Heat = melted brain July 21, 2008 ~ 11:02 am
Posted by Julie in : Rants, Urban Family, photo safari , comments closedWith the summer’s second official heat wave, we have reached the point where it’s too hot for Julie to want to do much of anything. I spent Saturday and Sunday entombed in my house, where the a/c was on energy saver at 82*. It was that high (1) because Con Ed owns my soul and (2) because there were power outages in every neighborhood around mine, and I wasn’t sure that mine was going to be the exception forever. I resent Con Ed very much these days. I have a geriatric kitteh, Con Ed, so the a/c stays on. And you bill me more every month for unreliable service. NOT COOL.
I promised you a post about Boston, but I can’t keep my mind on any one thing long enough to write coherently about it. So you will get snippets of Boston. I like it very much - I could totally picture myself living there. And the fact that I got to hang out with Aimee and Sloth all the time while I was there? Made it even better. We packed a fair amount of stuff into the five days that I was there, and there was so much more that we didn’t get a chance to do. I’ll definitely be going back. I do have some great memories of the trip, though: eating chowder with Aimee at Quincy Market, the Benjamin Franklin walking tour I took, walking past the Green Dragon Tavern (where the Sons of Liberty met and planned revolution), seeing Craig Ferguson recite the Pledge of Allegiance on the 4th of July, the party in Dorchester where I discovered that champagne goes with everything, dinner at Sloth’s house…the list goes on and on. I was going to put pictures into the post, but apparently my happy Flickr plugin isn’t playing nicely with the blog today. So instead, I will give you the entire Boston Photoset. Have fun.
Coming soon, fiber progress. Because there has been a fair amount of it despite the heat. You all can thank Plurk for that - since I hang out (virtually) with knitters all day, I knit and spin and stuff now. 
I blame Ben. January 6, 2008 ~ 11:29 am
Posted by Julie in : Rants , comments closedFor the Steelers’ loss last night, that is. Because if he hadn’t of thrown all those interceptions, Jacksonville wouldn’t have been able to score as much. And as for the sacks? I’m sorry, those are partly his fault. If you’ve got the ball in your hand and three men wide open downfield, and one of those men is Hines Ward, and you still can’t get the play off before Jacksonville finds you because you’re wondering who to throw to? That ain’t the fault of the offensive line. Get your thumb out of your ass and throw the goddamned ball. Then we wouldn’t be in a position where we’re only leading by one point and are in big trouble when the Jacksonville quarterback decides to run for it and gets through the defense. The final nail in the coffin may have been the fault of the defensive line, but I cant’ really blame them. The majority of the nails were hammered in by Big Ben. As I told the Youngest yesterday morning, the Steelers have a habit of breaking your heart in the post-season. Now we’ve all got a very long time to think about this game, and I think Ben’s going to be persona non-grata in the Burgh for a while this winter. He’s just lucky I don’t live there anymore.
The difference between men and women, #3,647,982 November 29, 2007 ~ 3:15 pm
Posted by Julie in : In Da Hood, Rants , comments closedMy plea to people of the male persuasion on public transportation: please do not feel like you have to share your rapping skillz with me while you listen to your iPod. You probably haven’t noticed that I do not feel compelled to share my Freddie Mercury imitations while I listen to my iPod, but you should be suitably grateful. You probably also haven’t noticed that no other woman on public transportation feels like she has to share anything that she’s listening to with the rest of the conveyance. I have no idea why this difference between the sexes has developed, why you males (especially those in their teens and twenties) feel like you have to show off for us, but whether it’s on my way to work in the morning or coming home from a long slog at the office, I think I speak for all women on the MTA when I say “Just keep it to yourself, okay, buddy?”. Thank you.
