BLIZZARD!

They said it would snow, and I kinda didn't believe them. They always say it's going to snow. They said six to ten foot drifts, and I said "whatevs, not gonna happen." I did wonder about my coworkers' somewhat hysterical reactions - BLIZZARD! OMG! BLIZZARD! - 'cause I'm NOT in North Carolina anymore, and frankly I expect a bit more, rational weather-wise, from people who live in Chicago. And then it started.


We all went home early, although I couldn't resist playing with the Xterra in the snow. Petunia is a tank. I also gave some guy a ride to his house from the train station, which gave me a golden opportunity to play in the snow some more.

Of course, the cable was the first to go, so I huddled in my little house while the wind howled and gusted and the lights flickered. When I got bored with that (which didn't take long, given my attention span), I covered the bedroom window with a quilt to help with the draft situation and went to bed.

The next morning, it turned out that weathermen do occasionally know what they're talking about.




Happily, my neighbor did my sidewalk while he had the snowblower out doing his.



It only took 45 minutes to unbury my porch. (That is after I had to remove the glass from the storm door and shovel through the door to clear enough of the porch to open the door to start shoveling.) I'd been out there a bit over an hour when my other neighbor's son came over to help me dig. And about thirty minutes after that, his dad brought their snowblower over. All told, we didn't do the whole driveway (I have a HUGE driveway!), and it still took nearly four hours to dig out. Thank the gods for my neighbors or I'd still be out there.



And I'll be damned if I didn't have six foot drifts in the driveway. There's just something fundamentally WRONG with having to reach UP to shovel.



I had 22" of snow in my yard, in the sheltered spots, with drifts several feet high. (I'm not sure how high exactly because I wasn't willing to wade out there to check. I actually measured the drifts in my driveway 'cause I'm a dork like that.) Also? For the first time EVER, my company was shut down for a day. (That was the best part.)

So, is it Spring yet?

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

Wow, life's been crazy for me lately.

There's really no part of my life I haven't changed in the last couple of months. I moved back to the Chicago area (and holy smokes was THAT a nightmare! OMG moving SUCKS!). I changed jobs. I got a new vehicle. I've started (may the gods be merciful) dating again. Changed, changed, changed.

Well, except for my hair. So this weekend, I'm getting that highlighted. My life already feels pretty surreal, why not scare the hell out of myself every time I pass a reflective surface?

Happy New Year

A recap of my week:

Monday: flew from Cleveland to Chicago (oh, the irony) to Raleigh, my friend picked me up and we drove to the middle of freakin' nowhere. We stopped at the house, I picked up the jeep and hauled in the mail, then off to the studio to visit and GLAZE. Got back to the house around 9:30, cleaned a bit and fell into bed. (It's funny - I had never had keyless entry before Petunia. Within two weeks, I was totally ruined. WTF do you mean, I have to use a key?? At first, I found myself pretty much incapable of figuring out how the jeep worked. How quickly I forget...)

Tuesday: Up at 8:00, the packers arrived shortly after that and then I spent the day trying (with marginal success) to get them to pack what needed to go while leaving what needed to stay. While they were busy downstairs, I stealthily managed to pack up all of the liquids and chemicals that they wouldn't pack that were upstairs. (This was 8 boxes of stuff from the bathroom closet and the laundry room.) I went out at lunch and picked up food for them. (It's best to keep these people happy, after all.) Packed: my hairbrush, towels (but I managed to grab a couple of clean "junk" towels so I could actually shower), the carrying case to my toothbrush, the 3 bags for goodwill [that I had signs (STAYS!) on, told 3 people they stayed and hid in a previously empty closet], a secretaries desk, all of my trash bags, and a bunch of other stuff I probably need. I kept stashing packing paper, boxes, and tape so I could keep packing after they left, they kept taking my stashes away from me and putting them back in the truck. I finally resorted to hiding paper and tape outside when they weren't looking, and just demanding that they leave boxes. Headed to my friends' for dinner (their homemade lasange - YUMMY!) then back to the house where I spent several more hours packing up all of the liquids that I wanted them to take. (The customer service guy at the movers basically said that if I packed it, they'd take it with no questions - wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)

Wednesday: I didn't hear the alarms on my phones (alarm clocks got packed), or the huge truck pulling up. The driver pounding on the door woke me up. The day was spent riding herd on the loaders. There was a lot that the packers didn't pack, and it turned out that the driver had already picked up two over-sized loads, so there was about half of the space for mine that there was supposed to be, so he loaded up the heavy stuff and called for a second truck. The second truck didn't arrive until 5:00, and that bunch was completely incompetant. I had to instruct them to put everything in boxes, even though they KNEW it was going into a warehouse and needed to be better packed than if it was a straight shot in one truck. Then I had to stand there and make sure they did it. They didn't leave until after 7:00. My friend had come over when I started squawking about the second truck. She and I grabbed burgers and headed to her house. We ate and watched "Nunsense" and then I crashed there.

