My Rantings and Other Non-Sensical Thoughts: 05/01/2004

Maybe history repeats itself because there are only a finite number of souls in the universe. If we are each constantly reincarnated, that would explain why history repeats itself.

Did that make sense? It did to me, but maybe I'm more tired than I thought.

Ok - so here's an update. Thursday, like I briefly said, there were layoffs at work. Thankfully I wasn't one of them, but I knew at least 20 people who were let go (not all from my department) so that was kind of sad. Then, a storm came through & the power went out at work for 30 minutes. We had phones and emergency lighting, but no computers. It was raining so hard I had to hang at work for an extra hour before I could drive the 2WD Truck home. I didn't hydroplane, but there was standing water on the road for at least half the drive home. Tom called when I was at work & told me that 1/2 our siding came off the house. I couldn't believe it. So, I called Allstate & filed a claim. You can see a picture of the damage HERE. The next day someone called us & we found out our deductible is $992. Which of course we don't have. So I started to freak out about that. I called my mom & she called my nana & my nana sent us a check Friday night (Thankfully, again. I love my nana so much - she is definitely my guardian angel). Someone came out on Friday & put a tarp up since it's supposed to rain again this weekend. HERE'S a picture of the tarp.

An Adjuster is supposed to come out on Tuesday & then we can get this fixed.

The BUG has been found & eliminated. He was in the garage tonight while Tom was at Starbucks & when he came home he killed it for me. Finally, a small measure of peace.

I'll update you on my week sometime tomorrow & post pictures of the storm damage our house got last night sometime over the weekend.

Harrisburg, PA - Harrisburg police arrested two students from Bishop McDevitt High School Thursday. The school evacuated students and faculty after a suspicious device was found on the property behind the high school building.

Harrisburg police, the FBI (website) and the Cumberland County bomb dog came to investigate. The device turned out to be a rubber ball with a cord attached to it with chewing gum. The principal says a male student admitted planting the fake device and was arrested. Sister Mary Anne Bednar/Bishop McDevitt principal, "I think the majority of the student body was upset but angry and outraged, one of the fellow students would do that and put all of us in this situation."

A second male student later came forward and said he was involved too and was also arrested. Bishop McDevitt will not identify the grades of the students and say they didn't give reason for doing it - only that they didn't think it would cause such a commotion.
*****************
Dang, thugs have taken over my old high school!

Former Notre Dame basketball player injured in Iraq

May 27, 2004
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Former Notre Dame basketball player Danielle Green lost her left hand during an attack in Iraq while serving in the Army.

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said she got a call from a friend of Green's on Wednesday saying Green had been injured.

``It was just a shock to hear she had been injured because she had said that her job was going to keep her on the sidelines,'' McGraw said.

The athletic department at Chicago State, where Green was an assistant women's coach in 2002, said Thursday she lost her hand this week during a rocket-propelled grenade attack while she was on duty at a Baghdad police station.

Notre Dame said Green also sustained significant injuries to her left leg and was recovering at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

The Army public affairs office near Washington referred questions about Green to officials at Landstuhl, but there was no answer at the medical center's public affairs office Thursday.

Green graduated from Notre Dame in 1999. She was an assistant girls basketball coach at Washington High School in her hometown of Chicago before going to Chicago State.

She enlisted in the Army in 2003 and was sent to Iraq early this year as part of a military police unit based at Fort Lewis in Washington state.

Green averaged 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds for her career and was Notre Dame's third-leading scorer her final two seasons.

There was bloodshed at work today - we had some layoffs. Thankfully I survived the cut, but it's still a sad thing.

WPVI.com: PA Musicians Thaw Icy Relations with Hometown: "PA Musicians Thaw Icy Relations with Hometown
(York-AP) ? One of the biggest rock bands of the 1990s has mended fences with its hometown.

