Busy

Our house needs deep cleaning. Mostly it needs less junk.

We've been in the process of de-junking. Many trips to Goodwill and The Discovery Shop have been made. Many more are to come....

Part of the problem has been storage. Some things simply did not have a place to live. Example: The vacuum doesn't have a home. It just ends up where it ends up. It still doesn't... but if we had a proper linen closet, it would. Why home builders don't build proper storage, I do not know. Lots of useless attic space. Lots of vaulted ceilings. No storage.

One item that has fought me every. single. day. of my married life is the dresser that was handed down to us by my in-laws. The Mr. has always thought the bedroom and dining room sets that we were given were perfectly wonderful. Yes. I agree. They are quality Thomasville pieces. However, they are circa mid-1970's and not at all my style. Never have been.

The style.... I can live with. It isn't my style, but it's ok. Sorta. But FUNCTIONALLY the stuff reeks. The drawers are shallow and don't slide out more than a quarter of the way. Well, they will slide out half way....if you yank on them with the force of 20 elephants. I could never fit all my socks in the sock drawer. Clothes were ALWAYS piled on the top because the drawers were full and/or just a pain to use.

I got fed up the other day. We went out to RC Willey in Rocklin and bought all new bedroom furniture. We didn't find a "set" we liked....but we found parts of different sets we liked and that went together. We added a bookshelf from Target (cause Marfy made me) and kept the side table Mr. made a few years ago.

Of course...we decided to paint. Big heavy furniture had to get out of the bedroom. More big heavy furniture was coming in. Now was the time.

We had the red paint for years. It's been long discontinued. We stole it from our neighbor. They used it in their family room. I quickly chose something to go with it and we got down to business.

It was all done when the furniture arrived 6 days after purchase. Marfy approved of the painting and the furniture. We think the boys that delivered the furniture thought me -n- Marfy were gonna be sharing the new furniture. This makes us giggle.

ALL those drawers slide in and out OH so nicely. Socks? I have room to spare!

Now to get the big heavy stuff downstairs and find some kindly charitable organization to take it away.

....and to go through all the boxes and bins and whatnot and find places for the stuff I'm gonna keep. But! I keep adding to my Goodwill pile. Especially when I go through all those things that got shoved to the back of the drawers that wouldn't move.

Next room: Emma's. It was supposed to be next. She and I will start on that after school is out on Friday. Well...not ON Friday.... school's out on Friday and we'll start the following week.

But here's the result:

Some Days

Some days I'm smarter than other days. Some days I can't figure out how to tie my shoes. Ok..... most days.

Today.... eh....smarter.... LOL!

Greetings from the End of Season

The last week of Tax Season brings 'em out. Early season clients are generally just your run of the mill dingbats. One can be generous and say they are hard working folk who just don't make a lot of money.

But that would be a lie for the vast majority of them. They don't work hard. They don't work long. They make just enough to maximize their Earned Income Credit and apparently do something else that doesn't generate income tax records cause I know that if I was only making $14K a year, I wouldn't be driving an Escalade. Especially since I don't drive a vehicle that starts at $55K and I make more than $14K by a fair margin.... but I digress.

End of Season.

At our office that means we get those folks that owe the guvment. These are not, for the most part, the folks of whom I speak. Those are the people who just don't want to write that check a moment before they have to. Which is fine.

It's the other people.

Glen is our New Guy. He keeps saying "We are getting some CRAZY calls!" Welcome to the End of Season, Glen....

In the past week:

Phone rings, I answer. Person on the other end says:

I have taxes.

I pause waiting for the rest of it. Or is this just an information only call perhaps? But no. Nothing. So I say "ok". The now TESTY person says "SO! I need to make an APPOINTMENT!"

But of course....

Phone rings.

"I MUST get in this weekend!"
Ok.
"I have to get my 2004, 2005 and 2006 taxes done!"
(You're in a hurry now....why?)

Person walks in. Wishes to "have his taxes done." Appointment? "No... do I need one?" (four days before taxes are due.... what do you think?) Let me see if we can fit you in...

Sure enough we can. So what does he need done? Taxes from... 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.

Well ok then.

Considers the cost of doing all those at once, decides to just do 2006. He says he'll be back to the rest later.

Phone:
"Hi. I got a tax thing. How much is my return?"

(Do you now? A tax THING? Sucks to be you. IRS doesn't like to see THAT. No one wants to see your thing, especially if it has taxes on it.)

A W-2?
"Yea. That's it. How much am I gonna get back?"

(I KNEW I shoulda brought my crystal ball to work today....)

Well sir, I can't tell you that over the phone. I need to DO your return before I can determine how much you'll get back, if anything.

"What do you mean do my return? Can't you just tell me???"

No.
"Click"

Phone.

"I did my own taxes on TurboTax, but it says I owe. Can you fix that for me so I get money back?"

No.

Phone.

"Ok...so I've got TurboTax and it's asking me if I had any capital gains on my stocks. How do I figure that out?"

(so.... you just want free tax advice??)

I would imagine that you would enter in the differential between your sales and your cost basis plus or minus commission depending on the reporting.

"oh."
click

Phone.

"What's the last day to file?"
April 17. Next Tuesday.

"So if I file on the 17th, will it be late?"
No. The 17th is the last day.

