Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Update from Damaris
An email from my determined daughter:
The police officer in charge of my case just called me back. He seemed very nice but he also gave me the typical, "This could be difficult to prove" runaround that I expected. You know, like why should I be worried about a little forged check when there are real criminals out there. He said he'd do his best. Little does he know that if he doesn't do his best, he'll be hearing from me everyday. He said that if he was to question these people they could say a friend of a friend of a friend showed up at their house and bought pizza. And I said that still means we come down to a name...and I know where the checks were stolen from so there is a connection as well...AND we can do handwriting samples and what not. He stammered a bit and I think he then realized he would have to do his best. I'm excited for the results of this.
These people are not only facing forgery charges from me, but also theft charges from the pizza place. After we find them...they could also be facing theft charges from all the places they used the checks. And if all else fails...I know where they live.
Those people should be Very Afraid.
The police officer in charge of my case just called me back. He seemed very nice but he also gave me the typical, "This could be difficult to prove" runaround that I expected. You know, like why should I be worried about a little forged check when there are real criminals out there. He said he'd do his best. Little does he know that if he doesn't do his best, he'll be hearing from me everyday. He said that if he was to question these people they could say a friend of a friend of a friend showed up at their house and bought pizza. And I said that still means we come down to a name...and I know where the checks were stolen from so there is a connection as well...AND we can do handwriting samples and what not. He stammered a bit and I think he then realized he would have to do his best. I'm excited for the results of this.
These people are not only facing forgery charges from me, but also theft charges from the pizza place. After we find them...they could also be facing theft charges from all the places they used the checks. And if all else fails...I know where they live.
Those people should be Very Afraid.
The Pizza Police!
More on how pizza helps fight crime!
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/apbiz_story.asp?category=1310&slug=Delivery%20Databases
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/apbiz_story.asp?category=1310&slug=Delivery%20Databases
Real life stupid criminals!
My daughter Damaris just called me, tremendously excited because for a CHANGE, a crummy situation is resolving itself in a good way!
Four years ago, not long after they first moved to Denver, their checkbook got stolen from the glove compartment of their van. Despite this happening while it was IN THE DEALERSHIP'S SHOP, the person who passed six of the checks was never caught. It caused them a lot of hassle, as you can imagine.
But the forger stopped forging and it all seemed to be over. Until THIS week, when Damaris was contacted by a pizza place because their former bank returned ANOTHER of those checks. She was beside herself, only partly because this meant she had to go dig through the storage room for the old records and police reports and whatnot.
But my girl is imaginative and also a bear for follow-up. She called the pizza place and quizzed them, although I don't know if she asked MY question of why in the name of all that has more than a couple of brain cells someone would take a check WITHOUT ID from a bank 200+ miles away for PIZZA. They promised to send her a copy of the check, and it came today.
The astounding good news is that it was for a pizza DELIVERY. All the pertinent data--name, address, date and time--were right there in the records.
Yes. Someone was STUPID enough to get a pizza delivered to an actual residence, accept it, and pay for it with a forged name on a stolen check.
Damaris is so far bravely resisting the urge to drive over there and kick whatever ass might helpfully present itself. The honors will instead be done by the appropriate representatives of law enforcement.
More on this story as it develops!
Four years ago, not long after they first moved to Denver, their checkbook got stolen from the glove compartment of their van. Despite this happening while it was IN THE DEALERSHIP'S SHOP, the person who passed six of the checks was never caught. It caused them a lot of hassle, as you can imagine.
But the forger stopped forging and it all seemed to be over. Until THIS week, when Damaris was contacted by a pizza place because their former bank returned ANOTHER of those checks. She was beside herself, only partly because this meant she had to go dig through the storage room for the old records and police reports and whatnot.
But my girl is imaginative and also a bear for follow-up. She called the pizza place and quizzed them, although I don't know if she asked MY question of why in the name of all that has more than a couple of brain cells someone would take a check WITHOUT ID from a bank 200+ miles away for PIZZA. They promised to send her a copy of the check, and it came today.
The astounding good news is that it was for a pizza DELIVERY. All the pertinent data--name, address, date and time--were right there in the records.
Yes. Someone was STUPID enough to get a pizza delivered to an actual residence, accept it, and pay for it with a forged name on a stolen check.
Damaris is so far bravely resisting the urge to drive over there and kick whatever ass might helpfully present itself. The honors will instead be done by the appropriate representatives of law enforcement.
More on this story as it develops!
Chirp!
It's a lovely morning here on the high plains. Sun is shining and birds are chirping. In my walls.
Yes, in the walls. Few people know it, but we are an involuntary amateur bird sanctuary.
It started a few years back after we switched the big old non-functional swamp cooler for a smaller but far superior air conditioning unit. It left a small gap in the wall, but because there is quite a good overhang of the eaves, we didn't think it would cause much of a problem. So we put trim around the a/c on the inside wall and called it good.
Next spring, we realized our error. Birds had clearly found it, and found it good. We heard evidence of several broods of hatchings as spring and summer passed. But hey, it wasn't like we were USING the space ourselves, so we didn't disturb the status quo.
But there came a fateful day when...the a/c stopped working! And of course by then we were addicted to it (as you can imagine, since we generally top 100 degrees daily by mid-June and it doesn't slack off until September.) I WAS guiltily aware that there were babes in the nest, back in there under the casing. But the shop guys insisted they had to take the machine IN to fix it, so that seemed to be that.
Except when we pulled it out, we were suddenly in violation of Federal Endangered Species statutes!
Naturally, we were very upset. They didn't look old enough to live on their own yet, but I suspected they were lively (and spooky) enough to jump around and get out of the hole in the wall and into the dog pen--OR into the house, which was not really a good substitute habitat either.
Then I had the brilliant idea of calling the Nature Center in Pueblo, which I knew had a Raptor Rehabilitation department. The lady I talked to was a whiz. She ID'd the little rascals just on my lame description, and could even imitate the call of the adults well enough for me to verify I had indeed been hearing it all summer. But then she flummoxed me by asking, "Can you get them down to the PO within the hour?"
She wanted me to mail them? I explained it was a Saturday and our PO wasn't open for business right then. But no, she again knew what she was doing. Seems the driver of the PO truck regularly served as a volunteer carrier for them, and was actually already bringing them an owl with a broken wing someone had turned into the local wildlife office. So the little kestrels were saved!
They all lived, too, and we even got to go see them later in the year before they released them into the wild. The parents did come back the next spring, but they didn't want the wall next anymore. (Smart birds!) But their attempt to improve their digs didn't work out all that well. See, these birds are crevice nesters. This time the crevice they tried out was our unused chimney. Which I THOUGHT I had successfully blocked off after we got the pigeon out that time.... But no.
SO I had to partially disassemble the chimney stack, which let the mom (?) kestrel out into the attic. Luckily it was easy for her to escape because of the hole the woodpecker made that one time. (See what I mean about the bird sanctuary thing?)
That seems to have put us on the kestrel blacklist. Ever since, our nestees have been plain brownish-black birds. Starlings, maybe. Does anyone know if the adults are known for a highly varied and melodious set of calls? They really do sound pretty. And there's something kind of friendly and homey about hearing the click-click of their toenails on the metal case in the very early spring, then the chee-chee-chee-chee of babies a few weeks later. I'd kind of miss them if we ever got around to patching the wall....
Yes, in the walls. Few people know it, but we are an involuntary amateur bird sanctuary.
It started a few years back after we switched the big old non-functional swamp cooler for a smaller but far superior air conditioning unit. It left a small gap in the wall, but because there is quite a good overhang of the eaves, we didn't think it would cause much of a problem. So we put trim around the a/c on the inside wall and called it good.