Just lucky, I guess November 27, 2007 ~ 3:31 pm
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats, Rants, photo safari , comments closedThird time’s a charm, right? And bad things happen in threes? That should mean that after today, my debit card number is off the plate. Today, my debit card number got stolen for the third time. I’m starting to wonder if some brainiac out there sits around coming up with random combinations of numbers, slaps them on cards, and sees if they’ll work to pay for stuff. Because I can’t think of another reason why my card number would be stolen. I only buy online from secure sites. I always make sure that my transaction is over when I leave an ATM, and I make sure to take my receipt with me. I do not get cash from shady ATMs, only my bank and the ATM that’s in the same building as my office, which is surrounded by offices and has security cameras on it. And each of the three times the damn number has been stolen (three different numbers, mind you, twice with HSBC, once with WaMu), the friggin’ card itself has been sitting in my wallet. I just do not get it. Good thing I took money out of the ATM last night. Also a good thing that I bought some wine with it. I need a drink.
I decorated the small tree that I have left over from my college days last night, and while I was hanging decorations, I could see the wheels turning in Freddie’s head. “Oooh! Toys! Toys to swat at!” And every time I would tell him “No, this is not to play with,” he would give me a very confused look. When I thought about it from his point of view, I can’t blame him. He’s a little street cat who has never had an indoor Christmas, and I have spent the past 6 months encouraging him to swat at toys. He doesn’t understand that the Christmas tree is not a toy, only that it’s shiny and dangly. Poor little street cat. At least that’s what I thought until he took a swat at my icicle lights and knocked out the middle of the strand. Then I thought “stupid fucking cat.”
Pictures, as promised:
The most hideous ornament ever. Yes, that’s a crab painted on it. Don’t ask. I love it for its kitsch value.
LED lights are bright.
For example, that green light throws this blinding beam of light two feet away to this curtain.
Do not fuck with the Frosty Friends or they will have you jumping through hoops, too.
Just for Rick, an shot looking up from under the tree. We like to look at the tree this way.
Dark November 12, 2007 ~ 12:38 pm
Posted by Julie in : Rants , comments closedIf I heard Richard Frankel’s quote about stagehands “featherbedding” once this weekend, I heard it 87 times. Rick has a habit of surfing the radio for traffic reports while we’re driving, and the news stations kept looping news of the stagehands’ strike that’s got Broadway dark right now.
Let’s get one thing straight, Mr. Producer, you need those stagehands. I don’t see you out there dirtying your hands, risking injury, making sure heavy and costly set pieces get to the right place at the right time for a play to run smoothly. Stagehands are some of the hardest working people I know, and I know just how hard their jobs are since I have on occasion worked as one off-off-Broadway and on college productions. I have nothing but respect for them. It’s a shame the producers don’t.
Yes, Broadway is dark, and yes, that’s costing the city a lot of tourism dollars, but I know what it’s like to work on after a contract has expired and finally take a lot less as a settlement just because dammit, you need some money, any money to make up for the increase in cost of living that occurred while you were waiting for the other side to get their heads out of their asses. I’m firmly with the stagehands on this one. I hope the issue gets settled soon for everyone’s sake, but mostly for some of the hardest working men and women on Broadway.
Con Ed rant November 9, 2007 ~ 10:57 am
Posted by Julie in : Rants , comments closedThe Con Ed bill came this morning. $54.92. Now I dunno, that seems a little high. Not as high as August when it was over $150, but high. I’m not running any fans or airconditioners, I don’t leave lights on when I’m not in a room, I switched over to CFLs on all my lights…it doesn’t make sense. So I sit down and really read my bill.
Supply charges:
$22.50 for 206 kWh - That’s my charge for the energy supplied to me. Okay.
$0.54 - That’s a tax. Okay.
Delivery charges (otherwise known as, The Part That Pissed Me Off):
$12.57 - Basic service charge for my 206 kWh that I’ve used. I read the small print and am told that this is for basic system infrastructure and customer-service charges. So basically, I am paying for this 206 kWh TWICE. Thanks, Con Ed.
$15.34 - Delivery charge. This apparently maintains the system that I get my 206 kWh through. I’m getting charged THREE TIMES for the fucking electricity, because really, what the hell is the difference between maintaining the system and maintaining system infrastructure?
