neglected to include the URL for this website, so if any of you are visiting because you did the footwork necessary to look me up, I really do appreciate the effort!

Oh, and for those wondering, here's a link to the book Random Family.

Yours Truly Makes the Local Paper

You can read the article at the Sentinel & Enterprise. And one of you gets a lucky quote! CT Karen, you're famous!!!

Whew, thanks Matt, for making me look good! I owe you one, dude.

Today Show on Random Family

As much as I appreciate the importance of everying Colin Powell had to say today, I was really irked that it pre-empted the Adrian Nicole LeBlanc interview I'd been waiting for. If the Boston station didn't feel the need to throw Regis in the MIDDLE of the show, I would have seen it. I'm so very very annoyed right now. Well, I mean that and the fact that from what I saw, war is inevitable.

My solution, of course, is to eat a few handfuls of Honey Nut Chex Mix. At least I have the Michael Jackson interview to look forward to tomorrow night. If it was warmer out (or if the wind was less than 40mph) I'd drown my sorrows in a Coffee Coolatta. Doesn't that sound good? Maybe I'll just pretend this Diet Pepsi is a large with a big glob of whipped cream on top. Mmmmm.

Art Lust

Edward Gordon has another piece up for auction on eBay. Whenever he does that I get an email because I signed up for his mailing list. I love his work. I've discussed it here previously - I own a signed and numbered copy of his lithograph "Dreamdancing". I love it. Just love it.

Well, once again I look at EVERYTHING on the site and kick myself silly for not buying a copy of Morning Tempest when it was available from them. And then it occurred to me...just because the publisher is out, they must be available somewhere. And I found one in Massachusetts! I wrote to the gallery (I'm not naming it for fear one of you will go buy the danged thing before I get a chance to at least SEE it in person, to find out one way or another if I like it as much in person as I do looking at it on the website.)

I know I should unsubscribe from his mailing list so I don't put myself through this every few months, but someday, I swear, I'm going to be in a position where $400 for something I love and that I will enjoy for years to come is a drop in the bucket.

Job Hunt - A Human Being!

I sent out another resume today, and an actual human being responded. I got so used to not ever hearing back from anyone that I was afraid to actually look at the email. Maybe it was a virus or something.

Nope, just the recruiter who posted the position telling me the funding for the job had been cut, but to thank me for sending in a resume. I was in such awe that he would write to me that I wrote back to him to tell him that.

Okay, so no, it wasn't great news, but better than what's been going on. Maybe the world is going to start needing tech writers and content developers again!

Jody, freelancer to the stars

Pee in a Cup

It's a big day for us. In about 20 minutes I'm taking Junior to go pee in a cup for the first time. It's the testing part of his physical (they don't do it at the office, you just go to the Quest lab and do it there.) He's already told me "no pinches" which is what he's calling shots. Uh oh, he's due for a blood test. This could be ugly. If they do it with a needle he'll freak at the idea, and if they do the pin prick he'll freak because that actually hurts MORE.

I've told him I honestly don't know what they're going to do, but that he has to go or I can't sign him up for kindergarten. He really can't wait to go to school so this is actually a bargaining chip for me. In another couple of years, not so much.

He told me he was going to practice peeing in a cup, and I happened to see him put a Dixie cup on the FLOOR. "STOP! STOP! That's not how you do it!!!"

Whew. I told him we needed to use the cup THEY gave us, so he should just wait. Good thing I was in the room!

Returning Pants

Somehow, returning a pair of pants turned into an all-day project. This is just SO me these days. I keep thinking maybe it's because of the weather or something, but today it was in the 40's and it felt like July! I'm not even going to view the forecast because I don't want to be blue. I do believe some rough weather is headed this way. In the meantime, 70% of my driveway is now bare pavement for the first time in over a month.

p.s. Eat Strawberries

Right now the strawberries in the local grocery stores are unbelievable. I mean just the greatest things in the whole produce department. I bought a carton of fat-free strawberry yoghurt and some of the lowfat Cool-Whip and you mix in a bit of the Cool-Whip to make a really awesome dip. Actually, I realized this is probably a cheap way to replicate those Yoplait whips I talked about a few months ago.

Sunday Thoughts

- We got snow overnight...probably 2-3 inches. It was hard to tell by this morning because it was raining and had already started to melt some. Basically the world was covered with slush. I had to get out the snow blower because it was impossible to move easily with a shovel. Now I'm ready for a nap.

- The book signing is tonight, and I'm still not sure what to wear. I don't think it's formal formal, but I have a feeling I should wear a skirt. I don't want to wear a skirt, but I will. I need to call my sister and find out if we're going to drive over there together. Junior will stay with grandma and grandpa - he's very excited about this.

- The article has been delayed, given yesterday's events. Plenty of time for me on another day. I would have been surprised (and disappointed) if they thought my story was more important than that of the 7 astronauts.

- As I mentioned in a comment below, someone I know posted a message to one of the mailing lists I subscribe to (topfive.com contribs) that he was there when they found the helmet down in Tyler Texas. And he was there when they found body parts and the hearses arrived. I can't think of anything I'd like less than to find something like that... For some reason it reminded me of when people found JFK Jr.'s luggage on the beach. Or the website that showed some of the items (papers) that had fluttered miles away from Ground Zero. As horrified as I am watching something like this unfold, it's when they find this kind of stuff that puts a human face on it and horrifies me all the more. I had just assumed there would be nothing left of the seven, that at that height and that speed, well, that's what I thought. I was wrong.

Junior's Choice of Music

I just feel the need to point out the my son is listening to a Wiggles CD and he keeps replaying one song: it's called "Rocket"

"We're going for a trip out into space
Sitting here I'm just listening to the countdown
The numbers go from ten right down to one
hear the engines blast
We're taking off at last
We're leaving the Earth far behind." (©2000 The Wiggles Touring Party)

Ugh. It's a peppy happy song, as you would expect from a Wiggles song written for toddlers. I'm just kind of awed that of all the songs on the CD THIS is the one he's playing over and over. I have not talked about what happened in Texas today. *sigh*

Jody....supermodel...web goddess....

You know, if I felt at all attractive, having my picture taken for half an hour might be fun. There are people the camera loves, they look better on film than they do in real life. I'm not one of those people. So we can only hope that the photographer will be kind and pick something flattering from the 20 or 30 (or 40 or 50) shots she took. I mean ONE of them must be good, right?

Junior was supposed to be in the picture so people could focus on that cute little face and not mine, but he could NOT sit still, and then he decided he wanted to finish eating and watching television. Danged kid. Left me high and dry.

Okay, so it's done. No more worrying about it. Maybe they won't use the story. I forgot to mention to the reporter that the site was featured in a scholarly paper that was published in the Journal of the Mundane. That's one of my favorite claims to fame to date. If I have to be mundane, I want to be textbook perfect at it.

Oh, and before I forget (as if I could) I am purposely not going to talk about the space shuttle Columbia right now. It's a horrible, horrible tragedy, and I don't think I need to add to the bandwidth on this one. My prayers are with the friends and families of those we lost today.