Next spring, we realized our error. Birds had clearly found it, and found it good. We heard evidence of several broods of hatchings as spring and summer passed. But hey, it wasn't like we were USING the space ourselves, so we didn't disturb the status quo.
But there came a fateful day when...the a/c stopped working! And of course by then we were addicted to it (as you can imagine, since we generally top 100 degrees daily by mid-June and it doesn't slack off until September.) I WAS guiltily aware that there were babes in the nest, back in there under the casing. But the shop guys insisted they had to take the machine IN to fix it, so that seemed to be that.
Except when we pulled it out, we were suddenly in violation of Federal Endangered Species statutes!
Naturally, we were very upset. They didn't look old enough to live on their own yet, but I suspected they were lively (and spooky) enough to jump around and get out of the hole in the wall and into the dog pen--OR into the house, which was not really a good substitute habitat either.
Then I had the brilliant idea of calling the Nature Center in Pueblo, which I knew had a Raptor Rehabilitation department. The lady I talked to was a whiz. She ID'd the little rascals just on my lame description, and could even imitate the call of the adults well enough for me to verify I had indeed been hearing it all summer. But then she flummoxed me by asking, "Can you get them down to the PO within the hour?"
She wanted me to mail them? I explained it was a Saturday and our PO wasn't open for business right then. But no, she again knew what she was doing. Seems the driver of the PO truck regularly served as a volunteer carrier for them, and was actually already bringing them an owl with a broken wing someone had turned into the local wildlife office. So the little kestrels were saved!
They all lived, too, and we even got to go see them later in the year before they released them into the wild. The parents did come back the next spring, but they didn't want the wall next anymore. (Smart birds!) But their attempt to improve their digs didn't work out all that well. See, these birds are crevice nesters. This time the crevice they tried out was our unused chimney. Which I THOUGHT I had successfully blocked off after we got the pigeon out that time.... But no.
SO I had to partially disassemble the chimney stack, which let the mom (?) kestrel out into the attic. Luckily it was easy for her to escape because of the hole the woodpecker made that one time. (See what I mean about the bird sanctuary thing?)
That seems to have put us on the kestrel blacklist. Ever since, our nestees have been plain brownish-black birds. Starlings, maybe. Does anyone know if the adults are known for a highly varied and melodious set of calls? They really do sound pretty. And there's something kind of friendly and homey about hearing the click-click of their toenails on the metal case in the very early spring, then the chee-chee-chee-chee of babies a few weeks later. I'd kind of miss them if we ever got around to patching the wall....
Monday, April 26, 2004
Weekend End
This past four days was a serious overdose of plan B switchage, and I'm heavily looking forward to the relative peace of Monday.
Mike and I did make it to Pueblo Thursday to meet with the Official Psych Team to see if he is still technically qualified to get his SSI benefits. That was more of a success than I was fully comfortable with. Although I told the testing lady right at the start that Mike is usually shy with strangers, she didn't do ANYTHING to build rapport, but right away got snarky with him, just because he jokingly told her an elephant picture was a roller coaster. So the testing didn't go too well, to say the least. By the time the head guy interviewed us, Mike was stressed and bored and rolling around on the floor under my feet. :/ Although they never say things like this, the doc asked, "He already gets SSI, right?" Yes. "Well, that shouldn't change....uh, not that I have any say in determining it or anything." Yeah, gotcha. My kid IS a babbling idiot under some circumstances.
Guess they figured that if he WAS faking it, Dustin Hoffman could just pass on his Rainman Oscar to Mike....
Anyway, the original plan had been for us to go from Pueblo to Denver for the weekend, for Zach's birthday party. However, Mother Nature had apparently decided to throw a huge snowfest that very day, so I decided that, between still feeling crappy and the prospect of driving over Monument Pass in a spring blizzard, the better part of valor suggested I go home and see if the forecast changed Friday.
One very nice thing about out trip to Pueblo was that we stopped at several garden centers on the way home, and found a lot of cool things not available locally. Here is our Plant Bounty:
The pink geranium, the poppy and the marigolds are Mike's.
Friday was the day it rained 4 inches, which is about half our usual annual total. Not that I am complaining or anything, since We Need The Moisture. Decided to give the Denver party a miss.
Not much happened Saturday. The only thing of moment was that Mike was bit by the Spring Decorating bug and got me to help him hang one of those singing fish plaques in the bathroom.
Today was supposed to be Free Dump Day. I got right to work immediately after lunch, loading trash and junk into Dreamcloud. So imagine my chagrin when we got there and found the dump closed due to weather. No, today was bright, sunny and semi-warm. The weather was that 4 inches of rain Friday. Guess they did not want to deal with winching out either patrons' vehicles or the big dump machines. So Free Day is changed to next week.
I got one six-pack of Scotch Moss planted, but not much else of substance. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more fruitful day.
Mike and I did make it to Pueblo Thursday to meet with the Official Psych Team to see if he is still technically qualified to get his SSI benefits. That was more of a success than I was fully comfortable with. Although I told the testing lady right at the start that Mike is usually shy with strangers, she didn't do ANYTHING to build rapport, but right away got snarky with him, just because he jokingly told her an elephant picture was a roller coaster. So the testing didn't go too well, to say the least. By the time the head guy interviewed us, Mike was stressed and bored and rolling around on the floor under my feet. :/ Although they never say things like this, the doc asked, "He already gets SSI, right?" Yes. "Well, that shouldn't change....uh, not that I have any say in determining it or anything." Yeah, gotcha. My kid IS a babbling idiot under some circumstances.
Guess they figured that if he WAS faking it, Dustin Hoffman could just pass on his Rainman Oscar to Mike....
Anyway, the original plan had been for us to go from Pueblo to Denver for the weekend, for Zach's birthday party. However, Mother Nature had apparently decided to throw a huge snowfest that very day, so I decided that, between still feeling crappy and the prospect of driving over Monument Pass in a spring blizzard, the better part of valor suggested I go home and see if the forecast changed Friday.
One very nice thing about out trip to Pueblo was that we stopped at several garden centers on the way home, and found a lot of cool things not available locally. Here is our Plant Bounty:
The pink geranium, the poppy and the marigolds are Mike's.
Friday was the day it rained 4 inches, which is about half our usual annual total. Not that I am complaining or anything, since We Need The Moisture. Decided to give the Denver party a miss.
Not much happened Saturday. The only thing of moment was that Mike was bit by the Spring Decorating bug and got me to help him hang one of those singing fish plaques in the bathroom.
Today was supposed to be Free Dump Day. I got right to work immediately after lunch, loading trash and junk into Dreamcloud. So imagine my chagrin when we got there and found the dump closed due to weather. No, today was bright, sunny and semi-warm. The weather was that 4 inches of rain Friday. Guess they did not want to deal with winching out either patrons' vehicles or the big dump machines. So Free Day is changed to next week.
I got one six-pack of Scotch Moss planted, but not much else of substance. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more fruitful day.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Definitions
Hmm. I had kind of forgotten that joining up with the blog community, where posting tends to be a lot more personal than on specific topic email lists, meant that I had a whole new audience to confuse by writing about my decidedly untraditional lifestyle.
What I mean is, am I gay, or what? :)
And the answer is...it depends on the expectations of whoever is asking.
Our short humorous answer is that we are "honorary gays". Caro and I have lived together for better than 25 years, raised kids, done the sickness and health bit, are co-mortgagees and each other's main beneficiary--definitely a common law domestic partnership at minimum. (My marriage to the German Guy was just the mid-life crisis talking. Well, okay, and he was/is Teh Hawt.) The only kind of partners we aren't, is sexual.