$0.47 - tax for renewable energy programs. I’m cool with this. We should have renewable energy programs. So that we don’t get butt raped by Con Ed every month.
$1.39 - Tax on the delivery charges. Because it wasn’t enough that they taxed me for the electricity the first time, they had to get me for the two other times they charged me for the electricity as well.
Thank you, Con Ed. After going through this bill, I feel like Kevin Bacon in Animal House: “Please sir, may I have another?” Except Kevin Bacon had a choice, he could have joined a different fraternity. Me? Not so much. Fucking monopolies.
Way to spoil it. July 19, 2007 ~ 9:54 am
Posted by Julie in : Rants , comments closedSome complete git over at the NY Times got a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows early (some bookstore is gonna get in major-league trouble over this) and reviewed it. Complete with spoilers. I didn’t read it, but I’m a little irritated. I should not have to completely shut myself off from the media and the internet from now until I finish the book or run the risk of having all the fun taken out of my reading experience. It’s Harry Potter, for fuck’s sake, I don’t need the Cliff’s Notes version - I will be more than happy to read it myself as soon as I’m able to do so.
People who spoil books and movies for others? They’re the same kind of people who would kick a puppy for fun. Bastards.
Come on out, Tinky Winky! May 16, 2007 ~ 10:58 am
Posted by Julie in : Politically Incorrect, Rants , comments closedYou can show your purple triangle antennae again. And bring your purse! It’s the end of an era, kids. A bigoted, small-minded era, but an era nonetheless.
In other news, I am shopping for a new bank. Because those morons at my bank, HSBC, sent my new debit card to one of their branches halfway across Brooklyn instead of to my house. Where my landlady was waiting all day for the DHL guy to show up. I have no idea why they would have sent it to a bank branch that I have never ever been to, and the supervisor I talked to couldn’t tell me either. So now I am waiting until Monday for the new card to show up, because apparently HSBC doesn’t understand the concept of overnight delivery, those fuck ups. I have lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and flat out told the chick that I talked to that they had just lost a customer. I also told her I will have her head on a fucking pike if I don’t get the card on Monday.
I would like to warn all of you that if you have HSBC? You should get the hell out and find a bank who cares about your security. Because HSBC obviously does not if they will not only allow my debit card number to be stolen twice in two years, but then deliver a replacement card to somewhere I have never been and allow it to be signed for by someone whose name was not anywhere on the card or the envelope (I had them place landlady’s name on the envelope just in case - fat lot of good that did me).  I will say it in big capital letters:
HSBC IS THE WORST BANK ON THE PLANET.
I’m switching, even though it’s going to be a huge pain in the ass with the direct deposit I have at work. I’m thinking WaMu. They seem to value customer service and security.
Seafood Eaters, Redux May 10, 2007 ~ 10:08 am
Posted by Julie in : Rants , comments closedAnd the barrage that is Spring 2007 continues…
I got a call from my bank about an hour ago asking me if I had spent a couple of hundred dollars on the internet last night buying software from some company in France. Um, no. But that would explain why my card was declined last night at the pet store in Park Slope when I knew I had extra money in there because I am paying off a credit card this month.
So we are embroiled in part deux of something I would not wish on my worst enemy: identity theft of a debit card number. You may remember that a little under two years ago my debit card number was stolen and used to charge a shitload of seafood in Maryland, some gas, and oh yeah, a trip to TJ Maxx. I have talked to the bank again and because I raised some hell (I may have used the words “This is the second time this has happened while I’ve had an account at your bank!”) my new card is set to arrive on Tuesday, so I shouldn’t run into bill paying problems. Landlady has just confirmed that she will be home to sign for it, and told me that she had the same thing happen to her once. I will have to sign an affadavit that I didn’t spend the money and fax it back to them, just like last time, in order to get the money refunded, but that is doable.
