Common Sense

"Happy holiday promotion!
We're delighted to tell you about our holiday coupons, which will help you share the love with your LiveJournal friends! If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send up to 10 LiveJournal Basic/Plus users a $10 coupon for an annual paid subscription now through January 15th, 2010. Recipients can upgrade for $9.95 (instead of $19.95) for one year by enrolling in our automatic payment plan or make a manual payment of $15 (instead of $25). Please note that these coupons are not transferable and cannot be used to renew existing paid accounts. If you're a Paid/Permanent user, you can send out your holiday coupons now!"

i have ten. if anyone has a freebie or plus account (or non-account at all) and was looking to get a paid account for cheaps, shoot me a comment with your email address. comment screened.

colour me impressed!

i haven't seen this much snow in ... well, a long-ass time.

considering last week they were calling for a couple inches, and then suddenly yesterday morning it was all "HOLY CRAP YER GONNA GIT A BLIZZARD!" and usually we don't actually get what they say we're going to get, i'm totally impressed.

we have 8-9 inches reported here already and it's supposed to continue tonight through tomorrow morning. for my county? estimations are 17 inches when it's all over. that's pretty decent! biggest December snowfall on record if i'm not mistaken.

still. for a Colorado girl, 17 inches doesn't sound like tons and tons and tons. it's a LOT. it's healthy! and boy-howdy, i'm greatly impressed. :D seems pretty fluffy and powdery, too, and not all heavy and wet. i think the biggest problem here (aside from usually being ice and wet) the problem is that Maryland just doesn't get snow like this that often and can't keep up with the plowing of it all.

the thing i'm bummed about though is that the chimney sweep inspections guys had to cancel. :( dammit. we have no idea when the last time they had this chimney inspected and/or cleaned out. i'm not sure we want to risk it. so they're coming first thing Monday morning and i guess i'll be a little late for work. .. it's always something!

... i still have to have an electrician come back sometime soon, too. *sigh*

OH YEAH!!! all my UPS packages were delivered on time, when the UPS ticket said they would. in fact, some were earlier than expected.

i watched them leave the Sparks, MD office, go to the Baltimore hub, and make their way across the country to different locales. *bing* and done. it didn't cost any extra. in fact, i believe it was cheaper than USPS would have been. wtf?

post office! U SUCK. (as if i didn't already think that.)

1. i decorated my cube. it's white and silver and snow-flakey. it's got peace and hope in it. i love it. i decorated for me. the sari/scarf girl came by and was so happy i decorated. she said, "it looks so pretty in here!! that's the spirit!!" then she apologized. she said she felt bad for "making" me feel guilty.

i told her that no, she really didn't. i had said i would and i wanted to decorate. i just didn't feel i had the time. but i was so inspired by her efforts, that i made the time to decorate. i went out last night, bought a few new things (some i already had).

i have a couple more things i want to bring in, but otherwise, i am very happy with my efforts. it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

yay. :D

2. sari/scarf girl's holiday cards? she went online to a card/photo print place and made cards for everyone. individual cards with various office pictures from throughout the year, pictures of ourselves. HOW AMAZINGLY COOL IS THAT?!?!?! holy crap that woman is made of win.

mine is a collage of 2 pics of TWD and i, and 1 pic of me in my pirate coat. :D TWD's is a couple pics of himself at halloween and i forget the other pic. but that is so freakin' awesome. :D everyone in the office who has been in pictures has a card like that.

i still have to get our office cards done. ah well. maybe this weekend. ;)

3. i took pictures of everyone's cube. i might try to put them up sometime next week.

4. TWD is looking snazzy and snappy and IN A TIE AND JACKET. because it's dress-up costume day. you know, the holiday party. ;) i'm also in a skirt and tights. i don't even recall the last time i wore a dress or skirt to work.*

5. with the exception of cards and wrapping all TWD's presents, and decorating some more at the house, i'm "done" everything i'm going to do before Christmas next week. now we just hunker down and wait for the snow to come tonight and tomorrow.