The long answer gets into the complications. On the one hand, it's not that either of us think it's wrong in any way. So it feels a little uncomfortable to say, "Well, no, we aren't ACTUALLY lesbians," because that sounds like we are rejecting that status out of nasty self-righteous misguided so-called morality. OR that we are such big chickens that we don't mind being liars.
But on the other hand, claiming a status we haven't actually earned would be a lie too. Like we were trying to be like the Cool Kids or something. Panhandle for sympathy and/or fellow feeling we haven't actually earned.
It's confusing, though. Some people think that so long as we haven't actually Done It, we are "only" very very very very good friends. Yet some of my genuine lesbian friends listen to our qualifications and say, "Sure you're lesbians, you're just celibate."
Alrighty then.
We're here, we're celibate, we're...whatever. :) How's that?
What I mean is, am I gay, or what? :)
And the answer is...it depends on the expectations of whoever is asking.
Our short humorous answer is that we are "honorary gays". Caro and I have lived together for better than 25 years, raised kids, done the sickness and health bit, are co-mortgagees and each other's main beneficiary--definitely a common law domestic partnership at minimum. (My marriage to the German Guy was just the mid-life crisis talking. Well, okay, and he was/is Teh Hawt.) The only kind of partners we aren't, is sexual.
The long answer gets into the complications. On the one hand, it's not that either of us think it's wrong in any way. So it feels a little uncomfortable to say, "Well, no, we aren't ACTUALLY lesbians," because that sounds like we are rejecting that status out of nasty self-righteous misguided so-called morality. OR that we are such big chickens that we don't mind being liars.
But on the other hand, claiming a status we haven't actually earned would be a lie too. Like we were trying to be like the Cool Kids or something. Panhandle for sympathy and/or fellow feeling we haven't actually earned.
It's confusing, though. Some people think that so long as we haven't actually Done It, we are "only" very very very very good friends. Yet some of my genuine lesbian friends listen to our qualifications and say, "Sure you're lesbians, you're just celibate."
Alrighty then.
We're here, we're celibate, we're...whatever. :) How's that?
Dig it!
So, Susan, you say. How are those trees which were so cruelly mistreated by the PO doing?
How kind of you to ask. I did manage to get them planted over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, despite my status as Excavationally Challenged. Yes, I do many physical things reasonably well, but for some reason, when it comes to digging holes, I totally suck.
Especially compared to Caro. She has an MS in Library Science, but she could easily hold a PhD in hole-digging, were such a program offered anywhere. It was one of the reasons I was so glad to see her come home from her conference a couple of weeks ago. You know the thing about good friends helping you move a body? Yeah. And since we were talking a Lab-Rottweiler-Chevy station wagon cross, that was no minor task.
But *I* got the trees placed. We now have 3 Austrian pines, 2 Colorado Blue Spruce, 2 white pines, and 1 each of Weeping Willow, Yellow Buckeye, and Red Maple scattered about the grounds.
Plus two forsythia. Those were Caro's House-iversary present. Since we can't (yet) get married, 20 years ago we decided to make the date of the closing on our house our official annual celebratory event. Whee, only 10 years to go on the mortgage!
Oh, and one of the Blue Spruce is Duke's now.
How kind of you to ask. I did manage to get them planted over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, despite my status as Excavationally Challenged. Yes, I do many physical things reasonably well, but for some reason, when it comes to digging holes, I totally suck.
Especially compared to Caro. She has an MS in Library Science, but she could easily hold a PhD in hole-digging, were such a program offered anywhere. It was one of the reasons I was so glad to see her come home from her conference a couple of weeks ago. You know the thing about good friends helping you move a body? Yeah. And since we were talking a Lab-Rottweiler-Chevy station wagon cross, that was no minor task.
But *I* got the trees placed. We now have 3 Austrian pines, 2 Colorado Blue Spruce, 2 white pines, and 1 each of Weeping Willow, Yellow Buckeye, and Red Maple scattered about the grounds.
Plus two forsythia. Those were Caro's House-iversary present. Since we can't (yet) get married, 20 years ago we decided to make the date of the closing on our house our official annual celebratory event. Whee, only 10 years to go on the mortgage!
Oh, and one of the Blue Spruce is Duke's now.
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Great Grands!
I'm sorting through files and pics as I work on these catch-up postings, and it occurred to me that while I post lots of pics of Mike, I haven't visually bragged on my grandchildren lately!
Here's Zach on his new bike!
Marisa and Morrissey with their new haircuts!
Little Lexie dressed up for Easter!
Here's Zach on his new bike!
Marisa and Morrissey with their new haircuts!
Little Lexie dressed up for Easter!
Something Caro told me to remember to blog
Last week when we were making our yard sale rounds, I was Not Having A Good Time. My throat hurt, it was too early, Mike was being whiny because we wouldn't buy him junky crap he didn't need, and the sun was in my eyes.
"I feel sullen," I told Caro.
"I started out feeling me-having-to-wear-a-dress sullen, but now I have moved up to wet-cat sullen. If things don't improve soon, I'll be all the way up to wet-cat-in-a-dress sullen."
Happily, it never came to that.
"I feel sullen," I told Caro.
"I started out feeling me-having-to-wear-a-dress sullen, but now I have moved up to wet-cat sullen. If things don't improve soon, I'll be all the way up to wet-cat-in-a-dress sullen."
Happily, it never came to that.
My throat
This is the dumbest, most annoying thing since...hmm, since my bronchitis bout all last June.
OK, caught some kind of bug in Denver the last weekend of March, if you recall. Mostly upper resp--throat and ears, which resulted in laryngitis. It was ALMOST all better again, until the Sad Incident of Duke's Passing. See, Duke was a portly old boy with a pretty thick coat, and he preferred to be outdoors most of the time. So he was out in the turn-out pen when he died. Which presented a problem, because the only way in and out of the pen was a ramp leading down what used to be stairs (installed, actually, because that was so much easier for Duke to navigate).
Duke weighed over 100 pounds and there was simply No Way, with the best will in the world, that we were going to be physically able to wrestle him up that ramp. However, we'd had plans in place (yes, okay, since last year) to change the layout and add a nice big chain link gate I bought at an auction. So I figured this was an excellent time to cut through the old fencing. Sort of bringing something good out of a sad event, you know?
Unfortunately there were skeletons of last year's dead weeds thickly interwoven into the fencing. As I was trying to yank the bottom edge free, I accidentally whapped myself in the face with the old seed heads, which probably had some pollen remnants mixed in with a boatload of lurking dust. Yes, I was inhaling at the time. Of course yes this brought the laryngitis back with a vengeance.
So it was almost getting better AGAIN when, for some reason, Appy decided to attack Climber. Out in the dog pen. Which still did not have the gate in place. So I screamed hoarsely at them, which did absolutely not one iota to make Appy knock it off. Happily Climber (being very agile and smart) got away and quickly UP the ramp, dusty but unhurt. So then I screamed "Bad dog!" at Appy awhile longer, again to no great point except to release my tension.
And REALLY screw my throat. I think I may have actually strained it. I don't THINK there's any infection going on, but I am driving liquid Guaifenesin (expectorant) stock prices through the roof, I'm sure.
On the plus side, the gate is now in place. One of the reasons we wanted to restructure the dog pen is that it has slowly become a low spot over the years, and on the rare occasions when it rains around here, it rapidly turns into a cute little (gross) lake. Which is fairly useless as a doggy bathroom.