"What if I file on the 18th?"
Then you'll be late.

"huh. Uh.... ok."
(waiting for more.......)
(waiting.....)

"So can I come in on Sunday?"
Sure. Let me give you to the person who can make that appointment for you.

*caller on hold...sent off to appropriate person*

~time passes~
That guy you gave me...wanted an appointment on Sunday?
Yea....
Sunday the 22nd. Got mad when I said we were closed.
Did he make one at all?
Nope.
Of course he didn't. Now he's gonna tell everyone that we won't LET HIM file his taxes.
Of course he is.

Phone.

"Can I still get my credits for last year?"

Credits?

"Yea. I need to get my credits."

Credits? What credits would those be?

"My tax credits."

(of course)

You can still file your 2005 tax return and any and all credits would still be available.

"ok. good."

Later...she walks in.

"I need to do my 2005 so I can get my credits."

(of course you do)

"I only have $100 to pay you."

(of course you do)

She did get all her credits. But she mumbled random numbers under her breath the entire time so we aren't sure if they were the same credits she was looking for. But we did give her all the ones afforded to her by the tax laws of the US Government and State of California.

Then there are the phone calls OUT.

"Hi...this is me calling from the tax office. I'm just calling to remind you that your return is still on hold (since January) and the deadline for filing is in four days." (and yes, I know you don't want to pay the government but they aren't going away....)

~dial number~
"We're sorry, but the number you have just dialed is disconnected or no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again."

~check number, dial again~
"We're sorry, but the number you have just dialed is disconnected or no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again."

Allrighty then.... Moving and leaving no forwarding number TO US does not mean the US Government cannot track you down. You still owe 'em.

Phone:

"I went to H&R Block and they said I owe for one of those Rapid Refund things I got a couple years ago. Said I didn't pay 'em. I told them I paid it but they said the bank said that I didn't. Can you call the IRS and tell them to give me my money cause H&R Block won't do that."

No.

Phone:

"I got my taxes filed by H&R Block. But I think they totally ripped me off. Will you file my taxes and get me more money?"

We can review what Block did and see if they missed anything.

"No. I want to re-file my taxes."

Well.... you can't RE-file your taxes. It's kind of a one shot deal. But your taxes can be AMENDED if they made an error.

"Ok. Do that then. I don't know what it's called!" (said with tone and attitude)

We would have to re-enter all your information and thus, charge you the full amount we would have if you had done your taxes with us, plus another $100 for the amendment. Of course, we'd let you know if you'd be getting more back before...

"I. KNOW. They effen RIPPED ME OFF. I want you to get me MY MONEY."

I cannot guarantee that we will be able to get you MORE money. I just want to be sure you understand it can cost you at the minimum $200 and maybe as much as $500 for us to do all that for you.

"What the hell???? I wasn't the one the effed up my taxes! Block did!"

Then perhaps you oughta go back to them and insist that they make it right.

"I don't trust them."

Would you like to make an appointment?

"I have to have an APPOINTMENT??"

