I've blogged before about my two favorite DJs, Roula and Ryan. They're on the air every morning from 6:00 - 10:00 and they do some amusing things - which is one of the reasons I listen to them.
Well, this morning they sent someone (I assume their intern) out to conduct an "experiment" at a local fast food restaurant. The premise was, drive-thru restaurants waste a lot of your time so they wanted to give some payback, right?
So they send out Kevin (aka Special K) to a local drive-thru restaurant for breakfast.
We first join Special K as he's one car back from placing his order. He acknowledges that there are cars behind him in line (which was the first time they considered that this would inconvenience customers probably more than the restaurant's staff but they decided to plow on anyway).
He pulls up to the thing (what do you call it?) you place your order at and orders a breakfast taco - that's it. We hear the lady tell him it will be $1.18. He pulls up.
When he gets to the window the lady says something we can't hear but Special K says, "You said it'd be $1.18."
(unintelligible talk from the lady)
Special K: "Can I borrow a quarter?"
Anyway, there was some more talk and he offered to buy her something (the DJs commented that it sounded bad that he couldn't afford his own breakfast but he's offering to buy her something...he said "she looks hungry!"). He paid for his food and they brought it out to him.
At which time he cut his engine and proceeded to eat his breakfast while still at the window. The DJs were expecting the staff to get ugly about it but they said nothing.
Meanwhile, the car behind him honks his horn at him. The DJs tell Special K that if they come to the window to investigate the honk to ask for more salsa. They did. He did. They brought him more salsa.
The car behind him honks again. The DJs tell Special K to prop his feet on the dashboard and get all comfortable while he's eating. He does.
The lady comes over to the window and politely asks him if he would go park "over there" to finish eating his meal. Special K says, "You want me to park over there to finish eating?"
"Yes."
"It's okay, I'm almost done. Can I buy you anything while I'm here?" He continues to eat, at the window.
The person in the car behind him lays on the horn.
Special K finishes up and drives off - the staff of the restaurant never getting ugly or rude. The guy in the car behind him though....
I was LMAO when this was going on. What can I say? I'm easily amused. LOL
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Writing
Last October, during the KIA, I wrote like a bandit but I haven't written a word since. It makes me nuts. I think part of my problem is, I tend to get caught up in "the rules".
What "rules" you ask? Well, that can vary, depending on who you're asking.
Anyway, I've been wanting to get back to writing. A number of years ago I met someone who told me a bit about herself. Considering what she told me, I thought it was a bit "odd". I also thought "it" would make a GREAT character in a romance novel.
I wrote a little on it and then abandoned it - as I do much of what I start. Well, the last couple of days it's been pushing to the forefront again. I want to tell that story again. Screw the rules! LOL
So...I started thinking. Jessica Trapp is hosting a yahoo e-loop 100 words or something like that. You have to write 100 words a day for 100 days and report (for accountability purposes) on the loop. If you miss a day, you have to start back over at day one. I haven't joined it yet but it sounds like a good idea.
My other option is to follow Jes' advice on How to Stay Unpublished Forever - Ten Easy Steps.
Tough call. ;~)
What "rules" you ask? Well, that can vary, depending on who you're asking.
Anyway, I've been wanting to get back to writing. A number of years ago I met someone who told me a bit about herself. Considering what she told me, I thought it was a bit "odd". I also thought "it" would make a GREAT character in a romance novel.
I wrote a little on it and then abandoned it - as I do much of what I start. Well, the last couple of days it's been pushing to the forefront again. I want to tell that story again. Screw the rules! LOL
So...I started thinking. Jessica Trapp is hosting a yahoo e-loop 100 words or something like that. You have to write 100 words a day for 100 days and report (for accountability purposes) on the loop. If you miss a day, you have to start back over at day one. I haven't joined it yet but it sounds like a good idea.
My other option is to follow Jes' advice on How to Stay Unpublished Forever - Ten Easy Steps.
Tough call. ;~)
Monday, March 26, 2007
Suzy Homemaker, I'm not
Larry, the Lawnboy, I'm not either.
I have this friend from work. I've been to her house a couple of times. The first time she had what she calls a "dog-hair tumbleweed" rolling across her floor. I didn't say anything but it made me feel that she'd probably cleaned her house for my visit and had just missed that. Which was a good thing - well, from my perspective.