So yesterday, in a very steady and fairly cold rain, I undid the temporary fencing so Caro could go into the pen and muck out a drainage trench, while I put the gate in place. Well, yeah, with balin' wire, because the special posts Sterling helped me install last year (former highway road sign poles) turn out to NOT have standard gate hardware available. Can you imagine??
OK, caught some kind of bug in Denver the last weekend of March, if you recall. Mostly upper resp--throat and ears, which resulted in laryngitis. It was ALMOST all better again, until the Sad Incident of Duke's Passing. See, Duke was a portly old boy with a pretty thick coat, and he preferred to be outdoors most of the time. So he was out in the turn-out pen when he died. Which presented a problem, because the only way in and out of the pen was a ramp leading down what used to be stairs (installed, actually, because that was so much easier for Duke to navigate).
Duke weighed over 100 pounds and there was simply No Way, with the best will in the world, that we were going to be physically able to wrestle him up that ramp. However, we'd had plans in place (yes, okay, since last year) to change the layout and add a nice big chain link gate I bought at an auction. So I figured this was an excellent time to cut through the old fencing. Sort of bringing something good out of a sad event, you know?
Unfortunately there were skeletons of last year's dead weeds thickly interwoven into the fencing. As I was trying to yank the bottom edge free, I accidentally whapped myself in the face with the old seed heads, which probably had some pollen remnants mixed in with a boatload of lurking dust. Yes, I was inhaling at the time. Of course yes this brought the laryngitis back with a vengeance.
So it was almost getting better AGAIN when, for some reason, Appy decided to attack Climber. Out in the dog pen. Which still did not have the gate in place. So I screamed hoarsely at them, which did absolutely not one iota to make Appy knock it off. Happily Climber (being very agile and smart) got away and quickly UP the ramp, dusty but unhurt. So then I screamed "Bad dog!" at Appy awhile longer, again to no great point except to release my tension.
And REALLY screw my throat. I think I may have actually strained it. I don't THINK there's any infection going on, but I am driving liquid Guaifenesin (expectorant) stock prices through the roof, I'm sure.
On the plus side, the gate is now in place. One of the reasons we wanted to restructure the dog pen is that it has slowly become a low spot over the years, and on the rare occasions when it rains around here, it rapidly turns into a cute little (gross) lake. Which is fairly useless as a doggy bathroom.
So yesterday, in a very steady and fairly cold rain, I undid the temporary fencing so Caro could go into the pen and muck out a drainage trench, while I put the gate in place. Well, yeah, with balin' wire, because the special posts Sterling helped me install last year (former highway road sign poles) turn out to NOT have standard gate hardware available. Can you imagine??
Best Laid Plans
It all started going south Wednesday.
I had written what I fondly recall as quite a good post about Tuesday's events. Unfortunately, I tried to post it without saving a copy first. Our ISP, CenturyTel, has a unfortunate tendency to drop us off line at random intervals, and this was one of the times. So it all got lost, and I didn't have time to try to recreate it because it was already looking to be a very task-heavy day.
Which it was. Then Thursday Mike and I had to go to Pueblo. Friday I finally managed to start some catching up on things. Although it rained insanely (for here) and I had to Cope with dogs and mud and such. Today, Saturday, I am still virtually voiceless and feeling kind of run down, though improving very slowly. So I am going to sit back and spend most of the rest of the day catching up with LJ and email.
You Have Been Warned.
I had written what I fondly recall as quite a good post about Tuesday's events. Unfortunately, I tried to post it without saving a copy first. Our ISP, CenturyTel, has a unfortunate tendency to drop us off line at random intervals, and this was one of the times. So it all got lost, and I didn't have time to try to recreate it because it was already looking to be a very task-heavy day.
Which it was. Then Thursday Mike and I had to go to Pueblo. Friday I finally managed to start some catching up on things. Although it rained insanely (for here) and I had to Cope with dogs and mud and such. Today, Saturday, I am still virtually voiceless and feeling kind of run down, though improving very slowly. So I am going to sit back and spend most of the rest of the day catching up with LJ and email.
You Have Been Warned.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Better day today...so far
A busy weekend where the population of the household almost triples always means playing lots of catch-up, which for some reason isn't as emotionally satisfying as getting new things done. Kind of silly, I suppose. But my throat was still sore and my voice still gone and little annoying things had been...annoying. So when I found out the PO has had my shipment of LIVE TREES for TWO WEEKS, I got sort of ticked off and cussed at the Postmaster. (Not so smart with my strained throat, as well as not a good showing of self-control. :/ )
See, I get a LOT of packages. When they are too big for the box, the carrier just leaves them on top of the row of mailboxes down at the corner. If something needs signing, they deliver it anyway and leave the orange slip so I can sign it and bring it back on my next trip in. I can't even remember the last time I had to go in to the PO to pick up a package.
So, when I got a slip on April 5, along with a couple packages, I assumed the slip went with one of them. Unfortunately, this time the slip slid out of my 'working' stack and into the general morass I call a desktop. I had just found it yesterday afternoon, signed it, and put it in the bag with the other things I was taking to the PO. But when Mike brought the mail in, here was ANOTHER one saying SECOND NOTICE.
This was for about $40 worth of trees, and I think I was not unreasonable to feel ticked off. I mean, yes, I made a mistake by not carefully reading the slip, and also by assuming that my carrier would be looking out for me. But the box PLAINLY said it was LIVE TREES from the Arbor Day Foundation. Is it too much to ask for the carrier to read the label and THINK about what is the smart way to deal with this package? Which is NOT to leave it on a shelf for two weeks!
What made me, um, go postal was that the Postmaster didn't even APOLOGIZE. He just said he would tell the carrier not to leave packages with slips anymore. Kind of like, "Gee, we've been doing you a favor and see how you act."
He said he would talk to the carrier, but I very much doubt he will follow my advice to tell whoever it was that they are an idiot and should use some common sense next time....
So today I am planting trees. They look like they were well packed enough to still be viable. We'll see.
See, I get a LOT of packages. When they are too big for the box, the carrier just leaves them on top of the row of mailboxes down at the corner. If something needs signing, they deliver it anyway and leave the orange slip so I can sign it and bring it back on my next trip in. I can't even remember the last time I had to go in to the PO to pick up a package.
So, when I got a slip on April 5, along with a couple packages, I assumed the slip went with one of them. Unfortunately, this time the slip slid out of my 'working' stack and into the general morass I call a desktop. I had just found it yesterday afternoon, signed it, and put it in the bag with the other things I was taking to the PO. But when Mike brought the mail in, here was ANOTHER one saying SECOND NOTICE.
This was for about $40 worth of trees, and I think I was not unreasonable to feel ticked off. I mean, yes, I made a mistake by not carefully reading the slip, and also by assuming that my carrier would be looking out for me. But the box PLAINLY said it was LIVE TREES from the Arbor Day Foundation. Is it too much to ask for the carrier to read the label and THINK about what is the smart way to deal with this package? Which is NOT to leave it on a shelf for two weeks!
What made me, um, go postal was that the Postmaster didn't even APOLOGIZE. He just said he would tell the carrier not to leave packages with slips anymore. Kind of like, "Gee, we've been doing you a favor and see how you act."
He said he would talk to the carrier, but I very much doubt he will follow my advice to tell whoever it was that they are an idiot and should use some common sense next time....
So today I am planting trees. They look like they were well packed enough to still be viable. We'll see.
Monday, April 19, 2004
And plus also
Whew, I slept almost 10 hours last night! Guess I was tired or something.
I considered taking a photo of myself last night, but decided to spare everyone the horror of seeing my bright red-rimmed eyes (from working out in the blowing dust). It's sad when you look so much like you were on a hellacious bender, yet you didn't get to have the rip-roaring crazed high times that traditionally go with same.
