Measi's Musings

Archive for April, 2005

Warning– annoyed rant (with some resolution) ahead…

Around 4:30 yesterday, I was gathering my things at work… getting ready to go home and enjoy some of the beautiful weather. My phone rang– our buyer’s agent was calling regarding the closing next week.

Apparently the lawyer we’d hired to be there for the closing is going to be out of town next Friday, and apparently it’s okay to move the closing up… so how about Monday?

insert Mel panicking here

continue to panic

Mind you, it’s not that I would mind closing early… except that we’ve had arrangements made with my mother, with our workplaces, with our insuring agent, that everything would be done on Friday. Mom’s wiring the money to me either tomorrow afternoon or Thursday for the closing. If it needed to go to Erich’s account directly, then it becomes a bit of an issue to get the draft of the cashier’s check by Monday, as his bank is not local. This concerns me, because all of the funding for the closing is currently in my mom’s bank account, not ours. AND… my mom’s in Florida, not at home.

Panic rises.

Then there’s the issue of getting time off on Monday. While I know my boss wouldn’t be too bad about it, I can’t exactly ask her– she’s on vacation all week with her kids since Massachusetts schools are on one of their plethora of vacation weeks. If we were to have the closing on Monday, she’ll be getting back to work after a week away and won’t have me there to get through the panic attacks. It’s not a good showing for me.

Erich getting off of work, when he’s already struggled to fix his schedule, is another story. He doesn’t have the leniency that I do.

And then there’s the extreme annoyance at this lawyer. We arranged this last fucking month. Now all of a sudden he’ll be out of town? And he doesn’t bother to call us. Our agent calls us. What the fuck is up with that?

So I’m pissed. And worried. I call Erich, leave a rather upset message, and then head home, hoping that Erich gets my message since it’s almost 5 p.m. and this is an issue that has to be dealt with right away. Since he’s the only one on the mortgage, I’m a bit powerless in all of this. He’s somewhere in transit along the MBTA to get home, and I don’t have my cell phone. Dealing with the typical Massholes on the highway just serves to intensify my mood.

I get home, and Jason’s there to get his mail, switch the phone bill back over to our name (since it had been in his to get his license changed to Mass.) and probably attempt to have purry time with Gus (who he should know by now won’t just sit there and purr for him on command). Erich’s on hold with the phone guys, so I ask him if he got my message. He said no, but he’s talked to our agent, so he already knew what I was asking about. Then he gets pulled back onto the line.

So I’m plunking down in my computer chair, trying to get my breath and composure, venting about the whole situation. And I’m pissed. Really pissed. I feel like we’ve been given a bit of a bait-and-switch with this lawyer, and I’m scared that we could lose the house because right now every cent of the closing money is in my mother’s account. How I’m feeling rushed and have been uneasy about the entire process (read= some remanants of buyers remorse). I’m venting. I’m stressed. I’m scared. Because I don’t want to lose this house.

And rather than be supportive or calming, Jason (unsurprisingly) takes his santimonious self-righteous route, being so incredibly condescending that he’s just fueling me more. How maybe I should have thought about this earlier, etcetera. And I practially spat back at him that there are some things that we couldn’t possibly have realized coming into this. We’re fucking first time buyers– we’re not experts at this, and no offense, but he was overstepping his bounds here, given the fact that he’s never been in this situation.

Oh, but in Jason’s mind, of COURSE he knows what it’s like. Because he’s talked to friends who have bought their first houses. Clearly that is enough (in his mind, anyway), to qualify him to know what it’s like. Therefore he’s a fucking expert on it. Riiight. I called him on being condescending, which he denied (he always does). And I’m even more pissed now than when I walked in the door, because now I’ve got a “who the FUCK does he think he is?” riding around in my head.

Mind you, there’s a reason we’ve been asking our mothers– both of whom are fucking real estate agents themselves, for advice on house matters. Aside from some recommendations for insurance agents in the area and things that are local-related, the hosue matters have gone through our parents, who have professional experience on this. AND, given that they’re our parents (and helping to finance this), we know that we can trust their judgement on this.

Thankfully, Jason scooted out of there quickly. Which was good, because I was shortly going to be telling him to leave. My tolerance of self-important strutting is down to about nil right now– both at work and at home. It was seriously bad timing. I over-reacted, but his behavior definitely was not helping.

Erich called our agent, and apparently Tuesday and Wednesday could work as well for the closing. So on that end, at least, it’s up to Erich. He’s the one with the trickier schedule to deal with. I can work around it a bit at least. It’s going to make things a bit more frustrating with my scheduling here, but I’ll deal.

