About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
Read MoreApril 4, 2008
I’ve decided to move the monthly snapshots to the end of the month rather than doing them early or mid-month. I think I started that way because that’s when it occurred to me to do them, but it doesn’t make sense to call the January Snapshot “January” if it doesn’t actually include that month’s changes.
Just a little housekeeping.
Good News: Friend looked at my car yesterday, as did his dad, and both agreed that the damage has not compromised the structure of the undercarriage. Lots of scrapes, more in some places than others, and half the bumper’s gone, but it’s just the cosmetic bits. She’s safe to drive without repairs for now. At some point I’ll replace the bumper but I’ll do that myself (er, by that I mean, Friend will teach me now), as well as repairing or replacing the scraped up frame rail.
Bad News: Drama, drama, drama-rama at work. Little Boss has been very sensitive, and feels like the staff doesn’t defer to him enough.
Unfortunately, this is a sticky situation because he started off trying to be everyone’s friend when they were hired and didn’t establish a rapport of authority like I did (I’m boss first, friend second), he has a double standard when it comes to the females (get away with everything) and males (don’t get credit for anything), and hasn’t been doing his job as a manager because he’s stuck catering to Big Boss.
The list goes on, but he also shares many of the traits that it appears SingleMa’s former boss possesses. He’s instigated a “quarterly discussion and review” in which he spent most of one person’s review commenting on other employees. Surprise!
And it’s my turn today! Can’t wait to hear what he’s interpreted as my failure to support him, when in fact, I’m doing the managing that he doesn’t have time for.
Good News: I’ve been getting random free stuff 🙂
Bad News: Bosses offered us a free, floater vacation day because we had to work a holiday two months ago without extra compensation, and then tried to take it away from C1, the only one who’s had opportunity to take it, yesterday. “Forgot”? HMPH! Don’t even go there!
Good News: I’m meeting a lot of new visitors here lately, and it’s great to have my loyal readers contributing to the conversation regularly.
Bad News: My personal life is still a major jumble. I’m definitely taking some time to let things settle out, but it’s taking way too long for my taste. It’s probably not good that I keep thinking I want to quit my job and home, and take off at the end of the year to who-knows-what-‘n’-where, though.
Good News: I have great couple friends who are easy and fun to third-wheel with. That’s usually a weird position to be in, but they’re great, and are perfectly willing to rescue me from my house randomly.
Bad News: My parents still need a LOT of training. They keep doing things I specifically ask them not to do.
Good News: It’s Friday!!
April 3, 2008
The secretary handed me a subscriber copy of Lucky magazine yesterday.
Addressed to me.
At work.
??
It appears, according to the mailing label, that I have a subscription through the end of the year. If my puzzlement isn’t entirely evident, I’m confused. I have no idea where this subscription came from, nor do I know why it’s going to my work address. I never send any sort of postal mail to work, that’s weird.
I asked my coworkers if any of them were trying to hint that I need help with either shopping or style, but they all denied responsibility. There doesn’t seem to be any indication that this is a gift subscription, either.
Interesting.
April 2, 2008
More and more, I’m seeing the misuse or misspelling of reign versus rein. It’s even appearing at work! I realize it’s nitpicky of me, but it’s the kind of thing that gets to me after a while. So, I present a quick explanation of the correct usage of each word.
reign
1. the period during which a sovereign occupies the throne.
2. royal rule or authority; sovereignty.
3. dominating power or influence: the reign of law.
Appropriate blog usage: Over this blog, and my budget, I reign supreme.
rein
1. Often, reins. a leather strap, fastened to each end of the bit of a bridle, by which the rider or driver controls a horse or other animal by pulling so as to exert pressure on the bit.
2. any of certain other straps or thongs forming part of a harness, as a checkrein.
3. any means of curbing, controlling, or directing; check; restraint.
4. reins, the controlling or directing power: the reins of government.
—Idioms
10. give rein to, to give complete freedom to; indulge freely: to give rein to one’s imagination. Also, give free rein to, give full rein to.
Appropriate blog usage: You’ve been given $10,000, and free rein to spend it. What do you do?
April 1, 2008
He may not have had the pronounced “overbite” that she has now, but boy howdy, does she look like a Gomer with the spoiler removed from the front bumper.
I took her back to the shop for another estimate, and the guys were nice enough to put her on a lift and give me a synopsis of the damage. They rattled off a laundry list of dinged parts: framerail, muffler, shields, bumper, spoiler, etc. They didn’t even produce an estimate after all that because they said that it was going to cost too much to pay out of pocket as I’d planned; they strongly suggest I make an insurance claim.
Now, I’m not sure if I can just take their word for it since they ARE in the business to make money, and my not repairing possibly minor damage means less revenue for them. I’m asking my friend’s brother to take a look at it and let me know what his personal assessment is. He’s not a mechanic by trade, but he’s very mechanically inclined and his dad is on hand for advice as well.
At the very least, I’ll feel more comfortable getting an unbiased second opinion before throwing down another insurance claim and a thousand dollars.
Little of Column A, little of Column B.
Once again, any lingering regrets that I didn’t handle the tax return myself have been dispelled. PaDucky has the forms so I haven’t inspected his work with a finetooth comb yet, but it sounds to me like he’s more than earned his keep. The man has not only magicked the forms to produce a federal tax bill of $1290, approximately one third the total of my own margin-scribbles math, but he offset that with a state refund of $998. Throw in the tax rebate to hit my checking account on May 9th, and you have one happy happy ‘ducky.
Until the taxes have been paid, and the money I’m expecting is in my virtual, grubby hands, I probably won’t believe it. I know that’s weird, there’s no reason to doubt, but I also didn’t have a possible “windfall” to look forward to in the form of my dedicated savings account for taxes. Assuming those numbers are right, I’ll not only have an extra $300 after everything’s shaken out, I’ll have my ENTIRE tax savings account left over. I’ve not only been putting away money to pay taxes in there, I’ve been salting away any little money I’ve gotten, interest money from loans and the like, to keep safer than safe since I knew I wouldn’t touch that account for anything until April 15th.
Now I’ve got a little gremlin in my mind saying, pssst! That’s all windfall, ‘ducky! What’re you gonna DO with it?? I’m pret-ty excited…. so I’ll definitely take a few days to decide how this will be divvied up. E-fund? Mini e-fund? Car fund?
**I was putting this post together before the car thing. Talk about counting your ducklings ….**
March 31, 2008
I just rescued my baby from the auto body shop on Saturday, and was getting mentally geared up to sell off the truck. It was really finally gonna happen! So what do I do? I went out last night to Pinkberry to see my friend, freshly back from New York, and had to drop him off at his sister’s afterward.
It was dark, unfamiliar territory, and I was a bit distracted trying to see what streets were in front of me … in the middle of a left turn. And I went over part of a divider just enough so that the underside of my bumper was scraping along the ground. *sigh* I was so very angry with myself, how could I be SO careless?? She was literally just liberated the day before, and I had to go and wreck another part.
That’s what I get for being careless. I don’t even know what the cost will be, but part of me just wants to rip off that bottom part that’s dragging and keeps getting scuffed up anyway.
Friend told me that it was because I’d gotten her war wounds repaired, and she doesn’t want to be a prissy girly car. (Yes, my car’s a girl.) GAH.
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