6. pray the heater behaves this time! i still need to call someone to get that extra wire thing looked at. :/

7. but mostly, just happy today. that is all.

* and TWD has on pants and i have a shirt and cardigan in case you thought one of us forgot to finish dressing ourselves.

after all my cube decoratey talk and hopes, i did not decorate my cube much. i brought in a little lighty tree and a thing which hangs on my name tag outside my door. that is all.

LAAAAAME. i have always decorated more than this even when there was NOT a contest.

and i, i am soo outdone. the Jewish woman brought in a light-up menorah and she puts in a new bulb every day. (only one left!) the Indian woman's cube is the most beautiful, BEEE-YOO-TI-FUL cube i've ever seen with scarves and saris and lights draping every corner, even the ceiling and the door (i'm so taking pictures). the Indian guy's cube has evergreen and gold garland and ornaments strung from the ceiling, santa window-clings on the window, and a Santa-on-a-hot-rod drawn on his white board. i don't think he was done last i checked!

there is also a "Sugarplums dancing in my head" cube strung with glass candies and sugary-looking decorations. another woman decorated for the North Pole complete with fake snow and a freaking MAILBOX. she also has a Santa Suit hanging in the corner. not to mention other people with assorted loverly small trees or other reindeer and decorations. one woman's last name is "Donner" so her "reindeer roster" outside her cube lists all the reindeer as "in" or "out" with "Donner" listed as "in." lol :D (cute.)

and so, i was called out by the sari-scarf woman who said, "YOU SAID YOU WERE DECORATING!! i was inspired by what you said and now you are not even decorating!" okay. i am humbled. the judging is tonight (not by me--we have a sooper-seekrit judge so as not to tarnish the judging process or incur calls of 'favortism' or promote bribery).

i just didn't have time to get my stuff together to bring in. there's just so much other stuff to do around the house--our own decorating is only half-done. TWD told me to get my things together last night, but i had dishes piling up and laundry to do, a kitchen to clean, yadda yadda. so i did that instead. (especially the yadda.) even our kitty is feeling neglected these days.

but i have PROMISED them i will decorate even though the contest is over. either Friday or Monday, i'll bring in stuff to decorate my cube properly. OH YES I WILL. contest or no contest, this cube needs a-decorating. *g* i better, or they'll never forgive me. ;D

i think they couple "mashups" are stupid. i only use them if i am actively mocking the concept of people who use mashup couple names. it's stupid. HATE HATE HATE that trend.

i think it started with the whole "Bennifer" thing and went downhill from there. mostly i hate it because a couple is two people. they aren't a mashup of a single, two-headed person joined at the hip as much as some couples try.

but the names that come out of it are ridiculous. they aren't "cutesy" at all and i think i just saw the worst one. Ever. worse than "Brangelina" which already makes me want to chuck.

Gyllenspoon. Gyllenspoon!? Gyllenspoon!. i mean really. why do they do this? WHO does this? is it the media writers who thinks it's cute? i'm sure the couples don't think it's cute. do people who follow celeb news like it's News news think it's cute?

i don't get the appeal of the mashup. i guess it's better than Withergyll so maybe they got lucky. ;P~

AND ANOTHER THING. what's up with "chocolate diamonds" anyway? i realize i'm not a big gemmy gem encrust-me-in-diamonds-if-you-love-me girl in the first place, but those chocolate diamonds i've seen in those 'buy this year' commercials are weird-looking. they're brown. am i missing something?

re, migraines ... i think i am going to start to start weaning myself off the daily migraine meds and see what happens. doc approves and wants to know if we have "reset" my headaches enough that we can let go of the daily Topamax (generic brand now) without residual effect.

next time i renew the prescrip (i think january?), he's going to prescribe 25 MG pills instead of 50 MGs so we can "step down". if it gets bad i can always double up back to my regular dose.

