Mr. TV, when did I become so addicted to you?

I miss my tv! And yes, I realize how pathetic that sounds. I read somewhere once upon a time that many people watch an average of six or seven hours of tv a day. If that's true then I wonder where these people are. I know I do not have a spare six or seven hours each day to watch tv unless I want to give up sleep (which I don't) or not work (which I wouldn't do) or perhaps spend every non-working non-sleeping moment watching tv (and let's face it, that's not practical, even then I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a spare 6 hours in a day). So all you people that watch that much tv, what's your secret? Perhaps they are not working? Insomniacs? Feeling ill? Have to watch tv for work? Are children who do not like to go or unable to go outside? Regardless, I guess I should not judge them because lately, I'm missing not having a tv. Now, I will admit on snow days or days when I'm sick and a few lazy summer days, I may spend too much time in front of the "tube." When someone got me into "Lost" a couple of years ago, I spent 10 hours one day watching season one on DVD. Sad huh? So I've had my moments, but as during the school year, I don't usually spend more than a couple of hours watching tv each evening and approximately 20 minutes watching tv each morning , I never thought I'd be bothered by the fact that I can't watch tv. Well, I suppose technically, I could watch it, but it would just be static. I've lived in my new home for a couple of weeks and still have not called the cable company to get my cable hooked up and thus be able to watch tv. I bought the place a few weeks ago, but it needed some work so it was a few weeks before I was officially moved in and thus didn't see the point in getting cable until I was fully living here. I moved in about two weeks ago, but I was going on vacation last week so I didn't see the point in getting cable hooked up if I wasn't going to be home to enjoy it. And now I'm back home and haven't called, and as it's a weekend, I imagine there's no point in calling now. I go back to work Monday and I'm not sure how late these people work so I'm wondering if I'll even be able to get it installed any time soon because I'm not taking the day off from work to wait for the cable company to come. Of course since I'll be working, I won't have as much time to watch it as I do during the summer so maybe I won't mind so much (yea, probably not likely). Much of my life I didn't have cable, we got a few stations, but we didn't have cable from about the time I was five until I was 20 or 21. We moved when I was about 5 and my dad called the cable company three times, but they never showed up so he decided to just not get it. We could still get a few stations so life was peachy. We had cable at college so I had it then, and one year, I think it was my junior year of college, my dad got sick of not being able to watch all his Red Sox games so he decided to try for cable again (this time they showed up) so I could enjoy it on Christmas vacations and summer vacations. I didn't have it my first year of grad school (thought not for lack of trying; some issue with the landlord so we couldn't get it because he didn't want them drilling a hole or something). I've enjoyed my tv and having cable tv for the past few years, though truthfully most of the shows I watch are on the "free stations." Unfortunately, I can't even get the free stations as I don't have rabbit ears any more so I get NOTHING, just static. Now I keep busy, I have a decent social life, I like to read, watch movies, and I still have boxes left to unpack so why in the world does not having tv stations bug me so much? I think I've come to rely on it too much. Each night after work, I would usually watch the news while I relaxed for a few minutes then got ready to go to the gym. (I feel so out of touch with the world since I can't watch the news, I don't get a newspaper anymore--used to peek through one at the old place, and my internet is 50/50 at the moment). I'd check the weather each morning when I got up. Since it's rerun season, I'm not watching any of my shows so that's not a biggie, but each night I like to set my sleep timer for 30-6o minutes and watch a few minutes of tv before I fall asleep. Last night after I unpacked, did laundry, and put some things away, I wasn't really in the mood to read so I just wanted to watch tv for a few, of course I couldn't so I watched a movie instead, but I had tv on the brain. I spent last week on a cruise and watched very little tv (we mostly put it on to check cruise information) and I survived just fine, didn't miss it at all, but yet back home I'm feeling the need for the tube. Even now as I write this, I'd kind of like to have the tv on in the background. I came home from dinner with some friends tonight and had an urge to put the tv on. When did I come to rely on tv so much? Am I an addict since I can't seem to live without it? And will I get it back before the new seasons start? If not, I'll certainly be able to make a good dent in my Netflix list. :) So for now, I'm off to watch a movie then perhaps read some more of my book.

