Driving by to say that, first of all I miss one day and now have three pages to catch up on, dayum, and second that I have to run, as I have a family coming over to get to know their puppy for a bit. I like to have my puppies familiar with their soon to be owners, its less stressful on everyone that way, particularly the puppies. I promise puppy pics later.
zooming away…
We’re still doing the big event in December, giving friends and family enough time to make plans to come out this way. It’s really not fair on people to say “Hey, we’re getting married next week, and we’d really like you to be there!” when hotels and cross-country flights need to be booked.
As for why this weekend, no particular significance other than “before the fall election” just to be sure the Morons, err, Mormons and whackos from Arizona don’t mess things up. On the odd chance their constitutional amendment passes, they were idiots and wrote in nothing to affect existing marriages.
**Mama ** - good news on carpools! I’m also about to start saving commute dollars. I’m in a pilot program to study telecommuting in my group, and will soon be working from home on Thursdays and Fridays. I don’t know what Papa Tigs’ commute costs are, but working from home will net me an effective raise of about $1.20 an hour on telecommute days. I’m not sure what they’re worried about - the mainframe graybeard who used to sit next to me moved to another state and is on permanent telecommute. It’s been a few months, and it seems to work out OK for them.
We haven’t worked out commuting costs to an hourly rate, but when he got the Corolla as a commuting car, the improved mileage saved enough to cover the car payments. Of course, gas was only half what it is now. :rolleyes: He’s going to be saving probably $200-$300 a month on gas what with only driving one out of four days; the downside is that he’ll have to work every Friday now instead of getting every other one off – but he also won’t be working so much extra time. Another up side is that if he stays late, it’s probably because the colonel who’s currently his boss needs him there so he’ll be there, too, and he lives out this way so will have to give him a ride. 
I think <knock wood> things have finally settled down around here, so maybe I can actually get back to work. It was more than a bit chaotic this afternoon, what with KtAR running around, the dogs wandering around curiously watching him (although not getting underfoot, amazingly enough – they were so well-behaved it was really great), and then Papa Tigs coming home in the middle and having loud conversations with KtAR about all kinds of things. Like the fact that KtAR met his wife, our overnight dogsitter, on Guam. (You may go beat your head against the wall now, snowbunny. :smack: ) It’s a family thing – Papa Tigs lived on Guam for 11 years, and although I think I’d only heard mention of it once or twice before I met him, ever since then every time I turn around Guam comes back up. It’s been driving us crazy for years!
Anyway, back to work. Envy me my exciting life.
What is it about Guam???
That is a serious yay! I just got gas the other day…$43 dollars for my little Saturn, a new record. Yowch. Thankfully I only live about six or seven miles from work, and if I don’t make any lengthy trips (like a shopping trip to Twin Falls) I can go a month on a tank of gas.
Not much happening. I screwed something up moderately big time but it got fixed and I grovelled a bit. I really really hate that. Otherwise, eh.
For anyone who decides to try my stuffed cabbage - I recommend against the crock pot method. It doesn’t taste quite the same, plus the meat stays red - very weird looking. It didn’t taste bad, just not as good as it should. I suspect it’s because boiling moves more of the cabbage flavor throughout the meat.
Have I mentioned that SIL is a drama queen? The slightest boo-boo is just short of a 9-1-1 call. Feeling a bit off requires taking to the bed. Fatigue?? Yeah, I get tired from extended manual labor, but even when I whine, I keep working. A real gem, that one. :rolleyes:
One load of laundry done, another in the dryer. Other than that, it’s a lazy night. I think I’m going to make up a shopping list for the last supplies we need for the apartment, adding in a replacement garage door opener and a bathtub for the blue bathroom. Gonna cost a coupla bucks… <sigh>
Damn, laundry. I really should do some towels; I did sheets last night. Now that there’s not many pounds of damp fluff 2/3 blocking the dryer vent (the entire pipe that came off was FULL of that stuff, it was really appalling!), I suspect the dryer will work even faster. If that’s possible. I mean, it dried a load of jeans & other heavy knit stuff in less than half an hour recently; how much faster it get without a nifty little add-on that teleports the moisture out of the fabric? :dubious: 
By the way, snowbunny, call me when you get off work – no big deal, I just don’t know how late you’re working but want to whine at you a bit. Lucky you.
Yeah, it didn’t quit after that. My mom fell before going to work this morning. I guess she’s ok, I haven’t talked to her. Also, after my grandparents had dropped off their lunch delivery the brakes went out on their car. They are also ok.
Speaking of my mom, can I rant for a minute about her lousy place of work and ask why the Americans with Disabilities Act can’t help her? She has had multiple surgeries on her left foot/ankle over the past years. Starting with a botched one by a hack that left town under apparently dubious circumstances. Anyways, as a result of all of this, she has a very difficult time standing and walking; stairs are particularly difficult for her. She has braces on both feet (I call them her Herbie Hancock boots ) and has a handicapped parking permit. She has worked for the same company for the last 37 or so years, mostly as a cashier. This is a job where she is standing 100% of the time, as a result, she’s been taking 6 vicodin per day just to get through the work day. What I can’t figure out is why can’t she(lawfully) force them to let her sitdown while she’s at her register. It is simply not allowed. Her choices are to either keep working and popping pills to be able to stand or quit. There is nothing in between and it makes me very mad. :mad: This really doesn’t make any sense especially because there is this woman at our local Sam’s Club who is physically unable to stand for long periods of time and so they accomodate her. It seems to fucking wrong that my mother’s precious Union can’t do anything for her, yet the un-Unionized at Sam’s Club seem to have better rights. 
