Not sleeping June 30, 2004 ~ 11:21 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedThat’s what I’m doing. Not sleeping. I try to be in bed by 11 on work nights, just because I have such a hard time dragging my ass out of bed in the morning, but tonight I’m not tired. Well, I’m sort of tired, but this is one of those nights where I can think of 50 more exciting things to do than sleep. I have this problem fairly regularly, although it’s getting less frequent as I get older. Much like my days of 12 hours of sleep in a row.
Sitting around listening to the neighborhood kids, who obviously have quite a supply of firecrackers. They’ve been setting them off sporadically for an hour now, although I think we just got to the grand finale. Continues snap, crackle, and pop for five minute. Just like the fireworks, blow them all at the end. 
And speaking of fireworks, go to this website to set off some of your own. And turn the speakers up, darnit. What good are fireworks without sound?
Now I think I’m going to go play some Gameboy and try to convince myself I’m tired. Riiiight.
Compulsive Blog Checkers Anonymous June 30, 2004 ~ 4:51 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closed“Hi, everybody, my name is Julie and I’m a Compulsive Blog Checker.”
“Hi, Julie!”
Seriously, I spend half my day checking blogs. Well, maybe not half, but a good portion of it. I check everyone’s blogs when I first come to work in the morning. And then, because everyone’s doing what I’m doing and checking in, I check back an hour later to see if there’s anything new, either by way of new posts or comments. And then I check back before lunch, because maybe someone posted a response to my comments. And then I check after lunch, because someone could’ve posted something in that hour. And then again mid-afternoon, when I’m bored. And last thing before I leave work, because ditto, I’m bored again. And maybe again when I get home because I’m playing on the internet. Is anybody else this pathetic, or is it just me?
Sticker Shock June 30, 2004 ~ 3:39 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedI just spent $479 on a portable airconditioner. I am now repeating to myself “I needed it. I needed it. I needed it.” as my new mantra. If I don’t I’m gonna pass out. I don’t like to spend that much money. Oh, sure I could piss that much away easily in a variety of places, but to drop it all on one thing bothers me for some reason.
And I did need it. My basement apartment has already had its hot and humid days, and it’s not July yet. As my friend Lori just told me, come August I would be dying. I needed the airconditioner. And as I have a grand total of one window (well, I have two, but one is in the boiler room and therefore of no use to anyone), and it slides open to the side, portable was the only way to go.
It just burns me that these portable ones are so expensive. I could get a regular airconditioner for $250, max. But no, I can’t use that in my apartment. So I have to shell out the big bucks. I’m just glad I don’t have to pay an electric bill (landlord covers that, it was part of the deal when I moved in). You’d best believe that I will not feel guilty for using this sucker for all it’s worth. All $479 worth…
*sigh*
Kitty Graves’ Disease June 29, 2004 ~ 2:47 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedMy mom’s cat has hyperthyroidism. She apparently lost two pounds (while she was a little cat to start with, now she only weighs 7 1/2 pounds), so mom took her to the vet. The vet ran blood tests ($130 worth of blood tests), and they came back saying that the kitty has some pretty high thyroid activity. They’re retesting the blood to make sure, but if it’s true, she’s gonna have to be on medication the rest of her life.
I called mom to find out if her little eyes have started to bug out like Billy Joel’s or Barbara Bush’s. Apparently the answer is no.
While this is much better than the cat having something terminal, I was reminded again how lucky the cat was to wander into our lives. She’s already had to have half her teeth yanked because the gums were growing over them, now this. How many people would pay for the vet to treat these problems? I would, because my mom raised me like that. But I don’t think it’s a common attitude. How many people would have taken the dog to the vet and when, finding it was severely dehydrated (I forget why), would let the vet put a little IV into her (the dog) to rehydrate her? I think that trip to the vet cost something like $500 with tests and x-rays. We still refer to my cat Joe as the $200 cat because of one of his more costly vet trips, caused by him drinking dirty dishwater. We think. We’re still not completely sure about that one.
