Like the Fat Orange Cat Garfield

I Really, Really Hate Mondays

Especially when Monday is followed by a holiday, I mean what is that all about? I think with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, 4th of July, shouldn't have a date attached to them, they should just be 2nd Monday in November, or whatever month they happen to be in. Actually we can remove Thanksgiving really from that list since it's always on Thursday--there is no date attached to it. But I do feel most holidays should be on a Monday. Even back in the day when we used to get both Washington and Lincoln's birthdays off, they were celebrated on a Monday, and yes it made sense to combine them into Presidents day. Because I don't want a day off celebrating Ronald Regan or Roosevelt or JFK or any other....MLK day moves around too, as it should.

So now we come to Veterans day, and yes it's an important day to remember all veterans of any war, but it's a date that can be easily moved to a Monday in November. Woodrow Wilson signed the original bill into law in 1919. Armistice Day as it was called then, was to celebrate the men that fought in the first world war, the idea was that WW1 was the war to end all wars (how optimistic was that?). It was later changed to Veterans Day in 1954 by Eisenhower. This date isn't attached to any significance past or present, aside from it being for VETERANS. I would also think for travel purposes having it on a Monday would be more convenient rather than in middle of the week.

Train Kept A-Rolling

As long as I'm ranting, I might as well continue and I hate sounding like an old fart but....what is it with parents? I'm not talking about parents of little kids, I'm talking about parents of children in the 25-30 year range that are not in school. At first I thought it was a little strange that a parent would continue to let a child live at home, and we've all heard the jokes about the 30 year old, living in his parents basement, playing video games. Never had a date, etc., but it's really not a joke anymore, now it's like cool to be that guy, or girl. It used to be, hence the joking, something to really be ashamed of but now it's not. It's cool if you have a job, earn money, don't pay rent, have meals prepared for you, laundry done, don't have to clean, budget for household expenses, save for "wants", pay for car insurance, car registration....I can go on. I personally know and have heard of LOTS of parents that are enabling (let's call it what it is) their children to not grow up, and why should they when they have everything done for them? Is this helping them to learn any kind of responsibility or is it just prolonging childhood when we had no worries? I don't know if the parents are afraid of an empty nest (another rite of passage) or if they're afraid their children can't make it without them.

Is this fallout from the 1980's when children's self esteem was all consuming and included letting children win at games so they wouldn't feel bad about losing. No one was picked last, teams were decided by the teacher. Parent/Teacher conferences were attended by the parents only, without the children, because the teacher didn't want the child to hear bad things being said about them (in some areas that's still the norm). Or is it because parents want to be their children's best friend rather than a parent? When my 14 year old son comes to talk with me about something sometimes the mom hat is on, sometimes it's just the adult hat, or no hat, depending on the conversation. I will say though the "friend" hat is never on. I'm not a peer of his, I'm his mom.

I've heard stories that just curl my toes, like the daughter that told her parents to pay for her lavish wedding, and then demanded they give money for a downpayment for a house. Which for some reason the parents did, then the housing market dropped, the house ended up being foreclosed because the "children" coudn't afford the payment on the adjustable mortgage. It gets better...Then these parents said they'd buy these children (I use the term children lightly) another house, because their daughter was having a baby. These so-called children said they would accept the house ONLY if they could pick it out themselves. WTF? These "parents" aren't wealthy, their own house is mortgaged to the hilt, but took the money out of their retirement savings to purchase this house for the daughter.

I know another family, two sons grown in their early 30's, one still lives at home, the other "lives" in a house down the street, the parents inherited. This son that "lives on his own" pays none of the utilities, and eats ever meal at home, showers at home, and does just about everything at home and by home I mean MOM and DAD's HOME, not his own. He's supposed to be paying rent but doesn't because he just bought a new truck and needs to pay for that, this is in addition to the new Honda he bought last year. He works 4 hours a day as an plummer. He could work more hours but doesn't want to.