I forgot to mention yesterday that Zach, the mighty Asthma Boy, got a hankering to visit the scenic ER at Prowers Medical Center. He had NOT been hanging with the forbidden cats, or even inside except for brief essential visits. But the trees are pollinating like crazy, and of course the blowing dust was a factor too. Happily after they puffed him up on the nebulizer, he was cranked like a top and probably had the most fun of anyone all weekend!
I considered taking a photo of myself last night, but decided to spare everyone the horror of seeing my bright red-rimmed eyes (from working out in the blowing dust). It's sad when you look so much like you were on a hellacious bender, yet you didn't get to have the rip-roaring crazed high times that traditionally go with same.
I forgot to mention yesterday that Zach, the mighty Asthma Boy, got a hankering to visit the scenic ER at Prowers Medical Center. He had NOT been hanging with the forbidden cats, or even inside except for brief essential visits. But the trees are pollinating like crazy, and of course the blowing dust was a factor too. Happily after they puffed him up on the nebulizer, he was cranked like a top and probably had the most fun of anyone all weekend!
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Pain and Progress
Another exciting weekend here at the House of Unruly Fish! As scheduled, we had a rollicking visit from the Firstborn and her entourage, which is made up of Nigel, the World's Greatest Son-in-law, and 3 of the 4 Most Amazing Grandchildren on Earth. Plus Corky as the Faithful Dog.
I will detail some of the progressing projects after I take more pictures. For the moment I will dwell on the degree of difficulty we had to work through this weekend. Being as how it's spring, we had a bit of wind show up for the festivities. Between 25-40 mph worth, from Saturday morning until, well, it's now DOWN to 20 mph. One of Mike's windmills in the Garden of Art, Science and Technology is now sadly in need of repair.
Also in need of repair are various bits of all the adults. Somehow, despite years of experiences that ought to have taught us better, we continue to believe we are members of the League of UVNull Mutants, who scoff at ordinary mortals' need for sunblock. Also, I was unintelligible for much of the weekend, because of a special return engagement of my laryngitis. It was almost better, but I had to do a lot of screaming Thursday night because two of the dogs got in a fight. This never happens, but I think maybe pack order is being rearranged a little because Duke is gone....
Winner of the Personal Injury Award, though, was Damaris. She escaped from taking all the kids to see Scooby Doo 2 with her sanity apparently intact, but then missed a step going out to the guest trailer. Happily it was a very minor ankle sprain, so most likely she won't sue us.
More tomorrow!
I will detail some of the progressing projects after I take more pictures. For the moment I will dwell on the degree of difficulty we had to work through this weekend. Being as how it's spring, we had a bit of wind show up for the festivities. Between 25-40 mph worth, from Saturday morning until, well, it's now DOWN to 20 mph. One of Mike's windmills in the Garden of Art, Science and Technology is now sadly in need of repair.
Also in need of repair are various bits of all the adults. Somehow, despite years of experiences that ought to have taught us better, we continue to believe we are members of the League of UVNull Mutants, who scoff at ordinary mortals' need for sunblock. Also, I was unintelligible for much of the weekend, because of a special return engagement of my laryngitis. It was almost better, but I had to do a lot of screaming Thursday night because two of the dogs got in a fight. This never happens, but I think maybe pack order is being rearranged a little because Duke is gone....
Winner of the Personal Injury Award, though, was Damaris. She escaped from taking all the kids to see Scooby Doo 2 with her sanity apparently intact, but then missed a step going out to the guest trailer. Happily it was a very minor ankle sprain, so most likely she won't sue us.
More tomorrow!
Friday, April 16, 2004
Very early noon
Or, as Mike likes to say, "It is to ME!" In reality it is not quite 10a as I start this, but since I woke up at 4a it feels exactly like half the day has gone by already!
Getting up so early was NOT my idea (like I need to tell you that). But Mike had to be at school at 5a to catch the bus for the BIG!FIELD!TRIP! to DENVER!
Once my system got over the shock, it was actually kind of an adventure. Mike ooohed at the stars as we inched out to the car (nope, no yard light--I'm a Luddite that way) in the moonless dark. Not much traffic in town, naturally, but once we got near the school, the area was bustling with the arrival of the other 5th graders. Light poured out into the street from the cafeteria, outlining Mr. Banker, the principal. Don't know if he's just an early bird or if he turned up to read the kids a preliminary lecture on behavior. :)
I decided I might as well stay up since I have a lot to do today. (Such as catch up on correspondence *sigh*) Damaris, Nigel and the Denver Grands are coming down for another work weekend, which is yay.
Another work weekend, you say? Why, yes, I answer, thus cleverly segueing into another bit of catch up post. Two weeks ago, right before the library book sale, we had a wonderful blow-out of productivity.
One of the downsides of going to auctions and such is that you tend to end up with a lot of JUNK because it goes along with the good stuff you actually want. (And the local unwritten rule is that unless you assert "mining rights" as you are bidding on a pile, you're honor bound to take it all away with you.) For various reasons, we had quite an accumulation of assorted metal junk, and it has been my intention for quite a while to give it to our neighbor (who has a salvage business) because he has been so kind and helpful about keeping our back lot weeds mowed down. This is what we (meaning mostly Nigel) gathered up:
Now the holding area under the windbreak looks like this:
That row of elms still has a lot of old winter-killed wood in it, which Nigel might remove this weekend if the little chainsaw (yard sale find) works. Later we are going to put down rock over the plastic, and plant a few new trees along that strip, fancy ones I am waiting for from the Arbor Day Society.
The other major work in progress is The Garden of Art and Technology:
Because of the drought, I figure a container garden will help conserve water. The fishpond was one of my favorite yard sale buys last fall. It ONLY cost $5! Wow! Of course, now I've bought a $40 pump, $15 worth of aquatic plants, $12 extension cord, $1.60 worth of goldfish (10 feeders)...I think you see where this is headed. But it's actually a useful thing, as well as a thing of beauty and hopefully a joy for a real long time. Since we officially live on a high plain semi-arid tundra, pools of standing water are hard to come by for a poor working mosquito mom. They will be happy to find ours. And the goldfish will be happy to find the eggs and larva! Clever plan, eh?
Getting up so early was NOT my idea (like I need to tell you that). But Mike had to be at school at 5a to catch the bus for the BIG!FIELD!TRIP! to DENVER!
Once my system got over the shock, it was actually kind of an adventure. Mike ooohed at the stars as we inched out to the car (nope, no yard light--I'm a Luddite that way) in the moonless dark. Not much traffic in town, naturally, but once we got near the school, the area was bustling with the arrival of the other 5th graders. Light poured out into the street from the cafeteria, outlining Mr. Banker, the principal. Don't know if he's just an early bird or if he turned up to read the kids a preliminary lecture on behavior. :)
I decided I might as well stay up since I have a lot to do today. (Such as catch up on correspondence *sigh*) Damaris, Nigel and the Denver Grands are coming down for another work weekend, which is yay.
Another work weekend, you say? Why, yes, I answer, thus cleverly segueing into another bit of catch up post. Two weeks ago, right before the library book sale, we had a wonderful blow-out of productivity.
