long, boring carpet rant...

what the hell is wrong with people? is it really THAT difficult for everyone to do their damn jobs?? our little flood problem happened on the 11th and as of now we STILL haven't submitted the claim form (to replace our carpeting) to the state, because getting estimates from carpet stores has proven to be like pulling teeth… really stubborn teeth with roots wrapped around the sinuses!!

first we went to home depot… but as usual there was nobody working in the department we needed

next we went to lowes – they were more helpful but wanted to charge us for the estimates – which is understandable I guess… but I wasn't about to make an appointment for something I was going to be charged for and HOPE that my mother would pay us back – so we left

next we tried a local, independent, family run store (Sam’s last place of employment) he left there on good terms and has faith that they would do a good job – THIS is where we WANT to get the carpet from but we THOUGHT it would be way more expensive than any place else – however since they know us they say they’ll work with us and give us a good deal

see… what we have here and what we want done are not the same thing – aside from the bedroom and bathroom (the only REAL rooms) the main part of our house is basically one long room divided into areas that are pretty much only distinguishable by the furniture - picture this:



the living room area (bottom left) is all carpeted, carpet comes out at the top in a strange cut that goes along the front of the 'breakfast bar' the squiggly line indicates the outer edge of the carpet border... after that is B&W checkerboard vinyl tile that covers the whole rest of the length and the kitchen - to the right (computer/music area) there is a large wool area rug (indicated by the squiggly square)

*the blue indicates the water that came in during the flood

anyway… what we want is carpet straight across – so we need two estimates each from two different places… one giving us the cost to carpet the whole length, from the living room straight through the computer area (NOT including the kitchen, obviously) and the other with what it would cost to replace the existing situation (carpet in the living room & breakfast bar area and a wool area rug in the computer area

sounds pretty simple right?

WRONG!!

first of all the flood happened on a Wednesday night (July 11th) the following Saturday (the 14th) we went carpet shopping and to schedule appointments for estimates - we scheduled an appointment with store A. for Tuesday the 17th

and were told on Monday morning (the 16th) by store B. (another local independent, family run store) that the carpet guy would call that afternoon to schedule an appointment

no call - a long, irritating game of phone tag ensued…

meanwhile store A. never showed up for Tuesday’s appointment and never called to reschedule – they just totally spaced I guess – I didn’t want to go ape shit on them so I waited until Sam got home so he could call them – the front desk said they had no idea the guy had an appointment and that they had sent him on a job in Manhattan all day Tuesday *GAH* and he would call me first thing the next morning (Wednesday the 18th) to reschedule

of course he never did… I didn’t wait for Sam this time, I called and was told he’d call me back that afternoon – he never did (well he claims he did but kept getting a busy signal) wake up people it’s 2007 who the hell gets a busy signal anymore??!!

anyway by then I was pretty pissed off – Store B. never bothers to call back and Store A. doesn’t seem to know what the hell is going on

FINALLY Thursday morning (the 19th) the installer from store A calls (after some more phone tag) and apologizes for the screw up blah blah blah and asks when he can come out – I said ‘whenever’ he said ‘how bout this morning’ – I said ‘GREAT, I have no life, come on down!’ he said ‘I’ll be there between 10 and 11’ and by golly he WAS!! I almost fainted!!

he was very nice and SEEMED to understand exactly what I was saying – which was that this area rug is WOOL (therefore considerably more expensive to replace than the carpet) in other words hopefully carpeting straight across won’t be much different price-wise than replacing the wool area rug

I’m TRYING to get carpet straight through - so I want to be clear that the area rug is WOOL so that when we get the money to replace the existing situation we don’t have too much of a price difference to make up ourselves

he did his measuring and explained to me that because of the weird cut of the living room carpet and the size of the area rug that there really wouldn't be much difference in price between replacing what we have and getting what we want because you have to buy all the material anyway and cut it down to the right sizes so you're really only talking about a 3 foot difference - which was exactly what I wanted to hear, so I was happy!! he said he’d have the estimate in the mail within the next couple days

that afternoon (about 5:15pm) receptionist from store B. FINALLY calls and says she spoke to carpet guy (who obviously couldn’t be bothered to call me himself) and said ‘he can be there between 10 and 12 tomorrow morning (Friday the 20th)

I was shocked at the lack of appointment making… and how it was more like dealing with the phone company or something – like they’ll be here at their convenience and if that doesn’t work for me, then tough shit!!

but this is a small area and I was pretty much out of options so I said ok – I mean after all, what else am I doing? I LOVE waiting around for people to show up who may or may not bother – even though I’m not really going anywhere I still feel like I can’t get involved in doing anything, ya know? I wasn’t about to go out back to do yard work or get up to my armpits in cleaning the bathroom only to have these people knock on the door

I can’t help but wonder what people who have to go to work every day do in situations like this… perhaps you took the day off Tuesday to deal with store A and the fucker never shows… are you supposed to take another day off?? can you get the next day off at the drop of a hat because store B calls at 5pm the night before and says they’ll be here sometime in the late morning?

of course not!!

so in a way I guess I’m fortunate that my schedule is so open but still – these people don’t know that!!