Anyway, after I'd been to her house those couple of times, she was talking about her weekend and how she was housecleaning. She'd vacuumed the carpet and the vacuum bag was full so she vacuumed again. And again, until the bag came out empty when she ran it over the carpet.
Same for mopping the floor. She mopped over and over and over until the water in the bucket was clear when she finished. Maybe I'm way less of a Suzy Homemaker than I think but that just seems like overkill to me.
It also made me think she hadn't just cleaned for my visit and would have been mortified if I'd pointed out the "dog-hair tumbleweed" I'd seen in her entryway, which I still haven't mentioned to her.
As a result, I've been intimidated to invite her into my house - and haven't to date. However, we did once attend a training together and she came to my house to pick me up. It so happened that my yard was as bad as it gets the day she came by. All the way to (and back from) the training class, all she could talk about was my lawn and what needed to be done. (I told her it bothered me but she kept on.) After that I noticed comments she would make about things and realized that she's pretty judgmental about things. And putting everything together, I don't even want her outside my house. Doesn't mean we're not friends, just means I don't want her at or in my house.
Well, I'm home sick today (actually I'm doing a LOT better...was really sick over the weekend). I called her to ask her to take care of a couple of things for me at the office. I told her that I'd called another friend of mine on Saturday to bring me Sprite and said I would have called her but I knew her husband was in town (which was true. I was sick enough I would have happily had her come over and bring me something and not cared what she thought or said about my house - inside or out. I was that sick!).
So, she decides that she wants to bring me 7-Up and crackers during her lunch break. I told her it wasn't necessary because I still had Sprite and toast. She did it anyway. She did, however, only ring the bell, leave the goodies and leave (and I'm thankful - for the crackers that is...at least crackers have a salty taste to them...bread is so bland!). But when I called her to thank her she said, "I couldn't remember exactly where you lived so I just drove around until I found the worst lawn in the neighborhood and figured that was your house."
And she wonders why I don't invite her in! (or want her at my house)
I have this friend from work. I've been to her house a couple of times. The first time she had what she calls a "dog-hair tumbleweed" rolling across her floor. I didn't say anything but it made me feel that she'd probably cleaned her house for my visit and had just missed that. Which was a good thing - well, from my perspective.
Anyway, after I'd been to her house those couple of times, she was talking about her weekend and how she was housecleaning. She'd vacuumed the carpet and the vacuum bag was full so she vacuumed again. And again, until the bag came out empty when she ran it over the carpet.
Same for mopping the floor. She mopped over and over and over until the water in the bucket was clear when she finished. Maybe I'm way less of a Suzy Homemaker than I think but that just seems like overkill to me.
It also made me think she hadn't just cleaned for my visit and would have been mortified if I'd pointed out the "dog-hair tumbleweed" I'd seen in her entryway, which I still haven't mentioned to her.
As a result, I've been intimidated to invite her into my house - and haven't to date. However, we did once attend a training together and she came to my house to pick me up. It so happened that my yard was as bad as it gets the day she came by. All the way to (and back from) the training class, all she could talk about was my lawn and what needed to be done. (I told her it bothered me but she kept on.) After that I noticed comments she would make about things and realized that she's pretty judgmental about things. And putting everything together, I don't even want her outside my house. Doesn't mean we're not friends, just means I don't want her at or in my house.
Well, I'm home sick today (actually I'm doing a LOT better...was really sick over the weekend). I called her to ask her to take care of a couple of things for me at the office. I told her that I'd called another friend of mine on Saturday to bring me Sprite and said I would have called her but I knew her husband was in town (which was true. I was sick enough I would have happily had her come over and bring me something and not cared what she thought or said about my house - inside or out. I was that sick!).
So, she decides that she wants to bring me 7-Up and crackers during her lunch break. I told her it wasn't necessary because I still had Sprite and toast. She did it anyway. She did, however, only ring the bell, leave the goodies and leave (and I'm thankful - for the crackers that is...at least crackers have a salty taste to them...bread is so bland!). But when I called her to thank her she said, "I couldn't remember exactly where you lived so I just drove around until I found the worst lawn in the neighborhood and figured that was your house."
And she wonders why I don't invite her in! (or want her at my house)
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Dancing With the Stars
Dancing With the Stars starts back up tomorrow night (conflicts Ellen? ;~) ) and I'm really excited about it.