Thursday: Up around 9:00, to PetSmart for Nature's Miracle cat treatment, then to the house, treated the carpet then off to deal with the Post Office, electric company, gas company, return the cable box and remote, so on and so on. Then to the studio to work on glazing. Then my friend and I went to dinner to use the "baseball bucks" from my previous company. I had $75 in baseball bucks, dinner (drinks, appetizer, 2 dinners, desserts and coffee) was $75.15. SO SO SO good! Then I went back to the house and cleaned and packed up misc stuff until 2 am. Then I sneaked quietly into my friend's house and fell into bed.

Friday: Up around 8:30, did the final walk-thru with my landlord, then finished cleaning the stove. Wrapped my plants up in stretch wrap, loaded everything into the jeep, went to the studio, finished glazing, loaded my pottery supplies into the jeep and hit the road around 6 pm for Ohio.

I arrived at my parents' house about 11 am this morning, and fell into bed for about 5 hours. I'll leave here later tonight to head for Chicago with the cats. I have an appointment tomorrow at 2:00 to meet my new landlord and pick up my keys.

The first truck is supposed to arrive with my stuff on the fourth. No clue when the second truck will arrive. Maybe someday, this hell will actually be over...

Tomorrow...

I will fly from Cleveland to Chicago to Raleigh and one of my friends will pick me up in Raleigh and drive me back to No Man's Land, where I will wander my house and (hopefully) play in the studio.

Tuesday morning, the movers will arrive to pack up my stuff. Wednesday, they will load up my stuff. And then sometime between the third and the fifth, the movers will deliver my stuff to my new house. (Or so the theory goes...)

Ironically, my new house is only about 2 blocks from my old apartment. It's a bit smaller than I was hoping to find, but it's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow with a full basement (with an outside door) and a two car garage. So, it'll be okay I think. And it's walking distance to the train station and the library, so it's where I want to be.

It's also only the second house of the millions that I looked at that was even habitable. I wish now that I'd thought to take pictures of the bright orange counters, falling down ceilings, small dead mammals, inoperable bathrooms, sinks with no water, a garage with a body marked on the floor... seriously, it's been quite an adventure.

I've spent three weeks in an extended stay hotel, which was perfectly adequate... but omg am I glad to be out. One room living, camping out with a toaster, a microwave and 2 sparking burners is just not cool.

So, all's well here although even more nuts than usual. If you think of it, please send good karma my way - I could really use it this week!

The Spirit Of Christmas

May the gods help me, I'm about to go brave the mall to finish (ahem, start, then finish) my Christmas shopping. This is the first time in years that I've had to deal with a real mass of humanity in a mall, so this should be exciting. And awful beyond words. But, what I did already get for people is in North Carolina and will be until after Christmas and I don't actually have an address for shipping so... it's off to brave the mall. *whimper*

This is exactly what I needed to get me into the right mood. I love Jenny. She's almost as insane as I am, but in a much more funny way. It started here, when Jenny offered up gift cards to the first 20 people who commented that they needed help. When she read the comment from #21 that needed help, her heart sank. And then, a few comments further, someone said that they'd handle assistance for #21. And then it snowballed. Comments on her blog have helped literally hundreds, and several of her readers have done the same on their blogs.

This is what it's all about - just reach out a hand if you can. Or give an hour. Or don't stab the bell-ringer. You know, do what you can. And today (at least until I start the war for a parking place at the mall) I can believe that maybe, just maybe, all humans don't suck.

Hungover Owls

I'll bore you silly soon with my mis-adventures in moving. For today though, this site made me hoot with laughter. :-D



(Due to language - aka an INSANE number of f-bombs - I'd rate this NSFW.)

The Real Reason That I Love Tim Gunn...

Because in real life, he's C3PO!

The End...? (aka Jones Junction = Jones Nissan = Bel Air Nissan = Evil)

The story behind how I acquired Petunia is here, and here, and there.

On 11/23/10, Roxanne told me that the Garmin was on order and it would be delivered in 2 weeks or maybe 3 due to the holiday.

On 11/24/10, Steve Zell told me that he hadn't returned my calls because the service manager was supposed to be handling it, and they couldn't get the nav system or the cradle. Also on the 24th, I talked to the registration people and the title people in Ohio and they still hadn't received anything BUT I could bring in the bill of sale and some other paperwork and get a 30 day temp tag from Ohio. I talked to Tracy and she said that she'd fedex copies of the papers that they'd sent to Ohio so I'd have them and that they'd arrive at my parents' house on Friday.