A call to our mortgage broker this morning solved the money wiring problem– the money can be wired to me, and I can write a gift letter to Erich, as I’m his fiancé. We’ll have gift letters from my parents to me as backup documentation, just in case. My bank is local (and open on Sunday), so if we need to draft the cashier’s check this weekend for a Monday closing, it can be done.

So now it’s Erich’s schedule… and then we’ll see what’s going to happen.

I need a drink. A really big one that will give me a hangover.

Ten years ago this morning, a sunny morning in Oklahoma City was shattered with a horrifying explosion. The nation watched in horror at the scene of open offices, papers fluttering into the sky. Of people being led away, coated in blood.

And perhaps the most burning, stomach-turning image of all… of a firefighter carrying the body of a toddler from the rubble.

That’s what I remember most about the news from that day– that horrible image.

April 19, 1995 was a wake-up call for the United States. Terrorism isn’t something that just happens overseas. It happens here. By our own people. The attack on the World Trade Center in ’93 didn’t quite click with people because it didn’t do enough damage. The attacks on abortion clinics (and the doctors that performed them) wasn’t enough.

Oklahoma City got people’s attention. For a little while, at least. But did we learn anything?

Does America care about its domestic terrorism problems? They happen every day, after all.

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On this date in 1982, Sally Ride was announced as the first woman astronaut. On the same day, Guinon Bluford was announced as the first African-American astronaut.

Apparently NASA finally took its head out of its collective white male ass.

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In 1971, Charles Manson received his life sentence for the Sharon Tate murder that has made him so infamous.

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In 1966, Roberta Gibb became the first woman to run the full Boston Marathon. She ran without a number, hiding in the bushes until just before the race started. Katherine Switzer, normally credited with being the first woman, was actually the first woman who ran with a number (which she got by not identifying herself as female on her application form) in 1967. In that year, a photo of a man trying to drag her out of the race was taken. At that time, it was considered too dangerous for women’s reproductive health for them to run long distance.

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In 1951, General Douglas MacArthur retired from military service. Have you studied the career of Gen. MacArthur? You should.

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In 1946, the ABC network went on the air. On the same day, Chiang Kai Shek was elected president of China. That, of course, did not last long.

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In 1943, Jews of the Warsaw ghetto revolted against their Nazi oppressors following an attempt by the SS to destroy the ghetto.

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In 1939, Connecticut finally approved the Bill of Rights– 148 years after it was ratified. Apparently someone missed the original memo.

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In 1933, FDR announced that the United States would be taken off the gold standard.

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In 1897, the first Boston Marathon was won by John McDermott of New York in 2:55:10.

For time reference, yesterday (April 18, 2005), the winners of the Boston Marathon were…