I know more but just can't go on....I feel my blood pressure rising.

© 2008 Whimsical Ranter
All Rights Reserved

Sound of Silence

Free Falling

It's scary out there, the Dow has dropped a couple thousand points in the last few days, the Government just gave AIG even more money despite reports they took their executives to a spa. I guess they needed massages after all that work they did screwing up the company. I'm sorry, they said that company was too big to fail? They couldn't let it happen, yet they let Lehman Brothers down without a second glance. What the hell is Paulson doing anyway, the government approved the "bail out" but as of yesterday he has yet to spend any of it.

I don't care how bad things get, I will NOT shop at Wallmart.

Now that I got that off my chest, I can go back, remember that boring post a few weeks ago about the subprime mortgages. Well, during the debate on Tuesday, McCain said something that interested me, he mentioned that the government should buy people's mortgages, and sell them back to homeowner at what their house is currently worth. Sounds like a plan doesn't it? The question is, is it a good plan, and let me say, some will benefit from this but I'm afraid that it just won't work for most.

Remember that senerio involving the person making 60K qualifying for a loan amount of around 450K to buy a drastically overpriced house? Okay let's revisit it, and lets say for the sake of argument, he recieves a call from McCain, since McCain considers everyone his friend McCain tells him, "My friend, I'll buy your house, and sell it back to you at it's currant value." Houses in his area are now selling for around 350K, naturally he has no money to put down, so he'd be financing the whole amount, which puts his payment around 2100 a month. Just his payment, even if they waive the PMI, and insurance...and remember he makes $4600 a month before taxes. Based on that information he might make it if he foregoes doing anything else. This person will be existing to pay their mortgage which will still be over half of his take home salary.

So what would it take to make this work? That's even more scary.

To make this work, an appraiser would need to appraise his house and all the houses in the neighborhood at far less and how is that fair to everyone else that played by the rules and bought a house they could afford. To work for this individual the appraised amount would have to come in at around $275K...that's down from the orginal price of 480K or a $205K drop in value! Let's not forget he owes a bank far more than that because he's paid only the interest for several years.

Is it fair that my property values should drop because some asshole felt entited to buy a house he couldn't afford in the first place and now can't afford?

Short answer no. Long answer is...longer. Four years ago, we paid a good price for our house, actually an excellent price, just as the market here started going up. Today houses in our neighborhood are worth roughly $200K more and that's in a slow market. In order for some of these people to stay in their homes their values would have to be reduced to a price less than what we paid for our house, effectively wiping out my equity. Now we're lucky that we haven't taken out a home equity loan. But what if we had? Our kitchen and bathrooms do need some attention, so say we had taken out a home equity loan for 50K, since we're handy we did the work ourselves.

Under the adjusted amounts so that asshole could keep his home, we would then owe more than our house is worth, which does figure into your FICO score and our credit would take a serious hit for that. Our interest rates would go up, we'd pay more for insurance, and we couldn't qualify for another loan if we needed it.

Wall Street Blues

Let's face it, i'ts a mess out there but have we hit bottom; I'm thinking we're close but not yet. One would think it's a great time to buy, but the problem is there isn't enough buyers and that drives stock prices down further. Coupled with the S&P downgrading companies left and right, which I think just further complicates the healing process. I mean would invest in a company that's just been downgraded? Probably not, and if a company you invested were downgraded you'd think of selling. It's a natural response. Today the market went down to below 8000 but now is back up to around 8500. It hasn't closed yet so we don't know what will happen. Overnight the Japanese stock market tanked, as did the Ausrailian.

Banking Woes

Banks around the world are in trouble, lets face it, Americans are to blame for it, we can't lend money to other banks overseas, in return they won't lend to us, or anyone else, out of fear. This leads to a shutdown of the global banking markets. Our government's idea is to privatize banks, taking their cues from Europe, now some think this is unheard of but it's happened before in the 1930's during the great depression.

