Patriots Day
One of the few benefits of working Massachusetts is the Patriots Day holiday. And, what a day to have off from work. The weather is beautiful!
It's been a pretty good day thus far. I slept in. I went to the post office. I bought an overly big lunch, which I ate while watching part of a pretty cool documentary ("King Corn"). And soon, I think I'll take a lovely nap.
School
On the other hand, I'm also trying to get ahead in my school work for my "Legal Issues in Business" class. Because the class is totally online, our instructor set us up in groups, and she has us discussing particular issues and then posting a consensus of our opinion to a main discussion board. Then, we have to post a response to at least one other group's posting. This too has to be a consensus-based posting.
For starters, let's just say that I hate group work. We managed to get the first module stuff done on time, posting it late Friday night. We have two weeks for each module in the course, each module ends on a Friday. I was the first one to post anything to my group's module two discussion last night (Sunday). So far, not another peep out of anyone. Again, let me say: I HATE GROUP WORK.
Blockbuster
The other irritant of the day: Blockbuster. We've had a membership to Blockbuster Online for a couple of years now. One of the main reasons we went with Blockbuster over Netflix was that we could exchange movie mailers for more movies at an actual Blockbuster store. Yesterday, we discovered that our local store had gone out of business.
Today, I got an email from Blockbuster saying that they were having problems charging my membership fee to my debit card. I do have a new card, so I thought maybe I entered the number incorrectly last week. I tried re-entering the card number about six times. The message on the screen suggested that I call my bank. I seriously doubted that there was an actual problem with the card, since I had used it to buy lunch just and hour before. But, I called the bank anyway to see if they were actually rejected the charge attempts from Blockbuster. The customer service representative thoroughly checked their records. My card was fine, and they had no record of denying any charge requests to Blockbuster.
So, I sent Blockbuster a nastygram and told them if they could not get my card to work, that they were more than welcome to cancel my account. I mentioned the closing of the local store as well. Another thing I complained about in my message was how slow and bloated their web site is. I also noted that if my account was canceled that I would happily take my business to Netflix.
Supposedly they respond to most messages within four business hours. I'll update this post if and when they reply.
-------------------------------------
Update
Fine. Blockbuster apologized for the issue with my credit card. But, I was already annoyed with them anyway. So, I quit and signed up with Netflix. Oddly enough, they couldn't process my credit card either. Same card that I used all over town today. Must be some payment processor that's having the issue. I gave Netflix another payment method that they were content with. So, life is good on the DVD rental front again.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Rules, guidelines, order, and logic - minor examples
Some would say that I have a heightened attention to detail. Still others would uncharitably call my anal retentive. My own husband teases me about my 'rules'. Apparently, I have rules for a number of things, in his opinion.
I don't know if they are all 'rules'. Some precepts are just guidelines, which I cannot fathom why others don't appreciate the logic of.
Let's take a minor situational example. Virtually every work day, I go to the gym at lunch time. The women's locker room is a a series of alcoves. There are plenty of lockers, and there are storage areas under the lockers for shoes and gym bags that might not easily fit within the lockers themselves.
Guideline #1: Do not leave your belongings strewn about the floor or on the bench when there is plenty of room underneath the lockers to stash your stuff. Leaving your belongings on the floor or on the bench inconveniences other patrons of the locker room.
Guideline #2: If there are two paths to get to your spot in the alcove, and both paths are obstructed by other patrons, take the path that inconveniences the 'more clothed' patron. It is highly inconsiderate to try to brush past a nearly naked person in order to get to your spot, when you could have brushed past a nearly clothed individual.
Guideline #3: Do not engage in a cell phone conversation in the midst of other patrons who are in various states of undress and are in a hurry to either get to their workout or get back to their duties. Having a conversation in the midst of disinterested naked people is second only to have a cell phone conversation in a toilet stall next to some one else in a toilet stall who is trying to take care of their own delicate business as privately as possible.
Guideline #4: Do not 'shower' yourself in highly scented lotions or perfumes in close proximity to others. They may not share your appreciation of the scent you have chosen to drown yourself in, and they cannot easily escape its 'charms'.