One of the downsides of going to auctions and such is that you tend to end up with a lot of JUNK because it goes along with the good stuff you actually want. (And the local unwritten rule is that unless you assert "mining rights" as you are bidding on a pile, you're honor bound to take it all away with you.) For various reasons, we had quite an accumulation of assorted metal junk, and it has been my intention for quite a while to give it to our neighbor (who has a salvage business) because he has been so kind and helpful about keeping our back lot weeds mowed down. This is what we (meaning mostly Nigel) gathered up:
Now the holding area under the windbreak looks like this:
That row of elms still has a lot of old winter-killed wood in it, which Nigel might remove this weekend if the little chainsaw (yard sale find) works. Later we are going to put down rock over the plastic, and plant a few new trees along that strip, fancy ones I am waiting for from the Arbor Day Society.
The other major work in progress is The Garden of Art and Technology:
Because of the drought, I figure a container garden will help conserve water. The fishpond was one of my favorite yard sale buys last fall. It ONLY cost $5! Wow! Of course, now I've bought a $40 pump, $15 worth of aquatic plants, $12 extension cord, $1.60 worth of goldfish (10 feeders)...I think you see where this is headed. But it's actually a useful thing, as well as a thing of beauty and hopefully a joy for a real long time. Since we officially live on a high plain semi-arid tundra, pools of standing water are hard to come by for a poor working mosquito mom. They will be happy to find ours. And the goldfish will be happy to find the eggs and larva! Clever plan, eh?
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Book of Kells Syndrome
You too are probably familiar with this dreaded syndrome, though you might not have known it had a name.
Here's how it goes. You intend to do Something, but for one reason or 12 others, don't manage to do it in a timely fashion. So to damp down your guilt, you promise yourself that when you do it, you will do a REALLY super job.
Eventually, you've emotionally committed yourself to coming out with Something which is as intricate, amazing and time-intensive as the Book of Kells.
Having caught myself doing that, I'm going to try to stop. And also try to keep up better with replying to my comments.... (Oh, no, that's wasn't a hint or anything. Really not. Much.)
Okay. So here I have a great opportunity to finally catch up with an important post I never quite managed to make, AND last night's excitement.
Here in Colorado, last night was Caucus Night. I found out where my precinct was going to meet, turned up, and won the hat trick, becoming an Election Judge, Delegate to the County Caucus and Precinct Secretary. (Don't be too impressed, though, there were only three of us present, not counting Mike.)
The reason I did this was because of that meeting I went to Denver for a few weeks back. Remember, where I was all excited about attending an anti-war rally? And then I got sick (not related, I don't THINK 0.o ) and didn't post much for about a week and a half? Yeah, that one.
As you may have heard, although Howard Dean dropped out of the presidential race, he did not quit. He just changed Dean For America into Democracy for America (hence the geeky joke DFA 2.0), which is to be a PAC and a grassroots stimulating organization, encouraging regular people to get involved at any and all levels of government.
So the organizers of this meeting used the Colorado Dean supporters email list to invite us all to come and chat. Basically the topic was, "Do we want to do something and if so what?"
It kicked off with a bang with a surprise guest speaker. Using the miracle of modern technology, we got a phone call from DR. DEAN! HIMSELF! LIVE! THERE ON THE SPEAKER PHONE! TALKING JUST TO US AT THE MEETING!!!!!!!!
It was cool.
I didn't have any questions, but someone who did thrilled me to teeny bits by starting her part of the conversation by saying, "Dr. Dean, there's someone here wearing a t-shirt that says, 'Still A Deanocrat' and 'Still Want My Country Back'." He laughed and said, "That's good."
That was me!
To cut to the chase, we all decided to form the Colorado chapter of Democracy for America, and Sunday we got together again to start to work out structure, plus have a candidates' fair. I got elected as one of the At Large committee members, mainly because they want to represent the whole state and I was the only person from Southeast Colorado.
So here I am, a real genuine new bee in the world of politics. jumping in both feet first to see how much of a difference *I* can make. Hang on tight, might be a bumpy ride!
Here's how it goes. You intend to do Something, but for one reason or 12 others, don't manage to do it in a timely fashion. So to damp down your guilt, you promise yourself that when you do it, you will do a REALLY super job.
Eventually, you've emotionally committed yourself to coming out with Something which is as intricate, amazing and time-intensive as the Book of Kells.
Having caught myself doing that, I'm going to try to stop. And also try to keep up better with replying to my comments.... (Oh, no, that's wasn't a hint or anything. Really not. Much.)
Okay. So here I have a great opportunity to finally catch up with an important post I never quite managed to make, AND last night's excitement.
Here in Colorado, last night was Caucus Night. I found out where my precinct was going to meet, turned up, and won the hat trick, becoming an Election Judge, Delegate to the County Caucus and Precinct Secretary. (Don't be too impressed, though, there were only three of us present, not counting Mike.)
The reason I did this was because of that meeting I went to Denver for a few weeks back. Remember, where I was all excited about attending an anti-war rally? And then I got sick (not related, I don't THINK 0.o ) and didn't post much for about a week and a half? Yeah, that one.
As you may have heard, although Howard Dean dropped out of the presidential race, he did not quit. He just changed Dean For America into Democracy for America (hence the geeky joke DFA 2.0), which is to be a PAC and a grassroots stimulating organization, encouraging regular people to get involved at any and all levels of government.
So the organizers of this meeting used the Colorado Dean supporters email list to invite us all to come and chat. Basically the topic was, "Do we want to do something and if so what?"
It kicked off with a bang with a surprise guest speaker. Using the miracle of modern technology, we got a phone call from DR. DEAN! HIMSELF! LIVE! THERE ON THE SPEAKER PHONE! TALKING JUST TO US AT THE MEETING!!!!!!!!
It was cool.
I didn't have any questions, but someone who did thrilled me to teeny bits by starting her part of the conversation by saying, "Dr. Dean, there's someone here wearing a t-shirt that says, 'Still A Deanocrat' and 'Still Want My Country Back'." He laughed and said, "That's good."
That was me!
To cut to the chase, we all decided to form the Colorado chapter of Democracy for America, and Sunday we got together again to start to work out structure, plus have a candidates' fair. I got elected as one of the At Large committee members, mainly because they want to represent the whole state and I was the only person from Southeast Colorado.
So here I am, a real genuine new bee in the world of politics. jumping in both feet first to see how much of a difference *I* can make. Hang on tight, might be a bumpy ride!
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Still playing catch up!
I thought I should at LEAST get a little of my email answered before I did any more posting. Done and done (well, a lot, anyway), so let's step into the Way-Back and cover last Monday.
A very eventful day it was, too, because Mike got his braces! The orthodontist is based in Garden City, Kansas, which is about 2 hours away. As you will recall, the day before had been the first day of the big book sale, so I barely crawled out of bed in time for us to get off to a good early start. Which almost got jinxed when, for no reason at all, Dreamcloud's locking system decided to become possessed. It's not an optimism producing thing to suddenly have all the door locks in your vehicle start cycling out of control!
But I somehow over-rode it, and we just didn't try locking the car any more that day. (I later took it to Rick the Car Doctor, and OF COURSE it didn't happen again, and it's all fine now...I guess.)
Despite all, we got to Garden City a little early, giving me time to check out a Home Depot, which was luring me by offering me a store credit card. What MIKE really wanted me to buy was one of the very large Easter Lily plants. (?) But I didn't succumb--except to excessively admire some of their ceiling fan lights. One of ours in the living room is busted and needs replacing. Mike and I both liked THIS one:
We'll see. I have so many more important projects to mess with....
Mike was very very brave and co-operative while getting his braces installed. Afterwards we "explored like cats" for a while, then turned for home.
I had promised him a stop-off on the trip back. Just outside of Syracuse there's a state Wildlife Park, and I said we could visit it. Sadly, this used to be a lake which is now a big dry dust bowl full of stemmy grass and depressed brush. We did see a big hawk fly by. The other semi-wild life we encountered was a puppy, who cowered out of the way when we came around a bend. Naturally, I stopped, since we were in such an out of the way location. He was scared at first, but came when I called and cried happily as he scrambled up into our car.
