Rants
Quote of the day:
Jul 21st
“Not all Democrats are evil. And not all Republicans are good guys.” -spoken during the legislative update portion of my continuing ed class today.
Thanks for exposing your bias. FYI not all insurance agents are Republicans.
Random
Jul 20th
Some random thoughts
A bunch of tall ships are coming to town at the end of this month. All summer I thought they were coming at the end of August, when we’ll be out of town for my sister’s wedding. As a friend pointed out, if I have to be wrong at least it’s something I WANT to be wrong about. Some friends who are moving back to MN right around that time are going to be coming up to see the ships, so we’ll get to see them too. Awesome!
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I just saw a headline in the local paper saying that they are going to have a hunting season for Sandhill Cranes this year. Um…ok. They are pretty birds to watch, but what do you do with them? Will this be just trophy hunting? Will people eat them? I’m not a fan of trophy hunting, but I can’t imagine that they would be good to eat. Maybe I’m wrong.
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Ryan and I have been dealing with some drama surrounding our daycare. Short version: a neighbor called the police because there was an “unattended child” outside the yard of our daycare. The daycare lady says the kid wasn’t out long and the parents didn’t think a report needed to be filed, but I think the police have to do one anyway. The county is investigating and might temporarily suspend her license while they do so. She doesn’t want to deal with that, so is going back to school to pursue a different career, and her last day will be Friday (that doesn’t make sense to me either). Also she’s taking today (Tuesday) as a personal day (apparently it couldn’t wait till next week). And we found all this out on Sunday afternoon while we were out of town. I took yesterday off to try to start the search for a new place (based on recommendations from people I know rather than just trying to guess this time), and Ryan has today off. I think we’ll start the new place tomorrow, even though technically we could probably bring him back to the old place. But who knows about this possible suspension (no one could tell us how likely it is to happen), and we just don’t want to deal with it any more. We think we’ve found a new place, and I really like the guys that run it. The only down side is that it’s about a 20 minute drive one-way. Usually going to work takes us about 7 minutes. I’m not looking forward to that. Ryan is calling a couple other places today to check them out because they were closer, but we are thinking we’ll go with the further away place. I keep telling him to win the lottery so that I don’t have to work, but so far that’s a no-go.
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Work has been crazy lately. We have had a lot of down-time with the computers or our management system and that’s created a backlog. I’m also struggling with whether or not to talk to my boss about how the person who is supposed to be assisting our department is really only assisting one person. I know I need to do it (it’ll be obvious when I bring him some stuff that should have been done a while ago), but I don’t like getting other people in trouble. On the other hand, he’s been saying for years that she should be providing more help for us, but the amount actually seems to be less every year. So yah…fun.
That’s all I’ve got.
:Edited to add:
I called our current daycare lady this afternoon because the places Ryan was trying to get ahold of hadn’t called him back yet, and we didn’t want to start a new place if we were going to switch right away. The daycare lady says, “OK. Is it ok if you pick him up a little early?” I’m thinking she means like 3:30 or 4. “Because I have an appointment at 1:30 and I need to leave by 1.” Oh.My.God. You are kidding, right? Ryan called a drop in center that was recommended to us, and we will be bringing James there until we figure something else out.
Also, I edited the first sentence of the first paragraph because it was very poorly worded.
Getting a little twitchy
Jun 25th
I think I heard on the radio yesterday that we have had a total of 5 days in June without measurable precipitation. That is sad. It also has been making it hard to get our walking in. The past few days we haven’t been able to go. The first day we got a few blocks away and it started raining so we turned around; then the last few days there have been severe weather alerts that have made us afraid to get stuck out somewhere when it starts hailing. It hasn’t hailed yet, but it has rained pretty heavy every day. Like I said; not conducive to walking. So that sucks.