anyway - eventually both guys showed up and did their measurements and sent their estimates – EVENTUALLY although with store A there was a little struggle getting the estimate once they actually came out (they seem to be a bit disorganized)

unfortunately NEITHER estimate called for replacing a WOOL area rug – they both called for making an area rug out of the same carpet they would be laying down in the living room area!! GAH!! GAH!! – DOUBLE GAH!!!!

more phone tag with the idiots at store B (about 4 days worth) resulted in them saying they can’t give us an estimate on replacing a wool area rug unless they know exactly what kind of rug it is – huh? it’s fucking WOOL, ya know that fluffy shit a sheep wears?!?!!! the guy was here… he SAW the rug!! it’s a thick burber-like, oatmeal colored WOOL area rug!!

bzzzt no can do – they have no clue

since the area rug originally came from store A. they were a lot less assholey on the phone… they understood exactly what we were talking about and apologized (said they were working up the difference ‘as we speak’) and would send the estimate out ASAP

that was last Wednesday (the 25th) – I’m still waiting for the revised estimate!!

we figure when we have THAT, we can take it to store B so they know (hopefully) what kind of rug we’re talking about and can revise their estimate too… RIGHT THERE WHILE WE WAIT!!

at this rate, by the time this whole thing gets settled carpet will be obsolete on account of we’re all living in pods on Jupiter

I know I’m a little impatient but come on – what the fuck is going on… THIS is these people’s JOB… it’s all they do ALL day long!! why is it so fucking difficult for them to get it right??

it’s not just them… it’s every business I ever deal with!! particularly where phone calls and or appointments are involved…

N O B O D Y seems to be able to do their damn job!! and it’s always somebody else’s fault – if they could make a career out of passing the buck they’d all be employee of the year, every single one of them!!

it’s just so frustrating!!

children...

they make leashes for them so why don’t people use them? especially when they are in MY house!!

we’re friendly with a couple who have an 8 year old boy – these two NEVER get anywhere without this kid!! every time we invite them over, it’s the 3 of them – I dunno I guess they don’t have any babysitting types anywhere nearby

as much as it would be nice to SOMETIMES be able to have more adult conversations - for the most part I don’t mind him always being around – he’s a good kid… for the most part

for the longest time I thought his mother was a one of those mothers that just has no patience and really isn’t very interested in being a mommy… or just REALLY needs a break!! – because she’s ALWAYS telling him to be quiet and getting frustrated with him

but recently I’ve come to realize that this fucking kid NEVER SHUTS UP!!

EVER!! and the fact that she hasn’t sewn his damn mouth shut yet means she must be some kind of saint!!

the other night we had them over here to help them make some travel arrangements (they don’t have internet access) the guys went out to pick up dinner… leaving me, the wife and the kid at home – the wife asked if she could use the computer to get a head start on looking for a flight – sure no problem

that left me and the kid alone in the living room – mind you she was 25 feet away at the other end of practically the same room (nothing at all between us but she had her back to us)

for close to an hour this kid shot off question after question – (keep in mind it’s the end of the day and I should have eaten dinner an hour ago!!)

him: how’s your monkey bear (referring to Chonga)
me: rolling eyes… he’s fine
him: what is he today? a bear or a monkey?

the kid is fascinated by my poor Chonga… he won’t leave him alone no matter how much Chonga (or I) tell him to stop manhandling him!!

him: you have a lot of books! why do you have so many books?
me: I like books

I can tell this is going to be a long interview, I attempt to turn on Nickelodeon

him: oh don’t change the channel for me, my Dad grounded me earlier today

hmmm I’ve seen this kid get grounded a hundred times, but always by his mom, never his dad - anyway that’s pretty cool that he would tell me that – most kids would try to get away with watching as much tv as possible while they can

me: well your Dad is a pretty chill guy so I’m sure he had a good reason – what did you do?
him: talked mean to him – he was in a bad mood so he was talking mean first
me: well that’s no excuse…
him: well he made me mad!
me: well I’m sure it’ll blow over soon
him: yeah – you have a lot of children’s books too! why do you have so many children’s books?
me: I collect them
him: why?
me: I never grew up
him: what is this? (referring to two weebles I have sitting on my book shelf)
me: weebles
him: what are they?
me: toys
him: what do they do?
me: they wobble, but they don’t fall down
him: huh? REALLY?

he stood up on the couch to get them down and for the rest of the night he proceeded to do everything in his power to try to get them to fall down (in between questions of course)

him: what’s in there? (referring to a small willy wonka lunch box I have next to my tv)
me: nothing! some glitter glue and stuff like that (I used it to hide stuff I didn’t want my niece playing with)
him: oh I picked it up and shook it because I thought it was empty but it wasn’t empty!
me: no it’s not

him: what’s that potato thing? (pointing at another toy on my bookshelf)
me: it’s not a potato, it’s a McNugget Buddy (a happy meal prize, a plastic chicken McNugget dressed up like a witch)
him: why?
me: no idea!