What about Gas Prices?

Oil is like anything else, people will pay only what they will pay. Its true with anything, you're not going to pay six dollars for one piece of fruit, if you can get the same peice of fruit somewhere else for six cents. It's not about bargains, it's about common sense. Housing is another example, someone attaches personal memories to the price of their house, under the idea they will 'not give it away,' and the problem is the same, the house will not be sold.

Compettive pricing is essential, oil prices have dropped because the oil buying counties like this one are going through hard times. Things aren't that rosie in India and China, the two other huge oil consumers, as well as Canada, Europe, South America, Japan, Austrailia are all having financial problems. Once the markets and banks start improving in these countries, oil prices will again go up. Stockpiling oil isn't the answer because right now few companies can get the credit to do it.

It's all about banking.

A friend has said to me that if the United States Sneezes the world gets a cold. Well the US has a bronchitis and the world has gotten pnuemonia.

© 2008 Whimsical Ranter
All Rights Reserved

Why is it Wednesday

Hey Yaaaa ABBY!

Congrats to my blog buddy AbbyNormal and her beautiful hot and gassy new addition (waaaaay hotter than me)! Who knew something that blows hot air could be that wonderful? Even more so since it's not a politician.


Are Firefighters Always Good Looking?

Why is it that I'm walking through the grocery store, pushing my cart, paying attention to my list, when I look up and see the most gorgeous man standing in front of me. He was tall, at least 6 foot, dark hair with the most dazzling dancing sky blue eyes, I have ever seen. Muscular, dressed in blue, I was awestruck. So struck, I couldn't help myself but to stare at him, until I pushed my cart into a display sending everything flying.

My mind screamed, what do I do....what do I do! Do I run away and leave the mess, or clumsily pick up the stuff I knocked over. Thankfully a store employee came to my rescue and started picking up the stuff for me, saving me the further embarrassment, and allowing me a quick exit. I avoided further collisions, well until I was in the check out line, and spied him in the next aisle over, bending over. Oh My God. Okay, I said that out loud twice, the first after seeing him, the second, when I bumped my cart into the woman in front of me. She gave a look that could have killed, but then her eyes followed my gaze just as he was righting himself. Her eyebrow raised and she started fanning herself with her check book.

He looked at us and smiled; he's probably used to it, and for that moment I doubt either of us felt frumpy. It must be a rule that all firefighters must be good looking, because it doesn't matter where I go, where I live, or where I visit, it seems they always are.

When I got home, I looked around pondering if I could somehow set my house on fire, just to see him again. I decided that probably wasn't a good idea.

Are School Meetings Always Stressful?

In a word probably, even if it's only been three weeks since the last one, I find myself preoccupied with what has gone wrong, or if another shoe will drop. I have to keep reminding myself that it's still early in the year.

Debating the Debates

Why can't we just watch the debates then move on? Or rather why must we have endless debate about who won, who lost, and why. Both sides baring their ideas, showing soundbites that bolster their argument and for what purpose? There is nothing else for them to say. Sure they could continue to give talking points about why you don't need to pull your money out of the bank, or why it's going to take so long for the economy to recover. They could talk about the Iraq war, or ponder where Bin Laden is. But they don't want to cover any real news, they just want to know which candidate might have answered the question about "what they don't know" the best.

Finally Why Is It...

I feel a migraine coming two days before it actually hits? It's really annoying but thankfully they don't come that often. My head is still aching and probably will until tomorrow.



© 2008 Whimsical Ranter
All Rights Reserved

The Last Day of School

Sorry, but I Must Brag

My older son had his 6th grade promotion today. This morning he was freaking out because he couldn't find his "speech" he was supposed to give. He said he thought it was in his backpack but he couldn't find it...he was freaked out (he NEVER once despite me asking repeatedly told me what was going on during the promotion thing). I was annoyed when I put him and his little brother on the bus.