Work is stressful. Summer is traditionally our busiest time of year. Usually we try to get ahead in the spring so that we don’t fall behind during the summer. This spring I was out on maternity leave, a coworker severly broke her ankle, causing her to be out for a month, and another coworker got pretty severly sick, so she was out for 2 weeks. Combined with your normal vacations and such, that means that this summer has been pretty hecktic. And then you can add in that we switched our customer management system, which left us with a month of “down time” and has been a headache and a half trying to get it up and running properly, and now we switched some other computer stuff that caused another few days of down time…well, I’m sure you can see where this is going. We are swamped and behind (although not as bad as we could be) and everyone is stressed trying to figure out all the details of our new system. So yah…a little twitchy. Theoretically it should be getting better soon, but they’ve been saying that since before I went on leave, so we’ll see what happens.
In non-twitchy news, James and I are going to a 1 year birthday tomorrow, and I am so excited. Several friends that I haven’t seen since before James was born will be there, one of whom has a new baby. There will be babies everywhere! Or not. But kind of. hehehe. Anyway, I will try to get a picture of all the kids together and permission to post it on the interwebs. That’s a lot to remember, though, so no promises. Ryan jokingly suggested that we hire a personal assistant for me because I have completely lost my mind. It’s so true. I can’t remember anything. I’ve been assured that this comes and goes, so there might be a time later when I can remember what happened yesterday and whether or not I’ve eaten or taken a shower today. Amazing how you just take that kind of thing for granted; knowing whether or not you’ve showered.
And on that note, I will get back to work.
My thoughts on my c-section
Apr 7th
I had my 6 week check-up with the OB that performed my c-section today. She told me that I will almost certainly have to have a c-section for any future pregnancies, although of course I can try for a natural delivery. But she doesn’t think it’s likely to work. She said that because of how big James’s head was and how narrow my pelvic bones are it probably won’t work.
Obviously I’m pretty bummed about this. I plan to try to deliver naturally next time, but I’m still disappointed for now. I feel like my body is supposed to be able to do this, but for some reason it can’t. Like I’m defective or something. I know that’s silly, and I would tell anyone else going through this that of course that’s not the case. But it doesn’t change how I feel.
On top of that, I feel like if my hip bones are so narrow, I should be narrower…thinner. I know that especially is ridiculous; that one has nothing to do with the other. But because I’m already feeling little down about how I look (although I know it’s temporary) this has just added to that.
Ugh. I just wish things had gone the way I had planned. I never realized how important doing this the natural way was to me. And now I might never be able to.
I know that this might never be an issue. Maybe my next baby will have a smaller head and I’ll get the delivery I want, and all this worry will have been for nothing. I also know that I’m lucky. Ryan and I can have more kids, and James is healthy and perfect. But for now I’m upset and wishing things were different.
So yah, those are my thoughts so far.
Question
Feb 3rd
I have a question and I want the internet’s input.
Ryan and I bought a chest freezer from a local appliance store about 2 1/2 weeks ago. It’s one of those ding/scratch places, and the freezer we bought had a damaged lid; it was so badly damaged that it wouldn’t seal (it looked like someone set a forklift down on the lid), but they had one on order to replace it, and they sold it to us for a good price.
We haven’t heard from the appliance place other than when we called a couple times to ask about it, even though both times we asked that they keep us updated. Last we heard (when I called last week) they had gotten a lid in, but the company shipped the wrong color so they had to send it back and were waiting for another one. Today, they called and said that there is a 2 week back order on the freezer lids (apparently they are in high demand??), and they have offered to give us a different freezer instead. However, this one has “some dings on the sides and the top.” The other one, once the lid was replaced, would have looked perfect.
We are going to the store tonight to take a look at the replacement offer, but my question is this; if we decide to take it, should we haggle for a better price, considering it has taken them 2 1/2 weeks to get anything to us and this one is more damaged than the one we agreed to buy? Or should we suck it up and realize that we got a good deal in the first place? We won’t be taking it if it’s too beat up looking, because it will be living in our kitchen until spring (which could be sometime in May the way things go around here).
