OMG - WaMu???

I was 1/2 asleep still when I read the Yahoo News.

WaMu may not have been my most favorite of my former mortgage-holder banks (they bought mine, then sold it a while back) - but DAMN. Wow. WaMu... I'm kinda stunned.

115 days

ZERO Tolerance

One of those quirky things about being me is the fact that I have zero tolerance for blatant stupidity, especially when it comes from someone in the Accounting profession.

Even more-so when it comes from someone in the accounting profession whose stupidity is affecting me in a personal way.

An example of this would be the statement of account that I received from my dipshit halfassed criminally stupid condo "management" association. I paid my assessment for this month on the 20th of LAST month - having gotten a tiddle bit ahead and able to make the payment early.

Statement shows the credit amount as the opening balance. This is correct.
Statement shows the amount of the assessment. This is correct.
Statement shows a $25 LATE PAYMENT FEE. Excuse me? WHAT THE FUCK???

Now, anyone can make a mistake. Perhaps the accounting clerk ran a report to show everyone with a Not-Zero balance, and applied the charge to all of them. It is a mistake, it's stupid, but it's just a mistake and can be corrected.

However.

I called up to set this straight - and the FUCKING MORON who took my call tried to ARGUE with me. She tried to say that since there was no payment that month, OF COURSE there was a late fee. WHY THE BLOODY HELL WOULD I PAY MORE WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO COVER THIS MONTH? Oh, well... um... have I ever gotten a statement before?

EXCUSE ME TO FUCK AND BEYOND???????????????????????????????????????????????????

What the bloody hell does that have to do with the price of rice in China on Tuesdays in Leap Years? YOU OWE ME, BITCH, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Well, she's going to have to take it to accounting and see if an error was made...

IF??????

IF?????????????????????????????????????????

THERE IS NO "IF" ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, someone will call you back.

Today?

Umm....

It had better be today. I'm NOT happy about this.

Ummm... she'll try.

Blatant stupidity.

Yes, they fixed it. No, I'm still not happy.

117 days still.

Another one of those "Tag" things

Kal, whom I love dearly has seen fit to "tag" me with one of those Tag things. If it were anyone but Kal, I might feel less obligated, but he IS like the son I never had who lives bajillions of miles away in another country where they talk different and wear kilts and stuff, so here goes:

I am: An accountant.

I think: I'm starting to get a handle on how this "life" thing works. Maybe in another 52 years I'll "get" it really well.

I know: I've forgotten to do something important this morning.

I have: wayyyyyy too much stuff in my breifcase and purse. Time to purge.

I wish: I could eat anything I wanted any time I wanted and not worry about diabetes, cholesterol, fat, salt, calories or vitamins.


I hate: evangelical hypocrites. "Pro-Life" folks who support the wars, "Christians" who want to do physical violence to those with whom they differ on political issues, etc.

I miss: Leandra, more than you can possibly imagine.

I fear: romantic "relationships"

I hear: Cicadas and crickets at night, birdsong in the morning

I smell: like lavendar today.

I crave: Protein. In cheese, meats, eggy things.

I search: in the most haphazard way. I'm really rather shit at this.

I wonder: what's on the "other side" that Lea's found.

I regret: not having been more assertive in my youth. I spent way too many years being shy and self-deprecating.

I love: Amanda, chocolate, my cats, having friends all over the world, reading, designing and assembling quilts, hot coffee on the way to work, the smell of autumn in the air on a cool August morning, moonlight on freshly fallen snow, apple coffee-cake, sitting quietly in the woods and listening to the birds.

I ache: at night, when my muscles and bones all tell me I'm getting old.

I am not: a Republican.

I believe: that when we get to "the other side", we are ALL going to be in for a hugeongous surprise - that it is nothing like what we think it will be.

I dance: When nobody else is around while I'm cleaning

I sing: in the car when there isn't much traffic around so nobody can accidently see/hear me!

I cry: sometimes for no reason at all.

I fight: with words.

I win: rarely - but it makes it that much sweeter when I do!

I lose: my keys usually twice a week.

I never: watch television.

I always: have a fan running in my room at night to block the noise from the expressway.

I confuse: my boss sometimes.

I listen: pretty well. People have commented thus, over the years.

I can usually be found: at home.

I am scared: that the republicans might win the election and completely destroy the country.

I need: another cup of coffee.

I am happy about: having only one more answer to think up, and that we're down to 117 days!

I imagine: the most amazing things. If only I could string together a plot line, the story would be incredible!