click.


~~~~New record for documented mortgage INTEREST (not principle. not property taxes. not insurance. in.ter.est.):
$82,000. Yes. Eighty-two thousand dollars. In 2006.

An individual.
Personal home.

This job is an amazing look into the lives of ordinary people....

36 and 20

Thirty-six weeks ago I started keeping track.

Thirty-six weeks ago I started going to the gym, on average, three times a week and weighing in each time.

Down. Then back up. Down. Then back up. If I hadn't been keeping track, I would have given up because it sure didn't FEEL like that scale was moving.

This past week, I reached the twenty pound mark. I have at least that many more to go. Thirty more will be a real reach. So....somewhere between 20 and 30 more pounds to go.

I decided I wanted a new dress (or two or three) this weekend. Normy and I went to the mall in the quest for a new dress. Between the "potato sack" look and the "bad LSD trip" prints, the pickings were slim. I finally found a couple and was ever so happy to be able to just grab a size 10 off the rack and not wonder if I could get the zipper zipped.

I have to go through my closet. I pulled a dress out with every intention of wearing it to work last week. But it was a 14. It was a dress that just fit last year. Barely. Mostly. I could wear it with super-dee-duper-suck-it-in underwear. I really like that dress. I REALLY like it now.

I'm hoping next Easter the two new dresses in my closet will no longer fit in the same way that Easter dress of last year no longer fits.

I still don't like going to the gym. But I like trying on clothes and not trying to make sure all the lumps and bumps are camouflaged. So I will keep going. Another 36 weeks will put me just about Christmas. Hopefully by that time I will also be able to keep up with Renee in her spinning class. I think I'm gonna have to go to more than just Sunday morning spinning to do that tho'.

And then Normy and Stevie are gonna have to take their smokin' hot wives out on the town.

If it wasn't for Stacy...

I might never blog.... Again, from her...

10 Favorites
Color: green? blue?
Food: I don't think I can narrow it down to just one.
Month: Any one that is warm and sunny.
Song: Depends on my mood...
Movie: Princess Bride? Love Actually? Top Gun? Again.... too hard to name just one.
Sport: To play? None. To watch? Lately, it's basketball....
Season: Summer
Day of the Week: Friday, generally
Ice Cream Flavor: I do try to avoid ice cream.... mint chocolate chip is the usual order tho'
Time of Day: bedtime

9 Currents
Mood: Frustrated
Clothes: Jeans, shirt,
Taste: dinner
Desktop: stock photo from Apple, rocky seashore
Toenail Color: Holy Pink Pagoda
Time: 6:30pm
Surroundings: my messy family room
Thoughts: "who thinks up this stuff?"
Wonderings: See above

8 Firsts
Best Friend: Charles Mullen. Mullin?
Kiss: Brian S.
Screen Name: Nancy D.
Pet: Cat
Piercing: Ears
Crush: I'm told my cousin David
Computer: An IBM circa 1986. Had a boot disc you had to put in first....
Home Location: ever? Daly City

7 Lasts
Cigarette: Haven't had a FIRST
Drink: Milk with dinner
Kiss: When Normy got home
Movie seen at the theater: Night in the Museum
Phone Call: Emma called me from the bathroom upstairs using her sister's phone to tell me that her sister had left her phone at home and wasn't getting my messages. She would have come downstairs to tell me, but.... she was in the bathroom. She's helpful like that.
CD played: One of my own in my car
Gift received: Normy got me brownies the other night

6 Have You Evers
Dated One Of Your Best Friends: nope
Broken the Law: does speeding count?
Been Arrested: nope
Skinny Dipped: of course
Been on TV: Yep
Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: nope

5 Things
You've Eaten Today: the pot roasty thing I made for dinner, green beans, biscuits, bean burrito and yogurt.
You've Done Today: got a pedicure, watched the rain POUND down, fixed an actual dinner, surfed the web, blogged.
You Can Hear Right Now: "Friends" on the TV
You Can't Live Without: Air, Water, Electricity... don't know what else
You Do When You're Bored: nap, websurf, read.... don't know what else

4 places you've been today
To get my pedicure
To the mail box
Down the street to unblock the gutter so the rain water could get to the drain
....that's it

3 people you can tell anything to
Normy
Elaine
Bob ;)

2 Choices
1. Black or White: White
2. Hot or Cold: Hot

1 thing you wanna do before you die
Travel more

For Stacy again...

1. Is your second toe longer than your first?
A bit.

2. Do you have a favorite type of pen?

Not like Stacy does. Or Normy for that matter. I will have a favorite pen and then I'll lose it or it will run out ink and I'll find a new favorite. Currently, it's a pen advertising some pool service that I use at work.

3. Look at your planner for March 14, what are you doing?

My "planner" is my iCal.... It appears I am going to work. It is not a Girl Scout meeting day. Maybe I will go to Late Night at Knitique.

4. What color are your toenails usually?

Winter? Au naturale. Summer? Something bright and garish like hot pink.

5. What was the last thing you highlighted?

Where someone needed to sign their tax forms.

6. What color are your bedroom curtains?

Navy and "natural" stripe. Canvas.

7. What color are the seats in your car?

Dark Gray

8. Have you ever had a black and white cat?

Sorta. Oreo was my parents cat after I had mostly moved out of the house.

9. What is the last thing you put a stamp on?

The envelope to send in our COBRA payment a couple weeks ago. Not that they did anything with it except to cash the check. I will send another one this week. Hopefully they will establish our account and pay our freakin' insurance.

10. Do you know anyone who lives in Wyoming?

Kinda. Friends of my sister's live there. I think. Maybe they moved....

11. Why did you withdraw cash from the ATM the last time?

I remember doing it. I needed cash for where I was going. Can't remember where that was though.

12. Who is the last baby that you held?

Oh. Wow.... Might have been Gracie. PJ and Maryann's daughter. Who's, what?, 2? 3? Oh! Maybe it was Aiden, Krista's son. Happy 3rd Birthday, Valentine Boy!

13. Do you know of any twins with rhyming names?

None personally. But yowza... the names that come across my desk.....

14. Do you like Cinnamon toothpaste?

Ick.

15. What kind of car were you driving 2 years ago?

(sorry Stacy) My yellow New Beetle.

16. Pick one: Miami Hurricanes or Florida Gators.

Why?

17. Last time you went to Six Flags