maybe i'm crazy for trying, but 3 headaches a year is "manageable". but then i think maybe i only have 3 a year BECAUSE i'm on Topamax. i don't want to go back to having 2-3 a month or 7 in 2 weeks which is when the cycle had escalated to Extremely Insane and i was going out of my mind. :(

so it's a scary thought knowing what i might be facing, but i just don't want to be on medication forever if i don't have to be. i could have started stepping down a few months ago when i renewed then, but i didn't want to try it during faire and risk having relapse episodes.

i'm still taking yoga twice a week. still loving it and i would take it more often if it was offered more often. there's so much more to it than the stretching and balancing of the body, it's stretching and balancing of the mind, too. it's shutting off the external input for 50 minutes twice a week and focusing completely on the inside, internal Self.

there are not thoughts rushing through your head. there is merely the focus on the physical, internal workings of your body. how your blood feels when it rushes through your joints and muscles. how your muscles feel as they work in tandem to hold a pose for just a feeeewww seconds longer than you think you'll be able to hold it. how your back feels as it stretches out and you make space between all the vertebrae. it's completely engrossing and fascinating.

i can always tell when something is a little "off." this week i was stiff and creaky after sitting on a bench for 7 hours on Sunday at TWD's fencing tournament. :) other times i'm limber in some places and tense in others based on how i was sitting or how many boxes i lugged up and down stairs. it's amazing what stories the body has to tell you if you listen to it.

i'm still not very good at the meditation where you just sit there and do nothing though. well, "nothing" except meditate. lol! i guess final savasana pose is as close as it gets. if i could acheive final savasana meditation state without yoga, perhaps i'd be somewhere approximating true meditation.

anywhoozle, last week, i tried the Latin Fusion class. not AS cool and awesome as Zumba was, but it was pretty fun. i will probably take it again. i want to run again though. i have tons of new Indian mp3s courtesy of the way-cool-awesome Indian guy in our office and i'm dying to jump on the treadmill and listen to them. :)

but overall, i'm feeling pretty good about myself these days and considering it is the holiday season, i'm eating okay too. i'm enjoying the holiday foodz in moderation. not NOT indulging, but (with the exception of 10-12 rice krispie treats and 4 mini-ginger cupcakes for breakfast a couple saturdays ago--lol) have not felt i have over-indulged to the point of "oh god, i'm going to POP!" ;)

i probably should have more veggies and fruits, especially fresh, but i at least get something in the category every day.

looking forward to the new year of continued health and happiness.

from the eye of the kitty...

there have been PEOPLE coming to my house. STRANGERS. strange people i don't know. strange people Boy and Blondie don't know, but they let them walk right on in.

then, those strange people make noises i don't like and Boy and Blondie thank them for it.

pfft. i'll be under the bed if you need me ... and don't need me!

i just can't talk about it right now because it annoys the ever-living shit out of me.

as i understand the situation, there is a two-switch breaker to the heatpump.

there is only one wire.

when emergency heat kicks in, it's drawing too much power. we tripped the breaker this weekend when i flipped the thermostat to emergency heat.

home warranty won't cover it because they considers the additional wiring "an upgrade" and won't cover it. it's 60 for the service fee and $225 or so for the expense of wiring it properly. whoever put in the heatpump didn't wire it correctly.

meanwhile, the electrician shut off the breaker on the heat pump so that it won't switch to emergency heat at all. it will switch to auxilary heat if we need it, but not emergency heat. (and obviously i won't be switching it myself.)

w. t. f.

i guess it wasn't just a filter afterall.

OH! and the electrician was supposed to be there at 11. he got there sometime late this afternoon and TWD was home all day waiting. at least the guy apologised. :(

next service call (which we will need to have someone come out AGAIN i'm sure) it is my turn to "waste" the vacation time. the whole thing pisses me off (and don't talk to me about BGE bills when the heat doesn't shut off.)

we're holding a cube decoration contest in our office and i sent out the email. i specifically said, "...for the December holidays." we have a lot of people of other faiths in this office and i would LOVE to see how other people decorate! i've had a few people come up to me asking if they "can" decorate, and a few who said they "might."

i keep saying, "i left it open-ended on purpose." two people even said, "thank you! i thought it was just Christmas."

anyway, i think it'd be awesome. i've never seen anyone who decorated for Hannukkah, or anything except Christmas. so if you do, post pictures!!