I have to confess that until this minute, I still had episodes of last seasons DWTS on my DVR. I had watched and erased the elimination rounds (up to when Joey got eliminated) around Christmas time but I still had all the dance rounds on DVR until last weekend. I figured since it started a new season tomorrow, I needed to watch and erase everything. *sigh*
Watching all of the old shows, knowing how it turned out, was interesting. I was able to be a bit more objective about the dancing - at least I think I was.
I would have to say that Mario truly was the best dancer of the bunch. He really looked like a professional, not an amateur, when he was on the dance floor. I think what did him in was that he didn't really seem to enjoy what he was doing. He was good but it seemed like it was just a job. Whereas, on the other hand, Emmitt (as well as Joey - who placed third) seemed to really enjoy it. They both went out and gave it their all - and were good - but they weren't as technically good as Mario was. But because they went out and had a good time, they drew in the audience more, and therefore drew in the audience support more than maybe Mario did. And I'll be honest, that's why at times Emmitt got my vote when Mario didn't. Emmitt involved the audience more than Mario did.
Anyway, a new crew starts tomorrow. It looks like they're changing the rules again on scoring. The way it worked the first season it was easier to tell who might be going home. What they did was give "points" based on score and votes. For example, if there were six dancers (which is what they started with the first season) the top score with the judges received 6 points. The second place dancers would get 5 points and so on to the lowest judges score receiving 1 point. The viewer votes worked the same way - top vote getter got 6 points, second place 5 and so on. Potentially you could have the top judges scorer tied with the judges lowest scorer at the end of the night (and you actually had until the end of the night to vote...and then until noon on elimination day).
I'm not sure when they changed the scoring rules but I knew something had to have changed when Willa Ford was tied for first place with the judges and still was sent home. Now it has something to do with percentages.
But anyway, no one goes home until the second week this season...there's no elimination round in week one so that changes the dynamic again. So we'll have to see how that works out.
Oh, and a funny thing I saw...Ian Ziering was on Ellen DeGeneres' show with Cheryl Burke (two time champion of DWTS) last week. He was saying that he was excited to see that Cheryl was his partner...that he'd thought they'd pair her up with a Tucker Carlson type (he went home in week one this past season and spent half his dance in a chair)...then he thought that maybe they thought he was that guy! Too funny.
But, here are the contestants for this season's competition:
Laila Ali - undefeated world boxing champion
Billy Ray Cyrus - singer and actor
Clyde Drexler - NBA Hall of Famer
Joey Fatone - NSync star
Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004
Leeza Gibbons - Talk show host
Heather Mills - Charity Activist & Campaigner
Apolo Anton Ohno - Olympic speed skating Gold Medalist
Paulina Porizkova - Supermodel
John Ratzenberger - Actor and author (came into the competition late, when someone else backed out)
Ian Ziering - TV and Broadway star
Care to make any predictions on the overall outcome? :~)
I have to confess that until this minute, I still had episodes of last seasons DWTS on my DVR. I had watched and erased the elimination rounds (up to when Joey got eliminated) around Christmas time but I still had all the dance rounds on DVR until last weekend. I figured since it started a new season tomorrow, I needed to watch and erase everything. *sigh*
Watching all of the old shows, knowing how it turned out, was interesting. I was able to be a bit more objective about the dancing - at least I think I was.
I would have to say that Mario truly was the best dancer of the bunch. He really looked like a professional, not an amateur, when he was on the dance floor. I think what did him in was that he didn't really seem to enjoy what he was doing. He was good but it seemed like it was just a job. Whereas, on the other hand, Emmitt (as well as Joey - who placed third) seemed to really enjoy it. They both went out and gave it their all - and were good - but they weren't as technically good as Mario was. But because they went out and had a good time, they drew in the audience more, and therefore drew in the audience support more than maybe Mario did. And I'll be honest, that's why at times Emmitt got my vote when Mario didn't. Emmitt involved the audience more than Mario did.
Anyway, a new crew starts tomorrow. It looks like they're changing the rules again on scoring. The way it worked the first season it was easier to tell who might be going home. What they did was give "points" based on score and votes. For example, if there were six dancers (which is what they started with the first season) the top score with the judges received 6 points. The second place dancers would get 5 points and so on to the lowest judges score receiving 1 point. The viewer votes worked the same way - top vote getter got 6 points, second place 5 and so on. Potentially you could have the top judges scorer tied with the judges lowest scorer at the end of the night (and you actually had until the end of the night to vote...and then until noon on elimination day).