I’m not a good negotiator, and I don’t have a good sense of what’s fair in these kinds of situations. And part of my problem is that the reason we bought a freezer when we did was so that we could freeze some meals before the baby comes. If we have to wait another 2 weeks it will probably be too late to do much (or any) cooking ahead. But that’s not the store’s fault, so I don’t know if it should count in my reasoning.
So, wise internet, what are your thoughts on the whole thing?
UPDATE: We took the replacement freezer. It was in pretty good shape (just some minor denting on the side; no scratches), and they were selling it for more than the one we bought, but gave it to us for the same price. Obviously (I’m not that much of a pushover). So now our fridge freezer and the chest freezer look pretty empty, but we have the space to make up some extra food. Now we just need to find the motivation to make this food.
Randomness
Jan 25th
A few random things that have been running through my head:
Baby Shower: Awesomeness
My friends Nicole and Adrienne threw a baby shower for us, and it was fabulous. I love an excuse to get together with friends and family, and it was the perfect sized gathering – we could all hang out and visit together instead of splitting into smaller groups. Of course we received some awesome gifts, and I had a great time. I got to stay late and visit with my high school friends and a friend from college, so that was fun too. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family…Ryan and I are both really lucky that way. *commence puking from the sappiness*
Things that make me irrationally angry/frustrated (but not really)
Snickers Fudge candy bars: I tried this new concoction, thinking that I like Snickers and I like fudge, so how could I go wrong? Well, let me tell you: they take the caramel out of the Snickers to put the fudge in! Why would you do such a thing? I was very disappointed in the whole experience. Thankfully I have learned my lesson. No more Snickers Fudge candy bars for me.
The weather in Duluth: it is pissing me off lately. We live in Northern Minnesota (at least by most people’s standards. My parents live in REALLY Northern Minnesota, but the rest of the world doesn’t acknowledge that the state extends that far North. That is a whole ‘nother discussion, though). It is expected to be cold and/or snowy here from basically early November until the end of March. We do sometimes get a “January thaw”, but that means a few days where it reaches 32*. And usually it’s accompanied by a crapload of snow (side note – did you know it can be too cold to snow? I don’t know the scientific reason why – I’m no meteorologist – but I know that if it’s 0* or below it won’t usually snow). This year, we are getting rain. At least in the part of Duluthwhere I live (at the bottom of the hill, near the lake). I hear they have snow over the hill, but down here by the lake it rained all weekend and was near 40*. What the heck is up with that?
Normal people would say “Aren’t you glad you don’t have all that snow?” But they would be mistaken. I am not glad. Because it rained all weekend and our parking lot/roads/driveways/sidewalks got all wet, and then the temp fell below freezing. And it’s supposed to cool down even more, to the point that the salt they use to melt the ice won’t work. And so we have a perpetual ice skating rink pretty much everywhere you go. It is annoying and dangerous. And my balance is bad enough these days without adding a layer of ice between my shoes and the ground. Arg.
Just one pregnancy-related rant: I have enjoyed my pregnancy for the most part. I mean, yah, I have some joint and back pain, and it’s hard to get around. But for the most part I’ve had a pretty easy time of it, and I like feeling our little boy kicking and moving around. And Ryan and I are in a good place to be having a child, which I know isn’t always the case for people. So yah…I’m enjoying it.
The thing I’m not enjoying as much? People assuming that I am “SO ready to be done.” I get asked at least 3 or 4 times a week (usually by strangers) if I’m ready to just have this baby already. And I know they mean well, but jeebus. First of all, I’m not even “full term” yet (tomorrow!). Secondly, it’s not like things will suddenly get easier once the baby is here. In fact, I have a feeling they will be much more difficult. Very rewarding, of course, but still. Right now I can still do stuff around the house that requires both hands, and I can take a shower or a nap or read a book whenever I want to. And even though I’m not sleeping the best, I can still lay in bed when I’m having trouble sleeping; there’s no one crying that I need to go pick up and soothe/feed/change. So yah…I’m good with him staying put for a couple more weeks, or however long he needs. Now if I’m pregnant still the last week in February my answer might be different. Ask me then if I’m ready to be done. (ps, if anyone that reads this has asked me that question, I’m not talking about you, I swear! It’s the strangers that ask that bugs me more than anything).