8:30 AM husband and I meet at the school and we were both seriously overdressed, most people looked like they just rolled out of bed. Husband's wearing his power suit and I'm dressed nicely as well (we can't have him looking good and me looking like crappo, can we?).

So we find seats near the back, the place was packed with parents. A few band members performed, then the principal spoke...boring....snooze.

Then each child got up (in alphabetical order no less) and said something about their time in the school. OMG half the kids couldn't string a sentence together..lots of "umms" "ands" "you knows" and "like". One or two were good, and rather engaging. Naturally, Older Son was one of the last kids to speak (we're at the tail end of the alphabet; I was seriously mentally cussing husband out) and I wasn't surprised when he walked up, shook his teacher's and took the microphone without presenting any notes.

I'm not saying this because I'm his mom, but he sucked the oxygen out of the room! He was completely engaging when after introducing himself, he opened with a short talk about his first teacher (whom we both HATED) at the school,

"A lot of the kids didn't like Mrs So-and-so because she was too strict and yelled a lot (lots of laughter--she's no longer teaching at the school), but if you want a nice teacher you have to a nice person to them."

Every ONE in the room said "Awww" and a one teacher who is retiring this year started to cry.

Then he went on to talk briefly about his teacher last year (whom we both liked a lot) and complimented him on his teaching skills and the fact he took the time to play basketball in the classroom with the kids, "How cool is that?" he asked the audience who laughed again. He Spoke glowingly about his current, who is well traveled and said, "She would bring trinkets and pictures of her travels and it was like looking at a geography book and made the learning more enjoyable." Then he echoed what his teacher said said in her short speech earlier to the kids, "...life is not about the destination, it's about the journey...and she's lived that."

Finally, he wrapped it up by talking about how bittersweet it is to be leaving the school, how glad he was that today was the last day of school, and there would be no homework, (big laughs) but also sad "because next year, although I'm prepared for the challenges of middle school, I won't be returning here except to visit." Then he thanked the audience and departed.

The applause was for him thunderous. Some parents seated behind us and standing, mused about what a good speech it was. I actually felt bad for the last kid who followed him--I haven't a clue what he said. I was in shock.

After another short speech from the principal, everyone got up to leave. I'm not kidding you but we couldn't get to our son, so many parents and other staff were shaking his hand and complimenting him on his speech. It also helped people remember him because he was next to last.

Then when they realized we were with him, they shook our hands. Of course we gushed about how proud we were but honestly we were speechless...we sounded like two inarticulate boobs. We were so taken aback. Then I asked him if that was the speech he intended to give, and he said simply, "no, I winged it."

I'm Still on the Fence

How Much is Your Time Worth?

I'm still mentally thinking about the landscaper and that $400 bill for a one time clean up. Mind you, that's just for the front yard. The question remains the same, do I want to pay $400 to have the landscaper clean up the front yard to their specifications or do I want to suck it up and do it myself while hoping I get it right. If I don't get it right, they'll charge me extra for the first visit. I don't want to go out there all day long, pulling weeds only to be charged on my first bill something like $300 bucks because they trimmed the plants too and picked up a few (well a lot) leaves. I'm not even complaining about the $156 dollars a month they're going to charge us for maintenance, since it's money well spent—at least for us, since neither of have the time to spend out there doing it all. I'd rather go out and do something fun with the kids, of course there is the problem since I'll be paying for this, I won't be able to afford to take the kids anywhere.

I called the landscaper in question, and they told me what they do for that 400 dollar clean up. They spray all the weeds, and trim all the plants, cleaning them up a little; basically get the yard ready for weekly service. Now I'm even less sure about this. The contract says it will take one day, but what if only takes two hours? Do they charge me less, well husband wants to know that and honestly I guess I don’t him.