(except one woman here at work showed me the link to the Park Heights house in Baltimore--WOW!!! festival of lights indeed!) :D

so a cat walks into a talent agency...

the cat says, "[insert unspeakable kitty litter travesties and acts of cross-species inbreeding]."

finally the agent says, "that's horrible! what do you call it?"

( clicky! you know you wanna... )

grab your gin and tonica,
enjoy your fabulous Chanukah!

:D

they are OH-FICIALLY allowing Maryland as a wine-shipper state. not just for businesses, but also if you are the individual purchaser, mailing from point of purchase (at the winery, mind you) to yourself. if you could have legally transported it to your state, you can ship it and arrange to pick it up at the other end.

it's only for some states, BUT those states include Nebraska.

oh HAPPY DAY!

the states list: http://www.ups.com/media/en/wine_addendum.pdf

the akkohol policy: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/guidelines/wine.html

it's about a year too late, but it's about damn time someone wised up. so you can SUCK IT, YOU SUCKY POSTAL SYSTEM!!!

so. the loophole is not necessarily the entire incompetent postal system. it's the Cockeysville post office. there may be more of course, but that's at least one office to pinpoint as "never mail anything you value to or from."

i need to mail four boxes between today and tomorrow. i went downstairs to our very nice mail persons who run the teeny post office outpost in our office building to ask, "what's the difference between insuring and tracking? if i pay for insurance AND tracking, can i see it online?" (it was the lady's grandfather; the lady was the one who had helped me through all that rigamarole with the "Case of the Missing (more like stolen) Wine" last summer.)

i briefly explained to him why i was asking because of the whole fiasco last summer. i said i paid for "insurance" but they would only tell you if it's delivered. i said, "that doesn't help me if it was never tracked in the first place. why do i care if it is properly delivered? i care if it was lost and they can't FIND it."

he paused and said quite honestly, "i have found that there isn't a hill of beans of difference between this delivery confirmation that costs $.70" ::holds up green piece of paper:: "and this." ::holds up insurance paper and a package tracking paper:: "the only difference is price. all they tell you online is whether it's been delivered. we don't have the capability in our office to log it. the guys that pick it up don't log it. they are SUPPOSED to log it at the Cockeysville post office..."

i filled in the rest for him "...but they don't."

"apparently not. anytime i've mailed something, it only gets entered in the system once it's delivered regardless what kind of tracker i've put on it."

THAT was spoken by a mail professional who WORKS at the mailing outpost. he even said they handle buckets of certified mail every day that's supposed to get logged. but he said once it leaves his office, he has no idea what becomes of it.

if he's frustrated? what about everyone else? like ME?

to be fair, he DID say he uses his local post office. he said can go home and log on and see his tracking information that's already been entered. but not from the Cockeysville PO. but seriously, that's ridiculous. and obviously, putting in a claim and complaining falls on deaf ears or i wouldn't have had to make fourhundredelevedy phone calls over the course of the last year asking about one freakin package. someone would have NOTICED something.

in any case, lesson definitely learned and i'm mailing my shit UPS from now on. (or if push comes to shove, i'll use my local, hopefully less incompetent Post Office.) screw that Cockeysville post office and screw the incompetent staff of incompetent nincompoops WHO STOLE MY DAMN WINE. i hope anyone who had an active part in stealing my wine has a lifetime of regret as a result.

and indigestion.

If I came with a warning label, what would it be?

(If you want to play along, post this in your own journal.)