I can’t think of anything else that I want to rant about (except the Vikings, but others have done plenty of that for me), and it’s lunch time (leftover lasagna and the 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (the books True Blood is based on)). Sounds like a good time to me.
WTF?
Jan 13th
I just read this article on Huffington Post about what Pat Robertson said in regards to the terrible tragedy in Haiti. Another article from US News & World Report has a more complete quote (and it doesn’t make it better; in fact I think it is worse with the whole thing).
The whole thing has me so upset I don’t even know where to begin. People like Pat Robertson give Christians everywhere a bad name. What kind of an asshole bigot says that half a million possible dead is God punishing them? And really, you are comparing one side of the island to the other and coming to some sort of conclusion about God’s favor? I suppose that since Mexico is less prosperous than the US or Canada it’s because we are children of God and they are heathens? Puh-leaze. It’s crap. And the sad thing is, it’s crap that some people will believe because Pat Robertson said it.
I don’t know anyone personally that listens to his show (or at least not anyone that has mentioned it in front of me), but obviously those people must be out there because the man is still on the air. And it makes me sick, knowing the hatred he spreads. This isn’t the first time he’s made completely offensive remarks in the wake of a tragedy. How many times will it take until people realize what a crack-pot he is?
Arg. People like him make me so frustrated. I need to do something else to take my mind of his assholishness. Like donate to the cause.
Jay Leno: The Brett Favre of Late Night Television
Jan 10th
In case you hadn’t heard, there have been rumors and now official reports that Jay Leno’s prime time talk show is going to be canceled. This led to speculation of what NBC would do with their late night lineup. Apparently NBC doesn’t want to part ways with any of their 3 late night hosts. Here are a couple links to recent stories about this debacle:
The two stories have some conflicting information, which to me basically says that nothing is certain other than Leno is being cancelled from his 9pm CST slot.
On to point….
Why is it that stars who are past their prime won’t go out gracefully? (we’ll consider that a rhetorical question) Moreover, why do the organizations that hire them put up with their bullshit? Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about what the Vikings have been able to do this season with Brett Favre lining up behind center, but I don’t agree with the road that got him here. The Green Bay front office had the right idea in cutting him loose. Is NBC foolish for allowing Leno to create this mess? I think so. The Vikings had a void to fill, and they went after an experienced veteran to fill it. NBC created a spot for a “player” who had decided to retire and then changed his mind. That experiment didn’t work out, and now that should be the end of it. It doesn’t make sense to shake up your “play book” to try to fit another player in. Too many men on the field. Five yard penalty. Repeat the down.
A Work Vent
Dec 31st
I have a New Year’s Meme (copied from Sundry, among others), but I’m too annoyed to do it right now. It is 6:25 AM. I’ve been here (at the office) since 6:10, which I was actually excited about. I have a bunch of work to get done that has to be finished by noon today, and I like working early when no one else is here. But do you think my computer will cooperate? NO! Grr. It keeps giving me an error that it can’t access some file it needs in order to log me in to our customer management system. Without logging into the system I can’t actually do ANYTHING. Seriously. Nothing. I can’t attach any of the emails I have waiting that go with customer accounts, I can’t send any policies or applications out to insureds because I can’t access the form letters I need to do it, and I can’t scan in and attach any of the paper piled on my desk because I need to access customer accounts for that too.
I’m so annoyed (if you can’t tell). I will do some filing and that kind of stuff, but this is kind of ridiculous. And it’s cold outside and by the time I got home I would just have to turn around and come back, so there’s no use doing that.
I feel a trip to Starbucks coming on soon (I can get there through the skywalks, so no need to go outside). Something to get out of the office once I’m done filing, because otherwise I might drop-kick my computer, and that wouldn’t be helpful to anyone.
I hope the last day of 2009 is going better for everyone else!
