Amazing Things - real and imagined

Bought a cup of iced coffee on the way into work yesterday.

Spilled it on myself about 5 min. away from work - no time to change, no way to get clean clothes. Embarassing, to say the least.

So I went to the market at lunchtime to pick up a few things and found this little tiny bottle of "Oxi Clean Spray-A-Way Instant Stain Remover". You spray it on the stain, you blot it with a paper towel - and it disappears.

Even though the coffee had dried by the time I got back to the office to use it, I spent the afternoon stain-free!! Recommended by Sewmouses!!!

I called the AC repair guy yesterday, and he fixed the AC. Apparently there was a small freon leak that drained the whole darn system. I'm not 200% certain it's all really fixed, but it was working last night, so I'm happy for now. I can't believe how fast he went out to fix it - and didn't charge me so that part is good.

Clorox "Clean-Up" - it's probably just watered-down bleach, goddess knows it smells like it, but its fixed up a lot of problems for me, including a nasty mouldy "infection" on an embroidered swan picture on the bathroom wall. Another recommendation - just use it in sensible amounts. I'm not sure it's real environmentally friendly.

One of the "things I'd like to see" is an MP3-player finger flash-drive USB plug-in device in cars. Instead of toting around your CD collection, rip them all to MP3's, then copy to those cute little finger drives. Then put your car radio/tapeplayer/CDplayer/mp3thing on and plug in the USB finger drive and listen without skips or CD damage (or having the player eat a tape!!!) Considering the cost of those little drives, you could have a whole keychain full of them and swap in and out which ones you want to listen to. No more worries about having your CD's stolen at a truck stop on a road trip - just drop the whole ring of drives into your purse or trousers pocket! (I almost said pants, but this Scots gal was complaining that pants=undies and not trousers, so I'm trying to oblige...)

I'm pretty sure the technology wouldn't be that hard to create, since the whole USB thing has been around for a long while now. C'mon, Motorola!!! Gimme a car USB player! To hell with I-Phones!!

552 days

I thought about...

I thought about you today at lunch time, because an ambulance was trying to get through the traffic snarl and hearing the WeeeOoooooWeeeOoooooWeeeeOooooBRAPPPP BRAAAPPPPWeeeeeeOoooooWeeeeeOooooooo made me think of you driving about Edinburgh going MeeMawMeeMaw. Amazing how you've become an articulate, compassionate, intelligent, responsible and absolutely brilliant professional adult, when I first met you as an awkward, shy, sweet teen boy. *hugs*

I thought about you today, driving myself to work this morning and seeing a huge 1/2 wooden barrel full of lovely nasturtiums. Mine still haven't done well - perhaps too much shade back there.

I thought about many of you this morning, as I surfed from blog to blog, smiling and reading those bits of your lives you want to share. And I smile.

A lot.
Date Counter on post below.

On Stress and Insomnia and the Power of Phoning

Some of you may remember a while back that I got my AC replaced. The thing hadn't worked for several years, and I finally decided to bite the proverbial bullet and get a new one with my tax refund. So I did. It worked GREAT for a few weeks - during the worst of the heatwave, fortunately. Unfortunately it has stopped working.

Now, ordinarily this kind of stress, discovered on a Friday Night would have destroyed my whole weekend, buried me in insomnia from the constant mind-game of "what if it needs replacing again - I can't afford this (duh - warranty, your stupid git!!)- what if it needs replacing again! - I can't afford this - " again and again ad-insomniaeum. <- Yes, I made that word up. Deal with it.

Anyhow.

I've been trying to deal with anger management via this book that Lea sent me that I absolutely find utterly bollocks, because it has this attitude like "what? you're a heroin addict? why.. all you have to do is QUIT" Like its that easy. As if it were like eating toast. Easy to quit eating toast - don't cook the bread!!

Anyhow - despite the fact that the book is bollocks, I've been trying to redirect my thoughts every time I catch myself in the fits of circular thinking or adrenaline-enhanced rage or kvetching about unalterable circumstances. I managed to make it thru the weekend with considerably less episodes than I'd anticipated, and I made the phone call this morning to the guy who installed my AC and he's going to look at it sometime this afternoon.

It had BETTER be warranty.

Oh - and my insurance company sends out the most incomprehensible EOB's I've ever had the misfortune to try and interpret.

Just sayin'

553 days.