Live will play its 20th anniversary show Friday at the Strand Theatre and will return September 11th for a concert at the York Fair.
The quartet of singer Ed Kowalczyk, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, drummer Chad Gracey and guitarist Chad Taylor reached Number One on the Billboard Top 200 album chart with the 1994 release 'Throwing Copper.' But the band has had icy relations with the city of York.
In the late 1980s, the four, then known as Public Affection, were allegedly booed off the York Fair's stage during a battle-of-the-bands event. On 'Throwing Copper,' Live included an unflattering song about its hometown, whose title consisted of the word 'town' tacked onto an expletive. "

Ah yes, the infamous "Shit Town". Well, if anyone's ever *been* to York, they would agree!

WPVI.com: Father Indicted for Sunburn: "CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ-May 26, 2004 ? Grand jurors in Cape May County indicted a man on charges he failed to put enough sunscreen on his son.
Authorities say the 12-year-old suffered serious burns and bleeding blisters on his back and face after a day on a Wildwood beach last July.
Walter McKelvie would face up to 18 months in prison if convicted of child abuse and neglect.
McKelvie told investigators he did put sunscreen on the child.
The boy's mother, who has legal custody of him, took her son to an emergency room and called police. "

I mean, it was definitely stupid, but couldn't it have been an accident or poor judgement? Should a man go to jail because his son got sun poisoning?

To end my perfect weekend, I'm home sick today :( I got sick to my tummy for the first time 8 years *sigh*.

THISis totally something I would do!

Bad Santa finally comes out on DVD 6/22. If you didn't see it last November, watch the trailer & some clips HERE. It's a *hilarious* movie!

Bizarre. That's the only way to sum up this weekend - I have felt like I've been in some sort of time-warp all weekend.

Saturday - Wake up to find an infection in my big toe. Unfortunately this is a semi-frequent occurrence so I clean up, put my socks & shoes on & pray it won't hurt too much because I'm going to the Yankees game at The Ballpark in Arlington, er....Ameriquest Field! Tom & I get there are 1:30. Game starts at 3:10. We take our time walking to stadium from the 2 mile away parking lot. Pick up our tickets at will-call and ride the longest escalators I've ever been on to the 3rd level of the stadium. We smoke, then decide to see just how high up we really are. See, we expected to be high up because our tickets were only $5 a piece. That's all that was left when we purchased them. Come to find out that we are in the very last row of the stadium. Which isn't a problem except that the wind is blowing 20 mph and there is no wall behind our seats, just a chain link fence. After sitting there 20 minutes, my ear began to hurt (I am prone to ear aches) and there was no way I could sit there for 2-3 hours. So we left after Tom promised we could get tickets for when the Yankees come back to town. I talked to the gate person who let us out & she said they're coming back in August but we should get tickets now since some sections are already sold out!

That night we ran errands & came back to discover a call from Tom's dad on the answering machine stating it would be nice if he called once in awhile. Tom told me he's been calling, but doesn't leave messages, figuring his parents will see our number on their caller ID. Apparently not. I talk to my mom a few times a week, so I can't understand why someone wouldn't immediately call their parents after a message like that. But, Tom has a mind of his own and he told me he'd call them tomorrow. Historically, tomorrow doesn't guarantee he'll call, so I got upset (for his parents) and decided I wasn't going to talk to him until he talked to his parents (childish, I know). Well, that pissed him off and we weren't speaking to each other.