I tag:

Rauf

Croila

E4E

Nzingha


117 days

Cubness

From Wikipedia, The Ex-Cub Factor is a seemingly spurious correlation that is essentially a corollary to the Curse of the Billy Goat. Widely published in 1990, the hypothesis asserts that since the last appearance by the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series, any baseball team headed into the World Series with three or more former Cubs on its roster has "a critical mass of Cubness" and a strong likelihood of failure.


What the Wikipedia entry fails to mention is that CURRENT Cubs have an even higher concentration of "Cubness", which thereby both overwhelms any other team's Cubness factor and explains why we've been waiting until next year since 1945.

Given the current situation on the North side, it is now certain that my Cubbie Wubbies will spend at least a small amount of time in the post-season playoffs. Some of my co-workers are even so bold as to assume that this year is different.

Oh, you dear, sweet, younglings. Who could forget 1969? And even if you DO forget 1969, who could forget 1984? The Cubs have disappointed fans for years and years. I actually DID believe back in 69 and 84. But I've learned, I've grown, and I know that getting one's hopes up in that fashion, only to have them dashed, is foolishness in the extreme. I love the Cubs. I wish they could win a World Series. But since having the Cubbies win a World Series Championship would also be one of the signs of the Apocalypse, the coming of the Rapture®, and Armageddon... not to mention costing me a fucking fortune in buying a dozen long-stem red roses for Grampa R's grave, I'm not entirely sure I'm totally in favor of disturbing the Status Quo.

118 days

Ever have a dream...

Ever have a dream so real, so detailed, so completely coherent that you could SWEAR it had actually happened? Except that what happened was so good, so wonderful, so utterly impossible - that you knew, even in the dream, that it was a dream, but when you woke up it was like to break your heart realizing that not only was it a dream, but it was a dream you'd probably not be able to shake off for a day or two, and that you'd never be able to get "back" to that part of the plot and enjoy playing in that alternate reality forever when unconscious?

Damn.

Yeah - it was that good.

No - nobody was nekid. Yet.

122 days

Did Sarah Palin invent Mooses?

So!! John McCain invented the Blackberry!

John who's never used a computer or been on the Interwebs McCain Invented The Blackberry!!

I wonder if that was before or after Al Gore invented the Intertubez?

*smirk*

However... Happy Goddamn Piece of Paper Day. On this date in 1787, the founding fathers signed the Goddamn Piece of Paper, giving our country an organized government. Really, unlike July 4 - this is the real "Happy Birthday" for America. Just think where we might be without that Goddamn Piece of Paper!

It is also St. Ebenezer day here in my town, as I saw the first Xmas decorations in a local store.

124 days

Water, Water everywhere...

Saw some footage of Galveston this morning - looks pretty grim. I sure hope Randy is ok. He doesn't talk much to me lately, but I've sent him an e-mail in hopes he's doing all right (He's in Houston, and has folks in Austin who would help him out, I think.)

Closer to home, my 2 3/4 hour commute (10 miles as per usual, probably closer to 18 the way I had to go) was Special! The real pisser is when you are less than 1/4 mile from where you need to turn to get to work, but have to drive 8 miles or so out of your way in bumper-to-bumper creepy-crawly traffic to get around the flood zones.

Lake Street was flooded completely across the road over near where Salt Creek gets near the retention ponds in Addison. Apparently Irving Park was flooded in several places, I had to go all the way south down to North Avenue to get past Villa and up 83. Talk about the scenic route to work!

They said on the news that we had gotten 6 inches of rainfall overnight at O'Hare. Translated into good terms - we did NOT get 6 FEET of snow, which is what that would have been had it not been Big Wet Storm Ike, but instead Snowstorm Knute the Canuck. I am grateful. Snowstorms suck - and not in the good way.

Ok, last weekend I made my final attempt to get a pee sample from Mindi the Fat Kitty. Vet's office said "Try putting a clean litterbox with just a small bit of litter in it down, then lock her in a room with the litterbox and a bowl of water.

So I did. Friday nite - cat is confined, nothing but water and litterbox.
Saturday evening (maybe 14 to 18 hours later?) I open the door to check. No pee. Not on the floor, not in the box - none. Cat makes a BEELINE out of the room and over to the USUAL litterbox - and pees like a racehorse into the clumping litter that I can't use for the sample. The vet's assistant laughed at me. I did too.

CATS!!!!

125 days

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Ok, so Piston has asked a legitimate question:

"Assuming Obama/Biden take the election and you get you wish... with Obama's background in mind... what changes do you see happening over the next 4 years?"