Men’s Open: Hailu Negussie (Ethiopia), 2:11:45
Women’s Open: Catherine Ndereba (Kenya), 2:25:13
Men’s Masters: Joshua Kipkemboi (Kenya), 2:19:28
Women’s Masters: Madina Biktagirova (Russia), 2:32:41
Men’s Push Rim Wheelchair: Ernst Van Dyk (South Africa), 1:24:11
Women’s Push Rim Wheelchair: Cheri Blauwet (United States), 1:47:45

~~~~~~~~~~

In 1775, the Shot Heard Round the World was fired, announcing the historical beginning of the American Revolutionary War in Lexington, Massachusetts. We recognize the beginning of the Revolution here in Massachusetts (and Maine does, as well). If you’re in the United States, do you? If not, why not?

Because it is, after all, the day that should be honored by all Americans who claim to be patriotic and proud Americans.

But of course… I’m just a tree-hugging Pagan liberal. What do I know about patriotism or history, right?

Cripes… I keep thinking I’ve posted this, but haven’t.

Okay– here’s the deal. If you have any means to afford this, you must come. Bring your partner. Bring a friend. But come.

Heh.

Erich got home at 7 a.m. this morning. Apparently they played D&D until 6 a.m., and then he decided to come home and crash.

Of course, thanks to my wonderful sleeping habits, when he got home, I woke up. Granted, it was a nice way to wake up– to a hugging fiance and a very loudly purring cat flopped between us (that would be Gus, who has the most delicious cat purr ever).

But I was up. At seven on a Sunday. Oh yeah– I went to bed at 2 a.m. last night. So this wasn’t a good thing.

*sigh*

All things considered, I’ve done okay today despite the lack of sleep. The only thing I decided not to do was drive up to Boston to the TBS meeting tonight. I’m a bit too wonky to drive safely on the autoban that is I-93. Plus, they’re having elections tonight, and really– it’s something the chapter needs to do without alumni there.

It was an absolutely beautiful day out today– somewhere in the mid 60′s, bright sunshine. The windows and sliding glass door have been open all day to get the fresh air in. My allergies be dammed. I’ll deal with them to enjoy the smell of spring.

We went to see Sahara for the early matinee. It’s a popcorn flick. The one that you’d go to see to escape the summer heat, but not one that’s an absolute must-see. We had fun. It’s goofy and a bit too over the top, but still not too bad.

Randolph Dairy Barn was open today, so after the movie, we swung by to grab cones (vanilla and orange swirl… yum!). Everyone else in town seemed to be there, too.

And the best way to end off a sunny afternoon? A comfy, lazy nap. Erich’s still in bed. He only got about 4 hours of sleep himself, so I haven’t bothered to wake him up. I probably will around 7, though. Otherwise he won’t sleep tonight.

The only frustrating thing today was working on my web pages. I have a new template all ready to go. I want to tie everything together, rather than have the hodge podge of graphics that are currently on there. I purchased a customized version of Autumn Splendor and wanted to get it up today.

The problem is that the link buttons on the top aren’t individual buttons– they’re part of the header graphic. SO… now I need to learn how to do a sitemap for linking, so that the links go in the right place. I am going to contact the designer to see if she has one already set up. It’s a bit annoying because generally customized link buttons are individual graphics. It makes it very easy to get a site up and running. Not this time. *sigh*

And then on top of that, I did figure out how to install WordPress so I don’t have to rely on the posting delays with Blogger for my journal. BUT– the newest version of WordPress works with something called “themes” rather than onto HTML pages. So I have yet more to figure out. (joy)

SO I may be waiting on a lot of that until after the house move. It’s not a priority. I may find a freebie graphic set to use until then, and once we’re settled in the house, start really messing with graphic stuff. I have to let something slide here, I think.

But I’m annoyed. Between the JournalCon pages and my own pages, I’m realizing how far behind my web skills are now. I’ve been able to skirt by making pages on my own, but I think I’m just at that point where my skills are simply too limited for the current markup language.

Classes are in my future, I believe. I’ll have to see if there are any through work.

In any case, if anyone DOES know their way around coding sitemap links or adapting WordPress to an existing template, let me know– seriously… monetary funding will happily be discussed.

~ Mel.

I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have it be past 7 p.m., light outside (with sunbeams as the sun sets!!) and have it warm enough that I can keep the sliding glass door to our balcony open to allow fresh air in.

No idea.

And it’s going to be in the mid-70′s tomorrow. Pinch me.

It’s been a nice, relaxing day by myself today. Erich left to head to Providence around 10:30. He took the camera so he could take pictures around the house (so I know what kinds of flowers might be coming up, now that we’re at daffodil and the start of tulip time). He won’t be home until probably 2 a.m. or so– if he decides to drive home tonight.

So I’ve had a day to putter. And putter I have. I went up to Arlington to Cross Stitch Unlimited, where I resisted the urge to blow all of my paycheck. I picked up the metallic threads I need for the freebie Elemental Dragons from Dragon Dreams (and ordered the three that I haven’t been able to find). They had copies of two limited edition (to 1000 total copies) pieces that I snatched up, and a downright adorable (and funny) sampler called Mirror Mirror by Abbey Lane Designs.

Because I don’t have enough stuff listed in my stash yet, you know… *sigh*

Anyway, the shopping trip was a very comfortable $37. I can swing that. But really, it’s such a kick-ass shop. I hadn’t been there in years– I think the last time I was there was probably with Ivanna back in ’96 when I bought the leaflet for The Castle.

After leaving the stitch store, I decided to take a small drive up Route 4 since it was such a beautiful day. I drove through Arlington Heights and up through Lexington– past the Battle Green that will be absolutely insane on Patriots Day this Monday for the re-enactment of the start of the American Revolutionary War.