I'm not sure when they changed the scoring rules but I knew something had to have changed when Willa Ford was tied for first place with the judges and still was sent home. Now it has something to do with percentages.
But anyway, no one goes home until the second week this season...there's no elimination round in week one so that changes the dynamic again. So we'll have to see how that works out.
Oh, and a funny thing I saw...Ian Ziering was on Ellen DeGeneres' show with Cheryl Burke (two time champion of DWTS) last week. He was saying that he was excited to see that Cheryl was his partner...that he'd thought they'd pair her up with a Tucker Carlson type (he went home in week one this past season and spent half his dance in a chair)...then he thought that maybe they thought he was that guy! Too funny.
But, here are the contestants for this season's competition:
Laila Ali - undefeated world boxing champion
Billy Ray Cyrus - singer and actor
Clyde Drexler - NBA Hall of Famer
Joey Fatone - NSync star
Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004
Leeza Gibbons - Talk show host
Heather Mills - Charity Activist & Campaigner
Apolo Anton Ohno - Olympic speed skating Gold Medalist
Paulina Porizkova - Supermodel
John Ratzenberger - Actor and author (came into the competition late, when someone else backed out)
Ian Ziering - TV and Broadway star
Care to make any predictions on the overall outcome? :~)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The "Experts"
Well, I'm still having connectivity issues with my internet - even though I've switched providers. It started Tuesday night, I believe.
Anyway, I would be working along and suddenly I would be dead in the water, so to speak. So I called the DSL technical support.
Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Phoebe takes a job as a telemarketer and they sit her down with a manual "for every eventuality" so that she can answer any questions the customer has? Well, I got that guy Tuesday night because every time I asked a question it would take forever for him to get back to me (and I usually had to ask the question multiple times), presumably because he was looking up the answer.
At one point our conversation went like this: (he's taken me to the command prompt)
Him: Type in "ip" (pauses)
Me: Okay.
Him: Type in "config"
Me: Is that all one word or is there a space between them?
Him: (long silence while he looks it up)
Me: Hello?
Him: Yes, I'm here. Type in "ip" (pauses again)
Me: I know what I'm supposed to type, I need to know if it's all one word or not.
Him: Just type in "ip" (pause)
Me: I know. (in an annoyed voice) One word or two?
Him: It's (then he starts spelling it out) i-p (pause) c-o-n-f
Me: (cutting him off) I know what you're saying and how to spell it. What I need to know is if there is a space between them or if it's one word!!!!!
Him: One word.
Me: Thank you!
It is at this point that I type in what he spelled.....ipconf....not what he said. So of course, I get an error message, which I read to him.
Him: Let's try this again. ip (pause) config
Me: (realizing my mistake and typing it right) Okay.
Him: What does it say?
Me: (I read it to him.)
Him: Now type (he gave me some command that I don't recall)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type a backslash.
Me: Ooohh. I'm not good with the backslashes. Which one is that?
Him: (long silence as he looks it up)
Me: Hello?
Him: I'm still here. Type a backslash.
Me: Which one is the backslash?
Him: (silence)
Me: Is it the one over the question mark?
Him: (unconvincingly) Yes.
Me: Okay
Him: Nevermind, you don't have to type the backslash.
Me: What?
Him: Type (gives me the command again)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type www.google.com
Me: Okay
Him: What's it doing?
Me: Nothing. (pause) Oh wait (then I read the error message it gave me)
Him: You must have typed it wrong.
Me: (uh, wrong answer! but I kept that to myself)
Him: (gives me the command - again - spelling it)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type www.google.com (and then spells it - as if I didn't type every single day)
Me: Uh huh. Exactly as I typed it before.
Him: Just do it.
Me: I did. Got the exact same error too.
We go through this exercise a few more times with yahoo before he realizes, there really is a problem, and puts in a ticket.
Him: We're going to send someone outside your house.
Me: You're sending someone to my house?
Him: No. I put in a ticket and someone will come outside your house.
Me: So someone is coming to my house?
Him: No. Someone will come outside your house.
Me: If someone is outside my house, they are AT my house.
Him: No, someone is not coming to your house. They are coming outside your house.
I have no idea if anyone stopped by or not but my connection seems to be working...at least for now.