Upon Preview: She has enough service to retire, but is not old enough. If she retired at 65 vs now 56 there would be something like a $1000 per month difference in her pension. And having to spend over $400 per month on various medicines (don’t get me started on that) makes it seem like it would be worthwile to tough it out if at all possible.
Hooray for Gotti and** DH**!
Muppet, I don’t like sloppy joes either. 
Home. Tried to get off early. FAIL. Papa Johns is bringing dinner. Yay beer!
Pie, a chair sounds reasonable. Glad Mom and grandparents are OK.
Mama Tigs, would you my laundry? My dryer is dead.
: waves at kai :
Congrats Morgyn!
Congrats gotti! I wish I could telecommute. 70 hours in the computer chair wouldn’t be so bad.
Muppet, I 10th the fish slapping. Maybe Skiifman could get you a huge rotten one?
Yay for Morg! Or is it Gyn? Orgy perhaps? Anywho, congrats on the new gig.
Well, no spend the night night. 
He did come for dindin but needed to get back. New staff plus bunches of new patients make for long days, poor thing.
On the upside the new cell phones arrived today. Cute LG phones with cameras and bluetooth capabilities. IM, Email, Net Browsing and all that there good stuff too but I don’t care about all that. I got ‘em charged up, activated and all the saved numbers from the old phones to the new ones. Yeah, both of us are on the same cell phone plan. It was cheaper that way. I may never figure out how to do stuff but call, but that’s the main reason. I did take a picture of a tree just to see if I could do it. It worked. So I guess I figured that out. I sent it to ol’ y’all know who’s phone and it worked. Maybe I’m not such a Luddite after all.
Ok, gonna go lie up in the bed and watch teevee just cause.
Nitey Nite!
What brand of washer/dryer did you get MamaT. That and a new dishwasher are my next big (planned) household purchases. Probably won’t happen until at least next year, but I’m always interested in people’s experiences.
Oh…and does KtAR make house calls in Ohio? I have a list.
Wow, Muppet, that’s some sister you’ve got there. There’s really no reason to trouble with her until she decides to grow up, sad as that is to say. Oh, and I second doggio’s suggestion of using our Kodiak connections to get the appropriate upside-head-slapping weapon.
rigs I agree that TH is wrong wrong wrong. If he’s been made President, his responsibility is to his company, and not to the person who left him the mess. I’m sure it’s hard for him to believe that this person is as bad as he could be (I’ve worked on the edges of a similar situation before; it’s rather mindblowing), but he really needs to distance himself as much as possible from the guy. If he’s as connected as he sounds, he’ll figure something out. If I were him, I’d be consulting outside legal counsel, among other things.
Congrats to gotti and DH. Wonderful that you can finally make it official!
Wow, Pie, that’s just a bit much for one day. Glad everyone appears to be safe. I can’t imagine why your mom’s employer shouldn’t be able to accommodate her. It’s always risky to speak up, because employers who don’t care about their employees and don’t care about complying with the spirit of a law will find a way to get the outcome they want without technically violating the law. Is there someone she trusts at work who might help her get an appropriate accommodation?
::waves at Haze:: Glad you got to talk to The Guy and could also start broaching the subject of marriage with your parents. Hopefully meeting him will help a lot.
Yay on the commuting changes for Papa Tigs and gotti, too.
Finally made the fruited grain salad. Had a small helping, even though it really helps for it to sit a bit so that all the flavors blend. I forget that it’s one of my favorite salads until I make it. And then I wonder why I haven’t made it in such a long time (it’s been years). :smack: It’s a lot heavier made with wheat berries instead of barley, but equally tasty.
It rained really hard as I was getting home. And - no leak!!! (I think the new room may have helped. ;)) New gutters are coming tomorrow. Double yay!
Off to play with garden pictures. I’m hoping to post links in a bit…
GT
OMG. #1 son just called! I am so thrilled for him–he went to the Great Barrier Reef Monday and Tuesday and scuba’ed. He saw a couple of huge sea turtles, fish (he didn’t say which) and a reef shark! :eek: That is so cool. Now he’s at Ayer’s Rock (Urulu, I think it’s called) and they’re going to go see it tomorrow. He says it looks like a rock. :smack:
I forgot to ask him where he put the Guitar Hero guitar for the Wii–we can’t find it anywhere…
I feel much better now that I’ve talked to him.
I work a lot. Can’t go into too much detail about work, but I work for a person who may or may not be a US senator and his name may or may not rhyme with “Harack O’Llama”.
I can has official MMP pardon?
