jump to navigation

A shining example of ineptitude August 31, 2007 ~ 12:21 pm

Posted by Julie in : In Da Hood , comments closed

My post office blows. I know I’ve complained about this before, but the Kensington Post Office blows. So much so that there was even a town meeting with our councilman to complain. Judging by what happened today, however, this didn’t accomplish anything.

Yesterday the postman left a slip saying that he had attempted to deliver an express mail envelope from my mom, but since no one was home, he couldn’t. (I think my postman is full of shit because the damn envelope would have fit through the mail slot if his lazy ass had felt like putting it there, but that’s another gripe.) So this morning I asked my darling boy if he could go to the post office for me, since I am trying to get out of work early so we can take the girls to Coney Island and couldn’t be late to work and expect to leave early. He went. And then he called me.

Apparently, he had spent fifteen minutes in line, a line that stretched almost out the door and moved slower than molasses in January. (Rick was amazed by that, since it’s such a small post office, but I was not. Par for the course at this bass-ackwards place.) Then, when he was just about to give up, they opened the window for people with package pickup slips. One man was given grief about his ID, which was an expired Iowa drivers license. He was told that the ID didn’t verify anything, since it was expired - never mind the fact that it was obviously his name and his face on the license. (Welcome to the Bush regime.) When it came time for Rick’s turn, he gave the guy the slip, the guy checked around for it and coming up empty, said “It must have gone back out for delivery. It should be delivered by 2 PM.” Rick pointed out that the slip said the envelope would be available for pick-up on August 31, after 9:30 AM, at the Kensington Post Office. And the counter guy, in a stellar display of bureaucracy, said “That’s just what it says on the slip. It went back out.”

“That’s just what it says on the slip.” Wow. Now if that is not fan-fucking-tastic customer service, I don’t know what is. Don’t tell me that I can pick something up at a post office when in reality, you intend to re-deliver it to me at the same time you said it was at the post office. Because waiting in line at the Kensington Post Office (and yes, I have used the actual branch name three times in this post in the hopes that Google will catch it and note my dissatisfaction) is right up there on my “list of favorite things to do” with “walking on broken glass” and “being disemboweled by a dull object.” I am glad I could share that pain with my boyfriend today. Thank you, Kensington Post Office! Now let’s see if your people actually did their job and delivered it today.

First week of classes drain August 30, 2007 ~ 9:30 am

Posted by Julie in : Academic Office Monkey, Daily Grind , comments closed

We are on day four of the first week of classes, and I am looking like a zombie. I have not left work once this week without a headache because the phones have been non-stop, there is always a line of students at our door, and Supreme Overlord has chosen this week, this first week of classes when oh, by the way, I also prepared six lists of candidates for graduation to be approved on top of everything else, to make policy changes. Which include more work for me. Woohoo! On top of everything else, this is my first five day week since May, since I took long weekends all summer instead of a regular vacation. I remember now: I hate five day work weeks. I am much more productive on the shorter weeks because my ass is just dragging by the end of the five days.

But last night with the help of a little makeup, I looked young, summery, and very good for dinner and the show with Rick’s Ex. Her boyfriend was not there and it was actually a pretty good, if weird, evening. How civilized and urbane we all are.

Cats vs. Baby August 29, 2007 ~ 9:35 am

Posted by Julie in : Da Cats, The Girls, Urban Family , comments closed

Jordana and Samang came over to my place last night, which means that the cats got to see their first baby. They were fascinated, Freddie especially. He looked her over, startled at the noises she made, and did not seem to understand that she was in fact a human. To be fair, he’s never seen a human the same size as he is, so I can understand the confusion. He seemed to like the way she smelled, though, and in the end tried to get her to pet him by headbutting her hand. He also licked her, perhaps to find out if she was edible. The best part of the night was when we had put her down on the bed for a nap, and Freddie (forgettting she was around because she was quiet) jumped up on the bed to get to his window perch, saw the baby kick and jumped a foot into the air. Because “Holy shit what the hell is that!!! Why is it on the bed??? Oh, wait. It’s that thing. The thing that makes noises and doesn’t pet me.”