Anyway, I would be working along and suddenly I would be dead in the water, so to speak. So I called the DSL technical support.
Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Phoebe takes a job as a telemarketer and they sit her down with a manual "for every eventuality" so that she can answer any questions the customer has? Well, I got that guy Tuesday night because every time I asked a question it would take forever for him to get back to me (and I usually had to ask the question multiple times), presumably because he was looking up the answer.
At one point our conversation went like this: (he's taken me to the command prompt)
Him: Type in "ip" (pauses)
Me: Okay.
Him: Type in "config"
Me: Is that all one word or is there a space between them?
Him: (long silence while he looks it up)
Me: Hello?
Him: Yes, I'm here. Type in "ip" (pauses again)
Me: I know what I'm supposed to type, I need to know if it's all one word or not.
Him: Just type in "ip" (pause)
Me: I know. (in an annoyed voice) One word or two?
Him: It's (then he starts spelling it out) i-p (pause) c-o-n-f
Me: (cutting him off) I know what you're saying and how to spell it. What I need to know is if there is a space between them or if it's one word!!!!!
Him: One word.
Me: Thank you!
It is at this point that I type in what he spelled.....ipconf....not what he said. So of course, I get an error message, which I read to him.
Him: Let's try this again. ip (pause) config
Me: (realizing my mistake and typing it right) Okay.
Him: What does it say?
Me: (I read it to him.)
Him: Now type (he gave me some command that I don't recall)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type a backslash.
Me: Ooohh. I'm not good with the backslashes. Which one is that?
Him: (long silence as he looks it up)
Me: Hello?
Him: I'm still here. Type a backslash.
Me: Which one is the backslash?
Him: (silence)
Me: Is it the one over the question mark?
Him: (unconvincingly) Yes.
Me: Okay
Him: Nevermind, you don't have to type the backslash.
Me: What?
Him: Type (gives me the command again)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type www.google.com
Me: Okay
Him: What's it doing?
Me: Nothing. (pause) Oh wait (then I read the error message it gave me)
Him: You must have typed it wrong.
Me: (uh, wrong answer! but I kept that to myself)
Him: (gives me the command - again - spelling it)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type www.google.com (and then spells it - as if I didn't type every single day)
Me: Uh huh. Exactly as I typed it before.
Him: Just do it.
Me: I did. Got the exact same error too.
We go through this exercise a few more times with yahoo before he realizes, there really is a problem, and puts in a ticket.
Him: We're going to send someone outside your house.
Me: You're sending someone to my house?
Him: No. I put in a ticket and someone will come outside your house.
Me: So someone is coming to my house?
Him: No. Someone will come outside your house.
Me: If someone is outside my house, they are AT my house.
Him: No, someone is not coming to your house. They are coming outside your house.
I have no idea if anyone stopped by or not but my connection seems to be working...at least for now.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Timing
We've been having a bit of a dry spell here...we've needed some rain. All last week they were saying that it would come this past weekend and have a little carryover into this week.
This weekend was GORGEOUS and they changed the rain chances for today to 40%.
Then this morning I get up and the news is having one of their special reports...all about the severe weather headed our way today. Not only have rain chances been upped to 100%, severe weather is expected.
People are calling into the TV station saying that the storms have ripped their roofs off. Doors have been ripped off their hinges. Hail, the size of baseballs, is crashing through windows. And it's headed my way.
Oh, did I forget to mention that today is the day that the appraiser was coming out to look at my house?
Yeah. I imagined our conversation going something like this:
Me: The decision to put a skylight in the bedroom was a rather sudden one. But I've always enjoyed looking at the stars at night.
Him: (just looks at me like I'm crazy)
Me: The waterfall in the living room is all natural. I'm an environmentalist, don't you know. I wouldn't dream of pumping water in for a manmade waterfall.
Him: (making notes but keeping an eye one me because he's not quite sure...)
Me: I felt so boxed in with walls and doors. I thought 'why not let the nature come to me'.
Him: (looks up from his notes...kinda has a scared look on his face)
Me: How do you like the self cleaning floor? Every time it rains, it cleans itself, whether it needs it or not! (gently grabbing his elbow) You'll want to be careful now, what with the floor being wet and all.