I can't guarantee (of course) what changes I'll actually see - to do so would require me to have both telepathic and precognitive powers which (unfortunately) I do not possess, despite several ex-bosses and one ex-husband who seemed to expect me to be proficient in both.

These are the changes that I expect may happen:

1) Scale-down of offshore military actions. Both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and no NEW preemptive warmongering. Best case: Complete withdrawl of US Armed Forces from Iraq, limited presence in Afghanistan, and capture of OBL.

2) Some repair to the economy (will take DECADES to un-do what Shrub-Boy and his minions have done in 8 years, but a start), more emphasis on repair and upgrading of "homeland" infrastructure, less emphasis on ruling the world, Pinkie. Best case: repair of own infrastructure putting to work more Americans, spending tax dollars on improving things HERE, rather than overseas, making life better both for those benefiting from the improvements and for those effecting the improvements.

3) Reinstatement of those taxes that Bush and the Republican congress cut to help their wealthy chums/family/contributors. Best Case: Lessening of the tax burden to families with LESS than 100k/year incomes - but I'm too cynical to believe this would happen.

4) Limitations placed on Executive Privilege, and backing away from the Unitary Executive debacle engendered by the Bush Junta. It happened after the Nixon years - it's not Mission Impossible. (Tom Cruise sucks, btw.)

5) Repeal of the aggregious "Acts" passed in the knee-jerk aftermath of 9/11/01, reining in the TSA so my dad can fly again without the ridiculous and INEFFECTIVE nonsense of taking off his shoes, INSISTANCE on FISA compliance for any wiretapping, and Renaming/Reworking the "Dept. of Homeland Security".

If even just these 5 things happened, I'd be satisfied with the job done by an Obama/Biden Presidency/VPresidency. Anything more would be gravy.

129 days

Thoughts and aggravation: Balancing the Checkbook

So I'm out of balance by $27.00. And you can tell - just from the number - that it HAS to be a transposed-number issue. Unfortunately, despite my 3-day intensive effort, I cannot for the life of me figure out where I have fardleschnockered up. This is the second month running that I've had this problem. I begin to worry about some form of numeric dyslexia. Not a good thing for an accountant.

Meanwhile, during lunch I spent some time perusing blogs and stuff. It brought to mind the damn political situation again. It seems the buzzword of the year is "Change". Senator Obama brought it up first, and the enthusiastic acclaim it received apparently convinced Fuhrer Rove and his minions that their candidate should attempt to conscript the phrase to their campaign.

Now, I have thought about the "change" that all these folks promise. And I have to admit that I do believe that EITHER of these candidates, or their VP's will bring change.

However, change is a funny thing. See, GWB brought change as well. He used his office to Change the Constitution of the United States from a sacred document that actually IS the United States of America (as opposed to a symbol like a flag). He changed the Constitution from that to a "Goddamn Piece of Paper".

GWB changed our federal budget from one with a budget surplus that was being used to lower our federal debt - to one with a TRILLION PLUS annual deficit.

GWB changed our relations with the middle east in such an incredible way that one of our most needed commodities has risen in price over 200% since he TOOK office.

He has changed our country from a government with three co-equal branches with checks and balances on the powers that be - to what can only be described as a "Temper Tantrum Dictatorship".

This is, however, change. Change for the worse, yes. But change, none-the-less.

I am certain, that if Senator McCain and Not-A-Community-Organizer Governor Palin are sworn into office next January, there will be change from what we have now.

I fear that change, as it will - IMNSHO - be far, far worse than anything we've seen before.
Governor Palin? Having a Vagina is NOT ENOUGH to qualify you to be a candidate worthy of my vote.

130 days

Mares eat oats, and does eat oats...

and little lambs eat ivy

a kid will eat ivy too

wouldn't you?

No.

I suspect ivy would taste icky and green and unpleasant.

No, this post is not about the culinary habits of barnyard animals. This post is about Oats. Like the guy in the funny hat sells:

As I have been working toward lowering the cholesterol numbers, I've been eating a lot of oatmeal. And other oaty cereals like Cheerios:

I like oats, actually. I like them as porridge, as long as there is adequate add-ins to disguise the resemblence to wallpaper paste. I like them in granola. I like them in Kashi. I like them as Chex:

But what I really, really , really like them as is flakes. Oat Flakes. But lately I cannot find them anywhere at any of the markets I have in my area. Cornflakes, yes. Wheaties (ugh!) yes. Bran flakes - yes. But nary an oatflake to be found. I am verklempt.

131 days