I start to take my socks off & discover that my "injury" is stuck to my sock. OMG what am I going to do? To just rip off my sock would be certain pain. So I decide to stick my foot under the faucet in the tub which will help ease the sock off so I can put medicine on my toe. I go upstairs and when I walk in the bathroom, I see a bug on the toilet. Not just a bug, but the mother of all bug species - the "palmetto" bug. Some of you know that I am deathly afraid of bugs. I broke out in a sweat, slammed the door & hightailed it downstairs where I started to feel sick to my stomach. Since hubby & I weren't speaking he wasn't inclined to assist me by killing said bug. Finally after 30 minutes he's fed up with me cowering downstairs & stomps upstairs to fix it. Bug - nowhere to be found. I creep upstairs and break out into another sweat in the bathroom just looking for the damn thing. Nope, nowhere to be found. This sets off the paranoia that I will wake up with the stupid bug on my face or something. *sigh*. 30 minutes later I creep back into the bathroom - I've just got to know where this thing is. There it is! On top of the toilet! I fly downstairs to find hubby in the bathroom. Damn it, foiled again! By the time he's out, bug is missing in action. As of this morning he's in there somewhere. I kept door closed & a towel over the crack under the door so he wouldn't end up on my face. Serious bug patrol needs to be done today.

I wake up this morning at 7:47am. First of all, angry that I'm awake. I hear the cat running around like a nut downstairs. Meowing & all sorts of racket. I get up which launches the dog into a frenzy to go out. When I let her out, a salamander comes into our house! A freaking salamander!!! Of course I wouldn't touch it since it had more legs than I do & isn't very cute & cuddly. Anyway, now he's gone so there's a missing salamander in my house now too! Only thing to do is put glue boards down for them, so looks like we'll have to do that.

After that bizarreness I decide to feed cat to shut her up. I walk back to the room her bowl is in & she is standing there with something sticking out of her. WTF? Keep in mind it's not even 8am yet! Turns out to be the fly trap we had hung up last night. Somehow it fell & the stickiness of it stuck to her fur. *sigh*. After removal of the trap & feeding of the fat cat I go to the bathroom (downstairs of course). The rug on the floor is wet. WTF is going on around here????????? I try not to think about it because I'm tired & want to go back to sleep. Nevermind that I'm burning up & think it's at least 90 in our house - damn air conditioner musta broke. After leaving the bathroom I check the thermostat, it's only 77 so it's just me being hot. I go back upstairs, turn on ceiling fan & fall asleep to Ghostbusters on TV.

Turns out the dog has been using the bathroom rug as her little potty! I figured that out by turning rug over. Yep, stained. The little bitch!!

It's only 1:19 but I'm *exhausted* from all the bizarre shit that's happened in the last 12 hours. Please God, no more plague - I don't think I could take it. Now if I can just figure out how to get into the upstairs bathroom to brush my teeth & shower.

No wonder I thought I had just answered question #1!!! It was in last week's questions too.

This Week's Cheddar X:

1. What's your favorite board game?
~ I feel like I've just recently answered this. Trivial Pursuit.

2. If you had to sing a song on national TV (ala the bleh-worthy American Idol), what song would you sing?
~I don't know the name,but it's by Jewel. Something about sitting at the table drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. It's at least 5 years old.

3. If you had to sing a duet, what song would you sing and with who?
~With Ed, of course! I think it would be nice to do a duet of Lightning Crashes.

4. If your life was made into a movie, what would the title be?
~The misadventures of a psychotic princess

5. If your life was made into a porn movie, what would the title be?
~No one would ever make a porn of my life, you have to get some first, I would think!

6. Who would you want to play you in the movie of your life?
~Jennifer Garner. She can do Comedy & Drama convincingly

7. In the porn?
~Even though they wouldn't make one of me, I'd choose Pam Anderson :)

8. What are some of the top bumper stickers you've seen or thought of (I do think this is a repeat but that's cool, we've got a lot of new members)?
~The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
~Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other times I let him sleep.

I've been thinking about my dad a lot lately. Like I said before, I'm sure it's because of the Father's Day Advertising. July will be 3 years since he died. I wish I could just call him up on my cell phone & ask him what he's up to. I really miss talking to him.

I forgot to do the qu4estions from Cheddar X last week, so here they are:

1. How many computer passwords do you currently have?
~ Currently I have, oh lord, at least 10, probably more if you count various email accounts & online bill pay stuff.

2. When was the last time you nearly went insane because you'd forgotten which one you were using?
~At EarthLink where we had to use really insane passwords. I think I locked myself out of my computer 3 times in one day!