I Would Like To Most Slap

The fool that came up for idea of usernames on websites for login purposes and I'm completely serious when I say I'd like to slap them. Each website today has their own login and password and each have different criteria for both. Some like to you to use your email address, while others like to annoy you with a name, which isn't really a problem unless you can't remember which you're supposed to use. Really, do I use bumblebutt@screwyou.com, or is it just bumblebutt and how the hell am I supposed to remember this?

So many websites have gone to the idea that stored passwords are evil that it's getting difficult to recall them all especially with the criteria changing seemingly daily. One website requires that the USERNAME contain at least one number in it; not the password (that requires mostly numbers and not in any order and ONE letter). I have issues with remembering my fucking phone number, how am I supposed to remember all this other crap too? Then we come to issue of multiple email accounts, somehow, without understanding how, I've got like a hundred of them! Can I ever remember which one I've used? That answer is simple, and if I could, there wouldn't be a point to this post.

I would also like to slap the people, that don't send emails to say hi, how are you, but instead use them to forward crap, like some little girl that never existed who has been missing for a year. Or that underarm deodorant that causes cancer, or tampons that contain asbestos, and every other foolish Urban Legend that seems to find it's way to my inbox. I'm not even getting started on the chain letters, which pontificate that my tits will fall off if I don't forward this message to at least 60 people in the next minute.

I'm Losing My Mind!

At least that's what I announced today, to which my son replied, "you know mom if it's gone for more than three days, it's lost forever."

It made me think about how many times I have misplaced something not too serious and was completely unable to locate it because of the apparent three-day expiration date. Important things are searched for until they are found, like the TV remote or car keys. But unimportant things, like a bill that's not due until next month, a book or a menu for a Chinese food place you like are often gone until you've either called to find out how much owe, replace the book or just go to the restaurant and wing the take out. Until he mentioned it, I never thought about it or gave it a lot of thought, so I further queried if I don't find my mind within three days, will I never find it again. He looked at me with a duh look on his face and said emphatically, "Oh you'll find it when you're looking for something else but you'll just pass over it, hoping you'll remember where you saw it later."

© 2007 Whimsical Ranter
All Rights Reserved

Whoosh!

Another Week Just Flew By

And what do I have to show for it? Nothing not even a funny kid story… My life right now is so dull I can hardly stand it. I can't even blog about things that piss me off because nothing right now is pissing me off. I know give me time, I'll think of something.

It's raining here today, I know, I live in the Pacific Northwest what else is it supposed to do, beside rain? Sighs I'm just never happy; by July I'll be screaming for rain and none will be in the forecast. I am looking forward to summer though I have nothing planned except to stay home, keep the house clean, and watch the grass grow.

Have I Ever Mentioned I hate Gardening?

I love the idea of a garden I just hate taking care of it, but it looks as though my luck has run out because Rainbird has decided that we'll hire a gardener to take care of the front yard, I'm sure the neighbors will be thrilled. The problem is I need to pull all the weeds other wise the gardener is going to charge us 400 bucks extra to clean it up. I'm not thrilled about this idea and to me, it's well worth the 400 bucks to just have them do it…but Rainbird is being cheap and said no. I know it's a lot but and I don't have a lot to do during the day, unless you count cleaning, cooking, and shopping or thinking about shopping at Target.

Memorial Day is Coming

I can't believe the kids are almost out of school and I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with little Fredo all summer long, because God knows I don't want him forget everything he's learned this past year. I'd really like to keep him out of summer school forever but that's going to take a lot of work. As you know I don't care much for work.

Spring is giving up the fight and all the wonderful flowers and plants are starting to fade already, and that adds to my sadness, well maybe sadness isn't the right word. I just feel gloomy when my excitement of spring dies with blooms. I know its part of the cycle of life and all that crap, but still there is a bit melancholy watching the spring flowers fall off the branches. I still hate gardening. I hate the rain.

It's Not that Bad. Really.