Joe, in typical Joe fashion, took longer to warm up to her. (I think he’s also seen a baby or two in his long life, so he knew to be wary.) Late in the evening though, when the baby was still napping, I put him up on the bed to see her. She had gotten an arm out of her swaddle by this time, and when he got close to sniff her she whacked him upside the head. He looked at me to verify that I had seen this abuse, and then lay down at her feet to keep guard over her and protect her from that other miscreant, Freddie. Or maybe he just reasoned that the feet were still swaddled and less likely to make contact with him. But when I asked him if he liked the baby, he meowed. I take that as a good sign.

Baby-2, cats-0.

I blame Kim and Aggie. August 28, 2007 ~ 10:34 am

Posted by Julie in : Reviews , comments closed

So lately I’ve been TiVoing a show on BBC America called “How Clean Is Your House?”. I greatly enjoy my BBC America and have been sucked into it for hours at a time watching “Cash in the Attic,” “Hex,” “Robin Hood,” and “Changing Rooms,” among other things, but this show is different. Rather than making me want to lounge around on the couch in my jim-jams, “How Clean Is Your House?” makes me feel the need to clean. A lot.

See, the basic premise is that two women, Kim and Aggie, are called into clean houses that people have let go past the point of no return. We are talking years of grime and crap here. And before they clean, Aggie takes swabs of the whole house so you know exactly what kind of bacteria these people have been living with. I have learned more about bacteria since I started watching this, and frankly, it’s horrifying. Your skin just crawls. And then you look around your house and start to wonder what bacteria are living with you. And then you must clean. Or I must, at any rate.

My place is generally pretty clean. Yeah, the cats tear fur out of each other and so I have to vacuum up the fur tumbleweeds every week. But aside from the office, there isn’t a lot of clutter, mostly because I don’t like looking at it (and that explains why the office is cluttered, since it is out of sight.). But, do I dust? Um, not so much. I use my Swiffer wet jet on the kitchen and bathroom floors, but I know that’s not deep cleaning them because the floors are old and dirt gets trapped in the crevices. And so last night, I went on a cleaning tear. I vacuumed. I dusted and polished the coffee table and cleaned out all the things that have been collecting there. I dusted the end tables. I scrubbed the toilet and bathroom sink (Kim has given me nightmares about things that lurk under the rims of toilets and I couldn’t rest until I’d cleaned mine). I cleaned out the toaster oven. And then, the piece de resistance, I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen floor. With a brush and some OxiClean. I couldn’t let it soak for as long as the can recommended because Freddie was way too intrigued by the whole process and I was afraid he would play in the water and then lick it off of himself and get good and ill, but it still got a fair amount of grime up. And when I went to sleep, my muscles ached. And I had nightmares about the crusty stuff in the microwave that I hadn’t cleaned. Guess what I’ll be cleaning tonight?

Like the Brady Bunch. With adults. August 27, 2007 ~ 3:40 pm

Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closed

Sometimes I think my life is some bizarre “blended family” sitcom. Except unlike the TV shows where it’s the kids that are blended? In my life it’s the adults. I know my situation is abnormal. I’ve known that since I met most of Rick’s Ex’s family last Thanksgiving and ended up buying Terrible Towels for several of them. And last week? The Ex’s sister got married and Rick ended up staying at his ex-mother-in-law’s house for several days prior to the ceremony (in which both girls were bridesmaids, which is why he attended). But today takes the cake. Rick called me at work this afternoon to remind me that Wednesday is the Youngest’s twelfth birthday, and say that the Ex wanted to know if we wanted to go see Curtains with them to celebrate. I said sure, because I wanted to see the Youngest on her birthday and who am I to turn down a Broadway musical? Rick told me that the Ex was bringing her boyfriend as well. And that’s when I realized that this whole evening? Probably a 9 on the Weirdness Scale. At least.

The good news is that someday I will have plenty of material for a novel.