3. What's your favorite board game?
~Trivial Pursuit (I didn't say I was good at it)

4. How long have you been at your current job?
~ 1 year, 2 months

5. How much "push" would it take to get you to walk?
~Depends where we're talking....On the beach? Ok. Around the block? Possibly. A few blocks away? Doubtful.

and one via Guessboy
6. What's the best t-shirt slogan or comment that you've come across?
~I've been trying so hard to think on this & the only thing I can think of is "Queen of the Freaking Universe" I bought it for myself because God knows that I think I am! :)

Ya know, I'm not a very political person, but listening to Michael Berg's speech yesterday has just PISSED me off. His son was beheaded by Al-Queda in Iraq. A horrendous way to go, no doubt about it.

But how DARE he blame his son's death on the Bush Administration. How DARE he say that Al-Queda is "possibly" as bad as Bush and Rumsfeld. How DARE he say that the Bush Administration did not protect his son.

His son was in Iraq to make money. His son was there by himself. The Administration has said numerous times that it is not safe to be in Iraq, yet Nick Berg chose to go there & stay there. The State Department tried to get him on a flight out of Iraq.

If your son goes to a dangerous place like Iraq to make money, what the heck is Bush supposed to do to protect him? And you want to say that just possibly Al-Queda is as bad as Bush? Al Queda who killed 3000 innocent people 3 years ago? Al-Queda who kills in the name of "god"? Al-Queda who has such a warped sense of what is right that they think they are doing the world some moral favor? Give me a break!

I'm not saying the Bush Administration is perfect. They aren't. But in no way did they cause the death of his son. And then Michael Berg wants to know if Al-Queda did indeed offer to trade his son for some prisoners from Abu Grahib? Why? Have we ever negotiated with terrorists? No and we never will.

I just find it despicable that he is turning his son's death into a political situation.

OOh - I'm definitely officially back on Atkins if the grumble in my abdomen is any indication. Thank goodness this only lasts for a day or two because I feel like I'm going to EXPLODE! :( I know it's gross, but I had to share.

Saw this today on Yahoo!. Reading it made me sick to my stomach. The victim was from West Chester, PA where my grandparents and a lot of my aunts & uncles live. :( Yahoo! News - Video Seems to Show Beheading of American

One thing I forgot. I was so excited for the Shiba Inu Meetup in Ft. Worth, next Saturday the 22nd (as evidenced by the ad I put up on the side of this page). I checked the venue vote last night & was dismayed to see that out of 3 venues, only 1 has received a vote and it was 1 vote! Mine!!! Apparently there aren't many shibas in this area, or they don't read the meetup page. I am so disappointed. I was finally going to meet people who understood the whole "It's not a fox, it's a Shiba Inu" conversation. Oh well. :( Tom & I will just go to the Yankees game that day, I guess.

I am back on Atkins with a vengeance! I'm tired of being a fat ol' cow. Luckily in the 4 weeks since I stopped the diet, I lost .5 lbs, so now I'm a fat ol' 226 (I've lost 15.5 lbs since January & I must admit I was really only on Atkins for about 30 days total). So far today I've ingested 2g of Carbs. I'm adding another 8 at lunch which will leave me 10 to play with at dinner. :) Steak & green beans sounds fabulous. After that, it's back to exercising! You can read my Atkins updates HERE. This is where I'll update my weight loss so I don't bore people who don't care & want me to stay a fat cow! :)

Yesterday I worked 8am-Noon (actually, I "worked" 8am-9:30 when I ran out of work, then spent the next 2.5 hours surfing the web & periodically checking to see if we were in queue).