Help, I'm Addicted to Scrabble!

I think I am addicted to Scrabble. I discovered you could play it on Facebook and I can play it on my i-touch. Even if I have a really busy day, I feel the need to pop on-line and make my move. I'm not really that good at it. I like words and like to think I'm a decent player, but of all the people I play with there are only a couple I can beat. One of my friends often beats me by 100 points. I thought he made up words, but according to dictionary.com they are real, though how often people mention qi or qats in daily conversation is beyond me. We'll be really close and then he'll get a 50 point word and I'm done. So anyway, today when I should have been packing, I stopped and went on-line and played Scrabble instead. Oops! Hey at least I am building my vocabulary. :) And then post-Scrabble playing I felt the need to blog about it since it's not my turn in any of the ten plus games I'm playing.

Let's Try Happy Thoughts Tonight

So per usual there are many things I could complain about as I still want Andy Rooney's job, but despite my 8000 complaints, I'm trying to be more optimistic today and think happy thoughts. Tonight is my first night in my new home; at some points, it felt liked I'd never get here and although there is still a lot of work left to do, it's finally starting to look like a real home. This is partially because of some people I hired to do stuff, a little because of my hard work, but also because I have some awesome friends and family members. A good friend of mine who has been like a big brother to me and who used to be my neighbor moved to Florida (I am still mad at him for doing that) and didn't want to take his fairly new living room set so he gave it to me as a house-warming present. Who does that? He's as good guy. You rock Tony, thank you! That may be the only good thing about him moving to Florida--I got his furniture. hee hee Friday, three of my friends helped me (okay let's face it, they really did most of the work; I stood there and held, screws, made small talk, and smiled a lot) move the aforementioned living room set to my new home. Another friend and one of my cousins got me some deals on furniture. My mom, aunt, and Mike have helped me in numerous ways both big and small. Many thanks! "The boss" hooked me up with some repair people at good prices. Mr. C has improved my toilets, replaced my garbaged dispsoal, and tried to clean my roof--had it not been so slippery, I think he would have done it, but it was too slippery so instead he ended up with minor injuires. :( Mr. H delivered furniture, changed a light fixture to one from this decade, and helped with the toilet-seat fixing. Megan has answered my 8000 ?'s about the joys of owning a home. So a big thank you to all of you! Hope I didn't forget anyone. Tomorrow I may be back to complaint mode, but there's some happy thoughts for tonight. Cheers!

Andy Rooney, I Want Your Job

So I have a tendency to complain a lot. I can be happy, appreciative, etc, but I can also complain, especially about stupid things. When I was a kid, my Dad used to watch 60 Minutes every Sunday, I think he probably still does and at the end of the show Andy Rooney would appear on the screen and he would usually complain about something. I thought that would be a fabulous job for me. I could get paid to complain about random things. Mr. Rooney, when you retire, may I please have your job? How do you even make a resume' for that? I've had lots of experience complaining about life??? So to practice for the position I thought I would share a few random home-owner complaints. Nothing is easy.



1. As my friend Megan warned me (and I didn't belieive her, but she was totally right) people do not show up when they are supposed to. Eventually, they reschedule and life is peachy, but at the time it is frustrating.



2. Rusty toilets you've all ready heard about so I'll spare you.



3. The latest rusty thing--the screw on the washing machine hose so I couldn't change it.



4. My newly purchased box spring arrived on Friday afternoon, but it wouldn't fit up the stairs so the delivery man told me I had to order a split, which was $100 more expensive. Fine, I'll do it, but do you think it was as easy as going to the store to change my order? Oh, no, I had to go on-line, call several people, and I think it may finally arrive on Sunday...Here's hoping...



5. Getting moss off the roof; someone tried to get it off for me, but the roof is too steep and he nearly fell off the roof (how would you like to have that on your conscience). Thankfully, he just dropped the power-washer and not himself. Do you think it's easy to find someone to clean a roof? I've tried googling various things and there are about two people who do it, but the research is mixed. Power-washing a roof is bad some say, while others say it's okay. How do people know this stuff and why don't I? Where do you for for Roof 101?