he proceeds to stand on my couch again to disassemble the McNugget buddy and rearrange it so that the nugget is upside down (wearing the hat on it’s ass) he thought that was a riot

me: laughs

him: where are your weird beanie guys? (referring to my collection of meanie beanies, he asks me this every time he comes over)

me: I don’t know, I put them away somewhere

really I packed them up and put them away because this kid won’t stop playing with them and I’m afraid he’s going to rip the tags, which all have little poems explaining their individual maladies and deformities

him: I like them! especially the ‘armydillo’
me: yes I know
him: have you ever seen =insert unmemorable movie title here=?
me? nope
him: are you sure?
me: yes!
him: it has so and so and such and such and it’s about this and that and this and that and this and that and this and that!

are you sure you haven’t seen it?

me: yes I’m sure!

him: did you see the second one?
me: I don’t know, what was it called?
him: unmemorable movie title – part 2
me: nope didn’t see that one either
him: are you sure? it has this person and that person and this happens and that happens
me: prrrrretty sure!!
him: oh you should see it – you’d like it

I seriously doubt that!!

meanwhile he’s been throwing my weebles around the room, banging them into eachother and spinning them like tops, tossing them on the floor etc. trying to get them to not pop back upright again

him: is this one a bully?
me: huh??
him: pointing to the larger weebles back - he has a slingshot in his back pocket
me: oh I never noticed – it’s been years since I’ve really PLAYED with them
him: why?
me: they are from when I was like 4 years old
him: why do you still have them?
me: I have trouble letting things go
him: what did you do with them then?
me: I don’t remember – I was 5
him: 4
me: 4, 5, 6, 7 – who knows
him: this one (the smaller one) is heavier
me: oh yeah?
him: yeah… why?
me: no clue! I’m guessing the weight or whatever is inside to make it never fall over is slightly heavier in that one for some reason
him: have you ever been to Applebees?
me: uh… no I don’t think so
him: me either
me: good to know

him: have you ever seen Drop Dead Fred?
me: yes, a loooooong time ago!
him: did you like it?
me: I don’t really remember
him: I own it – have you ever seen Gremlins?
me: yes, a loooooong time ago!
him: ever seen Gremlins 2?
me: yes, a loooooong time ago!
him: which did you like better?
me: I don’t remember them that well
him: I like the one where ‘blahblahblah’ happens better than the other one, I think… I think it’s the first one – maybe it’s the second, I don’t remember
me: me either ~yawn… looking for something to stab my eardrums with

he also found a rubber eyeball I have that never got packed away after Halloween… he was playing with that about as much as the weebles (which by now are getting battered and bruised)

him: the paint is coming off this eyeball
me: that’s because you’re playing with it too much
him: well what are you SUPPOSED to do with it?
me: it’s more for decoration… you’re supposed to LOOK at it
him: but it’s fun to play with
me: if you say so

I pick up a weeble and examine it more closely

me: ya know these weebles have been around for 30 YEARS!! moved from house to house and have somehow managed to survive relatively unscathed until today… now they’re all scratched and dinged

him: didn’t you play with them?
me: yes but I didn’t throw them around and bang them into eachother
him: oh

about 45 minutes has gone by (so obviously I’ve left quite a bit of this conversation out)

I thought to myself ya know what? he may have been grounded but I don’t see why I should have to be punished too!! so I turned on Nickelodeon – FUCK IT! I’m not the fucking entertainment director on this cruise!! if you’re gonna bring your kid over and drop him in my living room and ignore him for an hour, but he can’t watch tv, you damn sure better bring SOMETHING over to keep him entertained!!

he immediately zones out at the screen – grabs my precious CHONGA and starts mindlessly abusing him, spinning him by his arm, squeezing him between his feet

GAH!! – must remember to hide Chonga away when they leave!!

before ya know it there won’t be anything left in my living room – it will all be packed up and protected from this kid!!

don’t get me wrong – I DO like this kid… I like that he’s so friendly and outgoing… he doesn’t seem shy at all!!

when I was his age I was SO shy… I mean S H Y!! I would barely speak – I couldn’t even order my own ice cream cone… imagine that!!! I would go without any ice cream while everyone else was enjoying there’s just because I was too shy to walk up and ask for what I wanted

if I was in somebody else’s house I would sit wherever I was told to sit and I would keep my ass on the seat – not sitting on my head or sideways, pushing the arms of the chair apart – or backwards, rocking the recliner into the wall repeatedly!! I would never so much as put my feet on the chair!!

if they walked away I wouldn’t grab the remote and change the channel… even if they had given me permission in the past – if they were watching gunsmoke (ick!!) I would sit there and watch it like it was my favorite show!! sure I’d be trying to send them mental vibes to put on something less sucky – but I would NEVER ask let alone change the channel when they stepped away

if I heard them open the fridge I wouldn’t mysteriously show up at the door looking for a snack… I would wait till it was offered and even then I’d probably be too shy to take them up on it!! I would never see a box of berries in the fridge or a bowl of peaches on the counter and ask if I could have some… as if it’s been years since I saw a piece of fresh fruit

I’m not sure if any of this is rudeness so much as just not being crazy shy like I was… I just don’t understand it

on the other hand - one day he opened our fridge looking for something he had left in there 2 weeks earlier – his mother was standing there and went ape shit on him!! I didn’t think it was that big a deal… in fact I didn’t even really notice (even though I was standing right there) until she said something

and one day I had made biscuits and he was milling around waiting for them to come out of the oven… as soon as they did he swooped in and grabbed one… again she went ape shit on him – which I understand… it is pretty rude to just go grabbing food before you’ve been told to… but they were invited for dinner so I assume he assumed he would be eating them anyway

I don’t know… I had a point somewhere but it seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way and now I’m just rambling so I’ll shut up haaaa

easing in...