Miraculously, we did NOT end up taking him home. There weren't too many houses out near the wildlife area, but on the road leading in there's a small feedlot operation. So I went in and asked if they knew of anyone who might have lost a pup.
We did some chit-chat negotiation--I haven't lived down here for 20 years without picking up the appropriate social patterns. I explained I already had six dogs (soon to be five, although I didn't know that then) and hesitated to take the little guy clear back to Lamar, because if anyone was looking for him they'd never find him. One of the office ladies volunteered to call the Syracuse animal control. They weren't answering, so she came out to see the pup.
"Why, he looks like a Catahoula!" she said. It's a breed I have heard of but don't really know. "Oh, surely someone will be looking for HIM!"
(She was right--he looked like this:
http://www.neonnurse.net/Blogs/buck7.jpg )
So that was the deciding factor. We passed her the pup and scooted for the state line before she thought better of her kindly impulse.
He really was kind of cute, though.... Oh, well.
A very eventful day it was, too, because Mike got his braces! The orthodontist is based in Garden City, Kansas, which is about 2 hours away. As you will recall, the day before had been the first day of the big book sale, so I barely crawled out of bed in time for us to get off to a good early start. Which almost got jinxed when, for no reason at all, Dreamcloud's locking system decided to become possessed. It's not an optimism producing thing to suddenly have all the door locks in your vehicle start cycling out of control!
But I somehow over-rode it, and we just didn't try locking the car any more that day. (I later took it to Rick the Car Doctor, and OF COURSE it didn't happen again, and it's all fine now...I guess.)
Despite all, we got to Garden City a little early, giving me time to check out a Home Depot, which was luring me by offering me a store credit card. What MIKE really wanted me to buy was one of the very large Easter Lily plants. (?) But I didn't succumb--except to excessively admire some of their ceiling fan lights. One of ours in the living room is busted and needs replacing. Mike and I both liked THIS one:
We'll see. I have so many more important projects to mess with....
Mike was very very brave and co-operative while getting his braces installed. Afterwards we "explored like cats" for a while, then turned for home.
I had promised him a stop-off on the trip back. Just outside of Syracuse there's a state Wildlife Park, and I said we could visit it. Sadly, this used to be a lake which is now a big dry dust bowl full of stemmy grass and depressed brush. We did see a big hawk fly by. The other semi-wild life we encountered was a puppy, who cowered out of the way when we came around a bend. Naturally, I stopped, since we were in such an out of the way location. He was scared at first, but came when I called and cried happily as he scrambled up into our car.
Miraculously, we did NOT end up taking him home. There weren't too many houses out near the wildlife area, but on the road leading in there's a small feedlot operation. So I went in and asked if they knew of anyone who might have lost a pup.
We did some chit-chat negotiation--I haven't lived down here for 20 years without picking up the appropriate social patterns. I explained I already had six dogs (soon to be five, although I didn't know that then) and hesitated to take the little guy clear back to Lamar, because if anyone was looking for him they'd never find him. One of the office ladies volunteered to call the Syracuse animal control. They weren't answering, so she came out to see the pup.
"Why, he looks like a Catahoula!" she said. It's a breed I have heard of but don't really know. "Oh, surely someone will be looking for HIM!"
(She was right--he looked like this:
http://www.neonnurse.net/Blogs/buck7.jpg )
So that was the deciding factor. We passed her the pup and scooted for the state line before she thought better of her kindly impulse.
He really was kind of cute, though.... Oh, well.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Retro-posting Part 2(sday)
Today's highlight was Weather Spotter training. Back in the summer of 2001, an F3 tornado briefly touched down about 3/4 of a mile from our house. I actually have an mpg of it around here somewhere, stupidly filmed from our front porch (which, in my defense, is RIGHT at the head of the stairs leading to our basement). It made a big impression on Mike, so much that he became convinced that any cloud not perfectly plumply curved and white was moments away from swirling into a twister.
I thought having more info might help with that, so last April he and I attended the class for teaching volunteers how to be weather spotters for the local NOAA branch. Mike enjoyed it very much, and it DID help, so we turned up for the refresher course Tuesday night.
Although I will be content if the 2001 sighting remains a once-in-a-lifetime event.
I thought having more info might help with that, so last April he and I attended the class for teaching volunteers how to be weather spotters for the local NOAA branch. Mike enjoyed it very much, and it DID help, so we turned up for the refresher course Tuesday night.
Although I will be content if the 2001 sighting remains a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Retro-posting Part 1
I have so many things I meant to post about that I'm going to start working backwards, trying to remember it all....
Tonight it is just me and Mike here at home. Caro is off to a wild librarians' convention in Pueblo and won't be back until tomorrow some time. When she called in last night, she didn't have a very good day to report, what with getting lost, dealing with an accidentally drained car battery and finding out she didn't have a reservation at the hotel. I hope tonight there is better news!
We also had a bad phone connection, so I decided not to try to tell her the bad news from here. Our oldest dog, Duke, had been noticeably failing the past few days. True to his placid nature, he quietly laid down and died in the night.
Before she went home, Damaris helped me by starting to dig a hole in the back yard. Unfortunately we have not had much of that popular-in-other-climes phenomenon, water falling from the sky, in the past few months, and last night's brief shower didn't penetrate too far. So we filled the hole with water and left it to soak in. I'll try my hand (well, really my foot) at digging down further tomorrow.
Tonight it is just me and Mike here at home. Caro is off to a wild librarians' convention in Pueblo and won't be back until tomorrow some time. When she called in last night, she didn't have a very good day to report, what with getting lost, dealing with an accidentally drained car battery and finding out she didn't have a reservation at the hotel. I hope tonight there is better news!
We also had a bad phone connection, so I decided not to try to tell her the bad news from here. Our oldest dog, Duke, had been noticeably failing the past few days. True to his placid nature, he quietly laid down and died in the night.
Before she went home, Damaris helped me by starting to dig a hole in the back yard. Unfortunately we have not had much of that popular-in-other-climes phenomenon, water falling from the sky, in the past few months, and last night's brief shower didn't penetrate too far. So we filled the hole with water and left it to soak in. I'll try my hand (well, really my foot) at digging down further tomorrow.
How are YOU feeling?
Another one of those oddball quizzes:
The weird part is that I HAVE been coughing (still, since the onset of the cold) and enjoying mild tinnitis (slight aspirin overdose) recently. I wonder when I got bitten by the zombie? You'd think I'd have noticed....
| Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with Neonnurse's Syndrome | |
| Cause: | zombie attack |
| Symptoms: | whitening of teeth, hand swelling, ringing in the ears, coughing |
| Cure: | cryogenic freezing until science catches up |
The weird part is that I HAVE been coughing (still, since the onset of the cold) and enjoying mild tinnitis (slight aspirin overdose) recently. I wonder when I got bitten by the zombie? You'd think I'd have noticed....
Kind of a fun one!
I sheepishly admit to taking these goofy quizes now and then, but I don't post the results often. Just when I like them....
My Inner Hero - Warrior!
I'm courageous, straightforward, and charismatic. I'm a born leader, but I'm also not afraid to face danger on my own. Nothing stands between me and victory... nothing that lives to tell the tale, anyway. If you need someone to charge into battle for you, call on me.
How about you? Click here to find your own inner hero.
What I especially liked is that I was darn close to being a Wizard too!