6. Garbage disposals that work during the home inspection, but not when you buy the home. :(



7. Buying the amount of paint your painter tells you to buy only to find out it's too much and you can't return the extra can.



8. Seeing more cobwebs and dust in a week than a person should see in a life time (I think this has mostly been resolved now)



9. The insane amounts of money you spend at Home Depot/Lowes/Wal-Mart



10. Unintentionall painting the ceiling



So what do you think? Do I qualify for Mr. Rooney's job?

Interesting Moments in NYC

Two of my friends and I went to NYC this past weekend to visit another one of our friends. We had a fabulous time and we saw/heard some shall we say interesting things. Here's a list of a few of them:

-A crazy lady screaming at her son for a full half hour ferry ride; we finally moved to the other sisde of the boat; the kid wasn't even doing anything horrible, but apparently, she missed the lesson on using your indoor voice

-A song called Shots, that is about what else, Shots (as in drinks); I'm not really sure if I liked the song, but it kept getting stuck in my head (kind of like another song that I won't mention that a fellow blogger has managed to get stuck in my head a few times)

-Fabulous sushi at affordable prices; I thought NYC was expensive, but this place had it cheaper than NH and it was good (and I'm still alive so it must have been fairly safe)

-The idea of doing rum shots; seriously people, if you're going to do a shot, do something good; at this age what's the point of eating/drinking things you don't like unless it's something really healthy that you're supposed to eat

-A restaurant that only serves varieties of macaroni and cheese; this was the high-light of the trip for one of my friends; I never knew how much you could do with mac & cheese

-The enormous amount of shoes available to buy in NYC

-Pulling out the high school yearbook and walking down memory lane; always an interesting time

-Crazy bus driving; okay Mr. Bus Driver, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job because I certainly wouldn't want to drive to and from NYC, but when the traffic is stopped and then starts moving at under 10mph you need to go at 10 mph and not speed up, slam the brakes, speed, slam brakes, etc. no one wants to get sick (speaking of which, I never got car sick as a child and we did many long car trips, is this a sign that I'm getting old or can I blame the bad bus driving?)

-Being given a small soda when I ordered french fries; I totally understand that people make mistakes, but I said fries twice and said nothing about soda. Weird.

7:00 on a Saturday? No Thank You!

So my last day in Vegas was a Saturday, which meant my friend didn't have to work, which should have meant I could sleep in. Now, when I am on vacation and want to see new things, I don't necessarily feel as strongly about sleeping in on a Saturday as I do back in the real world, but I'd been getting up early most days over vacation and we had no set plans so I was not opposed to sleeping in, but could I? NO! Why? Soccer! I actually kind of enjoyed watching some of the World Cup games. I found them more enjoyable than oh say football. So I don't dislike soccer, but I do not feel the need to watch it at 7am. My friend was born in Argentina so he is a big Argentina fan and wanted to see Argentina play at 7am. He even invited some of his friends over--and they actually came at that hour on a Saturday! Shouldn't they be sleeping too? Good thing we just had to watch tv because I was half asleep and not in the mood to be social at 7am. I did my best to cheer for Argentina (since the US was long since out of the running), but they lost, by four goals I think. It was kind of depressing, more depressing that I was up that early to watch a team I didn't know anything about lose. However, the "party" ended by 9 or 10am so I got to take a nap then we went to Red Rock Canyon, which was pretty and then downtown to Freemont St (I think that's what it was called). After a drink and an appetizer, we walked around and my friend told me since I was in Vegas, I "had to play Roulette or Black Jack." I reluctantly agreed to try Roulette (am I spelling that correctly?). It was a $20 minimum, hello, I only play 2 cent slot machines and you want me to spend $20?! Are you serious? I need to save my money to buy my new home in less than a month, but I gave in and agreed to play. I won $35 on the first hand so I asked if I could quit, but my friend wouldn't let me! Good thing I got a free dinner that night. And in the grand scheme of things, I really didn't spend that much money so I shouldn't complain about losing $20, but aren't you supposed to quit when you're ahead? Plus as you can probably tell I complain a lot. :-p The next day it was back to Boston. I have to say flying on the 4th of July is kind of nice. My flight from Las Vegas to Chicago was full, but I had a row to myself on the way from Chicago to Boston, it was quite nice and even though people had to work/fly on a holiday, they were quite friendly. And there we go, over a month later, I've finished blogging about my trip. Now it's on to more "joys" of homeownership.