Pets win the damn lottery when they end up in my mom’s house. And they may not know that, but I do. Even the demon spawn from hell dog that chewed everything in sight, including a set of dentures, and used to bite my cat and snap at me when I came to visit. Eventually mom had to give that one up as a lost cause, but she found a nice home for it where it could be the center of attention. At last check, the dog from hell and her new owner were still completely enamored with each other.
So I’m thanking my mom for the animals. Including the dog she’s taking in this weekend because my aunt doesn’t want it anymore. Brown Dog doesn’t know it yet, but he just won the Doggie Lottery. Thanks, mom!
I made an old lady cry June 29, 2004 ~ 2:24 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedI tried to post this earlier, but Blogger apparently hates me today. We’ll see if it takes this time.
So, I made an old lady cry this morning. Before you start sending me nasty emails and comments, let me just say that they were tears of joy. Remember the woman I wrote about last week, the 77 year old who had been mugged? Well, the guy got $200 of hers, since she had just been to the bank. So my boss and I took it upon ourselves to start a collection to replace the money. We finally got it all today, and we gave it to her in a little card. We told her that this was the only way that we could think of to make it better, and hugged her. She cried.
But you know, I feel good about making her cry. I’d like to think that if something similar happened to me, the people I work with would do something like that. And even if they wouldn’t…well, in this case it was something I could do. And dammit, that made me feel a little better.
klump post June 28, 2004 ~ 9:53 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedHope everyone had a good weekend. As for me…well, it was long. Which is the way I like weekends.
Thursday night Lori and I hung out and watched Kill Bill, Volume I. It was the first time either of use had seen it, but we loved it. Didn’t understand half of what was going on, still loved it. Especially the geysers of blood and the fight between Go Go and the Bride. Now we have to go see the sequel.
Friday I just vegged most of the day…Rick came down from Massachusetts finally around 6, and we went out for dinner at our favorite Mexican place, Mama Mexicos, home of the 20 flavors of margaritas. We have now had them all, and can safely retire from such adventurous choices as Tamarind and Cactus to our favorites. This time out it was Peach, Kiwi, and Blueberry. Would’ve had more, but my back went into spasms halfway through the meal and we left in pretty short order. I didn’t get my strawberry burrito, dammit! And then we trudged home through 30 blocks in a downpour. We had umbrellas, but they weren’t really much use.
Saturday went out for brunch, tried to see Fahrenheit 9/11 but it was sold out for the entire weekend! And they were playing it in four theaters at the multiplex, basically every half hour. Well, good for Michael Moore, I say. I heard it took in $21.8 million this weekend. And I’ll go see it at some point this week, I’m sure, since Rick’s back in Massachusetts working on his mom’s kitchen. We saw Stepford Wives instead, btw. Don’t go see it. I spent the first hour and a half pissed off at all men, including the one next to me, who had been nice enough to buy the tickets. I didn’t entirely shake the mood for another hour after it was over. So not worth it.
Saturday night, I made a quick trip back home to see if my cat had pissed all over the house again while I was gone. I forgot to mention that Friday he had pissed in my backpack (fortunately nothing was in it) and on the carpet in front of me. I was so mad it’s a wonder he didn’t get his neck wrung. Turns out he felt the litter box was too dirty. Better than a urinary tract infection, I guess, which was what I originally thought the problem was. No more pissing anywhere but the box the rest of the weekend. I then went back to Rick’s.
Sunday morning he went out to play basketball with his friend Randy, and then the three of us went out for brunch. I like Randy a lot. He’s a great guy. Plus, he’s known Rick forever, so I get all kinds of dirt on things Rick did before I met him. Good times. Randy then left, we watched the Mets get their asses kicked, and Rick made filet mignon for dinner. And made sure to make mine rare, just the way I like it. Good job, baby. Went for a quick walk in Central Park, saw my first NYC raccoon (boy was I excited! I haven’t seen a coon since I left PA), pillaged some trees for berries (we don’t know what they are, but they resemble small blackberries), then came home.
This morning, I realized once again what a great guy I’m with. He called me at work because he said I seemed kinda down yesterday. Now, even I didn’t realize I was depressed until I came home last night and burst into tears. It was soon over, but it amazed me this morning that he knows me so well he could tell I was depressed even when I didn’t. He’s a keeper.