On Friday, nothing happened.

On Saturday (11/27/10), I called Tracy's cell phone to demand to know where the fedex package was. She checked the tracking number, and it was never shipped. So she went into the office, scanned the papers and emailed them to me. I printed them out and kept them with me. (The theory was that if I did get pulled over, I'd have proof that the registration was in process.) Also on Saturday, I moved into the Extended Stay hotel in one of the Chicago suburbs.

On 11/29/10, Tracy told me that the courier company would have the paperwork from the state the next day and would fedex it directly to me. Later that day, I talked to Roxanne, who needed to know what county in Ohio. Also on the 29th, I left a message for the guy at the dealer license place to let him know that the situation was not resolved. And I got a message from my parents saying that the fedex from the dealership arrived at their house today. Also, I started my new job.

On 12/1/10, I left several messages for them but didn't hear anything.

On 12/2/10, I talked to the registration and title people in Ohio again and learned that the registration had been completed the day before. Yay! I also got a message from Roxanne with the fedex tracking number of the registration coming to me at my new place of work.

On 12/3/10 (the day after my 60 day temp tags expired), I received the package with my registration and Ohio temp tags, with the note that my plates were being manufactured and I'd get them via fedex in the next 2 weeks.

On 12/7/10, I talked to my dad, who told me that Petunia's tags are at their house. Success! Yay! I'll pick them up when I'm home for Christmas, and I have the temp tags (which are good until 12/29/10) until then.

Now I wait and see if the dealership has the nerve to call and try to collect the additional taxes... I have been keeping track of the hours that I've spent on the phone for this, and there's a lot of them. If they call me for the taxes, I will bill them for these hours and it will be substantially more than the tax difference, and if it comes to it, I will take them to court. I am so sick of businesses pulling shit like this because they know that they will get away with it because there isn't any way for you or I to do anything about it without a significant output of time, money and energy which most of us just can't afford. At this point, I'm almost hoping they do call - I need a target for all of the rage and stress, and they'd be a handy one.

Interesting Side Note:
I need a local Nissan dealership here so I started researching the Nissan dealerships around here. I found one that did the same thing to a guy buying the vehicle from Virginia. And a lady I talked to in North Carolina went through something very similar when buying a car in Florida. I have a hard time believing that this is a coincidence. So, if you are buying a car out of state, BEWARE.

Lessons Learned:
1. Get everything regarding pricing and available options in writing, preferably notarized, from someone with the authority to give it. Hint: sales guy probably doesn't have the authority.

2. Make sure writing is CLEAR. (Something scribbled on the side of the brochure = not clear.)

3. Eat BEFORE you go. Take snacks.

4. Read everything. Question anything that is not perfectly clear. (If you can't explain to someone else and have it make sense, it is not perfectly clear. Ask.)

5. Research the dealership carefully. This includes an address search! (I researched by Jones Nissan and Jones Junction, which is what all of the advertising says. The actual name of the dealership is Bel Air Nissan, and THAT is where the bad reviews live. Yes, they are operating under an alias to hide from their bad press. That never occurred to me. I will not forget in the future.)

6. Try to get something in writing from them before you leave stating that you have paid everything that you are responsible for - I don't know if this will work, but if it does, it will probably save you being called weeks later for additional fees.

7. Learned from a forum online: do not mention a lawyer unless you have one. Most dealerships will immediately stop talking to you and go straight to their lawyer. Don't try to bluff this one.

8. The Attorney General, the BBB, the corporate parent company (Nissan Corporate Customer Affairs), the finance company, the clerk of courts in Maryland and Ohio, AND the registration people in Maryland and Ohio were sympathetic, but useless to resolving the situation. I think my calling several times a day for several months helped, and I think I'd still be fighting with them had Agent Hubbart from the Maryland Dealers Licensing Department not called and snarled at them for me. So, don't forget the dealer licensing people if you have a problem.

Best Snackies EVER

My friends gave me their old dehydrator when they got a bigger one for Christmas last year. I have only used it a couple of times but this totally makes storing it worthwhile! Another kitchen tool that I have but seldom use is the mandolin. So making apple chips is awesome in many ways - I get to play with seldom-used kitchen gadgets AND I get super yummy and nutritious snacks out of it. Win win!

This "recipe" is from the same friends that gave me the dehydrator. We went to Sam's Club the other day and found big bags of Jonagold apples. We both squeaked with joy and pounced.


Ingredients:
Apples (I prefer Jonagolds for this.)
Orange Juice

Directions:
Pour orange juice in a bowl. Wash apples, quarter and core them. Use mandolin with thickest slicer attachment (mine is about 0.25 inches) to slice apples.


As each quarter is sliced, put slices in bowl of orange juice.