How Many People Does It Take to Change a Toilet Seat?

How many people does it take to change a toilet seat? Go ahead, guess. 1? 2? 3? No, no, and no. The answer is: five, yes, five. The half bathroom in my new home had a broken toilet seat, the toilet itself is fine, but the part you sit on was broken and resting next to the toilet and the cover was still there. I went to Home Depot with my Mom one day (I think I should just have my job forward all my paychecks to them as that seems to be where all my money is going these days) and while I was waiting for paint, I asked her if she would go grab me a toilet seat. Being the nice mother she is, she did. When we got home and I started to paint my cabinets, she decided to be nice again and take off the old toilet seat cover and put the new seat on. Unfortunately, she couldn't get it. My mom is fairly handy so I found this surprising, but she said she couldn't get the screw to come out. I tried later and had no luck. The screw was so rusted on there that the screwdriver did nothing. I tried a drill. Still nothing. Mike tried a couple of days later and he too had no luck, but he came with a spray that is supposed to make rust go away so I sprayed that and do you think it worked? No, not only did it not work, but the stuff smells so strong I think I may have killed a few brain cells. Five days, more spray, screwdrivers, and drilling later, still no luck. On the bright side, I thought perhaps I'd have fabulous calves from all this squatting (tmi? probably. sorry!) On the not so bright side: if I had guests over I was going to have to deem this the boys only bathroom or the camping bathroom. Wasn't exactly thrilled about that. So I tried the spray again. I think it resulted in a few more lost brain cells. When my friend's dad came by that afternoon to drop off a piece of furniture for me and to take down and put up a new light fixture for me (which was a process, but he did it, he is my hero!), he gave it a try. He couldn't get the screws out, but he did get the cover off. He thought perhaps a hack saw might do the trick. Unfortunately, I don't own a hack saw. I should also mention, that by this time in addition to the screwdriver and drill, I had also tried wrenches, a clamp-like thing of some sort, and a hammer. Two days later Mike's dad came by with a hack saw and it took some doing, but he managed to saw the screws out (or whatever the proper tool lingo is). And hence how it took five people to solve this problem. You might even be able to say seven as one friend of mine asked her husband what I could do and he offered some advice (the spray). So as perverted as this may sound, I don't mean for it to, but watch out for those rusty screws.