I'm having a hard time getting myself to sit here and write so I'm trying to ease my way back in here with the old standby - a survey... because believe it or not I don't think you guys actually know EVERY little tidbit about me just yet

so here ya go... another damn survey (sent to me through myspace - cause I'm a loser like that - anyway... that explains the references to my 'top eight')

1. Where’s your number one on your top eight?
Ohio – lets see it’s just before 8am and she’s not on the phone with me so I’m guessing she’s either sleeping or driving her husband to work

2. What is your favorite possession?
I was having a hard time with this one until I thought ‘what is the first thing I’d throw out the window if the house was on fire’ – (after my cat) that would be my photo albums

3. Do you own a gun?
me personally, no – but we have several in the house

4. If you could tell your last ex something what would you say?
my last ex?? I don’t even remember who the hell that is
who was I seeing before Sam came along (18 years ago!!) ???

Rob! what would I say to him? – hmmm I don’t know… no regrets? thanks for the memories? did ya ever find my earring??

5. Do you get nervous before doctors appointments?
extremely – I didn’t used to but in the last several years I’ve started having a real issue with it

6. what is the last movie you watched?
Kalifornia

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
I dunno… little drummer boy?

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
water

9. Can you do push ups?
push up pops? sure

10. Is your bathroom clean?
it could be cleaner – but it’s certainly safe to sit on the toilet

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
I don’t have much to choose from… Sam got me a pair of amber earrings a few years ago that I really like

12. Do you take painkillers?
not prescription ones… not currently anyway

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
my demure nature, dazzling charm, amazing wit, sparkling personality… and big tits

14. Do you have A.D.D.?
apparently not – although it’s been suggested many times

15. of all your exes who would you be most likely to look up?
probably Graham... I don't have many regrets in life but I do regret the way I treated him - not that it really matters... we were like 13 haaaa

16. What are you doing tonight?
what is tonight? Wednesday… there’s nothing on tv so I guess there’s nothing left but sex

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
1. I just said ‘butt sex’ HaHa 2. I’m hungry 3. I think the laundry is done

18. Name the last 3 things you have bought?
new shoes, a dvd (texas chainsaw massacre - the next generation), make-up (first new make-up I've bought in at least 5 years!! woo hoo)

19. Name 3 things you drink regularly?
water, orange juice… and pepsi I guess

20. Are you on a diet?
no but I sure as hell should be!!

21. who’s number one on your top 8?
Ohio friend

22. Current worry:
that we’re gonna get stuck living with this crappy waterlogged potential mold factory of a carpet because it's taking so long to get the claim in to the state

23. Current hate:
don’t have one

24. Favorite place to be:
on the floor at Sam's feet

25. How did you bring in the New Year?
with the spousal unit, we have a kinda new years eve special dinner/twilight zone marathon/game night tradition

26. Where would you like to go?
lots of places – (outside the U.S.) Italy, Ireland, England, Wales (inside the U.S.) Alaska, Hawaii (again) – I’d actually like to travel all over the U.S. – I haven’t seen much outside of NY at all

27. Why do you wanna go there?
Europe, mostly for the architecture – U.S. mostly for the roadside attractions (worlds largest ball of twine, that sort of thing)

28. What shirt are you wearing?
grayish green t-shirt – holy crap it’s not black!!

29. What is your current relationship status?
married

30. Favorite color(s)?
earthtones

31. Would you be a pirate?
that depends… is Johnny Depp on the ship?

32. Are you gay?
nope – not that there’s anything wrong with that hehehe

33. Do you sing in the shower?
sometimes – actually it’s more of a humming

34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
the pedophile in the next room

35. What's in your pockets right now?
a used paper towel

36. What are you going to do after this?
put on a movie, start dinner and clean!!

37. Who do you want to be with right now?
Sam… and the Prize Patrol

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
not counting my knee thing, because that's more of a birth defect than an injury - when I was about 13 I was running to answer the phone and whacked my foot on a garbage bag I had by my bedroom door that had a broken mirror in it – I cut my foot just below my big toe and needed stitches, I must have damaged a nerve or something because to this day it's still very sensitive and tickles like crazy if you even touch the air around it!!

39. Best feeling in the world?
being loved by my man

40. Worst feeling in the world?
being neglected

41. Who is your loudest friend?
I dunno… probably Marc

42. Who is your quietest friend?
Sam

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
I seriously doubt it

45. What is your favorite book?
probably a tie between Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland and the Catcher in the Rye

46. What is your favorite candy
chocolate – the creamier the better

47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
we made our own mixed tapes (cause we’re classy like that) – the first song played at our wedding was Like Suicide – by Soundgarden

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
Chopin’s funeral march as they lower me into the ground – followed by a lot of Jethro Tull

49. What were you doing @ 12 AM last night?
sleeping

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
is it that time already???

there ya have it... another fascinating trip inside my mind

glub glub...