When the bowl is full, arrange slices on dehydrator trays.



Stack the trays, turn it on and let it go. (I use the middle of the fruit setting - 135 degrees.) After a couple of hours, I flip the chips over to keep them from sticking to the trays. I also restack the trays with the top on the bottom, front in the back to ensure even air flow.



They're done when the apples are dry to the touch. Or you can't wait anymore, whichever comes first. I store mine in freezer bags in the cupboard, but they never last long - it's an act of will to not snarf them all down as soon as I turn the dehydrator off.



If you don't have a dehydrator, you can probably use the oven on its lowest setting. You should try, 'cause these things are seriously delicious!

To Give Thanks

I'd classify myself as more spiritual than religious, and as I'm about as deep as a dry creek bed, probably not very that either. And I'm much more inclined to believe that if anyone IS watching over us, it's because we're someone's ant farm more than for any other reason.

Having said that, however, I think that it's a good idea to reflect on what's good in your life and to try to find a positive spin for what's bad and to be grateful for what you have. Sending good thoughts in the direction of karma, or luck, kismet, fate, the divine - whatever floats your boat - can't be a bad idea. A friend on facebook puts her daily note of thanks to the universe up every morning and while I'm not willing to be quite as public about it as she is, her doing so has made me think more about it, which was probably the point of her making it public to begin with. (That sentence just gave me a headache. I'm going for the Bailey's, back in a jiff.)

Right. Now fortified! Yum. Warm Bailey's. Where was I? Right, thankful. I'm thankful for warm Baileys...

I'm not sure exactly when it occurred to me - undoubtedly several years after it should have - but being who, what, when and where I am makes me one very lucky lucky lucky person. I am blue-eyed, mostly blond, blessed with my health, the product of a rock solid marriage by two people who loved each other and their children. I have a world class college education, which I worked for - but not nearly as hard as it was necessary to for others. I live in a country that gives me recourse if I am treated unfairly because of my gender or my age or my sexuality or any number of other things, in a time where nearly all things are possible.

I got an email a while ago, and while I don't remember most of it, it was basically a check list of things that I usually take for granted that most of the world's population is without. And that got me thinking about how much I do have and being rather statistically inclined, I started thinking about THAT and realized that I am probably more fortunate than more than 90% of the world's total population. Think about that for a minute.

As I whine, and plod through my days, and mutter at gas prices and groceries, vet bills, MOVING (omg, the whining. you have no idea. yet.), drama with Petunia, my family and their complete lack of all rational thought processes, the new job, the search for a house, etc it's very easy to overlook what I have.

So I'm going to bundle up and go sit next to my thinking tree and say thanks, to the universe or anyone else who might be listening. Fate? Karma? Random good luck? Whatever it is, I've already won the best lottery of all. (There's another email that I get occasionally that blathers on about being grateful for all of this painful stuff - I'm grateful that my back hurts because it means I accomplished something blah blah blah - that mostly makes me want to punch the nut that came up with it, but I guess I do understand the thought behind it.)

Anyway, next time you have a moment, even if it's just at a red light, stop and say thanks. Who knows who is paying attention, and frankly the atmosphere can use the positive energy.

The Saga Continues...

Where did we leave off? Ah, yes. Here.

Well, after I talked to the finance people, and learned that the dealership had until January 10 to send them the title and paperwork, I was pretty upset. This meant that I HAD to go through the dealership to get Petunia registered - I couldn't cut them out and go directly to the state myself. And then I got to thinking... I couldn't get them for myself unless I got the temp tags extended to past the date that the finance people had to have the paperwork. THEN (so my theory went) I could get the finance people to send the title to the state and I could just deal with it then. Ha HA!

So a new quest began - to hunt down the vehicle registration people in Maryland and see if there was any way to extend the original temporary tags. I talked to Tina there, who told me that the temp tag is a one time thing - there were no extensions. Then I unloaded the whole sordid story on the poor woman and she told me to call a number and tell the guy that answered my experience. I owe Tina flowers. And my profound gratitude. THANK YOU, TINA!! Because that guy - who's name I didn't quite catch in spite of his saying it several times - is the guy that handles the license that the dealership must have to operate in the state.

He asked me what dealership it was, and when I told him, he was surprised - he said that they were pretty good. So I informed him about the F rating with the BBB, and the 15 pending cases with the Attorney General's office (both of which were news to him) and then I related what I've been through. He basically said that I was SOL on the garmin, since I'd gotten nothing in writing, and then asked why in the world I'd bought the extended warranty. (My brother already raked me over the coals for that - it's a huge money maker for dealerships. Never buy the extended warranty on a new car - you can apparently buy one at any time before the factory warranty expires for much less money. Sigh. Live and learn.) He asked when I bought the vehicle. (The paperwork says 9/29/10 even though I picked it on on 10/2/10.) Then he told me that he'd call me back within half an hour and hung up.