The Art of Not Gambling in Las Vegas...Well, Almost

The Friday of my Vegas trip (a.k.a. the day after I ate alone) my friend had to work a half day. I figured I could handle a half day alone on the strip as I hadn't yet seen the whole thing. So be proud of me again because since he doesn't stock breakfast food in his house, I ate breakfast alone at the Starbucks at MGM. Okay, so that's not such a big deal because a lot people eat alone at Starbucks, but remember this is new for me. I also ate a muffin and a had a bottled water so it's not like I was there long. Anyway, the day before my friend had picked me up at MGM. I got there a little early so I figured I'd wander around, check out the lions, and then play a two cent slot machine. Big spender I am, huh? I sat at a two cent slot machine for a half hour and spent...wait for it...$2.00. Yes, two dollars, oh, shoot, maybe it was only $1.00, regardless, it was one or two. Well, my friend called to say he was there so I cashed out and I had $2.44 left, which brings us back to the point of the story. I had him drop me off at MGM Friday morning and after an over-priced, but tasteful breakfast at Starbucks (I hardly ever go there in "real life" as I don't drink coffee), I decided to spend my $2.44 at another two cent slot machine. I suppose I could have cashed it, but who really wants to go to the cashier and ask for $2.44 or stand at the cash machine while other people are waiting for big bucks and I have $2.44 so I am almost embarrassed to admit this, but that $2.44 lasted me two hours. I did switch machines at one point just to get up and stretch, but yes, two hours. Does that make me a loser? Okay, well, perhaps, I am, but not for that reason as I've seen people spend hours in a casino. As I was pretty tired from a late night the night before, it was a nice chill way to start the day that involved little thinking. I just kept hitting a button. Following my two hours of wasting time aka the two cent slot machine, it was off to the strip to visit some casinos and shops I hadn't been to the day before. I mostly just looked around, bought a souvenir and a bottle of water (very exciting huh?) and took some pictures. I guess two hours at a slot machine was enough gambling for one day. Who goes to Vegas and hardly gambles? Me. Then when my friend got off work I met him at a bar at Planet Hollywood. He was there before I was and all ready playing video poker and having a drink so I ordered a drink and since I wasn't gambling it cost me $10. Jeeze, I could get the same thing down the street for $5 or $6, even in NYC two days ago it was only $6. Guess these gamblers have the right idea since they get their drinks for free! Oh, well. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving/walking around Lake Mead. We weren't dressed for the beach, but we decided to check it out since we were there. It was amazing to see such an empty beach and for the water to be so warm. You don't find that around here too often at this time of year. Of course I imagine most people don't associate Vegas with the beach so I guess I get the lack of people. I won't bore you to death with all the details of the rest of the day: dinner, me baking dessert, which was a hit if I may be so conceited as to say so (it's interesting to bake at other people's houses when you can't find half the stuff you need, ugh, but I managed, barely, but I did), and a Netflix movie. Had to be an earlyish night because I was being forced to get up at 7AM the next day, but I'll save that for a future blog. :)

P.S. I realize the hat doesn't match my outfit, but it was hot and sunny around Lake Mead so I was trying to refrain from getting a sunburn on my scalp.

That's What You Get for Waking Up in Vegas...

Do you like how it's taking me a month to blog about a two week trip? Good thing I didn't go anywhere for a month huh? Normally, I only travel for a week at a time, but this summer and last summer I somehow managed a two week trip. Last summer I spent a fabulous two weeks in England visiting a friend from college (or as they say uni). So from Arizona I flew to Vegas. I'd been to Las Vegas once before, many years ago, I think I was in junior high. I forgot how big the Las Vegas airport was. It was the only time in my life, my luggage arrived at the luggage carousel before I did. I also got a kick out of the fact that there are slot machines in the airport. You don't even have to enter the city to blow all your money. I made it through a day and a half before I gambled a cent and to be honest I didn't gamble much as I play the two cent machines. I put one dollar in a two cent machine at MGM and it lasted me over two hours. Um, do you think I have a problem if I sat at a slot machine for two hours? I needed something to do while my friend was at work. Vegas Evening One and Day One were just a chill evening and afternoon hanging out at my friend's place. Went to some local spot for drinks and dinner. The outdoor bar had these cool misting machines. Have you seen them? I've never seen them around here probably becasue we don't usually have 100 degree days, but yeah, they were cool, literally and figuratively--it's the little things in life that amuse me. Martinis in Vegas are expensive! But delicious. :) Day Two I toured the strip. Now this was a big deal for me because I don't usually tour places alone, but my friend had to work and since I was in Vegas, well, I obviously, wanted to see it. To be perfectly honest, I just wasn't into it at first. I had no idea what I wanted to do, I didn't want to gamble all day, and not all the shops were open yet. You'd think since I like to plan everything that I'd have had some sort of plan, but no. I wandered, tried a few slots, and then went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum (I might have spelled her last name incorrectly, but I am currently too lazy to look it up). I'd been to the one in London and NYC, but both times I had people with me. I think it would have been more enjoyable if I'd had someone with me so we could do all the dorky poses with the celebrities. I managed one self pic, but it came out weird (see above). After Madame's, the day got better. I discovered Paris (the hotel/casino, not the city) and enjoyed poking around the shops, playing a two cent machine, and I even ate lunch alone. I never eat in public alone though at home or work I do it on a daily basis. I think I have some social anxiety disorder or something. Even in college, I wouldn't go to the dining hall alone. My brother eats alone all the time when he travels for business and he says it's no big deal, but I just feel weird, but I was hungry and there was a cafe in Paris so I forced myself to get over my fear and go eat alone. And you know what? It wasn't bad. I'm not saying I plan to do it again any time soon, but it was kind of nice. I took my time, wrote some postcards, and chilled for a little while. Spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the strip, shopping, and blowing another dollar or two on slots. Several of my friends also texted me some suggestions of where to shop and what to see so I followed their suggestions. And despite my initial reservations, it was nice to have some alone time, no one to rush me or complain when I took too long shopping or couldn't decide where to go next and since it was one street I didn't have to worry about getting too lost. So it turned out to be a decent day followed by a fabulous evening, where I did not have to eat alone. :) My friend had made reservations for us at Paris. We sat outside and it was so pretty because we could see the fountain show at the hotel across the street. I know this is going to sound completely dorky, even for me, but it was like being on tv or something, how often do you get a nice view like that at dinner. And I'm not a big people-watcher, but omg, the people watching on the strip is crazy. Got a huge kick out of that, well, except when the guy dropped his yard of beer and some of it spilled on me (thankfully he didn't get much on my cute dresss). Much as I dislike beer, especially when it's spilled on me, I almost felt bad for him. I imagine a yard of beer is not cheap. So good food, good comapny, and a great view.

