Tell it like it is, lady!

She got results!

The spouse and I arranged to bring up the Thomas & Friends train table our son had for several years to the children's consignment store. He brought up the frame, I carried the table leaves. We were ninety feet from the store when a woman and her mother-in-law asked us if we were planning to sell it to the store they just left.

A conversation ensued. They bought our table, drove my husband to the house, while I walked with the mother-in-law (displaced by the bulk of the table in the vehicle). They bought the trains too. We are $65 richer from our four-block walk. This is great: our basement is gaining space! How serendipitous!

My natural gas utility is requesting a double-digit reduction in rates this winter as apparently there are ample resources for us to make it through the winter.

Looking forward to getting monthly bills under $175 through 2009-10.

Some of my honest questions are regarded as prickly or obnoxious by some people: you just can't tell who's out there on the Internet, or even why the hyper-sensitive would read blogs or go watch television so they can get themselves riled up. Sorry. I'm trying to be bland and innocuous.

How do people between the ages of 25 and 65 make time for television? Is it true that people just use it for noise? The people I know who talk a lot about television are single female senior citizens.

How many typos should I excuse/forgive on a professional staffing/recruiting company application form? I attempted an application form online and lost patience with six typos. You can imagine how few Facebook quizzes I fill in (not interested in paying for text charges, or cramming done by third parties on my phone bill, both of which can happen with these quizzes but that is fodder for more posts).

How do I get rid of fruit flies?

Is it a sign of middle-age that I am finding radio/iPod music in university-area restaurants and cafes too loud? Does noise tolerance deteriorate with age? Is loud music a covert fogey-deterrent? Or am I just sensitive to noise? I ask as I've brought up the matter with a middle-aged owner of one cafe/bar and he agrees with me and is forever telling his twenty-something employees to turn the noise down. I'm beginning to think that loud music in restaurants/coffee shops means "go away old people. Only people under 30 welcome here."

For Americans, because I've just heard some David Cross comedy: Have you actually seen a redneck fight? I've made but one visit to the South, and I had a lovely time: people were super-nice and casual-friendly. Because my husband was from a state with mixed history as far as some domestic business in 1861-1865 was concerned, and I was from a foreign country, we were treated to history lessons that the winners don't tell, plus gossip about the Faulkner Family. We saw poverty I'd never seen in this continent (or anywhere in my travels, and that includes council tenancies in East London--not Ontario!). Illuminating and fascinating. But no redneck fight.

For animal behaviourists, worldwide: my younger, smaller cat believes he is the top cat. The females in our house don't quite believe him. But we can tell he has pretensions: he gets upset when one cat rests on me, and if I am feeding treats to the other female, and he finds out about it, he'll trot over to her and bat her downstairs. The females won't go near me when he's around, on account he gets fussy/prissy/feisty. Top cats supposedly think they're more entitled because they're stronger/fitter, but what about the Emmanuel Lewises/Gary Colemans of the cat world? They're not stronger/fitter. Do purebreds think they're smarter/better than other cats?

why did I not name my cats Charlotte Rae, Dana Plato and Gary Coleman?

Link du Jour: MomLogic.com's 30-Day Recession Survival

I have a phone screen tomorrow so wish me luck if it moves you: it's a non-fattening, legal and karmic thing to do. I had a productive/happy day, full of intuition, light and magic. I wish I could bottle this stuff, seriously.

Spending more time at home makes me more present to what needs replacing and turfing. We've been buying bras (at Nordstrom, because I don't know of any other place where the bras fit me so well, and the undercarriage is top quality and on sale), duvet covers, waste baskets and rugs at IKEA. My son kept saying "I could buy this, or this or this. My bank account holds more money than this costs." I found the best way to quash his "can I haves" is with "how much do you want me to remove from your account?" I bought makeup, and coming up next will be knit dresses for the fall/winter season. On account that I have only three dresses, and one of them is for semiformal or dressy occasions and another is for warm weather. A third one makes me look pregnant. So I need dresses, but they aren't going to be Nicole Miller or Marc Jacobs or Jil Sander dresses.