In less than 10 minutes, the dealership called ME, for just about the first time ever, to explain that the paperwork was with the state and everything would be fine and and and... they crawled. It was awesome.

Ten minutes after THAT, he called back. I meant every word when I said he was a god and I loved him. He told me that the dealership has until 11/28/10 to get this situation resolved, or they answer to him... and he can yank their license to be a dealership. YAY!!!! I'm to call them every day, and let him know what happens either way.

Finally, after 8 weeks of fighting with them and countless hours spent on the phone either talking to people or waiting to talk to people and countless more hours researching online and many many MANY countless hours spent going completely mental over this situation, finally FINALLY, I have a glimmer of hope.

Bel Air Nissan Is Evil, Even For A Car Dealership

Being me, I researched my vehicle purchase A LOT. I did scads of internet research, narrowed down the list of vehicles, went and test drove several of each and finally decided on the Nissan XTerra. Then I researched some more, drove more of them, looked at available options and decided that I wanted a 2009 or 2010 XTerra with the off road package, a 6 speed, and oh yes, a dark color - preferably the Night Armor. THEN I spent over a year looking online, in the papers, and so on for my new vehicle.

Finally, late in September, I found a black one in Georgia and a night armor one in Maryland. Both were 2010 models with the off road package and a 6 speed. The 2011 models were out, and my Jeep was definitely feeling its age so I needed to act. The black one was used, but with less than 4000 miles on it. They were offering $27500 for it. I contacted the dealership (Jones Junction, aka Bel Air Nissan) in Maryland and told them that if they could beat the price on the black one, I'd be in the next weekend. Dave Himer, the internet sales guy, asked me to make an offer so I came back with $26000. He went off to talk to his sales manager, came back and said okay.

I arranged for a loan thru my bank but agreed to let them run the numbers to check what they could get me. Dave came back with paperwork thru Nissan that was for a better interest rate, so I said that I'd go thru them. He fedex'd the paperwork, but spelled my name wrong then told me they'd just reprint it at the dealership. When I called and asked about the mileage and whether a Garmin was included with the vehicle, he put me on hold for 10 minutes to go check and came back and gave me the mileage and said that the Garmin was included.

The first weekend in October, I drove from NC to pick up the vehicle. I told them several times that it would be registered in Ohio. My drivers license is from Ohio. My permanent address is in Ohio. The insurance is based in Ohio. When I arrived for the appointment, I was told that i'd have to wait since others had arrived before me. There was no Garmin in the car and when I questioned them, they said that it wasn't listed on the sticker on the car and they didn't have any in stock. Then they said there was a problem with the financing and the interest rate was going to be higher than what my bank could give me. Then they made me wait longer to talk to some female who tried to talk me into a manicure and spending an additional $1000 on some clear coat protective paint thing. Then I waited longer to deal with the finance guy (Ron) who kept hitting on me. We had several discussions about where their numbers came from since they didn't agree with my numbers.

I finally escaped from the dealership after 5 hours, dizzy and half starved, without a Garmin to find my way home, with a higher interest rate AND - I found out later while reviewing the papers - that they charged me nearly 4 times what they quoted for the extended warranty. But, I left with Petunia and I love her.

It is now 7 weeks later, and they are telling me that they didn't charge me enough tax to register the vehicle in Ohio and they expect me to pay an additional $800+ to them. I have been on the phone with Roxanne or Tracey or Steve or Chad damn near every day. Chad is useless - he never once returned a phone call. Ever. Roxanne is nice when you talk to her, but doesn't call back either. Actually, Steve is the only one who DID call when he said he would, and even then it wasn't every time.

They claimed to have the tags from Ohio. This week, I talked to people at the title place and the registration place - they have gotten NO paperwork from the dealership, even though Roxanne claimed to have sent it 2 weeks ago. When I called her on that, she said that there was one more form that she had to fed-ex out and they should have gotten it yesterday. One other thing that makes me believe that she hasn't done anything she said that she would - the sales tax in my county is 6.75%, not the 6% that they've been mentioning.

Today, I talked to the finance people because Ohio won't let you register the vehicle until they have the title. The finance lady (Doreen) told me that they didn't actually have the title yet and the dealership HAD to be the one to handle everything... and they have TWO months from the date of the first payment to get everything under control. This means that they don't have to get things organized until January 10.