Six Flags???? Dang if I know. Six Flags Over Texas??? I think I was in 7th or 8th grade. Went with my cousins who lived in Dallas at the time. (again.... sorry Stace...)

18. Do you have any wallpaper in your house?

Other than the red chili pepper Wallies, no.

19. Closest thing to you that is yellow:

It appears to be some piece of paper... probably brought home from school.

20. Last person to give you a business card?

No idea.

21. Who is the last person you wrote a check to?

The gal who did my nails yesterday.

22. Closest framed picture to you?

The Renoir print hanging over the fireplace that I bought when I was in college. It's faded and needs to be replaced.

23. Last time you had someone cook for you?

Normy made tacos on Monday night. I didn't get home until almost 10 last night from work so I didn't eat dinner.

24. Have you ever applied for welfare?

Nope.

25. How many emails do you have?

email addresses? Four. My regular one. My usetabe CM one. My gmail one. And my Yahoo! one that I use when I have to give people an email address but I don't really want them emailing me. I used to actually use it.... now it's just junk mail.

26. Last time you received flowers?

Maybe 19 years ago today (Valentine's Day). A big bouquet of red roses was delivered. Sent by my boyfriend. A month later he proposed.

27. Do you think the sanctity of marriage is meant for only a man & woman?

Nope.

28. What are you listening to right now?

The clicktity clack of my typing and Emma's typing on the computer.

29. Do you play air guitar?

No.

30. Do you take anything in your coffee?

I've become fond of CoffeeMate's Chocolate Raspberry Non-Dairy Creamer as of late.

31. Do you have any Willow Tree figurines?

huh?

32. What is your high school mascot's rival?

Tustin Tillers

33. Last person you spoke to from high school?

Jennifer. Duh.

34. Last time you used hand sanitizer?

Probably last week at work. Germy place that work....

35. Would you like to learn to play the drums?

Yea......

36. What color are the blinds in your living room?

Medium brown stain.

37. What is in your inbox at work?

No inbox.

38. Last thing you read in the newspaper?

That Joe and Gavin SWEAR they aren't gonna move the team to Vegas but golly, what a swell place for an expansion team.

39. What was the last pageant you attended?

PAGEANT?

40. What is the last place you bought pizza from?

Round Table. Last Friday.

41. Have you ever worn a crown?

I don't think so.

42. What is the last thing you stapled?

Tax papers.

43. Did you ever drink clear Pepsi?

I don't drink unclear Pepsi. CLEAR Pepsi? Barf o'rama...

44. Are you ticklish?

No.

45. Last time you saw fireworks?

Fourth of July.

47. Who is the last person that left you a message & you actually returned their call?

My mom.

48. Last time you parked under a carport?

Probably when I lived at the Fairgrounds apartment.

49. Do you have a black dog?

No.

50. Do you have any pickles in your fridge?

Yes.

51. Do you find Dan French irresistible?

Who?

52. Who has the prettiest eyes that you know of?

Uh... he lives in Australia and I don't actually KNOW him....

53. Last time you saw a semi truck?

Yesterday. On the Blvd.

54. Do you remember Ugly Kid Joe?

No.

55. Do you have a little black dress?

Yea baby.

The Effort of Hate

The Dixie Chicks won five Grammy Awards this weekend. One of them for their song "Not Ready To Make Nice". I downloaded it several months ago from iTunes. Here are the lyrics if you aren't familiar with them:

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

I'm through, with doubt,
There's nothing left for me to figure out,
I've paid a price, and I'll keep paying

I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should

I know you said
Why can't you just get over it,
It turned my whole world around
and I kind of like it

I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,
With no regrets and I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.
And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should

I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

They won on Sunday.

Saturday I was enjoying my Free Time during our church's annual Women's Retreat. I had gone to the mall and was on my way back to the retreat center. I passed a man who had what appeared to have originally been a small pickup truck. He had built a "shell" around it. It was really too big for that little pickup. But it first told me to REPENT! and then, in big, bold, garish, assaulting letters it railed against homosexuality in general and "Gay Marriage" in particular.

These two things happened pretty much within 24 hours of each other. But last October I had a brief conversation with Juror Number One from the Scott Peterson murder trial. My husband and Greg were friends in high school and their reunion was last October. When Normy realized that the guy on TV was his old friend he sent him an email. Normy told him thanks for the sacrifice he made and hard work he put in. He also told Greg that he made him proud and represented the old school well.

When we spoke to Greg about the whole thing, he told Norm how much he appreciated the email. He said something about how frighteningly easy it was for people to get his contact info... like Norm had. Norm told him "I got it out of the last reunion book". Greg looked a bit relieved and told us that not only did he get email, but snail mail too. With death threats.

So this weekend's events against the knowledge that Greg had gotten death threats and his family had been harassed by complete strangers got me thinking about The Effort of Hate.

How can the words that someone says, send someone so over the edge that they write a letter saying a life will be over?

It was easy for Norm to get Greg's email. Greg had, in effect, given it to him. He went to the cabinet where all such things are kept and got it. But Norm knows Greg. Perfect strangers had to take time out of their lives to search for that information. Then they had to compose the hate mail. Some of them had to then affix a stamp and take it to a mailbox. Others simply hit "send". These aren't friends and relatives of Scott Peterson, no no. These are total strangers. People who personally knew none of the principles involved.

That man with that truck? The time and money it took to create this display of hate. The effort it took to make sure it was street legal. What would have happened if he had put that kind of money and effort, and in the name of his god, fed the hungry? But instead, he chose to spread hate the name of his god.

And those people who sent death threats to Natalie Maines? It took effort too. What if they had expended that energy sending care packages to soldiers serving overseas? They chose to tell her to "Shut Up and Sing" instead.