Spent the rest of the day trying to get back into the work mindset. Gonna be worse after this coming weekend - four days off instead of our usual three! I am really not looking forward to Tuesday.
A Non Y Mouse June 25, 2004 ~ 4:26 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedVarious bloggers in our group have been having problems with Anonymous posters to their comments. I haven’t. I guess I’m not as cool/popular. *lol* But I agree with the general sentiments in that if you’re gonna post something, put your name. Otherwise, I figure that I can’t take your comments seriously. Especially when, as on Dr. Rock’s blog, Anonymous does not seem to have a firm grasp on spelling or punctuation. Come on…how can I be expected to even read your words if they aren’t coherent? And if you can’t put your name behind your post, I feel like you don’t mean it. Even if it’s controversial…hell, especially if it’s controversial…put your name on it! I want to see who I’m replying to! For example, I posted on Michael’s blog this afternoon about the abortion issue that Julie started talking about on her blog. I know people are going to disagree with me. But they’re my beliefs, and I have to own up to them.
Now, the only time I feel there’s an exception to anonymity…when I’m talking about friends and family on my blog. Yeah, you don’t know them, and chances are you couldn’t find them, but I don’t know who all is reading this blog, and I don’t want to take that chance. All my adult friends are mentioned by first name only. And when I speak about Rick’s kids, I never mention their names at all. For starters, they’re 8 and 11. Nobody needs to know their names. Second, they’ve spent enough of their lives in the limelight (their mom is an opera singer), and Rick and I try to make the rest of their lives down-to-earth and out of that spotlight. Finally, I know I use a bit of anonymity myself, posting as Julie H. But it’s not that hard to figure out who I am if you really want to. And I do it for purely practical reasons - I work at a college, and I don’t need those people finding out what I have to say about them. And I don’t need students finding me and harassing me…it’s enough that they email and call me at work!
And so there you have it…my take on A Non Y Mouse.
What the hell??? June 24, 2004 ~ 11:23 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedOne of the women I work with was just mugged. She’s a very sweet woman, 77 years old, looks just like you would imagine a grandmother should. She lives near the College, went to the bank to deposit her paycheck, and then went home for a few minutes.
A man approached her as she was entering the lobby of her apartment building and started talking to her. He was a young black man, short, stocky, very softspoken. He said that his grandmother lived in the building, and as they were talking, he came into the lobby with her. He then grabbed her by the back of the neck, shook her, took her money and keys, and left. She apparently passed out for some time, because when she came to, he was gone.
She’s not hurt, but she’s shaken up. The police are talking to her right now. She’s afraid to go back to her apartment because the bastard that mugged her has her keys. She doesn’t feel safe at all right now, and I can’t say as I blame her. This was done in the lobby of her apartment building - her home.
What the fuck is wrong with people? Why in the hell would someone come up to an old woman and mug her? She has never hurt a person in her entire life, she is a sweet and gentle woman. She didn’t deserve this. I know that no one does, but this woman especially didn’t deserve this.
I don’t know what’s going to happen at this point, but I hope they catch the fucker and stick him in jail. For a long time. And then I hope that some raving inmate finds out what he did to get in there and beats the shit out of him. I am so pissed right now…
UPDATE: Well, she is home right now with her daughter. The landlord found her glasses and her keys in the lobby, so she is feeling a bit better.
ANOTHER UPDATE: She came back to work and has been working all afternoon. She’s tough. You just have to admire and respect someone like that.
Evil Julie vs. the Olsens June 23, 2004 ~ 10:29 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedFrom an IM conversation I just had with my friend Kim:
“Did you hear one of the Olsen twins is anorexic? I bet they both are, they’re just not admitting it. Maybe they’re pulling the old “twin switch” on the therapist.”
Yeah. I’m evil. But so are the Olsen twins.
Happy Birthday!!! June 23, 2004 ~ 10:25 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedOkay, no flashy graphics, but Happy Birthday to two buds today - Traci, and Lori (who is now this close to 30. Hehehe.)
And a happy belated birthday (even though I called her yesterday morning and sang to her on the subway) to my Mom. I won’t embarrass her and say her age on the blog. Not that she’d care…
Love you all, hope the day goes great for you!