P.S. Had someone been with me at Madame T's, I could have had my picture taken in a wedding dress marrying George Clooney, how cheesey-cute is that. When I went to Madame T's in NYC with Megan, he proposed to us. Too funny.

My Illegal Fan

So today as I write this blog, I am sitting in my new home hiding out, though by the time I actually post it, I likely won't be in here as I don't have internet access yet, though if I tilt just the right way sometimes I can accidentally pick up someone else's wifi and check my e-mail. It's kind of a weird feeling trying to stay out of other people's way in my own home. It's also weird to call it my own home as it hasn't completely sunk in. Perhaps when I have things like a couch, a bed, a substantial amount of food, etc. here and actually spend the night, it will feel more real. Right now it just feels like I place where I come for the day to do work like clean, paint, fix things, and unpack a few things or pay other people too much money to do work. As the place was a foreclosure and unoccupied for a while, it needed some repairs, including electrical repairs. Currently, the electrician is in my living room making my ceiling fan legal, yes, I said legal. When I had my home inspection, the inspector told me the ceiling fan was hung with an extension cord instead of a proper wire and thus violating a city code. As I said, it was a foreclosure so no one was going to fix it for me (I guess that's what the phrase sold as is means) so bring on the checkbook. While the electrician was working to legalize my ceiling fan, he discovered it was hung up via one screw. Yes, one. And the screw was okay, but it didn't look like it should be supporting a ceiling fan all by itself. I mean even light things are often hung up with two screws. He assured me that he would rehang it legally and with more screws (did that sound dirty? Get your mind out of the gutter.) Can you imagine if you were at my house-warming party and I was giving a tour: "Here is the bathroom, here is the kitchen (please don't look at the peach/pink spot on the ceiling), and now let's step into the living room and-CRASH, oh, my gosh, a ceiling fan just fell on your head?! Are okay?! Should I call an ambulance? Does my home-owners insurance cover that?" How would I explain that to your mom/dad/significant other/child/dog/police officer. "Yes, I'm sorry officer, apparently I had an illegal fan, oh, what do you mean it was being held up by only one screw? How would I know that? Isn't that lovely." Yes, not a conversation I would like to have so I'm glad to have a legal properly hung fan now, or at least in a few minutes. When my fan is legal, the electrician is going to fix a bathroom exhaust fan (when I turn it on, it sounds like a plane is getting ready for take-off, not pleasant though that will certainly wake me up in the morning), and put two gfi's in the kitchen. I did know about all of this stuff before I bought the place so no surprises there not like the chimney incident. I have to mention that as I was writing this, the electrician (who looks really familiar) told me that he had to move the fan over a little bit to hang it properly so I need to touch up a spot on the ceiling and you all know how much I "love" to paint. Speaking of paint, I hired someone to paint one of the bedrooms, the one that will likely become my master bedroom. He's a teacher (and my summer school boss) that has done painting on the side for 30 years so I'm thinking it should turn out okay, or at least better than how I paint. Here's hoping... So that's why I'm trying to stay out of everyone's way and hide in a corner with my computer and a book. I did do some cleaning earlier, but one can only do so much cleaning. It's getting there...