The Effort of Hate.

Imagine a world where the energy put into hating was re-channeled into doing something out of love and compassion instead. Imagine that instead of saying "You don't have the right to...." be who you are, who you were born, voice your opinion, come to a different conclusion than I did, worship your god, love who you do, feel differently than me, be smart, be successful, be beautiful, be wealthy, be poor.... Imagine that instead, we simply said "You are a child of God and have sacred worth".

You don't have to agree except perhaps to agree to disagree. You don't have to adopt "the other way" as your own.

Imagine a world where it was OK to be...... Not just like me, like you, like them, like us.

To simply.... be.

Imagine a world where no one made an Effort to Hate.

Wisdom

My mother, quoting her mother... who for all I know was quoting HER mother, always said:

If you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question.

I attribute that quote to my grandmother. Today I changed my signature quote line on ScrapShare to that quote. It seemed appropriate.

I ask a lot of questions in my job as a tax preparer. Some questions are surprisingly difficult for my clients to answer. Like.... "what is your child's birth date?" It's a stumper to far too many people. It's also hard to remember one's child's last name.

Some questions I ask and they throw it back to me to answer.

"How much did you give to charity?" I ask.

"How much is normal?" they ask me.

I swear.... one of these days I'm gonna say "Bill and Melinda Gates gave a couple of mil last year. You?".

Having grown up with my mother quoting my grandmother, I know better than to ask questions when I don't want to know the answer. And I don't. So it takes some getting used to dealing with those who haven't heard the wisdom of my maternal family line. People ask a question. I give them an answer because it just doesn't occur to me that they don't want to hear the answer.

I find it puzzling too. Why ask if you don't want to hear the answer? What is the purpose? These aren't rhetorical questions. These are actual questions. What is wanted is only answers that the questioner agrees with or wants to hear.

I guess it's like that proverbial wife question: "Honey, do these pants make me look fat?" Men know the answer is "no", even if it makes her ass look like a double wide. It took my husband years to fully understand that I'm asking because if they DO make me look fat he better tell me. If it looks bad on me... TELL. ME. Because if I didn't want to hear the answer, I wouldn't have asked the question.

I don't understand the thinking, invariably female, that says "tell me a lie instead of the truth if the truth is something I don't like". The thinking that says "I'd rather go out looking like hell than to be told the truth and make a change."

I guess it comes down to hidden agendas. The other day at work my boss and a co-worker said "With Nancy, you know where you stand." They were giving me grief cause I was giving it to my boss. Good natured ribbing.... But it's true and I've heard it more than once. Not always so good naturedly. There are those who down right do. not. like. me. because I have answered their question and they didn't want to hear it. And that would be my fault for the answering, never their's for the asking.

There was a hidden agenda. They wanted to be told they were doing the right thing. They wanted to be justified. That's fine. But don't ask if you are doing the right thing if you ONLY want to be told you are. I always think that if you have to ask, you are questioning and are thinking somewhere deep inside that you are not doing the right thing. I realize that it's tough to be told you aren't. I've certainly been told so many times in my life!

I said something off the cuff many months ago and someone quoted me back to me. Not saying it to me, but saying "whoohoo! I get to use my favorite quote of yours!" and told me what it was. Cracked me right up. It went something like this....

When several people, people who usually can't agree that the sun will rise tomorrow, tell you that your slip is showing, it is probably a good idea to retire to the ladies room and examine your outfit.

And so I add onto my grandmother's wisdom....

Don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer, and when you ask and get the same answer from different quarters, it might not be what you WANT to hear, but what you NEED to hear.

Postscript:
My mom says it was her mother's philosophy, but her one-liner. Now we both know! ;)

Relatively Cold

It's been cold here. Now I know all y'all in the more northern climates are thinking "they don't KNOW cold in California". Heck... these days... some of y'all in the SOUTHERN climates are thinking that too.

According to VW (my handy dandy thermometer on my Jetta) it was a balmy 26 degrees this morning. I thought it was closer to 36. Last I had looked at it, it was 39. I looked at it at that point because the Jetta warns me when the temp is 39 degrees. The display blinks and a chime chimes to let me know... HEY! It's cold out there! Watch for ice.

My chime has been chiming a lot lately.

But as I looked around the parking lot at the grocery store I noticed those crazy Californians doing what they always do.... Walking around in short sleeves. One would think Sacramento Valley inhabitants (who don't hardly blink at 110 degrees for 5 days straight) would be the first to pull out the long woolies as soon as the temp dips below 50. But like heat, dry cold isn't as cold as wet cold. And we haven't had wet cold. Fog? Have we HAD a foggy day?? Maybe a foggy morning... I don't think we've had a day of fog yet. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

It's been cold here. My friends in places like Minnesota and Wisconsin have been grousing about how ponds aren't frozen over. Huh. The holding ponds (for the mosquito fish) at Mosquito and Vector Control were frozen over on Monday. I don't think one would want to skate on them.... but frozen over they were. The big lake/pond/whatever next to them wasn't. Maybe the geese and ducks (and occasional swan... we have wild swans around here) kept it moving enough through the night.

Our neighbors keep watering their lawns at night...and overwatering as usual. So sidewalks are dangerously slippery.

It might not be below freezing.... but this is cold for us. We don't know how to behave. We don't wear coats. We don't turn off sprinklers. The only thing we do is wrap towels around our outside pipes after the news reminds us to do so to keep them from freezing.