Steve Zell is the one who I'm primarily dealing with now. I don't actually know his title, but I think it's "enforcer." I read a review on Edmunds.com that talked about how he made some woman cry from getting after her so badly. Last week, I told him that if they provided the garmin and the cradle that were supposed to be on the vehicle, I would pay the tax that they screwed up and didn't charge. He had to talk to the owner to get approval. Then he came back and said that the the deal had been approved but the garmin and cradle had been discontinued but he'd look on Amazon and take the price of the garmin out of the tax. I said no. He was supposed to call yesterday and SHOCK did not. I talked to him this morning, and he said he didn't call because their service manager said that he was going to call me.

I'm at my wit's end. I talked to someone from the Attorney General's Office in Maryland last week and they told me that I was probably going to need a lawyer, which will cost more than just paying the confounded tax. They said this because there are more than 15 pending cases currently open with their office against this dealership. I filed a report with the BBB, but they already have an F rating there. I talked to Nissan Corporate Customer Affairs, and Ryan told me that there was nothing he could do - the dealership is independently owned. He also said that he'd called the dealership and they told him that the issue had been resolved. So, they lie to corporate too.

I am moving from North Carolina NEXT WEEK. I NEED to have this handled NOW. And I have no idea what to do. So if you have any ideas, please share them... and DO NOT ever ever ever ever buy a car from this dealership!

November 24 - TSA Opt Out Day

I've read several articles lately that said that the American public is perfectly okay with the new body scanners at airports because that is necessary to make them safe. Every time I read it, my head explodes.

When you allow a government to control your actions, words and deeds, it is not a democracy. Safety is an illusion. You are not safe. The government can't protect you. It SHOULDN'T protect you because that is not its job. The government is not your parent. You are not a child. A government controlling its citizens is tyranny. And I am sick to the eyes of people claiming they are safer if the government controls how much liquid you can bring on a plane, or makes you strip off your coat, shoes, belt, sweater, jacket, hat, hoodie, etc or makes you deposit your laptop, keys, cell phone, pda, etc in the little basket. Personally, I'd feel much more secure if everyone on board was armed to the teeth. I find it interesting that our government is subjecting us to searches that US soldiers are not allowed to administer on hostile ground.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

This is attributed to Ben Franklin. Smart guy, that Ben.

Why do so many people have such a problem understanding that the bumper stickers are absolutely right? Freedom isn't free. The cost, however, is not just sacrificing our soldiers on some foreign soil. The cost of being free includes knowing that it is possible for 9/11 to happen. And happen again.

The cost of being free is knowing that freedom to act, to speak freely can allow the extreme few to act in some horrific fashion.

It is way past time that the citizens of this country remember that. And remember that the government works for us, not the other way around. (I'll rant about the job of politician being one that no one who wants it should be allowed to have another day.)

So, on November 24, if you are flying anywhere in the 'States, opt out of the screening. And if you're male, wear a kilt. Commando style. We have to start somewhere in taking back our freedoms, and why not start with making the TSA as miserable as we are?

Update: I like her take on things. I applaud the decision of California DA Steve Wagstaffe to prosecute TSA employees who are guilty of sexual assault. I feel for Erin and what she went through at the Dayton airport.

The Final Countdown

I have many posts in edit that maybe some day I'll actually finish and post but that's probably not going to happen any time soon. I will be leaving North Carolina the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to head to my parents' house for the holiday. And then on Saturday, I'll be heading to the Chicago area to start my new job on Monday. (Yes, I know... moving TO Chicago in DECEMBER. My brilliance knows no bounds.)

My contract job ended last Friday. They extended the original contract for 2 weeks, and the global director of quality was pushing for them to extend it again, but I kind of needed this week to get stuff done (especially in the studio) and I'm pretty much done with that company. (That's actually one of the posts in edit.)

Done:
I've talked to the movers and have a quote.
I've arranged temporary housing.
I have a plan for leaving and what I'm taking now and not.
Some laundry.
Some (very little) cleaning.

Not Done:
Talk to landlord.
Cancel phone, cable.
Talk to utilities.
Talk to post office.
Deep clean house as much as possible (walls, blinds, ceiling fans, etc)
Organize and get rid of approx. 4 tons of stuff
More laundry.
More cleaning.
401 other things that are buzzing around in my brain like angry hornets right now.

Not Done but Can't Do Until I'm There:
Find a place to live.

Have I mentioned that I hate moving? Oh wait. Yes I have. As a matter of fact, I whined incessantly for months. Brace yourselves, folks, it's about to start again!

Happy Halloween!

Petunia

Since I am a contractor and have NO idea where (or really even if) I will be employed in a month or so, of course I ran out and bought a new vehicle.

More on the employment drama later, right now I'm obsessing over this:



Her name is Petunia. I've never actually named a vehicle before, and I feel a bit nuts doing it this time but the thought hopped into my head and I can't get it out. Maybe I've not named the others because I did not buy them new? I'm not really a fan of renaming animals after you acquire them either, if it can be helped. Yes, I know the truck isn't actually cognizant, thank you.