I got an email from the Live Street Team that they want all street teamers to visit local stores who sell CDs and take a count of how many Live CDs are in stock. There's a fabulous prize full of autographed photos & limited edition holiday gifts that the winner gets. The winner is chosen randomly on 9/1/04 out of weekly entries beginning tomorrow. So, for the next 15 weeks I'll be busy. :) I got 4 stores done yesterday & I must say I'm disappointed. Granted, I only visited Targets & Wal-Marts but still - stock is dismal.

Mix 102.9 took off the posting on their concert page that said Live would be in Dallas 5/27. *sigh*. The band is booking things through August now, so chances are they *won't* be here, which is sad - I was looking forward to it.

Last night we went to the Texas Rangers/Detroit Tigers game. I have to confess that I've liked the Tigers since 8th grade when I fell in love with Mike Heath, their catcher. I also must confess that I find baseball the most boring game ever. But there's something about watching it at a ballpark with people all around you that makes it exciting. And exciting it was. My team was up 14-4 in the top of the 5th. That 1/2 of the inning seemed to take forever, so Tom & I went to smoke when the Rangers came up to bat. I don't know what the hell happened, but by the end of the 5th it was tied! The next inning the Tigers scored a run & we were once again on top by a run. Somehow the Rangers tied it up again, then the game went into extra innings. Bottom of the 10th the Rangers scored & won the game. How disappointing! But it was a good game.

I had so much fun, that I've convinced Tom to go see the Yankees on the 22nd! He thought I was psychotic cheering for the Tigers, he hasn't heard anything yet! To see Jason Giambi & Derek Jeter in person? It will be great!

This week's questions from Cheddar X:

1. Desert island scenario: 3 belongings.
*Endless amount of books
*Sunscreen
*Pillow - I can't sleep without a pillow :)

2. If you didn't have the name you have, what name would you like to have?
*My parents once told me they almost named me Tracy. That's definitely *not* the name I'd want :) I do like Amber, so let's go with that :)

3. What's the craziest thing you ever did while drunk and/or high?
*Well, since I don't do either, I can't really say. I did puke off the side of someone's bed once when I was drunk & I didn't tell him about it, I just left it there :( Horrible, I know.

4. What movie is your favorite "guilty pleasure"? (You could watch it over and over but are embarrassed to admit it).
*I'm not embarrassed to admit I watch any movie. I even liked Swept Away with Madonna.

5. When was the last time you ate more than you should have because the food was so good? What were you eating?
*It's been awhile. I would say at Ryan's. I just can't stop eating their steak & macaroni/cheese! I used to stuff myself, but now I have better control :)

6. How many rechargable items do you have?
*Cell phone and that's it.

7. Will the rising costs of gas affect your driving habits? Or, is the cost of gas rising out of control where you live?
*I find myself trying to drive less, trying to ease onto the gas instead of flooring it like I like to do. Gas is out of control right now! Cheap gas is $1.73/gallon! I heard it's 40 cents more than this time last year. Someone needs to do something about!

Another reason I don't like Michael Moore:

Less than 24 hours after accusing the Walt Disney Company of pulling the plug on his latest documentary in a blatant attempt at political censorship, the rabble-rousing film-maker Michael Moore has admitted he knew a year ago that Disney had no intention of distributing it.

If you want to read the entire article about this hateful liar, click Here.

The situation in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico outrages me! If you don't know the story, in the last 10 years approximately 370 women have been murdered of which at least 137 were sexually assaulted prior to death. Many of the women were abducted, held captive for several days and sujected to humiliation, torture & the most horrific sexual violence before dying, mostly as a result of asphyxiation caused by strangulation or from being beaten. Their bodies have been found days or even years later hidden among rubble or abandoned in deserted areas near the city.

Several of the missing or murdered women were employed in maquilas. Waitresses, students or women working in the informal economy have also been targeted. In short, young women with no power in society, whose deaths have no political cost for the local authorities. In fact, in the first few years after the abductions & murders began, the authorities displayed open discrimination towards the women & their families in their public statements. On more than one occasion the women themselves were blamed for their own abduction or murder because of the way they dressed or because they worked in bars at night. In Feb. 1999 the former State Public Prosecutor, Arturo Gonzalez RascUn, still maintained "Women with a nightlife who go out very late and come into contact with drinkers are at risk. It's hard to go out on the street when it's raining and not get wet." Read more about this horrific, ridiculous, outragieous situation HERE.