The baby, she likes fireworks August 27, 2007 ~ 11:17 am

Posted by Julie in : The Girls, Urban Family , comments closed

We took Samang to the beach on Friday, and except for a brief period when she screamed to let us know that she hates sunscreen being applied to her wiggly little body, we had a kickass time. And then some self-righteous prick from the Parks Department came over to tell us that we couldn’t have a tent on the beach. The tent in question was this, which at least three lifeguards and two other Parks Department flunkies had walked past and ignored prior to Officer Prick. It’s not a tent, dude, it’s a baby shelter. No adults can sleep in it, we were obviously using it to keep the baby out of the sun while she napped. So we packed up early, made a stop at my house and a stop at Jordana’s house so all the adults could shower and get the sand off our bodies, and then headed down to Coney Island for the fireworks.

And then we made a miraculous discovery. Samang likes fireworks. We had put a lightweight blanket over her ears to protect her hearing from the explosions, and that part she didn’t like. She had just screwed up her face to start crying when the first firework went off. She opened her eyes to see what it was and was spellbound for the next twenty minutes. I spent more time watching her than I did the fireworks display because it was just so much fun to see her enjoying them. We may have to take her back this week to see them again.

In need of sunshine August 23, 2007 ~ 12:01 pm

Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closed

Fingers crossed, the electrician will be installing my ceiling fan today. Of course, it’s been fall here all week, so I don’t actually need it at the moment - I actually slept with my windows closed the night before last because it was too cold. If I had wanted cold, grey, and rainy, I would have stayed in northwestern Pennsylvania, ta very much.

We’re told that summer will return tomorrow, and if that’s true, Jordana, Samang, and I will head to the beach. Last summer we lived there, this year we haven’t had a single beach day. I haven’t even been to Coney Island this summer (we will remedy that tomorrow as well). My debate: take the expensive camera and maybe get sand in it but get great shots or leave it at home? Choices, choices.

Does anyone else find this odd? August 22, 2007 ~ 1:36 pm

Posted by Julie in : In Da Hood , comments closed

Farm-Aid is happening in New York City this year. On Randall’s Island. In the middle of the East River. It’s joined to Ward Island by a landfill. My friends, the only way it could get more urban was if they plopped Farm-Aid down in the middle of Harlem.

On the other hand, the inmates over at Riker’s Island will have a nice concert to listen to. I bet a lot of them just love Willie Nelson.

Horrible TV watching habits August 21, 2007 ~ 12:01 pm

Posted by Julie in : Random Insanity , comments closed

Someday when Samang is old enough to work the TiVo when she comes to visit Auntie Julie, I am going to be in very big trouble. Yes, there are wholesome things on my TiVo. The Waltons, for example (ha, Retro! I outed myself! You have nothing to hold over my head!). Quite a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie. I enjoy those old family values shows. It’s nice to see good people doing alright, even without a lot of money, and bad people getting theirs. And hell, I can knit better than Laura Ingalls, from what I’ve seen. I am embarrassed to admit that I like these shows because they’re not “cool,” but what the hell.

Then there are the shows that are good, but not so good for kids. Like Rescue Me. I mean, my cousins and I were all listening to No Cure For Cancer when we were in middle school, and our parents were laughing right along with “I’m an Asshole,” but that doesn’t mean Samang’s parents would like their child exposed to Denis Leary humor. But I think I can put a block on that if I have to. And it’s got an innocuous enough name that I can dodge the bullet if she reads it.

The question that I’m dreading is when Samang is old enough to read through the TiVo List and ask “Auntie Julie? What’s Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels? And America’s Next Top Model? And Rock of Love?” Especially that last one. Because if I have to explain why I am so into watching sluts compete over the lead singer of Poison, I’m screwed. I have no idea why it’s so entertaining to watch women have to change into slut clothes in a portapotty to win a date with Bret. It just is. And yes, it is demeaning to women, but those women put themselves in that position. And that would lead us down a whole ‘nother path.

Maybe we should just make TiVo watching off-limits at Auntie Julie’s house. We’ll watch videos instead.

August 21, 2007 ~ 11:44 am

Posted by Julie in : Asides , comments closed

Only I could manage to catch a cold in AUGUST.

Bad Behavior has blocked 390 access attempts in the last 7 days.