Who says I haven't upgraded anything? LOL
(By the way, we did get some thunderstorms (which Max didn't care for) but - to my knowledge - there wasn't anywhere near the damage they had to the west of us and the appraisal thing went fine...as far as I know. :~) )
This weekend was GORGEOUS and they changed the rain chances for today to 40%.
Then this morning I get up and the news is having one of their special reports...all about the severe weather headed our way today. Not only have rain chances been upped to 100%, severe weather is expected.
People are calling into the TV station saying that the storms have ripped their roofs off. Doors have been ripped off their hinges. Hail, the size of baseballs, is crashing through windows. And it's headed my way.
Oh, did I forget to mention that today is the day that the appraiser was coming out to look at my house?
Yeah. I imagined our conversation going something like this:
Me: The decision to put a skylight in the bedroom was a rather sudden one. But I've always enjoyed looking at the stars at night.
Him: (just looks at me like I'm crazy)
Me: The waterfall in the living room is all natural. I'm an environmentalist, don't you know. I wouldn't dream of pumping water in for a manmade waterfall.
Him: (making notes but keeping an eye one me because he's not quite sure...)
Me: I felt so boxed in with walls and doors. I thought 'why not let the nature come to me'.
Him: (looks up from his notes...kinda has a scared look on his face)
Me: How do you like the self cleaning floor? Every time it rains, it cleans itself, whether it needs it or not! (gently grabbing his elbow) You'll want to be careful now, what with the floor being wet and all.
Who says I haven't upgraded anything? LOL
(By the way, we did get some thunderstorms (which Max didn't care for) but - to my knowledge - there wasn't anywhere near the damage they had to the west of us and the appraisal thing went fine...as far as I know. :~) )
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Surfing the Net
I may or may not have mentioned that I'm the Newsletter Editor of my local chapter. Every month I collect articles from our members and put them into a newsletter that I just have to (or am supposed to) send out before our monthly meeting - which is the third Tuesday of the month. The software is easy enough to work with but I have found that it really is a lot more work than one (or at least I) thought. As such, I start plugging in the articles as soon as I get them (and I start asking for them as soon as the last one went out).
Anyway, I finished putting it all together late last night, sending it out just after midnight. I knew I had left one person off the mailing list (I didn't have her email address - but more on that later) and two bounced back. I also went to our e-loop to post it there (emails from the e-loop don't allow attachments but we can upload the file). What I saw was that it appeared that I had uploaded 72 articles, in addition to the one I meant to. Banging my head on the nearest hard surface, I sent an email acknowledging that I was an idiot. I also mentioned that the two email addresses bounced back and that I didn't send it to one person, a new member, Patricia Kay. I'm telling you her name because she's the reason I was surfing the net.
You see, she responded to my email and gave me her email address. And her signature line had her webpage - so I clicked on it (several people had mentioned how great it was to have her as a new member but I didn't know who she was - kind of reminding me of the Reno incident of '05 with Julia Quinn, but I digress).
She has a new book out called "Wish Come True" which sounded really cool (and which I bought this morning at Walmart while buying groceries for the week - and which I also suggested for the RWAOL book discussion for April, but again, I digress). She also had all these links at the top of her webpage, like "great reads" where fans can email her about books they enjoyed, "meet Pat" where she tells about herself, and "fun stuff" where she has links to some of her favorite pages - which is where I found "Romance Buy the Book", where a local woman reviews novels (she used to do it for a local news station but since the first of the year, she's been doing it but not associated with the news station). It looked fun so I was scrolling through her archives and reading reviews of some of the books I had read, and some I hadn't.
One I hadn't that caught my eye was "I Gave You My Heart but You Sold it Online" by Dixie Cash. The title was too cute not to check out the author's webpage, so next thing I know, I'm on Dixie Cash's webpage. She also has books called "My Heart May Be Broken but My Hair Still Looks Great" and "Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash". Suddenly I'm wanting to buy them.
Anyway, I came online to update my blog with the Romance Buy the Book link and decided to update a few other things as well. I've added a couple of blogs I visit but hadn't added yet and removed a couple that I never go to anymore. I updated my "Just For Fun" with new links as well. When I got to my "Favorite Authors" though, I found that I was dying to add Patricia Kay and Dixie Cash...and I may have mentioned that I've never read either of them before. Yeah, I'm that easy when it comes to books. In any event, I refrained from adding them - for now but I do see a couple of reads (at least) in the making.