I started out the day thinking I had nothing to say – but I wanted to post anyway so as I started typing up my forced post it turned out I actually had a little something to say – unfortunately that post will have to sit on the back burner for a bit as one of the funny little things about being a kitty mama has popped up and distracted me… and who (besides Jocelyn) can resists a little cat blogging? not me!!

as the words were flowing from my fingers I felt the urge for another ‘flow’ of sorts – since I had just guzzled 20 oz. of water to wash down my caffeine loaded excedrin, it was a pretty urgent urge… rather than piss my pants (which at times I’d be inclined to risk rather than interrupt my train of thought) I dragged myself to the bathroom

the light was off but I was able to see something dark floating in the toilet… I was just about to curse my poor husband for leaving me a floating fecal-gram (not that he ever does that - haaaa) when I realized I had been in there since he left and there was nothing in there then – that is when I realized that earlier when I first sat down at the desk I heard Willow (that’s my cat) playing with something behind me – I didn’t pay much attention, she’s a cat so she plays with anything that falls on the floor (never actual cat toys we bought of course!!)

this time it was a soft sculpture cabbage patch-like head magnet that I had accidentally knocked off the fridge and was too lazy to pick up – so it serves me right that upon closer inspection I found THIS staring back at me from the depths of my toilet bowl

**ignore the hard water stains around the bowl**



so here I am, legs crossed, trying not to laugh for fear of pissing my pants – but instead of grabbing a latex glove and scooping her out so I could pee (like a normal person would do) I just HAD to grab a picture and share this amusing moment with you guys

I hope you appreciate how much I suffer to keep you entertained!!

bedlam and squalor…

well I had a totally different post planned for today but seein’ as how the whole front half of our house is somewhat of a swamp now thanks to the bungling idiots we call a highway department – it turns out I have a lot more cleaning up to do around than I normally would

ya see… about 15 years ago the state came through and ‘rebuilt’ our road – sounds like a good thing, right?

unfortunately, whatever they did causes any rain that hits the road to run off into our driveway, turning it into a pond… not a real big deal, but it does make it hard to get in and out of the house for a little while - every time it rains we joke around that whoever is in charge of preserving the rare one eyed salamander or the albino tadpole is going to come in and declare this a protected wetland and kick our sorry asses out…

anyway… there are also two drainage grate thingies… one on the other side of the road and one on this side near the edge of our driveway – neither of them seem to work quite right as you can see in THIS PICTURE of the flood we had a few months ago…

when the drainage thingies get backed up or whatever happens (which is pretty much any time we get a heavy rain) water spews out and turns the pond into a lake!!

when the road was first redone this place was a deli – once while they were still working on it and at least one other time shortly thereafter, the rains came and in came the lake… and I mean IN came the lake… right into the building!! fortunately no serious damage was done... since it was still a store there was nothing on the floor but industrial tile (unlike the current carpet & area rugs!!)

the highway people were called (this is when my mother learned that you don’t actually have to have an engineering degree to be the engineer in charge of rebuilding roads) – anyway… they assessed the situation and determined that there was of course ‘nothing they could do’ other than hopefully maintain the drainage situation so that ‘hopefully’ this won’t continue to be a problem

obviously we can see how well that plan worked out – they pretty much only show up here to clear out the drain while we’re in the middle of a heavy rain (after the road is already flooded) probably only because they got a call from someone who almost lost their car in the current!!

HERE you can see the genius they sent out during the April flood – who didn’t even have it together enough to keep from displaying his ginormous ass crack let alone clean out a drain pipe

so anyway… Tuesday evening they were calling for severe thunderstorms in kittyville – just like they had been for over a week… as usual I was glued to the weather channel hoping to see a big storm headed our way – I DO love a thunderstorm!! I was just starting to get bummed that it looked like once again the storms were skipping all around us but not quite getting here =(

we settled in to eat dinner and watch some shows we had taped when it started pouring… P O U R I N G!! buckets of rain started coming down… as usual I checked outside the front door to see if it looked like it might come in… as usual it looked like it was close but not quite *phew*

then I noticed the blue lights flashing out by the road… the town rescue squad was out there putting out flares because the whole section of road was under water – apparently more so than normal because they never came down here with flares before!!!