Spring will give way to summer, and with summer comes fun, right? I already said I don't know what I'll do with the kids this summer but maybe I'll surprise myself. I've already started thinking of things we can do, which are mostly free since Fredo is a sketchy about trying new things. We'll work on that too this summer. It's going to be fine, at least that's the mantra I keep telling myself.

Besides, I just walked down the street in the pouring rain to get the mail, I have a roast cooking in the oven and I walked into the house, inhaled sharply; it smelled like home. How bad can life be with a roast in the oven, the kids quietly doing homework, the kitchen kind of clean, and the table cleared of junk? If you ask me, life is damn good.

© 2007 Whimsical Ranter
All Rights Reserved

No Excuses, but Lots of Reasons

I'm Not a Country Girl

I'm sorry I've been MIA lately but Spring has literally exploded around me and I'm finding that I don't like it. At the risk of alienating me further from my friends I'll proceed with my story. So, one day I'm cleaning out the under-the-sink area of all the crap that falls behind the garbage because Rainbird and Co enjoy using the can to play a Jenga. The idea being that they stack as much as possible on top of the can and whoever adds the final item that causes it to topple must empty it.

Can I Get a Latte To Go With Those Sprinkles?

So, as I said, I'm cleaning it out when I notice all these little dark things at the bottom of the cabinet. I say a prayer to my Spaghetti god, "please let those be chocolate sprinkles. No such luck they were most assuredly mouse droppings and it was gaining access through the opening behind the cabinet where the pipes come in. To make matters worse we've been yelling at the dog for hanging out by that cabinet! He sits there staring for hours and we thought he'd gone nuts, which by the way, everyone living in this house eventually goes.

Figures The Dog is the Smart One

So I frantically call Rainbird at work, then ran to the bathroom and vomited upon returning I took out a bottle of bleach, removed everything from the cabinet, donned gloves and started cleaning. Now what's really scary there wasn't enough poop there to close a restaurant but there was enough for me to freak out over. Husband gets home and finds some expandable stuff you spray, kind of looks like shaving cream but hardens. What really pissed me off is that he didn't have to buy it…We already had it! I've been telling him for a while now that I thought something was going on and that the dog doesn't normally act like that. I pointed out the area where they could OBVIOUSLY enter and he would just say to me in a condescending tone that he gets whenever I ask him to do anything around here that doesn't involve his fucking basement project, "there is no way they can get up here."

UH Huh

So meanwhile the dog is running around extremely proud of himself but he's still hanging out in that area. Naturally husband didn't put any poison back there so we would occasionally hear things, like scratching. Then silence and the dog goes back to laying on sofa at night and I breathe a silent sigh of relief.

Return of Dumbass

A week later he's back to staring at the cabinet, and I'm checking it constantly, emptying the garbage daily to avoid the Jenga mess, banging around the kitchen at night. I even left lights on, so it's obviously my fault that our extended day light savings time is a failure. After a few more weeks had passed I'm fairly confident that the dog this time is crazy, but I continue to check and find nothing.

NO! Tell Me It Isn't So

Then one day Piss-boy while putting clean silverware into the drawer tells me that he thinks there is mouse droppings in there. Sure enough we found 2 and that was enough for me, I removed EVERYTHING from all the cabinets, figuring that Jerry Mouse was climbing on the mountain of crap under that cabinet to get access to my silverware drawer and it should be noted NO food is stored there. I found a few droppings in some plastic containers, and one in my sifter so all those things were just thrown away without remorse. Everything Pyrex, metal or ceramic was washed in the dishwasher using the power wash setting and extra soap. Every cabinet was cleaned out thoroughly with bleach just in case but nothing else was found and bait was thrown under the cabinet.