This morning, a major water main burst underground a major intersection. The cold is the suspected culprit. It's been cold enough to freeze an underground pipe. They are struggling to get it turned off and much of the road has been washed away.

I can hear you Canadians laughing. I know you Yankees are shaking your heads. It's ok. This summer we'll be doing just fine in our 110+ degree heat. We'll be wondering what y'all are complaining about when it hits 90 at your house. We don't even call that "hot".

Coronation

No...not really. But she gets to wear a crown.

Notes for Christmas 2007

Have tape.

Need Christmas Gift Bags.

Still good on gift tags.

Productivity

My To Do List is long. Lots of stuff to get done by Christmas. Many of those things are related to Kaitlyn's Installation as Honored Queen of Bethel 347 of the International Order of Job's Daughters. But there are other, usual things. Like Christmas shopping. But this installation and related activities is a big part of it. Example: We will be having approximately 10 teenage girls here for a movie tomorrow evening after taking them to a pizza parlor as part of the outgoing Honored Queen's term. As Senior Princess, Kaitlyn is in charge of it. Which means Kaitlyn's mom is in charge of it.

So each day must have things done.

Yesterday was mostly unproductive on my part. Normy and the girls did get the tree decorated and all the interior lights up. I will put my snowmen on the mantel sometime today. I will be baking the cookies I didn't bake yesterday after I'm done blogging.

Why was I a slug? I think I have a pretty good excuse. I put a bad guy in jail yesterday morning.

I was just running over to the scrapbook store behind the house to get some colored paper to run through the printer so I can print up the recipe cards for these cookies cause I'm baking them for a cookie exchange and the recipe is part of the exchange. It was to take me MAYBE 15 minutes.... even allowing for time to chat with my neighbor who works there. I left about 9:45. I got home at about 12:45. Considerably longer than I had planned. Add in the adreneline dump that I had and I was wiped out.

As I entered the traffic circle on my street, I noticed what appeared to some idjit driving with most of his body out of his car. As I thought it was entirely possible that Darwin would be in action and this idiot would fall out of his car, I looked to see if any more cars were entering the circle.

I saw what appeared to be a woman lying in the street. Cars were pulling over. I saw one man jump out of his truck and run towards her. I KNEW that idjit had something to do with it and I took off after him. At this point I could see he wasn't IN the car, but ON the car. Sitting, with legs outside, on the window 'sill' of the driver's side. They continued south for a bit and I grabbed my cell phone and called 911, pulled a receipt out of my console and the pen I keep there just in case. The car stopped and I stopped behind it. I left plenty of room to maneuver if I needed to. He walked around the back and stood there saying SOMETHING to me. I don't know what. Don't care either. At that point another car pulled up and the woman in the car said "Are you getting that plate?! Hey I know you!" and then she flipped a U-turn and took off. By this time the guy was in the car and they were driving away. I took off after them. I wanted to be able to give the 911 operator a location. After a few turns I lost them in the residential area of curvy streets.

When I got to EGPD (after first getting CHP) I gave the plate and I heard her say to someone in the room "NO. This one is a WITNESS." I was reporting a "possible hit and run... I don't know what happened exactly". Then I returned to the scene.

Those who had stopped had gotten her out of the street and she was on the grass on the side of the road. She wasn't moving when I first saw her, but as I got closer she started moving around. By the time I got to her she wanted to get up. She was frantic. She didn't know what had happened. She wanted to know where her daughter was. I was able to get her name and her daughter's name from her. She couldn't remember how old her daughter was. Two? Three? She couldn't remember for sure. She asked over and over and over again what had happened. I didn't know. I was starting to figure it out from what the others were saying. My neighbor around the corner was there and was the woman in the other car. We figured it out pretty quickly once we could think a second. She and I were the only ones that got a good look at that guy.

I tried to hold the young woman still. She told me her name was Carrie. I didn't know how badly she was hurt. She had some very bad 'road rash' on the side of her face and on her hands. I could tell she had a concussion from her inability to process and remember that she was hurt. I told her she had fallen down and just needed to be still and she would be just fine.

Paramedics arrived and apparently thought I knew what had happened. They asked me all the questions. I had precious few answers. But told them she couldn't remember the answers to her questions for more than about 15 seconds.

A EGPD officer arrived shortly thereafter and was shocked that there were so many witnesses. My neighbor and I told her we had the license plate of the car. She said "Yea, we know who he is." Oh. OK. Apparently it was helpful that I got that license plate reported quickly.

She called for more officers to interview the witnesses. I believe their were 7 of us. At least 7. That man in the truck I saw in the beginning. It ends up he's just 24 and was driving in the opposite direction. He saw Carrie and that guy in a heated argument and turned around to see if she needed help. Another woman was rolling down her window to ask the same question. Another woman saw him hit her. Another saw him get her in a headlock and they all saw him throw her into the street. Throw her hard enough to take the skin off the side of her face and the palms on her hands. In my non-medical opinion, she looked to have 2nd degree type burns. He threw her right in front of the young man's truck. He nearly hit her.

All who stopped had seen the assault. Most were on their way somewhere. My neighbor had a plane to catch. The young man was the only one, besides me, who really didn't have to be somewhere. He was on his way home from work. We were all interviewed. They finally got to me and took my receipt for new house keys (see the garage door posts... the girls needed keys since the garage door wouldn't open for them) with my license plate scribblings. It is now evidence.