Sam didn’t seem particularly concerned but I couldn’t sit still and focus on the show – there was too much going on outside our windows haaaa – plus I was really starting to worry about the water level outside our door – as cars attempted to drive by they would send waves of water splashing down over our driveway

I also noticed that water was coming in through our kitchen window frame!!! it’s never done anything like that before so it must have been raining super hard!! (so obviously now I’m concerned about mold growing in that wall – GAH!!)

needless to say it was right about then that I stopped wishing for storms...

eventually the road crew guys showed up to try to do something about the clogged drains I guess… but as soon as they took the grate off the one across the road, water gushed out and came flooding over right into our house… not only under the door but also under the walls… because our house is on a concrete slab apparently it’s possible for water to seep in between the slab and the walls – nice huh?

so now our nearly new area rug which we’ve taken great care to keep looking nice, has two giant soggy water spots – our living room carpet is damp all along the wall, boxes are soggy, everything is covered in filth – and Sam ruined a pair of $60 shoes trying to dig a trench to divert the water

when all was said and done they said we had gotten over 3 inches of rain in about 45 minutes!!

now we start the battle of trying to get the state (who’s drainage problem and bad road construction caused the problem) to pay for us to fix our soggy flooring situation and potential mold problem (since the water came in under our walls) – wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed!! I do NOT want us to end up having to rip this carpet out ourselves and wind up living with a cruddy, stained, disgusting concrete floor!! I WANT NEW CARPET!! I think that's fair... I mean the old carpet was beyond gross but at least it wasn't a potential mold factory and health hazard!! we could live with the stains and the wear & tear - but water is another story!!

click HERE to see a slide show of this weeks flood

and in the interest of leaving off on a funny note… here is another TOTALLY AWESOME VIDEO – of one of the all time BEST interviews from one of the all time most TOTALLY AWESOME tv shows ever made!!

mish-mash…

EBB & FLOW

it’s interesting to me how activity in cyberland seems to have it’s own little ebb & flow thing goin’ on… I’ve noticed it for several years – long before blogging was the in thing I would notice it in chat rooms (yes I was once a chat rat)

things go along smoothly for a while and then BAM suddenly everyone gets busy at once and things quiet down… or in blogland everyone has so much to say it’s almost impossible to keep up and then WHAMO everyone has writers block at the same time!! it’s so weird to me…

it must be kinda like how when chicks hang out a lot together they start getting on the same schedule with their periods

anyway - of course before ya know it everyone is buzzing again and things get back to normal… but until then I guess you have to take advantage of that down time!!

CLUTTER

Sam and I have been working on de-cluttering our house and yard… this past weekend we put a bunch of stuff outside with a free sign on it – vultures swoop down and grab almost anything if it’s FREE haaaa it’s a great way to get rid of stuff that’s in half way decent condition… why take it to the dump? no reason to spend money to dispose of it OR add to the bottomless pit we call a landfill if someone can use the stuff, right?

if we didn’t live on a busy road I would put an ad up on our local FREECYCLE network (which if you’ve never checked out, you totally should!!) I have a link over there to the right where you can just type in your town or county and it’ll give you a list of the freecycle networks in your area – it’s a GREAT place to find odd stuff you might need or unload stuff you don’t want anymore!!

anyway like I said that is what I would do if we didn’t live on such a busy road – but we do… this weekend we got rid of an old screen door, our old computer chair (we inherited a much nicer one recently) a bunch of books and other assorted crap I can’t even remember, which was laying around our house cluttering things up

it barely looks like we’ve made a dent!! we have no closets or storage space AT ALL so all those things you would normally hide away (folding chairs, brooms, vacuum, coats & hats, shoes) are exposed – even our weed whacker is out where we can see it!! - which is one of the BIG drawbacks to living here!! our old apartment had AWESOME storage and I got very spoiled by it!!

my whole life I was without a closet!! yet somehow my sister ALWAYS had a closet!! weird how that worked out

my bedroom at home when I was growing up had a closet bar and shelves but no actual door or anything – so I could hang stuff up but still had to look at it – my room at my grandparents house had no closet at all… my room in my mother’s house when we moved out of the house I grew up in, had no closet at all – so when I got into that apartment with ALL that storage I went ape shit!! I thought it was the greatest thing ever!! FINALLY I didn’t have to try to come up with cheap, creative ways to hide everything I own!!

I should have known we wouldn’t grow old there or anything on account of it seems to be my lot in life to be without storage space!! haaaa

our house now is lined with shelves - everywhere you look there are shelves – in a small area you have to make the most of the vertical space… part of the problem is that we’re both project people… we both have butt loads of supplies for projects we intend to start or finish ‘some day’ – lots of people are like this… but I’m betting most of them have some place to store their crap (a closet, attic, garage, basement, loft, shed – SOMETHING) I’d say we’re pretty even as far as that sort of stuff goes… I have WAY more ‘supplies’ but mine are stored neater… he has less but it’s all kinda strewn about in a totally unorganized way… I’m not sure whose method works better… I sometimes think if my stuff was more out and in my face that I’d be more inclined to pick something up and DO IT – but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Sam so I kinda doubt it would be with me

hall of the juvenile & bizarre

another part of the problem is the fact that I see odd things that I MUST have!! for example THESE or THESE or the infamous SEVERED LEG - which sits atop my framed uncut sheet of series 1 WACKY PACKS (the '79 reprint) - both of which never fail to raise eyebrows

and our new awesome find (YAY FLEA MARKETS – WOO HOO!!)