And that, my friends, is how I spent my Saturday morning. What are you all doing? :~)
Anyway, I finished putting it all together late last night, sending it out just after midnight. I knew I had left one person off the mailing list (I didn't have her email address - but more on that later) and two bounced back. I also went to our e-loop to post it there (emails from the e-loop don't allow attachments but we can upload the file). What I saw was that it appeared that I had uploaded 72 articles, in addition to the one I meant to. Banging my head on the nearest hard surface, I sent an email acknowledging that I was an idiot. I also mentioned that the two email addresses bounced back and that I didn't send it to one person, a new member, Patricia Kay. I'm telling you her name because she's the reason I was surfing the net.
You see, she responded to my email and gave me her email address. And her signature line had her webpage - so I clicked on it (several people had mentioned how great it was to have her as a new member but I didn't know who she was - kind of reminding me of the Reno incident of '05 with Julia Quinn, but I digress).
She has a new book out called "Wish Come True" which sounded really cool (and which I bought this morning at Walmart while buying groceries for the week - and which I also suggested for the RWAOL book discussion for April, but again, I digress). She also had all these links at the top of her webpage, like "great reads" where fans can email her about books they enjoyed, "meet Pat" where she tells about herself, and "fun stuff" where she has links to some of her favorite pages - which is where I found "Romance Buy the Book", where a local woman reviews novels (she used to do it for a local news station but since the first of the year, she's been doing it but not associated with the news station). It looked fun so I was scrolling through her archives and reading reviews of some of the books I had read, and some I hadn't.
One I hadn't that caught my eye was "I Gave You My Heart but You Sold it Online" by Dixie Cash. The title was too cute not to check out the author's webpage, so next thing I know, I'm on Dixie Cash's webpage. She also has books called "My Heart May Be Broken but My Hair Still Looks Great" and "Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash". Suddenly I'm wanting to buy them.
Anyway, I came online to update my blog with the Romance Buy the Book link and decided to update a few other things as well. I've added a couple of blogs I visit but hadn't added yet and removed a couple that I never go to anymore. I updated my "Just For Fun" with new links as well. When I got to my "Favorite Authors" though, I found that I was dying to add Patricia Kay and Dixie Cash...and I may have mentioned that I've never read either of them before. Yeah, I'm that easy when it comes to books. In any event, I refrained from adding them - for now but I do see a couple of reads (at least) in the making.
And that, my friends, is how I spent my Saturday morning. What are you all doing? :~)
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Wild Hogs
I went last night to see Wild Hogs with a friend of mine. I wanted to go see it because it looked funny and I like Tim Allen and John Travolta.
I was not disappointed. The sometimes annoying Martin Lawrence even had a good role and did a good job.
Tim Allen was Tim Allen but fortunately I like him (remember, he was one of the reasons I wanted to see this movie).
John Travolta was GREAT in this movie. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else so I won't go into detail but he did more with expressions than anything. He just did a great job and was very funny in this role.
Then there was William H Macy. I really think (and maybe it's just me) that he's underestimated as an actor. His character (Dudley) was, by far, the most endearing character. I absolutely loved him and thought Macy played him perfectly. He was so funny...SO funny. It was a fun movie but it wouldn't have been as good without this character - and Macy playing it.
Anyway, bottom line, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. There were some corny and predictable moments but it was good. I recommend it.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Too good to be true
I had a board rot on the front of my house. It's been rotted for more than a year but my homeowner's association just noticed it last month and have threatened to sue me if I don't replace the rotted board immediately.
As such I went to Home Depot yesterday morning. I was proud of myself for getting up so early and taking charge. I took the offending board to the store and told the "info desk" clerk what I needed. She directed me to the lumber cashier for help. I waited in line to be told someone else would have to help me and she paged someone. This young guy comes up and says he's not sure what I need and grabs an older man and asks him. I say I wanted treated wood, if possible, because it's for outside. The older man says - and I quote - "I don't sell that here."
We start talking about what he does sell there and he offers to follow me home to see exactly what it is I need (apparently the board I brought in wasn't enough). He suggests he can install it too - which excites me because I want to be sure it's right.
I ask if he also installs baseboards (I still don't have any) and he says he does. I'm really excited at this point because I'm thinking I can charge his labor upfront and then pay when the bill comes in. So I ask if I can charge his labor. Turns out he doesn't even work for Home Depot! He's just a contractor who spends a lot of time up there - which, I decided was okay too. I still need these things done.
