Tag Archives: everyone is stupid

I haven’t gotten around to my usual endless photo session in the garden. These are few half-hearted snaps from my phone when I was waiting for Bob out front.

Dad had cataract surgery and there was a wee complication (don’t worry, everything is fine) but we ended up doing an emergency trip to the clinic on a Saturday when it was normally closed.

We arrived and waited in the lobby. The doctor showed up and stuck his head out the door and said, “It looks like our offices have been ransacked. I’m going to ask you to wait outside while I call security.”

It was kind-of exciting but Dad was glum about his eye so we were also: Really? Not one thing can go smoothly?

A single security person arrived and wandered through the suite and we had our check-up and left.

When we went back for our next appointment I asked the medical tech checking us in what happened.

Someone(s) broke in sometime Saturday morning. They took “stupid stuff, our broken scanner, our laminator, equipment made specifically for the surgeons that would be useless to resell.” The went through all the lockers and drawers and cupboards. Mostly they made a mess and inconvenienced everyone. They said it was good that the doctor was called in so they were aware of the problem but I’m sure the doctor didn’t feel that way. hehe.

They arrested one guy and we did not hear of any further developments.

A long time ago when I worked in LA and we still got handed a check for payday, I would go out on my lunch break to my credit union to deposit my check.

There was a well known taco chain restaurant near the credit union and sometimes I would stop there and pick up lunch for myself and some of my colleagues.

One time I was in there and while I was waiting this lady went up to the counter and started berating the clerk because her burrito was folded wrong (her actual complaint) and when she took a bite, she spilled taco sauce on her fancy work dress. She demanded that she be reimbursed for her dry cleaning expense. It’s probably worth mentioning that I was in an area populated with people from the entertainment industry.

I don’t know how it came out but I would die of embarrassment before I asked a restaurant to pay for my dry cleaning because I spilled food on myself.

I have a relatively small list of movies I want to see — movies that won awards or got great reviews.

I can never seem to get to them. Part of the problem is that I rarely sit down to watch TV early enough to finish something before it’s time for bed. Another problem is that I am trying to keep up with the shows I want to see. I finally made it through season 1 of The Crown, which I loved. A third problem is that often the movies I want to see have a heavy subject and after a long day, I don’t want to challenge my brain with deep drama. The final reason is that we pay a fortune for cable and channels and subscriptions and it never fails that the one movie I really want to see, is only available for an additional charge.

This isn’t to show off but I can’t stand seeing the meter at zero.

2434 / 50000 words. 5% done!

I uploaded this photo last weekend and then never had time to write a post.

Mother Nature schedules everything using my soccer schedule. Early season match in March? That calls for 40 degrees and driving rain for the duration. First midday match in May? Ninety degrees, you’re welcome!

I bought a sun hat and sprayed 45 spf all over my arms, feet, and neck-front and back: TWICE. Plus I put one of those waterproof 45 spf special for your face all over including my ears and into my hairline. We only had the sun on us for half the time and I was hot and sweaty but not lobstered.

Tomorrow we have a nooner but supposedly it will be 75 and partially cloudy. I’m still going to drench in sunscreen.

The Project of Everything: URGH. I am still losing more words than adding. I am still fighting back distress about the whole thing and giving myself positive feedback. Words are going to fly out of my brain when I need them, right? Hopefully a better update at the end of the weekend.

Today’s Technology Rager: My doctor clinic emailed me a note about a preventative exam I need to schedule. I can’t get into my account. It says my password is wrong.

I went to change password and they asked me a security question. I don’t have the slightest idea what answer I might have given since the thing does not exist for me. I probably made something up but when I do that, I usually write a note on this piece of paper next to my computer with approximately 9000 pieces of information that I need to get into websites. I wrote nothing on this item.

Now I’m all worked up and I couldn’t take care of the problem. I had to send an email to the help desk which says it will get back to me in 72 hours. Well, yahoo. What’s that? Monday?

I already know what they want from me because they also robocall me on it. Also: I ALREADY HAD THE EXAM AT THE CLINIC.

Once when Bob and I were in Germany, we went to visit this castle at the end of the day. The ticket office was closing as we walked up and the clerk came out and waved his arms at us and hollered: The castle is finished!

That sentence construction is still our favorite.

I can’t recall a pleasant experience in a RadioShack, well, ever. How did it even last as long as it did?

I went into that shop in the last couple of years and it was one of my most unpleasant retail experiences in recent memory. I think they were really into micromanagement? Some person in charge pretended to do something while narrating everything the clerk was supposed to be doing while he was helping me. It was awful and I’m not sad to see them go.

The elastic in my exercise top is about 90% dead so I was in the market for a new one. Why do all the tops have such a goofy strap configuration? And trust me, these aren’t even the goofiest ones.

These are from at least 4 different online stores and each store has zillions of examples. I could post these all afternoon.

I have had two tops with much simplified versions of the goofy straps and I hated them. After you wash them you have to spend 15 minutes unraveling the straps. Or if traffic is messed up and you get to class 2 minutes before it starts and you’re rushing to change clothes — those straps are going to be all tangled together and inside out.

I went to a generic department store thinking: I don’t need to have something cute. Just a plain old exercise top will be fine. I couldn’t even find one of those. It was all cropped things. I’m not going to exercise with my gut hanging out — even in the privacy of my own home. I’m sticking with the old for now until I have time to do more research.

In other news I made a huge miscalculation. I’ve been dealing with bedding. I bought a new comforter since the old one is all flimsy with the feathers bunched in the corners. Since the weather cooled off I decided to swap the sheets out. I dug the flannel duvet out and last spring I bought new fleece sheets on sale. I washed and fluffed and had everything airing out on the couch to put on the bed today.

Except the weather is supposed to get into the 80s this week and I don’t want to crawl into my fleece bed with a flannel-covered down comforter after an 80 degree day. I had to do some creative folding and cramming to get it all put away for another week or two. That new comforter is fluffy.

Pen name’s book is finally available in paperback. You can get it at giant online retailer here. Or from Createspace (Technically, still giant online retailer) here. If you buy books from other sources you should be able to order the paperback version using pen name and title.

Remember when we used to buy software in giant boxes filled with disks? And the books were always huge — like it was a rule you couldn’t print a book about a computer program unless it was 1200 pages.

I was planned to do an update yesterday and complain about some different people who are doing it wrong but I ran out of time and energy and now I have to complain about a brand new aggravation.

Wasn’t I just talking about how I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to pay for something and How was this easier than writing a check? I don’t think I ever got around to typing it out.

In our latest version, I just got my property tax bill and instead of doing my regular thing where I keep putting off paying it and then panicking, thinking I forgot to pay it, I thought I would pay right this minute.

I changed banks and I’m trying to get with modern life and transition away from writing checks. My tax bill said they have a partnership with a web company and I can pay for free. I signed in, put in my property bill info and received an error message that my account/name/something don’t match and I can’t go forward.

Rather than flog myself trying to fix it, I looked at the bill to check my alternatives. I can log into the government tax website and pay either a $1 for an echeck for a percentage of the bill as a debit. I don’t know what the difference is but I thought I could figure it out once I got the process started.

I got an error message that the page isn’t working and try again later.

The whole point is to do it now and not worry about doing it later. So I went and dug out my brand new checks from new bank that I have never used. On the top of the checkbook it says: before you use, verify that the information on the checks is correct. So I log into the website to double check my account number and the routing number.

They are in the process of updating their system so I could not find my routing number. The FAQ explained how to check like you would with the old interface that they don’t have anymore or I could just look at my checks.

Picture me giving the computer a withering look.

In the end I used my taxes to verify the routing number.