Ok, cat lovers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZ0i04pSeY

i finally, FINALLY found the user manuals online.

don't think i didn't try that first on Saturday when the heater was threatening to asplode. i always try to find the manuals.

yes, i read those things. i also write those things when i'm not poring through websites at work trying to find a manual for our thermostat and looking up facts and fiction about how to set your heat.

i'm so happy i could spit.

the blinky icon will stop. we can set up codes and hours for "when it is time to be serviced" .... er .... "when it is time to have the Heating/Cooling unit serviced" (... and then i said unit ... *snicker*) and an ICON will pop up letting us know when it is time. even the FILTER icon. HURRAH!!!

vindication.

if only we had found that danged manual on saturday. and uh... changed the filter. oh well. peace of mind, you know? our heater has been inspected for winter. we can officially set a service reminder for next year.

AND NO MORE WILL I FEAR THE UNKNOWN SNOWFLAKE. (looking directly at skivee, who is a MEAN MEAN MAN. come to think of it, he should have a nice tasty apricot cookie for breakfast.) ;)

Wedding at Ctrl-Alt-Del web comic. Today: his vows.

http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20091207

so the guy came to look at our heater this morning. it had not kicked off in three days because the house hadn't heated up to the temperature i had set the thermostat. i actually set the thermostat higher so we could have the temperature at a normal level (i shudder to see our electric bill next month.)

anyway, guy comes, listens to our problem and inspects the inside unit and the outside unit.

boy do we feel stupid.

first off, because our heat pump is on the roof and outside, it gets covered in snow and we can't clear it off. he said go ahead and switch it over to "emergency heat" at that time which will force the heat over to electric and not use the heat pump. he said there's no sense in trying to use the heat pump if it's covered in snow; it just won't heat your house as well. (so now the heat pump's been inspected! it hadn't been inspected before because we didn't have the roof access code. now we do.)

secondly, we have only "lived" there since mid-october. it was technically "vacant" the month or two prior to that even though our stuff was there. the guy changed our air filter during home inspection in august. this is important.

apparently what happened is that the air filter was so clogged, the electric heat was OVER heating and choking itself off, hence the brown-outs. it was literally choking the whole power source. it also wasn't heating the house because it wasn't pumping heat THROUGH the house. heat was pretty much staying in the little room where the heater is (and upstairs). so that was the problem.

i just don't understand how it got that dirty. at our old place, we checked it every couple months just like you're supposed to and the thing always looked white. we changed it every six months. i swear this thing looked like it hadn't been changed in six years. you couldn't see a SPECK of white on it.

it was so embarassing. 1, that it was that dirty. 2, that we didn't think of checking it ourselves. but seriously! i've never seen one get that dirty that fast. i even said to TWD it's like they put a dirty one back in. :P

i realize with the move maybe we kicked up some dust, but not that much! also, the heater guy said we don't know how the other people kept house. there could be a lot of "stuff" in the ducts that now has to work free and filter through.

what's funny is that i even remembered to check the filter in the OLD place before we left and it was still pristine! we haven't changed it since May! so, either it's not working or filtering anything at all, or our new house ducts are dusty as shit. considering the state of the place when we moved in and how not-clean it was, it wouldn't surprise me.

anyway, all i had to pay for was the base service call (which was still cheaper than BGE Home--which is now cancelled). nothing more. we even had clean filters ready to go. on the list for recommendations he said *clean filter once a month* and Happy Holidays! :)

nice guy. i like that company with the boring name.

p.s. nindaene, you were toooootally right. i put in a call last night to the Home Warranty people who said if anything is seriously wrong that Home Warranty would NOT cover it if the heater people i called fix it. so i should have called the Home Warranty people first. they are the ones who blindly choose the service call with a service company. it sucks too, because they won't set it up with the HV/AC guys i now like. :P oh well. at least i know all THAT now TOO.

Lessons Learned:
air filters. check.
call Home Warranty number before calling anyone else. check.

*whew* there is so much to remember. :P~

(on a side note, our "cutesy heat icon" ... is now blinking. wtf does that mean!? *sigh* it's worse than a check engine light.)

p.p.s. our thermostat supposedly has a FILTER icon for when you need to check your filter or if there is a filter problem. this icon has not yet been found nor has it lit up. ever. (our digital thermostat needs to be replaced with a digital programmable one anyway.)