check it out… it’s the amazing squeezable BOOB BALL!! (we got two) here is a picture of my wonderful, patient, cooperative husband modeling them for me…



have you ever seen anything more BOOBTASTIC in your life? they’re soft and squeezable – almost how you’d expect fake boobs to feel… ALMOST hehehe

we got them for a friend who’s been complaining he’s ‘not getting any’ – we thought that would be a funny joke

but now I kinda want to keep them for myself… they’d make an interesting conversation piece, doncha think? I wonder how they’d hold up to a pair of nipple clamps!! I would totally clip them together and put them up on a shelf (because that is the kind of loony bin we live in!!) haaaa

maybe one of these days I’ll start a museum of weird crap and charge admission – then I could do like Brian suggests and ‘actually make some money in this lifetime’ – it couldn’t hurt!! then I could afford to get more nifty junk

isn’t that what it’s all about? making money!!

so you can buy more stuff so you can make more money so you can buy more stuff…

hey, it’s the American way!!

LET ME EAT CAKE!!!

I FINALLY got my period… HALLELUJA!! it was only SEVENTEEN days late!!

I’ve always been a nut about keeping track of my period (except for my heavy pot smoking days) my best friend (Ohio friend) never keeps track of her period… she’s never quite sure when it’s due or how late she may or may not be (which may be the reason she has two kids she didn’t plan)

when it comes to my period being late like it was this month – my worry isn’t the usual ‘could I be pregnant?’ – I’m reasonably sure I’m not… although I HAVE peed on my share of sticks ‘just to be sure’ especially since I pop excedrin like PEZ!! or back in the day when I needed pot EVERY NIGHT just to get to sleep!! and was taking hive medication and anything I could get my hands on to help my migraines!!

my concern is that there’s something physically wrong with me… once upon a time my period was like clockwork… right down to the hour!! I got it every 28 days at around 10am!! then I went on the pill for about 6 months and everything changed!! I’ve really never been quite the same since (that was about 17 years ago!!)

I’m not saying the pill is to blame for my period being late this month… this time I’m blaming being sick and taking antibiotics… it seems like every time I get a bad illness like the sinus infection I had a little while back, it totally screws up my period… I thought I might avoid that this time because I actually got my period WHILE I was sick… but I guess not… the screw up just waited until the next period instead

so anyway… I’ve seriously been dealing with wicked PMS for the last 3 WEEKS!!!
the whole thing from my latest symptom, swollen ankles!! to bloating, bitchiness, sweet cravings, salt cravings, headaches, tiredness, achyness, HUGE boobs, achy boobs!! sore nipples (which usually coincides with the totally horny stage… go figure) I was just moving into the total horny stage when the freakin’ blood came!! that happens sometimes… stupid bloody horny stage!!

it’s just as well… I have another headache anyway!!

maybe Sam will get lucky and I won’t have collapsed from exhaustion by the time he gets home so he can at least benefit!!

I’ll just have to take care of myself in the shower or something – YAY hand held shower massagers!! WOO HOO

assholes!!

so yesterday I was reading NSM’s post about some odd radioactive rock they found at his job (a place where there’s no possible sane reason for radioactive rocks to be)

while I was reading his post I started thinking about Sam's job (he works for a moving and storage company) and how who the hell knows where he's working from one day to the next or what he'll be doing - and I was wondering how it would be handled if he came into contact with some sort of hazardous material on a job site

then when he comes home from work yesterday he starts telling me about his day and how they have him removing some sort of cabinets from a school - which are bolted in for some reason...

after working there all day ripping out these cabinets they found out that the reason the cabinets are being removed is that the school is preparing for next weeks ASBESTOS ABATEMENT!!!

they get back to the warehouse and say something to their boss who turns to them and says 'oh yeah we knew that... but it's just a little asbestos... no big deal'

HAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa

no big deal? then why isn't the maintenance staff at the school doing it instead of the school hiring someone else to come in??!!?!!

and you KNEW about this but didn’t think it was worth telling the people actually DOING THE JOB?!!!

it's one thing if nobody is aware of something like that... but to send people in when YOU know but you don't share the information with the people who are actually doing the work is fucking bullshit!!

p.s. if it was no big deal... the school wouldn't have bothered telling YOU!! but they obviously thought it was information you HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW!! – why do you suppose that is? maybe because they want you to know it could be hazardous? maybe because they want to know if your employees are equipped to handle potentially hazardous material? maybe they want you to at least have a heads up in case you want to maybe wear a mask of some sort while you’re there??
so if the school thought the company needed to be aware of the fact or had a right to know that there was asbestos in that part of the building - doesn't that mean that the people who are actually DOING THE JOB might need to be aware or at least have a right to know???

GAH!!!

and the worst part… they’re back there today!!

if I was thinking clearly last night I would have made a bigger stink about it and somehow gotten Sam to call in sick today – because if you ask me, that is just BULLSHIT!! he does NOT get paid well enough to deal with that… even if the risks are minimal (which who says they are? his boss… who the fuck are they and what do they know?) – besides, minimal is NOT nonexistent!! There’s a reason why they do asbestos abatement - if it wasn’t hazardous it wouldn’t need to be dealt with!! and there’s a reason why they hire qualified professionals with the proper safety equipment to do it!!

the question I’d like to know the answer to is WHY after all these years, is the asbestos being abated? is it because they plan to remodel? or because their was a water leak of some sort? (pretty much the only two reasons they do asbestos abatement) because a leak means that there is most likely already exposed asbestos down there!! I assume they would have sealed the area off if that were the case… but you never do know now do you? peoples IS stupid… and CHEAP!!