Gross Don't Tell PETA

So my condo association requires that I get an annual chimney inspection. My chimney currently has no real use as I don't have a fire place/wood stove/pellet stove/anything else that would go out the chimney so I guess its current purpose would be so some chimney inspection company can make money annually for inspecting it. Anyway, I wasn't expecting too many problems since it's not in use. Well, thankfully, I passed the inspection, BUT when the chimney inspector opened some piece of the system (no idea what the proper terminology is, some cap thing) near the ground, I saw grossness. I thought it was just a big pile of smelly dirt (I wasn't standing too close to it), but (beware this is gross) he said it was a dead raccoon! I did not move any closer. He cleaned it out for me (bless him), put a new screen around my chimney and wrote up my inspection report. I feel so bad for this poor animal. Clearly, he died long before I moved in and he really shouldn't have been trying to climb into a chimney so shame on him, but still, poor guy and YUCK! It's just gross to think about. And speaking of thinking, I noticed Jess (one of the four people that reads my blog) mentioned PETA in several of her blogs and it made me fear what PETA would think/do if they knew about this. So here's hoping this screen keeps the animals away from my chimney. I think tomorrow I will blog about more pleasant topics. :)

Quest to Find an Arizona Souvenir

As I am a huge dork (and I completely accept this now), I wanted some form of souvenir from my Arizona trip. I had a couple of postcards, but I thought perhaps a Christmas ornament would be a good souvenir, then I could put it on the Christmas tree at my new place this year (yes, I have no furniture and I'm all ready thinking about Christmas trees, think there's something wrong with me? Don't answer that!). Natalie took me to a store, but we had no luck so she said she would have my baby-sitter aka her brother (I'll explain that one later) take me to get one the next day. Before I go all out on the souvenir quest, I have to explain what happened post-four course meal and this baby-sitter business. On Tuesday of my Arizona trip I was leaving for Las Vegas to visit a friend and Natalie, Michael, and Spencer were going to Vermont to visit family. Since their flight left eight hours before mine, Natalie asked her brother if he would baby-sit me for the day. She didn't actually ask him to baby-sit me, but for some reason I felt the need to refer to him as my baby-sitter since the poor guy had to take care of me for the day. I met him at the four-course meal and he turned out to be a good sitter. Anyway, I have to say that I LOVED that Natalie and Michael were packing from 10pm until midnight when they had to get up at 5am to get to the airport. I was very impressed because if I knew I had to get up in five hours and still had packing left to do I would be having a hissy fit so props to them. Anyway, after 5am hugs good-bye, it was back to sleep for me for a while then up again and off to Scottsdale with my baby-sitter aka Natalie's brother aka Nick and his cousin. There was some store he wanted to take me to that Natalie mentioned. Unfortunately, the gps in his phone did not do a very good job directing us. We kept driving and not getting there so we parked and walked around Scottsdale. Then he called the store only to find out they'd closed their store in Scottsdale several years ago, oops, hence why we couldn't find it. They did have another location in Phoenix (where we'd just come from) so we went back to Phoenix, found the store, and I found an ornament. It was marked down to $2.00 because it said 1999 on it, but I really didn't care about the year. The salesperson was very concerned about this, but I assured her I was perfectly content to buy an ornament that was eleven years old for $2.00. You can't get much for $2.00 these days so honestly, it was fine. Natalie later told me "it was meant to be" because that was the year we met. Aww (insert cheesy cute statement here) ) Following my souvenir purchase, we went to a museum at the Arizona capitol and I learned some Arizona history which I enjoyed because as I said I am a huge dork. History and English were my two favorite subjects in school. And in case you care, it was then off to an Irish pub for lunch and then to the airport, where I think the check in person thought I was a complete moron because I didn't understand him when he asked for my ID. Who doesn't understand that? See there were four people in front of me so I assumed he was talking to one of them and not me, only to find out they were all set, they were just waiting for a wheelchair or something so it really was my turn. I was like, huh what? Normal people have their ID out and ready to go when waiting to check in for a flight, but as I thought I still had four people to go, I didn't have it out yet and didn't think anyone would be talking to me yet. OOPS! However, when I comprehended what he wanted and when he found out I was going to Las Vegas he was my new bff and couldn't stop telling me to have fun, let my hair down, etc. Per usual I've babbled off topic again, but I suppose you should be used to that by now. I didn't take a picture of my new souvenir, but I did take one in the museum so I put that up instead. When I unpack, perhaps an ornament picture will go up. :)