Well, did you all miss me? I bet you didn’t even notice that I hadn’t posted this week.
Looks like congrats are in order for those with the good news.
Rigs, I’m so glad TH managed to hang on to a job there. However, I’ve got to agree with you and others here re: the boss guy.
Mr. Taters and my daughter had a very frustrating time at the Dept of Licensing. We’ve been harping on our daughter to get a job, but she needs some sort of official form of ID (DUH!). We’ve been very remiss in getting that taken care of. So, hubby took her to the DOL with her birth certificate, her social security card, a piece of mail addressed to her at our home, his ID, and various other documents. Apparently, these are not good enough.
In addition to her birth certificate and social security card, she needs official certified transcripts, her yearbook, her report card, and one other piece of something official to prove who she is. This could be a passport, a concealed weapons permit, and a whole long list of bullshit documents. Additionally, we need to go down there with a utiliity bill, mortgage statement, our ID AND sign an affadavit for her. This is just beyond stupid.
Birth certificate, social security card, piece of mail and something with her picture I can understand, but all the additional stuff is just bullshit. ASB or college IDs don’t count.
Anyway, I’ll be taking her back down there on Saturday morning. :rolleyes: Neither my daughter nor my husband are very happy right now.
Work has been incredibly busy and so has home life. I’m ready for vacation, but it doesn’t start until August.
I should figure out what I’m making for dinner.
LOUNE, well, I *guess * we can pardon you, but you do know that when stuff ends in November you are REQUIRED to post more regularly. We’ve missed you.
For what? Did you do that gun running we heard about? If you were the one who told those Muslim women not to sit there, then NO-you may not have a pardon. Pardons don’t grow on trees, ya know–they’re mined at great expense. You didn’t even offer chocolate, not that we can be bribed, but chocolate is a nice, friendly thing to do… Jeesh, you people really are the entitled generation. <mutters> tries to get a pardon and doesn’t even bring chocolate… I ask you… <mumbles and leaves>
PS-I’m voting for Harack O’Llama–I like him better than his brother Barack.
Wow…that’s incredibly bureaucratic, Taters. I was just wondering where you were. (I’m slow.)
::Ponders the puzzle that is LOUNE’s post:: Whomever could he be working for in this top-secret job? Why did he forget the chocolate? And the beer?
Glad you got to talk to #1 son, rigs. Sounds like an awesome vacation!
Should really fall asleep sometime soon…
GT
Wow, lots of greats news lately!! Nice!
Congrats to gotti, Morgyn, rigsand MamaTigs!
rigs, blue sky has some context in securities law in regards to fraud. . . blue sky laws.. But I can’t tell from context what your TH is saying.
Lunch, I was going to ask if you’re still in a blue funk, but you seem to have recovered nicely. Welcome back.
~waving to kai~ :bounce, bounce, bounce:
LOUNE baby, haven’t seen you in ages. Sorry, no excuses. Get back in here.
Are you sure they’re not just messing with you? They want to see a yearbook? What if you never bought a yearbook? Some people don’t. Is there someplace you can check what the actual rules/laws are for getting a license? Are we talking about a driver’s license? That’s just … weird.
Wow. Even when I first got a Maryland license, they didn’t require that much. And considering that it took me 8 hours and 2 trips home to get all the documents they wanted, that’s saying a lot!
Harack O’Llama, eh? Is he related to Larack Vicuña?
And #1 son is at Uluru? I am so jealous! That is high on my list of Things I Really, Really want to see. Probably considerably more than #1 son, actually. :rolleyes: But sounds like he’s having a wonderful time, and I know you must feel better for having talked to him.
Pie, your mom should take some of that $400 and go talk to a disabilities lawyer who’s willing to write a letter for her. Also, dumb question, but has she ASKED for a chair? In writing, citing her disability? Because companies don’t necessarily have to offer accommodation. But a letter from a lawyer pointing out that she’s got two prima facie grounds for discrimination – handicap and disability – would probably go a long way in getting her a chair. And also make it real clear, if they decide she’s suddenly a bad employee and let her go, that it would be totally pretextual. Also a letter from her doctor stating that she is not allowed to stand for more than X period of time and needs to have a chair provided because of her disability. There’s lots of ways to go after them, but it does require your mom to start raising some stink. IANAL, but I’ve seen enough discrimination cases to know that the one being treated badly has to raise some hell. Her union should have someone willing to fight the good fight for her, too! If not in the local, she can go to the national and raise hell. What is she paying dues for, otherwise?
Sorry. End of rant. I just get pissed off when I see people who really are being discriminated against, as compared to all the whiners who claim some type of discrimination as a way of avoiding accepting responsibility for their own actions.
Okay. Back to work. (Yes, it’s after midnight.) I still have a chunk to finish tonight before I go to bed, but I really needed to take a mental break for a few minutes.
Wow, where’s the night shift? I just came back because I realized I forgot to answer gt’s question. We got our washer and dryer at Sears; they say Kenmore, but they’re made by Whirlpool. They were on a very good sale, too, which didn’t hurt. 
Okay, now really back to work.