I’m hoping that since it’s not summer vacation that this is a job they were holding off on till now because they could and that it’s not just being done now because they HAVE to – although with all the flooding we’ve had recently who the hell knows?

either way I’m not happy!!

rambling...

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that I seem to always have the worst ‘writers block’ right around the same time as a holiday is about to throw off my whole routine…

I probably won’t be around much this week – Sam has off Wednesday and it turns out my grandfather is coming up today and sticking around until Thursday so my aunt (who’s house they stay at) is having a little BBQ

can’t wait to tell Sam this… he absolutely can’t stand my aunt and uncle… actually he’s not exactly in love with anyone in my family – aside from my father… for some reason he seems to really like my father – GAH!! figures!! (not that there is anyone in my family I would prefer he took a liking to) haaaa

maybe it’s because we never see him… there is that old saying about absence making the heart grow fonder - whoever said that must have had family that didn’t live very nearby haaaa

I’ll give him the opportunity to get out of going… but he’ll have to at least drop me off there because I would like to see my grandfather – especially since I didn’t get to see him for his birthday =(

of course I like Sam to come with me to these things... because he’s my favorite person in the whole wide world and I want to spend time with him - but I know how much he hates my family get-togethers so I don’t know if he’s just putting off a negative vibe or I just feel bad that he’s taking his precious time off and being ‘forced’ to hang out with my insane family – so sometimes I don’t mind flying solo and letting him have that much needed time to himself to just be alone… because the only alone time he gets is when he’s in the car heading to and from work – and everyone needs time alone!! and I get so much of it I totally take it for granted – which also makes me feel guilty… where the heck does all this guilt come from??

anyway… not much went on this weekend… I totally meant to take pictures of the huge mess that got cleaned up in our yard

I’m sure I’ve mentioned the ‘wall of shame’ before and I’m sure you’ve seen it in the background of pictures I’ve posted – it’s this giant wall of lattice that I insisted be put up when we moved in here – which sort of hides (or WOULD if the ivy I planted on it would ever GROW!!!) this ever growing pile of garbage… not smelly garbage, but the stuff you just never seem to manage to take to the dump – like old air conditioners, toys, broken phones etc. ya know… the kind of stuff normal people stick in their garage – and when the garage gets full they get rid of it somehow… only my mother doesn’t have a garage or shed or anything like that… just this concrete slab in the back yard where a shed may have been long long ago

anyway… there was about 20 years of shit piled up on this concrete slab… a huge triple decker pizza oven, proofer box (big metal box used for rising bread dough, which is taller than me) toys, broken tools, old sleds, milk crates, rusty wheel barrows – you name it and it was probably out there!! making it look as though the show ‘Sanford and Son’ was based on US!!

anyway… Sam and his buddy (the one who helped him with his gas tank AND the plumbing problem) let us use his giant trailer thingy (about the size of a box truck/UHAUL type thing) and they got rid of every piece of crap thing that’s been laying around here for years!! the filled that trailer AND had to make a trip back to the dump with our truck loaded up!! THAT is how much crap was out there!!

the only things they didn't manage to get rid of are some bits of concrete which were left here by my sisters husband, because the dump doesn't take construction debris, the pizza oven because that is way too big and heavy for two people to carry – and the proofer box… because they plan on cleaning it up and turning it into a smoker!! WOO HOO!! I don’t mind having it around if it’s actually gonna be put to use

so my plan is to hopefully at some point get the oven off of there and the proofer and bits of concrete – and turn the ‘slab’ into a little patio thing… with furniture and plants and maybe a grill – it’s nice and shaded so it would be a really nice place to hang out even of hotter days

I’m sure it seems nuts that I’m even considering such a thing when it’s pretty clear we should not be riding mom’s crazy train any longer… but since moving isn’t anywhere near an option, the goal is to make this place as pleasant as possible

once the whole project is complete I’ll have to post before and after pictures

ok I guess that’s it for now… this place is a pig sty!! even more so than it usually is on a Monday… and I’m REALLY hoping to make a huge dent in the mess today and get some more stuff set aside for our free pile (stuff that still works or is otherwise nice that we just don’t want anymore) stuff I would have sold at the yard sale I had every year with Ohio friend before she moved away… but now we periodically put the stuff in a box outside with a sign that says FREE and the vultures come and carry it all away for us!! nice huh? haaaa

I’m determined to get rid of the clutter and mess around here!! soooo Hi-Ho Hi-Ho it’s off to work I go...

p.s I don't know what it's like where you are... but here the weather has been AMAZING!! I hope it is where you are too!! and that you have a chance to enjoy it =)

if I dont get back to post again before then, have a super great 4th of July (those of you who are American anyway) the rest of you just have a super GREAT Wednesday I guess hehehe