The officer that interviewed me asked me to describe the man I saw. I gave my best guess on height based on his relationship to the car. His race was not clear. He struck me as not particularly Caucasian, but maybe Hispanic.... but really possibly more like some sort of combination. His hair wasn't LONG....but not short. Rather shaggy. He didn't have a beard or a goatee.... but he wasn't clean shaven either. He was wearing a sweatshirt... probably a hoodie. I think. Probably...yea. Brownish...gray. I think kind of a heathered brown. Couldn't tell ya about his pants. I wanted to say "jeans" but I have no clear recollection of his pants. Except that he was wearing pants as I was not under the impression he was pants-less.

The officer asked me if I could identify the man I saw.

Absolutely. He stood there for a extraordinarily long time under the circumstances. Someone obviously unclear on the concept of getting away unidentified.

My neighbor and I met two officers at a local coffee house so we could leave our personal vehicles there while the took us to where they were holding the suspect. A "show up" as it is called. In separate cars, sitting in the backseat (I was given the option of the front seat, but it would be harder for the suspect to see me if I was in the back), I was to see if I could identify him as "the guy".

As soon as he got out of the police car he was in, I knew it was him. He was wearing a black t-shirt and his hair was different. Buzzed. But it was him. The second I said "that's him", the officer I was with put the car in reverse and got me out of there.

When we got back to the coffee house, my neighbor and I made the same observation. "His hair was shaggier." We used the same word, even. Shaggy.

I fully expect to be called to testify if there is a trial. Which is fine. I have no problem with that.

I am very proud of my neighbors. The people who live and work and shop in this neighborhood. They stopped. They tried to help. At least two of them were willing to intervene on behalf of a young woman in trouble. I wish I had gotten the name of that young man. His parents should be proud.

And now I must do yesterday's and today's To Do's.

I think I'm gonna need a full pot of coffee today.

Answers

Is that big spring necessary for the garage door to work AT ALL?

Mostly.

If I'm gonna be able to get my car out of aforementioned garage.

Yep. Damn if that door ain't heavy..... And boy am I glad I've been weight training.

How long it's gonna take for the garage door people who put a sticker on our garage door to come out to fix the spring on the garage door.

Wednesday. Only one full day without an operating garage door. Excellent. Especially considering the inclement weather.

Why a large explosion of metal didn't cause anyone except me & Kait to wonder what the hell that noise was.

Still unanswered.

How much a new monster spring on a garage door is gonna cost.

$99

How much having someone come and install said spring on said garage door is gonna cost.

$99 for parts AND labor. Again with the "excellent".

How much more room is on my To Do list.

See next entry.....

Wonder in my head.....

I wonder:

Is that big spring necessary for the garage door to work AT ALL?

If I'm gonna be able to get my car out of aforementioned garage.

How long it's gonna take for the garage door people who put a sticker on our garage door to come out to fix the spring on the garage door.

Why a large explosion of metal didn't cause anyone except me & Kait to wonder what the hell that noise was.

How much a new monster spring on a garage door is gonna cost.

How much having someone come and install said spring on said garage door is gonna cost.

How much more room is on my To Do list.

Cause Stacy said....

1. My current favorite song is: Afterglow by INXS (JD Fortune, not Michael Hutchence) Or maybe Pretty Vegas. Same group. Same lead singer.

2. The last book I read was: "Read" implies finished. Can't remember last finished... Started Wicked a while ago. Haven't finished it and it's been so long I have to start over.

3. The last book I bought was: Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

4. The last cd I bought was: Don't buy CD's.

5. Another CD I wanted but didn't buy is: Still don't buy CD's.

6. Right now, I'm wearing: Jeans, turtleneck, Danskos, proper undergarments.

7. The last gift I bought was: I can't POST that....

8. The last time I laughed heartily and loudly: Today. Reading a thread on ScrapShare. It cracked me right up.... but it's location humor so I won't bother directing you to the thread cause you had to be there.

9. My favorite holiday ornament is: Hmmm... so many to choose from. Maybe my Santa head. It certainly has a special place in my heart.....

10. My house smells like: Right now, nothing. Soon: Del Taco.

11. The first thing on my to-do list tomorrow is: Go to gym. Take kids to school. Figure out what else on the list to tackle.

12. If I could sit on Santa's lap and believe that he'd bring me whatever toy I wished for, I'd ask for: MacBook Pro 17".

13. If I could holiday shop in ONE store, all expenses paid, I'd shop at: I have to go with Amazon. Amazon has EVERYTHING.

14. If an angel alighted on my doorstep today and said, "I'm here to grant a Christmas wish," I'd wish for: Peace. In every way.....

15. When I see a bell ringer while out shopping, I: am tempted to tell them that I'd pay them to stop that infernal ringing.

Ironic?

Is it ironic that my self imposed radio silence can be lifted on the 65th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor?

Everyone, employer related, now knows that Norm will be leaving his company shortly. They also know that he will be joining the company that out bid (or underbid, depending on how you look at that) his company for the job they have been doing for the past 4+ years.

The Big Boss will make these next 2 weeks as miserable as she possibly can, of this I am sure. So far, so good. She found out yesterday morning and as of this writing, he has not heard from her. But there is a big meeting on Monday......

My boss said "Maybe she's glad to see him go." Maybe. But I rather doubt it. Sure.... she's been wanting to fire him every 6 months or so. But he works cheap and does a good job and makes her look good. He's also a couple months short of 10 years and she's supposed to retain long term employees. Orders from higher up. On the downside, no company logo toaster oven for us. Gosh. Darn. You know....as a reward for reaching 10 years with the company....