Demand Justice for the more than 370 women killed or "disappeared" in Cuidad Juarez Mexico HERE.

CAIRO, Egypt - A statement attributed to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) offered rewards in gold valued at nearly $136,000 Thursday for the killing of top U.S. and U.N. officials in Iraq (news - web sites).

If someone wants to get rich, wouldn't they just turn in Osama? I mean we are offering 25 million for him. Of course, I know that's not someone's intent when they take someone up on an offer like the above. I do find it interesting though, that Osama has had to resort to paying people to attack us. Haven't they been doing it for free this entire time?

Yes, the misspelling crisis is definitely back:

Thirty-three-year-old Robert Clark has been out on bail after shooting and killing a man who police say was trying to steel his All Terrain Vehicle. He was charged with murder and the case has Clark's neighbors and the dead man's family upset for different reasons.

I found a new blog today that posts questions on a weekly basis. It's called Cheddar X. Since I have nothing to say so far today, I present you the questions:

1. Name 3 things you absolutely love.
*The sound of the ocean and a cool breeze on my face
* Listening to Live, er, um, Live
*The sound of my mom's voice

2. If you had to give 2 of them up which would they be (and why)?
*The ocean & Live. You could never give up your Mom! (I would hope not anyway)

3. What is your all time favorite memory EVER?
*Any memory of my dad is my favorite since he's not here anymore.

4. What is the one thing that happened in high school that would make you avoid your class reunion?
*Oh lord - everything! I hated high school & hated the people that went to my school. I have absolutely no desire to see them again in my entire life. I spent all my HS years feeling dorky & inadequate and I refuse to feel like that again (the inadequate part anyway - I truly am dorky)

5. What is your dream job, no matter how untrained you might be or unrealistic and bizarre it might be?
*Rock Star. I would love to be on stage making people happy with my fabulous songs & stage show. I would also love the traveling & the wealth :)

6. What's one thing you think you're really good at?
*Smoking. I'm also quite good at sleeping & making people laugh, although that talent comes & goes depending on what time of day it is & whether the people I'm with are drunk or not.

Jeez - my MegaMillions tickets lost again! How am I supposed to hob-nob with the rich & infamous when I can't win the stupid lottery? *grin*

Is there another misspelling crisis afoot? Take this example from WPVI in Philly's webpage.

Another new layout. I'm sorry, ya'll, but I'm just never satisfied with what I pick. Blame it on the A.D.D. if you want. :)

So I spent the weekend in Atlanta attending the MindSpring 10 year anniversary reunion party. I had so much fun. You never realize how much you miss people until you see them again. There was a great article in an Atlanta Weekly called Creative Loafing about how Garry Betty totally ruined MindSpring/EarthLink. You can read it HERE.

The best part of my trip was seeing my best friend, Tony. He is like my other half - silly and contemplative & I love him! He wrote about our meeting in his blog, but then he posted that he wrote it when he was drunk. Hm.......I guess that doesn't lessen it's meaning at all, cuz I know he loves me :). Of course reading it made me cry. I certainly don't get to see him enough & if he doesn't use a week of his 2 month sabbatical to come see me, I'll have to make him SUFFER! Bubby, thanks for not repeating the "it wasn't my cat" story! :)

Also, the Tagboard is back! So now all you people who hate commenting can post on the board.

My Rantings and Other Non-Sensical Thoughts

Saturday, May 29, 2004

Friday, May 28, 2004

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Monday, May 24, 2004

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Monday, May 17, 2004

Friday, May 14, 2004

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Monday, May 10, 2004

Sunday, May 09, 2004

Friday, May 07, 2004

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

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