You Can Say I Purged

When all was said and done, I filled one very large garbage can and three large garbage bags filled with plastic containers and other garbage I didn't want anymore. It was like moving in all over again, except without the boxes, I even went out and bought shelf paper and put that down but that was really just an excuse because I was really afraid to put anything back. Each day I would check to see if there was any new activity and found nothing, I would sweep the floor several times a day checking through the dog hair and dust looking for any trace that they had found their way into the kitchen but found nothing. The countertops were packed with all the things that should be inside and cooking was impossible, well eating was impossible too since the kitchen table was packed. I would remove everything and rotate searching for traces on the kitchen countertops, but thankfully found NOTHING.

How Do People Live Like This?

Nothing I found in my kitchen even remotely compares to what I've seen on some shows on TV but the few I found was enough to send me over-the-edge into freak-out-land. Still, I lived this way for weeks afraid to put anything back into the cabinets until everyone started rebelling against me. So, I started placing things, making sure nothing was too high under the main cabinet, in the hopes of thwarting any future ones from gaining access to the drawers above. I repurchased food that was in the other cabinet, even though I found no evidence of them, but simply because I couldn't stand the idea of eating anything wrapped up or not that came from any cabinet in the kitchen.

As I Was Saying…

In the beginning of this entry, I said I was tired of nature because no sooner did we get rid of our rodent problem, but I noticed a woodpecker stealing my Dusty Miller (plant) and carrying it away to my attic! I ran upstairs and heard it scratching around probably building a nest. So I started banging on the ceiling and it flew away, fucking A I'm at war here against nature of all kinds. A mouse might have invaded the sanctity of my kitchen but damnit all I'm not having any baby woodpeckers pecking at the inside of my house.

She Bangs, She Bangs

You'd think they'd get tired of being disturbed, but the woodpecker isn't easy to evict but I think I'm winning because I haven't heard anything for a few days now, I just have remain vigilant in this and not let them think I've forgotten about them. This morning I was assessing my Dusty Miller and decided that it will live as long as those damn birds leave it alone.

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch…

Rainbird drained the hot tub, you know, our seven thousand dollar planter box and when he filled it was working fine, except one of the panels wasn't working right. He called the hot tub place and they came out to make "an adjustment" but while they were here, they noticed the power wasn't on to it. The hot tub water was heated but the circuit was tripped. Rainbird was convinced that the guy did something to it but then he noticed the lights in the basement weren't working right either. The hot tub place told us the repair guy thought there was a circuit issue with either the sub-panel or the main box in the garage.

Your Number Came Up in a Lottery; We Work Today

Rainbird promptly called an electrician we know, who said he'd come by on Saturday, the day before Easter. We were home anyway so he said fine, but then the guy called, and said that he couldn't make it because of Easter…So he said he'd come on Monday. He then called on Monday saying something came up, and he'd be here on Tuesday. Guess what happened Tuesday?

Today, Wednesday, he finally showed up. Right now they're scratching their heads and discussing breakers and other nonsense and have decided that a new junction box dealy is needed. Rainbird sends me to the hot tub place to get one, which I do, and choke back the $ 230.00 bill. That's a lot of money to spend on a glorified planter box, but of course the 7K it originally cost wasn't chicken feed either.

Back To Hating Nature

So, I'm on the deck being nosy about what Rainbird and the kid (electrician) are talking about when I hear this noise, I swear to the great Spaghetti Monster it sounded just like a prehistoric insect buzzing by my head. I freak out and turn in the direction to see a hummingbird. What the fuck? Was it looking for nectar in my ear???? I scream and it flies away, Rainbird calls up what was wrong and I said I want to move to the city because I can't take this crap anymore. He flew up the stairs to make sure I was just kidding (I'm only half kidding) and I sufficiently let him know I am not serious.