Anyway, we exchange numbers and I give him my address because he's going to do "one thing" and then come see what I need done. So I come home and promptly start throwing things in pantries and closets, etc. because I want to have the baseboards done and that means he'll probably come inside.
An hour passes. Then two hours. Three hours passed and I haven't heard from him.
Five hours later I called him. He'd forgotten about me, but he says he'll come right then - and then he does.
Come to find out, not only does he NOT do the work himself, minimum labor costs are $250, no matter how small the job.
I need one small board tacked up and he wants to charge me $250 in labor! That doesn't even include materials!
Needless to say, I didn't hire him to do the job. I went back to the store (Lowe's this time, so I didn't run into him again) and bought an untreated board (they won't cut treated wood and an uncut board would do me no good) and tacked it up myself - for less than $8!
So the fact that it seemed good (that I'd found someone and they seemed available to do the work) was an illusion.
I don't know though, I think I did a pretty good job with the board out front...maybe I could give installing the baseboards a try. LOL
As such I went to Home Depot yesterday morning. I was proud of myself for getting up so early and taking charge. I took the offending board to the store and told the "info desk" clerk what I needed. She directed me to the lumber cashier for help. I waited in line to be told someone else would have to help me and she paged someone. This young guy comes up and says he's not sure what I need and grabs an older man and asks him. I say I wanted treated wood, if possible, because it's for outside. The older man says - and I quote - "I don't sell that here."
We start talking about what he does sell there and he offers to follow me home to see exactly what it is I need (apparently the board I brought in wasn't enough). He suggests he can install it too - which excites me because I want to be sure it's right.
I ask if he also installs baseboards (I still don't have any) and he says he does. I'm really excited at this point because I'm thinking I can charge his labor upfront and then pay when the bill comes in. So I ask if I can charge his labor. Turns out he doesn't even work for Home Depot! He's just a contractor who spends a lot of time up there - which, I decided was okay too. I still need these things done.
Anyway, we exchange numbers and I give him my address because he's going to do "one thing" and then come see what I need done. So I come home and promptly start throwing things in pantries and closets, etc. because I want to have the baseboards done and that means he'll probably come inside.
An hour passes. Then two hours. Three hours passed and I haven't heard from him.
Five hours later I called him. He'd forgotten about me, but he says he'll come right then - and then he does.
Come to find out, not only does he NOT do the work himself, minimum labor costs are $250, no matter how small the job.
I need one small board tacked up and he wants to charge me $250 in labor! That doesn't even include materials!
Needless to say, I didn't hire him to do the job. I went back to the store (Lowe's this time, so I didn't run into him again) and bought an untreated board (they won't cut treated wood and an uncut board would do me no good) and tacked it up myself - for less than $8!
So the fact that it seemed good (that I'd found someone and they seemed available to do the work) was an illusion.
I don't know though, I think I did a pretty good job with the board out front...maybe I could give installing the baseboards a try. LOL
Friday, March 02, 2007
What to say?
I've been away so long I had to brush away cobwebs to make it into my own blog.
What can I say? Things have been busy. My group is being audited (internally) at work and I found myself as the go to girl for the prep work. I'm still involved (the actual audit started this past Monday) but the workload has lessened considerably (which is good because I was putting in 11 - 12 hour days and I can only maintain that so long!). Plus, there's the new dog. He keeps life interesting with all his "antics" (although, if he hadn't chewed through my phone line, I might still be a dial up girl instead of a high-speed internet girl, but that's a whole other story).
Anyway, so I'll try to stop by more often and try to come up with fun and interesting things to blog about. If nothing else, Dancing with the Stars is starting soon and already interesting things are happening with that.....LOL
What can I say? Things have been busy. My group is being audited (internally) at work and I found myself as the go to girl for the prep work. I'm still involved (the actual audit started this past Monday) but the workload has lessened considerably (which is good because I was putting in 11 - 12 hour days and I can only maintain that so long!). Plus, there's the new dog. He keeps life interesting with all his "antics" (although, if he hadn't chewed through my phone line, I might still be a dial up girl instead of a high-speed internet girl, but that's a whole other story).
Anyway, so I'll try to stop by more often and try to come up with fun and interesting things to blog about. If nothing else, Dancing with the Stars is starting soon and already interesting things are happening with that.....LOL
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