Warrior (18)
Wizard (17)
Who remembers the show Wizards and Warriors? Man, THAT was fun!
My Inner Hero - Warrior!
I'm courageous, straightforward, and charismatic. I'm a born leader, but I'm also not afraid to face danger on my own. Nothing stands between me and victory... nothing that lives to tell the tale, anyway. If you need someone to charge into battle for you, call on me.
How about you? Click here to find your own inner hero.
What I especially liked is that I was darn close to being a Wizard too!
Warrior (18)
Wizard (17)
Who remembers the show Wizards and Warriors? Man, THAT was fun!
Whew!
I really dodged a bullet just now. Sometimes the faceless bureaucracy CAN be tweaked to grow a sympathy-organ, and this time I lucked out.
Because of Mike's developmental delays, he gets SSI and Medicaid. He was scheduled for a major review, which means going out of town to be assessed by a professional. (You'd think that getting copies of his school IEPs that show him working on 2-3 grade level stuff at age 12 would be enough, but maybe they want to be sure he's not just a slacker....)
I panicked yesterday when permission slips came home yesterday and one was for the BIG 5th grade out of town field trip. He has been trying SO hard to be a good classroom citizen and keep his "tickets" so he would get to go. OF COURSE it would turn out to be the same day he had his assessment appointment!
But luckily the guy in charge of these things is nice. He let me reschedule it. Of course, now we have to drive to Pueblo (2 hours) instead of Las Animas (30 minutes), but I'm willing to do that rather than hand Mike such a big disappointment.
While I'm at it, I'll post this:
I will not stand for this
One of the upsides about having a child with challenges is that I've got quite a bit more clout than the average parent in regards to what kind of learning atmosphere my kid is in all day, and I'm happy to say Mike's school and principal are right there with me if I need some little punk on the bus or playground hauled in for a talking to about how it's not nice to tease the retarded kids. But then, they know I am super super strict with Mike about HIM never being a bully, which I think helps us pull together.
Overall I think schools are becoming more aware of the problems bullying causes. And so few parents get involved these days that anyone volunteering to help with ANY problems will be enthusiastically welcomed. If not, well, there's a warning sign of a not-so-good school right there....
Because of Mike's developmental delays, he gets SSI and Medicaid. He was scheduled for a major review, which means going out of town to be assessed by a professional. (You'd think that getting copies of his school IEPs that show him working on 2-3 grade level stuff at age 12 would be enough, but maybe they want to be sure he's not just a slacker....)
I panicked yesterday when permission slips came home yesterday and one was for the BIG 5th grade out of town field trip. He has been trying SO hard to be a good classroom citizen and keep his "tickets" so he would get to go. OF COURSE it would turn out to be the same day he had his assessment appointment!
But luckily the guy in charge of these things is nice. He let me reschedule it. Of course, now we have to drive to Pueblo (2 hours) instead of Las Animas (30 minutes), but I'm willing to do that rather than hand Mike such a big disappointment.
While I'm at it, I'll post this:
| Everyone Feels This Pain | ||||
| Show your support | ||||
One of the upsides about having a child with challenges is that I've got quite a bit more clout than the average parent in regards to what kind of learning atmosphere my kid is in all day, and I'm happy to say Mike's school and principal are right there with me if I need some little punk on the bus or playground hauled in for a talking to about how it's not nice to tease the retarded kids. But then, they know I am super super strict with Mike about HIM never being a bully, which I think helps us pull together.
Overall I think schools are becoming more aware of the problems bullying causes. And so few parents get involved these days that anyone volunteering to help with ANY problems will be enthusiastically welcomed. If not, well, there's a warning sign of a not-so-good school right there....
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
BooksbooksbooksbooksBOOKS!
Yes, still behind. I know. There are several reasons, but the main recent one is BOOKS.
The Lamar Friends of the Library sale ended today. It was not only the best one EVER, there will never be another like it. See, our community college is on the verge of being closed. One of their cost cutting measures is to close the campus library and merge it with the expanding Lamar Public Library. Many of the books were set aside to be transfered over, but **10,000** of them were passed to the sale!
We are talking lit, history, bios, science, reference--an incredible treasure trove. Sunday was the opening day for FotL members only. Caro is a board member and had to work the tables, but Damaris, her three kids, me and Mike hunted and gathered like no tomorrow. Between us we acquired well over 1,000 prime specimens in the four hours it was open. I have NEVER been to a Lamar book sale where there were SO MANY books I wasn't able to look them all over in the 1:00-5:00 time slot!
Assorted Stuff (which I will post about Real Soon Now) kept me away from the sale Monday and Tuesday. But Damaris drove back down and she and I hit it again today, Bargain Day, toting out 57 boxes! That is again way over 1000 books, although I'm splitting this batch with her since she did most of the toting.
Needless to say, we are both whimpering in pain in between chortling with glee over our haul. It's not nearly as easy a way to make a living as people tend to think (Remember, on the whole, books = HEAVY), but it is WAY FUN!
The Lamar Friends of the Library sale ended today. It was not only the best one EVER, there will never be another like it. See, our community college is on the verge of being closed. One of their cost cutting measures is to close the campus library and merge it with the expanding Lamar Public Library. Many of the books were set aside to be transfered over, but **10,000** of them were passed to the sale!
We are talking lit, history, bios, science, reference--an incredible treasure trove. Sunday was the opening day for FotL members only. Caro is a board member and had to work the tables, but Damaris, her three kids, me and Mike hunted and gathered like no tomorrow. Between us we acquired well over 1,000 prime specimens in the four hours it was open. I have NEVER been to a Lamar book sale where there were SO MANY books I wasn't able to look them all over in the 1:00-5:00 time slot!
Assorted Stuff (which I will post about Real Soon Now) kept me away from the sale Monday and Tuesday. But Damaris drove back down and she and I hit it again today, Bargain Day, toting out 57 boxes! That is again way over 1000 books, although I'm splitting this batch with her since she did most of the toting.
Needless to say, we are both whimpering in pain in between chortling with glee over our haul. It's not nearly as easy a way to make a living as people tend to think (Remember, on the whole, books = HEAVY), but it is WAY FUN!
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Say, has anyone seen my life?
Dang, it was here a minute ago. Hmm...under that giant pile of books, perhaps? No. But maybe under THAT one?
Status Report: It is almost 1:30a and I should be in bed. Getting up at 6:30a to go garage saleing. My daughter, son-in-law and the three oldest grands are snoozing away out in the trailer. Nigel is going to do manly workish things around the place tomorrow. I am going to help him while doing matriarchal supervisorish things, and Damaris will help us both. And of course the kids will 'help' too and get paid off handsomely by the doting grandmothers. :)
Sunday is the Friends of the Library book sale. I have been scarce on the ground here because I got a wild hair to sit myself down and sort bins and bins and boxes and bins of books bought at OTHER FotL sales, some several years ago. So we are contributing about 8 boxes back. No prob, though, if we run true to form we'll bring home WAY more than that!
Status Report: It is almost 1:30a and I should be in bed. Getting up at 6:30a to go garage saleing. My daughter, son-in-law and the three oldest grands are snoozing away out in the trailer. Nigel is going to do manly workish things around the place tomorrow. I am going to help him while doing matriarchal supervisorish things, and Damaris will help us both. And of course the kids will 'help' too and get paid off handsomely by the doting grandmothers. :)
Sunday is the Friends of the Library book sale. I have been scarce on the ground here because I got a wild hair to sit myself down and sort bins and bins and boxes and bins of books bought at OTHER FotL sales, some several years ago. So we are contributing about 8 boxes back. No prob, though, if we run true to form we'll bring home WAY more than that!