My son also learned that his friend gets $5 per missing tooth. The tooth fairy gives him $1 at our home. He is feeling ripped off. I don't understand: The Upper Plate Metal Sculptor blew $3200 on the boy's orthodontics and the boy feels ripped off?

...because reboots are for installations, only.

http://templates.services.openoffice.org/ has OpenOffice templates. The more I play with Ubuntu the more opportunities I see for it to meet or surpass Windows applications, with the exception of iTunes. I have found journalling software, mortgage acceleration sheets, menu planners, invitation templates and media players.

I might get rambunctious and attempt PostGres SQL or mySQL with some XML, just to keep my skills sharp.

First: I am pumped about the purchase of four pair earrings and six tops (three of them cashmere sweaters, one silk) and two Tupperware (reg. tm) containers for $100 at a consignment store in north Seattle. I went to look at furniture, but admit I have maybe five tops, not including souvenir T-shirts to my name. It makes me happy to have cashmere sweaters under $20.

Second: I paid some of the Alberta trip off. I must practice my Japanese, along with other activities/duties too personal to add here. I said a few lines at the public market today.

Third: my boy was actually keen to take out several books from the library. It warmed my immigrant heart when he pointed out that he contributed "Canada" to the classroom list of "things that make us happy."

Fourth: not happy about gas topping $3/gallon. However, 25.5 mpg isn't horrible gas mileage.

Fifth: we are going letterboxing. I could use some chocolate.

Sixth: Gave blood, to help cancer patients. It scares me to know my cousin three years older than I was hospitalized because the chemotherapy she underwent close to annihilated her white blood cell count. When I give blood, I try to think of her and other cancer patients, instead of the idjit motorcyclists who don't cover their backs, arms, legs with appropriate gear (yes, I am a scooterist, but I'm such a mom/wimp too).

Seven: read about the trachtenburg family slideshow players, who are all about creative re-use of slides, family enterprise, and social commentary. They were from Seattle originally, and moved to New York City where they attracted the attention of ubercool people like comedian/actor David Cross and recording artist Nellie McKay.

Aren't you glad for this update?

I should be looking for either a job or a way out. I'm saddened by the apparent deterioration in the quality and circumstances of my city: the major didn't make the primary so now we have two newbie (never held public office; the mayor had been a county councilmember before) contenders. I'd rather newbies not get in right this moment. If I were the sort who believed that the best ideas come while shaving, the choice would be easier to make.

My son's school did not make Adequate Yearly Progress: I may call my mother-in-law so she can tell me that AYP is a steaming pile of scheiss (she wouldn't use that word, nor merde. She has decades of experience teaching in public schools. My son's math and chess options are in jeopardy: wouldn't it be sad if he went to school strictly to socialize with children and got his "unschooling"/education at home? One motivation for me to seek lots of work is to ensure my son has some kind of quality education. Our school is the only one in the cluster that didn't make Adequate Yearly Progress. It doesn't have Advanced Learning Opportunities funding anymore: my son participated in advanced math last year. I don't know if he's gifted though: I don't want to wreck his social life because of a cockamamie fantasy I have that he needs better. I don't understand how we can have one of the best-funded PTAs in the city (I was treasurer, I should know!) and yet not have quality education.

We blew a lot of money this summer -- garden, garage door, replacement door, orthodontics, big vacation in British Columbia and Alberta. I haven't been up to looking for a job because I'm overwhelmed as to where to begin. If I followed my heart I'd be writing articles on health and wellness. If I followed my skills/money I'd be contracting for companies soon to go under or collapsing under their weight of failed products and crumbling dominance. I want to spend more money on work clothes for me. I'm used to working in places where I could wear jeans and running shoes.

I don't understand how people could seriously entertain the untested/foofyglam option: in times of crisis I'd be more likely to choose someone who's publicly shown s/he can make necessary and tough decisions for the majority of citizens. Maybe this proves I am unfit to vote in this city/county/state/country.