Imus You're Fired

At least from MSNBC who have pulled Imus' morning simulcast from their lineup. Personally I found Imus about as interesting as Jay Leno anyway so I could really care less. That all being said, people claim he's said similar things before, but since I don't watch his show or listen to it on the radio, I wouldn't know that for sure. He really should know better though and I don't believe that he's embarrassed about his comments. He's been on radio long enough to know to avoid foot-in-mouth disorders of all kinds. In any event Imus is somewhat a liberal good old boy, so I'm actually surprised at the fervor over his comments. Normally such fervor is reserved to conservative talk show hosts, I mean if Bill O'Reilly made a similar comment they'd be asking for his head on a platter. But if Rosie O'Donnell said them, she'd get a pass and maybe even applauded like she was when she started spouting off about Tower 9 and her "…first time in history fire melted steel..."

Here's a clue for Rosie…Steel is actually made using fire not pixies or the gas from Elmo's ass.

© 2007 Whimsical Ranter
All Rights Reserved

Random Rants and One Whimsy

6:51 PM Tuesday Night
My Home

Mulder and Scully should be called at once; a helicopter hovered over my area for a few minutes last night. It resembled very much an alien vessel as it hovered just beyond the tall cedars causing even at that distance, their limbs to gently sway. The dog and children jumped up and down excitedly while briefly images of the TV show Jericho flashed in my mind. Just as quickly as it appeared the helicopter went away, lost in a sea of clouds and trees, only the sound remaining.

I watched the evening but no reports of the helicopter were reported, I guess they don't care much what goes on in lost cow territory.

Blame NASA

I've now come up with a new conspiracy theory about the whole Anna Nicole thing and it's probably as ludicrous as what really happened, which likely we'll never know about. AbbyNormal, in a comment on the last post, reminded me about the Astronaut that drove a thousand miles, while wearing an adult diaper, to confront the girlfriend of the man she was obsessed with. That happened just before the whole Anna Nicole is dead thing, and leads me now to think about how serendipitously well-timed NASA was as that story took Astronaut debacle off the front page. I wonder if NASA at the very least sent flowers or something to the baby, but I also began to muse that maybe it was NASA that had her eliminated. Really if they can put a man on the moon, certainly they can figure out a way to kill off a woman who is admittedly a train wreck. It does make me wonder with my tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Why I've Grown to Hate PodCasts

Maybe it's because I don't have a long commute and I'm not in my car very long during the day, or maybe it's because I prefer to read. I haven't really narrowed the field down any further, but I've grown to hate PodCasts given by pseudo-expert wannabes with an over-inflated sense of ego and purpose. The people doing this, often starved for attention anyway, and passionate that they have something worthwhile to share, often become egotistical about what they do. I caught about 10 minutes one day of a "podcast" about something I don't care to mention here but learned nothing that I didn't already know and found the banter between three "hosts" to be downright annoying. Their attitudes and the name-dropping lost any real information I was trying to glean. If I had heard one more time the name someone being a personal friend of so and so, I was seriously going to vomit. Instead I decided to turn it off.

While I'm on the Subject of Things I Hate

I might as well admit the so-called freelance writers out there with blogs that include the little donation box also annoy me. You know the ones that say they pour their heart and soul into each post as though they'd just given birth. What the fuck? Quit your whining and grow up, you do it for yourself and because you like it, otherwise why bother. They might have been "published" in a few periodicals with limited readership but again, who the fuck cares? If you're doing it in the hopes that you'll turn a buck because you can't afford to feed your family get a real fucking job ass-wipe. If you've already got a real fucking job, then count your blessings, have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up. Don't try to convince me into the notion that you'd like a couple bucks because if I enjoy reading your blog. No fucking better than a televangelist, asking for "donations" to keep their show on the air, while wearing their nice suits and praising god that they paid their electric bills.

You can tell when things really piss me off when I start using fuck a lot, can't you?

Changing Seasons

As some have noticed in the recent months my blog, especially following a respite from blogging, has taken on a new direction—well, maybe not exactly a new direction entirely. Over the past year, I've blogged less often about the children and husband, and more about other events that catch my eye. In part because the children are growing up and the web being what it is, it just doesn't feel right anymore. I'm also going to do a little housekeeping on the blog, so stay tuned.

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