My Dear Axle Seal

Dear Axle Seal,

What are you? Why do you keep leaking? And why when I look you up on wikipedia does it ask me if I mean axle steel?

Sincerely,

Your Annoyed Owner



So several of you know that I don't exactly have the best luck with cars. I've owned one car in my life and it has caused me a bit of trouble over the few years I've owned it. Last November when I took it in to get inspected, it passed inspection, but the mechanic told me my axle seals were leaking. And by mechanic I mean the dealer because the local mechanic who is nice and puts up with my lack of car knowledge couldn't fix them. So back to axle seals, I had no idea what an axle seal was let alone why it leaked. He could have told me there was a little green man dancing the hula in my car and that was causing the leak and I wouldn't have known any differently. It is PATHETIC how little I know about cars and I swear they can tell. My car "knowledge" comes from reading my owner's manual and calling my neighbor from time to time to ask him what something is/does. So I naively asked what an axle seal was and he explained it to me and a week or so later I'd completely forgotten what he'd said. I'm still hoping my new neighbor turns out to be a mechanic who will fall madly in love with me or at least be a dear friend who will want to fix all my car problems. If that doesn't happen, I'm hoping to soon meet a mechanic who wants to be my new best friend. If I decide to believe in future lives, I'm coming back as a mechanic in my next life. Anyway, back to axle seals...so I set up an appointment to have it fixed on Veterans' Day so I wouldn't have to take a day off from work. And of course why would I want to do something fun on my day off when I could hang around the house all day without a car (actually, it wasn't that bad, I think I got some reading or movie-watching done). They said it would be ready in a few hours. A few hours came and went and still nothing so I called and apparently they didn't have a tool they needed. Hello, you are a friggin' dealership, aren't you supposed to be the one with all the tools?! And when were you planning to tell me this? They told me they were going to have to get it from another dealer the next day. I somewhat politely (okay, maybe I wasn't that polite) told them I had to work the next day, could I please have my cark back with the leak and I would return it to them after work the next day when they had the proper tools? They said NO! They told me my car was up on a whatever they put cars on and taken all apart. Well, I like to walk, but I really didn't feel like walking 15 miles to work on a cold November morning and none of my co-workers are terribly close by, but by some miracle I found someone to drive me to work (I really miss working within walking distance of my home). The next day I had a functional car. Hooray! But wait. The story isn't over yet. Fast forward to a week and a half ago when I brought my car in for an oil change and guess what? After I got home I saw a note on the receipt... They told me my axle seal was leaking and it would cost $250-$300 to fix. WHAT?! Who can afford that every 8 months? I called and they said they would look into it and call me back. Do you think they called me back? Of course not. So I called again for two days and finally someone left me a message and we then played phone tag. Finally, I got ahold of someone who told me since it has been less than a year they will fix it for free. Thank goodness! I mean seriously, who can afford to get axle seals fixed every 8 months? It's bad enough I had to buy a new transmission earlier this year when my car wasn't even 5-years-old (that will earn its own blog on a slow news day). I tell you some days I really wish I still lived in Boston and rode the T everywhere. But then when it's minus 20 and I'm in a nice warm car I guess I don't miss waiting for the T so much. sigh Okay, keep your fingers crossed that my car will be ready today with axle seals that don't leak. And if you know what axle seals are, please refresh my memory. And if you know any mechanics who want a new best friend, call me. :)