The worst part of this whole thing is trying to remember which internet sites have the card so that I can remember to change the card numbers over to the new one. Because you all know I pay everything on the internet. I also have to backtrack and see which card I used to order the yarn and spinning wheel bag off the internet yesterday and the day before…okay, yarn was on another card, spinning wheel bag was…fuck. On the stolen card. Just called them, gave them another card number to use. Stupid French software buyers, trying to keep me from my spinning wheel bag!
See, in addition to being violated by some person with a penchant for Frenchy software, I now have to go through the hassle of going through all my transactions and “fixing” them. I hate this. Especially when I only have $10 in my wallet. Fuuuck.
So glad I had already taken today off. Now I’m going to take a bike ride down to Coney Island, because dammit, I need to relax. Here’s a moment of Zen for you all…I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need it:
Joe likes ponies too. And picking up lint with his fur.
State of Delusion January 23, 2007 ~ 11:14 pm
Posted by Julie in : Politically Incorrect, Rants , comments closedSometimes I wonder what country President Asshat lives in, because it sure ain’t the one I’m in. Tonight he declared that inflation is low and the economy is great. I’m sure that’s true for the wealthy robber barons, but for those of us in the middle? Not so much. Employment rates being high because people are getting jobs at Wal-Mart is not the same as employment rates being high because people are getting good, steady jobs with decent pay. I also had to laugh at Asshat deciding now that we’re going to have a balanced budget. Now, after he’s wasted more money than a kid in a candy store. Did you see the shot of Hillary while he was spewing this bullshit? You could just tell she was thinking “When my husband was President, we had a balanced budget. Hell, we had a surplus! But you took care of that, didn’t you?”
I’m also continually impressed by how fully Asshat believes in the lies he’s told. Putting 20,000 more troops in the field was the course of action chosen because “it has the best chance of success.” Um, no, it was chosen because you can’t admit that you were wrong. By fighting the war in Iraq, we’re making sure terrorists don’t have “new safe havens, new recruits, new resources.” Funny, because I think that’s exactly what they’ve gained out of this whole thing. This is a “generational struggle” that will continue long after we all turn our duties over to others. Yep, it’s just like I thought, you can’t figure a way out so you’re gonna leave it for the next guy. Good job.
There was also a “read between the lines” section of the speech with regards to Iran. Apparently Shi’a and Sunni are bad and funded by Iran. So does this mean we have free reign to attack first Iran, and then the whole Muslim world? Because as far as I know, Shi’as and Sunnis make up all but a very tiny portion of Islam. So if they’re both bad, then we’re attacking everyone, right? Especially if they’re funded by Iran.
Things that disturbed me about the speech tonight, because typical of Asshat, he mentioned it briefly and then went on without really explaining it:
- The new health care plan where we all put money back and don’t have to pay taxes on it. This sounds like same shit, different day. My health insurance is not great. I have friends whose health insurance blows. I have someone very close to me with no health insurance whatsoever. But even with all that, I am not falling for this “put some money back and pay for your own insurance” routine. I want to see the fine print before you fuck me up the ass, thank you very much.
- Increasing the size of the armed forces by 92,000. Where are we getting these people? Is this a coy way of saying “draft”?
- A civillian reserve. Again, where are we getting these people? What’s the difference between a civillian reserve and a military reserve? Something tells me that the difference is the civilians are going to get even less funding than the military. Unless maybe civillian reserve is a code phrase for “Haliburton.”
- Clean coal technology. Is there such a thing? Because it sounds like an oxymoron to me. Coal is dirty when you burn it. That’s why they’re raising such a fuss about the coal plants people want to build in Texas. Let’s see…building coal power plants in Texas, Asshat is from Texas, Asshat mentions “clean coal technology” first among the many alternative types of energy there are…hmmm.
Two final thoughts: Asshat mentioned global climate change. As far as I know, this is the first time he’s ever actually spoken about global warming. Holy shit, it does exist!! Helped into existence by those coal power plants! But he didn’t say that part. Also, speaking of power plants, is the man ever going to learn how to say nuclear properly? Because at this point it’s just ridiculous.
ETA: 28% approval ratings make me laugh. Hard. And probably longer than is necessary, but still.