I love my Jeep, but it's aging. (And thank you, Jeep, for discontinuing the best, most practical, perfect vehicle ever. I hate you. And I want another damn Cherokee. What is WRONG with you people anyway???) Twenty thousand miles ago, my brother told me that I had between thirty and fifty thousand miles before things started going really wrong. I'm coming very close to 150000 miles, and the little things have gone wrong a-plenty.

No heat. No air conditioning. (I think. It's not like I ever turn it on.) Strange electrical issues. Rust starting. Weird paint issues after the Great Flood. When it gets Ohio cold (but not North Carolina cold), the locks have started to stick. I had to climb in thru the back a couple of times while home for the holidays last winter. The back door has also decided that cold isn't going to work for it anymore, and below some certain undefined temperature, the back door is liable to come crashing down without warning. The hood sticks. Then releases. The clothe on the ceiling is falling down, and my attempts with spray adhesive have only made things worse. The seals are starting to go, so when it rains (i.e. the Great Flood), the Jeep stays damp and musty for days - very pleasant. The Alpine stereo is beginning to get very warm after twenty minutes or so, and will no longer eject CDs when instructed to do so. And so on and so forth.

Anyway, I started the vehicle search about a year and a half ago. Since I can't have what I really want (Bastards!), I went a-hunting for the next best thing. It needs to handle snow. Rain. Hail. Velociraptors. (Ok, well not so far but if it happens to anyone, it will be me.) Mountains. Swamps. On road, off road, highway, streambed, cornfield. I have to be able to load it full. Of people. Or cargo. Or both. I want a manual transmission, dammit. (And that alone thinned the ranks considerably. I know many people who prefer a stick shift. Stupid car companies.) I finally narrowed it down to either an XTerra or a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Then I went test driving - many of them, ALL over the place. The Jeeps didn't have enough power to get out of their own way. Seriously, the Cherokee does better HAULING A BOAT than any of the used AND new ones that I test drove. But the XTerra... oh, I fell in love!

So after several months, I knew what I wanted: 2008 - 2010 Nissan XTerra with 4WD, preferably the off-road package, a manual transmission, in a dark color. Picky? Um no, not me. If it was an off-road, I wanted 2009 or newer 'cause of the cool (gawds I'm a dork!) off road lamps. I love autotrader.com. Seriously. LOVE them. I searched and searched and searched. "They" say that everyone wants an automatic transmission, but a car lot gets a manual in and that thing is GONE in minutes.

Finally, a few weeks ago, there was a used 2010 for sale in Georgia. It had everything I wanted except it was black instead of the dark grey. AND there was a new 2010 in Maryland that had EVERYTHING I wanted, including the color. I emailed the place in Maryland and told them that if they beat the price of the one in Georgia, I'd come get it.

(Note: if you are car shopping, be aware that the internet sales manager is usually paid differently than the run of the mill sales guy. He is usually paid a salary, with a small commission per vehicle sold. The normal sales guy usually gets a percent commission on every car sold. Therefore, it is NOT in his best interest for you to get a good price. The internet guy doesn't care how much each car sells for - his money comes from the volume of total cars sold. This is important.)

My timing was not accidental - the 2011 models have been out for about a month so they have incentive to get the 2010's off the lot. After some dickering (I'll pay this. This? No. This? No. THIS? No. I think we're done here. Fine. You'll pay that? Yes.), I caught a ride up to Maryland to pick her up. More dickering - three hours of it - at the car lot made me very glad that I decided against trying to trade the Jeep in at the same place. FINALLY after all papers were signed, the finance guy asked me what I did and I told him that I was an SQE. When he asked what that meant, I told him that meant that I spend all day forcing people to do what they said that they were going to do. His response? "Oh. Well, that explains today." Yup. Then I had the keys and I just had to remember how to drive a stick shift. Through Baltimore. At 5:00 on a Saturday. Yay! But we made it, and I haven't actually stalled it yet.

So, my shoe budget has been severely curtailed for a while, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my shiny new XTerra!

So What Is A Cubit, Anyway?

We've had A LOT of rain here... like 15 inches in 5 days. Everything is flooding. The drive to work (approx 33 miles each way) has taken two hours each way every day this week. Right now, it's pick your favorite weather advisory - all of these are currently active: thunderstorm watch, tornado warning, flood warning, severe weather watch, tornado watch, coastal flooding watch, wind advisory... and I might have missed one or two.


Yesterday, I left work at 5:00 based on a friend's recommendation that if I didn't leave then, I would be staying in town for the night. The road was mostly standing water and at one particular intersection, it was over a foot deep and rising fast.