I drove home with the radio cranked, windows down. The beautiful weather just seeped into me, and by the time I got home, I felt more alive than I have in months. I think I need to make sure to get out more– just to get some life into me. I’ve become too much of a hobbit in the last year or so.

After lunch, I caught up on some dishes and dealt with the very frightening cat box. *shudder* The cats have been worshipping me since.

Minarae called a couple hours ago to discuss JournalCon stuff. Thankfully it wasn’t the huge issue that it COULD have been. Missing passwords for logging in to measi.net is a BAD thing.

Shit– I need to make sure the TBS pages are still accessible.

Anyway… I’ve sorted all of my stitching stash and made a nifty little Excel workbook with my rotations, projects not yet started, goals, etc. It’s quite spiffy. I need to not buy any more kits until I have at least five finishes. Seriously– I have 40 projects sitting in the wings. It’s scary.

Dinner, doing some stitching, and maybe later some penpalling cleanout is in my near future. Oh– and perhaps some late night journal entry action.

Woo hoo.

It’s been a strange, chaotic week, and I just haven’t had the energy to sit and collect my thoughts. I imagine that tomorrow, with well over 12 hours of “Me Time,” I’ll be able to do a couple of good, long journal entries. I miss doing the ones with substance and meaning, as opposed to prattling on about my day to day life and venting about stress at work.

So, while I’m hoping to compose some promised entries (i.e. questions from Liamstliam and Bozoette Mary) done tomorrow as well as some additional topics I want to wrap my head around, I need to do a bit of a filler entry with my life in general.

Really, things aren’t that bad here. I’m actually doing quite well. There’s just a lot going on. So… here’s my life currently in a nutshell.

Work: Is crazy as always, but as the office move to Boston grows nearer (6 weeks from today), my brain is spinning more. I’m just about at the point where my priorities are shifting from everyday work to the move coordinating. My coworkers aren’t liking the change… but they’re going to have to suck it up and deal. Especially since they ignore my pleads for some assistance with getting stuff done. Someone’s got to get the cleaning out of random paper done.

House Purchase: After a couple of tense moments this week regarding problems with insurance policies, we’re in good shape. We’ve arranged for an insurance policy. They’ve sent over a statement of acceptance to our mortage broker. We have electrical fixes that have to be completed within 45 days of sale (which is fine– it just shifts our priorities for “getting things fixed” a bit). We close two weeks from today. Isn’t that scary? And at this point, all we really have left to do is get the gift letters from both of our mothers, have my mom wire the down payment money to my bank account, and take a first time buyers class the week we close. Oh– and show up for the closing, of course.

Apartment: Jason moved out at the end of March. We initially were bracing for three weeks of quiet before Erich’s dad moved in with us for a while. But– that has changed, thanks to Erich’s dad finding a new contracting job. Ironically, he’s also going to be moving to Rhode Island. It’s the hip place to be, apparently. So until we move, we have the place to ourselves. Which means much easier sorting and packing to move.

Wedding: All plans are on hold for now until we get into the house. My guess is that come late July/early August, I’ll really start looking at dresses and getting plans in the works for the wedding. The current plan, while nowhere near firmed up, is that we’ll have the wedding ceremony in Roger Williams Park in Providence, and then have a casual appetizer & cocktails party at the house afterward. Timeframe is either Mother’s Day or Memorial weekend next year.

Organizations: Tau Beta Sigma stuff is winding up for the school year soon, as the end of classes are in two weeks. I’m very proud of the chapter. They’ve come amazingly far. On the other side of the coin, I’m now on the planning committee for JournalCon 2005, which is being held in San Diego. (come… you must! Really!)

Hobbies: Penpalling has fallen by the wayside in recent months. I’ve accepted I’m just in a burnt-out stage. I’ve just encountered a lot of pushy, rude people over on Yahoogroups that really suck the interest out of me. I know I’ll get back into it at some point, but I need the break, I think (and my money really needs to go elsewhere right now… obviously). And maybe when I get back to it, I’ll just get out of all of the yahoogroups. I need to get a lot of fb’s and slams moving so they’re out of my apartment, but energy has been a factor. I do plan on making a good dent on that this weekend. Which is about what I say every weekend. Stitching is going well– I’m just about to finish my rotation on The Castle. I’ve slowed down into a longer rotation this round, doing probably 15-20 hours per project. It’s making a noticeable difference on where things are. This weekend I’ll get back to working on my Christmas Stocking. I expect to finish my current rotation by late May, and then will pack everything for the move.

So yeah, that’s my life at the moment. It’s good. Really. I’m just so busy that remembering to eat is an issue right now.

Hopefully some good, cathartic writing will appear this weekend…

~ Mel.

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English
30% Yankee
10% Upper Midwestern
5% Dixie
5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

——————

And I’ll actually post an entry here one of these days… really.

*mutters*

How the hell do I completely forget how to get around Photoshop? As in, completely. Whee– I can upload a file. But despite using the damn program since 1996, I can’t figure out how the HELL to get my graphics accomplished for the JournalCon website.

I just want to make link buttons. Stylize the banner.

But no. Photoshop defeats me.

Dammit.

*sigh*

I think I’m going to go grab lunch early. Just because.