I am of the opinion that when she starts snarking at him he needs to look her in the eye and simply say "Hey... it was an offer I couldn't refuse. They offered me more money and the client asked for me by name. More money AND appreciation. How could I possibly say no?" Since she had been exceedingly stingy with both. Example: (not that I'm bitter, cause that would make it worse.) Norm saved the client several million dollars. As an "atta boy" Big Boss gave him a $25 gift card to a restaurant that both requires more than $25 for a single meal AND is not located in our town. Millions of dollars saved and here... take a bit off your dinner bill.

Maybe he ought to include it in a "It was swell working for you Big Boss" card.

Ironically, the Home Office people have been effusive in their praise. He actually saved them about $20K the other day. They LOVE him. His supervisor is sad and disappointed that he is leaving.

So who is this new company? Norm will now be working for a start up company. It's small. Very. Very. Small. They go by the ever so clever name of Norm Daley, Inc. He will contract with them for his services. Another company will pay the Inc. We have drawn a picture so we can keep track of who is paying whom. But yes.... He is now self-employed. His contract is for one year. He may become a regular employee at the end of that year. He might not. A bridge to be crossed at that time.

It will be a new adventure.... We feel good about this. Eliminating the soul sucking boss is the best part of all.

Radio Silence

Radio Silence would be required so the enemy didn't hear you back in some day.... WWII? Dunno. Don't care.

Not talking. The enemy might hear.

Will talk when the enemy has been eradicated.

Any. Time. Now.

Local

The common wisdom is that all politics are local. Yesterday the opinion is that this time, it was national/global. It was all about Iraq. I'm not sure that is all together true, but the locally based races (the individual representatives) for national office seems to bear that out.

And Rumsfeld tendered his resignation hours after the almost final results are in (the Senate balance is yet to be determined at this writing). It's early afternoon in Washington DC the day after the election and a successor has been named. I can only conclude they were prepared for these results. I'm not sure what to make of that. It is, at the very least, interesting.

Back to local politics.....

In 2000 the people decided that the area of Sacramento County known as "Elk Grove" ought to become their own city. In 2000 there were 60,000 - odd people in that area. Now there are 130,000 or so. Fastest growing city in the country we are. Back in 2000 we elected 5 people to the City Council. They have all been re-elected once.

Four years ago a civil campaign was run by all. Right up until the Saturday before election day when nasty mailers were delivered on behalf of an incumbant. His opponant had no time to answer the charges. It was that day that he forever lost my vote. I wasn't going to vote for him then anyway. I was going to vote for his opponant because I had been pleased with his work on another elected body and thought he was a better choice.

Two years ago when the other 'half' of the council (we have a 2 - 3 split...) was up for re-election, it was nasty. I blame Dan Briggs. He stooped down and picked up the mud his feet were mired in and started throwing it. The other three followed. Unfortunately, the other three were re-elected because there were so many others on the ballot and they split the vote. I don't really consider 30%-40% of the vote a "win", but it was the highest percentage and so they "won".

Yesterday Dan Briggs only got 30% of the vote. I don't know much about the guy who won (and who I voted for). But other than "funded by developers", I never heard anything that caused me to have any second thoughts. And in many ways, it wasn't a vote FOR but a vote against. I am more inclined to vote for Arnold Schwartzenegger than Dan Briggs....

In two years the other three will be up for re-election. They should be worried about keeping their seats. I think they grossly underestimated how angry the community is over a single vote. It might not seem like a big deal, but it was symptomatic over how out of touch those five people had become in the short time they have been a city council. The Elk Grove Auto Mall simply does not need a big electronic sign on the freeway to advertise their presence. What they NEED is better public relations. They can do that by insisting that their dealers be more responsive to the customer. (we didn't buy our new VW there when we were told they didn't want to look for the car we wanted for us. Ok then......) (and we are not alone) But after a hefty "donation" to the city, the sign was approved. Most citizen think that all those cars lined up along the freeway says "cars are sold here". But apparently we were mistaken.

Politics are more local than the politicians like to think. We bear grudges. A single error can be unforgiveable. Repeated errors, hubris and arrogance will be remembered. We think we have a short attention span. We often do on surprisingly important ideas. But repetition will eventually get through our collective thick skulls. Admittedly that sets the politicos up for a fall. We don't hold them accountable for the first 'bad acts'. Then we slam them when we finally get fed up.

Which is why all politics are local. Because it doesn't matter if it's a stupid electronic sign at the city limits or a war on the other side of the world. Screw up enough, we'll remember at the polls and make changes here to make changes there. We might hate the idea of a gaudy sign being the first impression of our city. Or maybe we've buried too many of our young people fighting a war in the desert. But it all comes down to how it affects the "me". The "us". When we have to avert our eyes from the glare of the sign in the night or sit with a friend who's daughter just came home in a flag draped casket....

They think it isn't personal.

They are wrong.

Vote

Today.

Go.

Now.

Think

It might hurt a bit in the beginning. But after awhile, one gets used to it and it doesn't hurt anymore. Much like going to the gym. The first workouts result in painful muscles, but after a while one gets stronger and it doesn't hurt anymore.

So here's today's thinking exercise:

Connect THIS dot, with THIS one, and THIS one, and THIS one (which I like to call: Keith can count, Tony cannot).

And then watch this and wonder how stupid the current administration thinks you are...