What is currently amazing me is how nonchalant everyone is about the situation. Everyone who's been here a while has told me that it hasn't been this bad since [Hurricane] Floyd came through and then they go on to regale me with tales of their cars being under water and standing on their cars and still being chest high. These are the same people who freak the f*ck completely out over even a mention, a mere HINT, of snow. This is baffling to me.

I live in one of the town's historic districts, and while I chose it because I love the houses, it occurred to me that the house has stood for over a hundred years - odds seemed good that it'd survive whatever comes next. This theory proved correct yet again. One problem with this theory: I didn't really take into account getting TO and FROM my nice dry house. That has posed more of a challenge since it is situated on the only high ground - which means that it is surrounded by low ground.


As a matter of fact, last night was quite a challenge. I ran over something while sloshing through a bit over a foot of water and it shredded one tire and scuffed up another. I have no jack in my Jeep. I spent three hours sitting in my jeep in the pouring rain, waiting for the tow truck. That was awesome. So today I spent some quality time at the tire place, replacing two tires. (And having to do that TODAY with what I'm doing this weekend makes me all kinds of happy!)

In the photo below, you can kind of see the water thru the raindrops - the field is completely flooded, so is the drainage ditch and there was about four inches of standing water on the road - for several miles.


This is normally a fairly small little river. It's swollen to more than 3 times its normal width.





At this point, even the ducks are soggy and irritated. My plan is to cuddle in with some hot cocoa and work out the plans for the ark that I'm going to build in my (not flooded yet) backyard. So what is a cubit, anyway?

My Idiot Cat

... got stuck in the sleeve of my jacket today. It's been raining for four days here and so I've been wearing a nylon windbreaker back and forth to try to keep from looking like a total drowned rat. Because the coat was wet when I got home this evening, I draped it over a stool in the entry to dry before I hung it up in the closet.

Twenty minutes later, there arose quite a clatter - a prolonged, suspicious rustling noise coming from the entry. Upon investigation, I found this:


At first, I thought she was just playing with a zipper or something. Yeah. No. So I scooped her up and hauled her (and the dripping wet jacket) off to the couch to investigate. She got herself jammed but good into that sleeve. While she squawked and bit at me (because clearly this was my fault), I tried to jam her furry little body back into the sleeve. No dice. I finally managed to pull enough of the end of the sleeve loose enough to get to the snap that holds the end shut around my wrist (or the Peanut's middle). Once I had the end loosened, I held up the sleeve and shook it gently and the Peanut slithered free.

It's been a while since she pulled something this boneheaded, but this is the cat that, as a kitten, spent some quality time at the vet's because she ate my couch. And rocks. Several ink pens. Assorted leaves, twigs, bugs and other outside detris. Any flower she could get her teeth into. Several toilet paper rolls of toilet paper. Paper towels. A paper clip.

She falls down the stairs on a fairly regular basis 'cause she gets to the landing, turns the corner, catches sight of her tail, freaks out over that thing following her down the stairs and attacks it, then rolls down the rest of the staircase.

And so on. She's very affectionate, but she's never going to be one of the great thinkers of the cat world.

A Very Cool Little Dot

Just really neat.



And the making of:

My Little World...

is still a bit up in the air.

Things kind of crashed in July. I wasn't all the way home from my former workplace that day and the production manager at my [former] just in time supplier called me and offered me a job. And I said no, 'cause I want to go home. Later, the quality manager at the same company called and offered me a job and I said no, I want to go home.

A couple of days later, the quality manager called back and asked if I'd come work for them as a contractor until I was ready to move. Um. Okay. So, I started there at the end of August as a quality engineer, helping them put together FPAs (first part approvals) for their new biggest customer.

My first day there was the most surreal day of my young life. I'd been the customer for nearly four years. It was strange, but everyone was super friendly and really honestly happy to have me there. They're really good for my ego - they offer me a job nearly every day.

I interviewed for a place a couple hours out of Chicago, that I really wanted... and didn't get it. But, it was a FANTASTIC weekend with friends so that was cool.

Now I'm torn. I have an offer here for supplier quality engineer, which is what I've done for the past 7.5 years. They'll give me receiving inspection, so I'll have minions. I'll also be backup for the Quality Manager, and I really think I can make a difference. But, it's still in this area, and it's about 32 miles each way. They've got about a month to get shit done or their shiny new customer may drop them like a hot rock.

I'm still in the running for a job with another former supplier back where I want to be near Chicago. It's a customer quality job, in the headquarters, getting responses in order to make sure the customer is happy. Not my ideal job, but I LOVE the location and the company has another division in renewable energy that I'm very interested in.

I'm still applying to things in Ohio, but the job market there is not booming so I'm not very optimistic there.

So I'm back to working 60+ hours a week, and not really being sure where I'll be next month. But, all's okay here.