Guideline #5: Do not engage in any loud conversation in the presence of other partially dressed patrons that you are not willing to have them join in. If you are willing to have a conversation in front of their semi-nakedness, you are obviously willing to allow them to participate in the conversation. Semi-nakedness is a vulnerable state. Engaging in a conversation in front of someone in such a state is an admission of intimacy you may not intend. If you do not intend to become more intimate with your semi-naked fellow patrons, keep your conversations brief and uninviting.
Guideline #6: If people are in various states of undress, do not engage in conversation with them unless you know them very well. If you do find yourself engaged in conversation with someone who is getting undressed or dressed, make sure to either avert your eyes or only look at their eyes, not the rest of their semi (or completely un-) dressed form.
Guideline #7: DUH! Pick up after yourself. Leave the area at least as orderly as you found it. Pick up your towels. Close your locker when you are done. Through your trash away. ... Grow up!
These are just a few of the guidelines that I live with and by each day. Perhaps I'll share more of my anal retentive wisdom as situations arise that remind me how many humans could use a refresher course on manners and proper interpersonal behavior.
I don't know if they are all 'rules'. Some precepts are just guidelines, which I cannot fathom why others don't appreciate the logic of.
Let's take a minor situational example. Virtually every work day, I go to the gym at lunch time. The women's locker room is a a series of alcoves. There are plenty of lockers, and there are storage areas under the lockers for shoes and gym bags that might not easily fit within the lockers themselves.
Guideline #1: Do not leave your belongings strewn about the floor or on the bench when there is plenty of room underneath the lockers to stash your stuff. Leaving your belongings on the floor or on the bench inconveniences other patrons of the locker room.
Guideline #2: If there are two paths to get to your spot in the alcove, and both paths are obstructed by other patrons, take the path that inconveniences the 'more clothed' patron. It is highly inconsiderate to try to brush past a nearly naked person in order to get to your spot, when you could have brushed past a nearly clothed individual.
Guideline #3: Do not engage in a cell phone conversation in the midst of other patrons who are in various states of undress and are in a hurry to either get to their workout or get back to their duties. Having a conversation in the midst of disinterested naked people is second only to have a cell phone conversation in a toilet stall next to some one else in a toilet stall who is trying to take care of their own delicate business as privately as possible.
Guideline #4: Do not 'shower' yourself in highly scented lotions or perfumes in close proximity to others. They may not share your appreciation of the scent you have chosen to drown yourself in, and they cannot easily escape its 'charms'.
Guideline #5: Do not engage in any loud conversation in the presence of other partially dressed patrons that you are not willing to have them join in. If you are willing to have a conversation in front of their semi-nakedness, you are obviously willing to allow them to participate in the conversation. Semi-nakedness is a vulnerable state. Engaging in a conversation in front of someone in such a state is an admission of intimacy you may not intend. If you do not intend to become more intimate with your semi-naked fellow patrons, keep your conversations brief and uninviting.
Guideline #6: If people are in various states of undress, do not engage in conversation with them unless you know them very well. If you do find yourself engaged in conversation with someone who is getting undressed or dressed, make sure to either avert your eyes or only look at their eyes, not the rest of their semi (or completely un-) dressed form.
Guideline #7: DUH! Pick up after yourself. Leave the area at least as orderly as you found it. Pick up your towels. Close your locker when you are done. Through your trash away. ... Grow up!
These are just a few of the guidelines that I live with and by each day. Perhaps I'll share more of my anal retentive wisdom as situations arise that remind me how many humans could use a refresher course on manners and proper interpersonal behavior.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Mochi is yucky
A friend at work told me that her family loves mochi. It's a Japanese food made with brown rice. It's a kind of dough that you bake.
Since it's made from brown rice I figured that maybe I could eat it as a low-guilt treat. Plus, since it's Japanese, I thought my husband would approve.
Well ... I followed the directions and baked some this evening. The plain unsweetened variety was pretty awful. I put a little honey on it, which made it somewhat tolerable. However, THAT kind of defeats the virtuosity of the experience. Plus, even with the honey it was not all that interesting.
Experiment: FAILED.
Since it's made from brown rice I figured that maybe I could eat it as a low-guilt treat. Plus, since it's Japanese, I thought my husband would approve.
Well ... I followed the directions and baked some this evening. The plain unsweetened variety was pretty awful. I put a little honey on it, which made it somewhat tolerable. However, THAT kind of defeats the virtuosity of the experience. Plus, even with the honey it was not all that interesting.
Experiment: FAILED.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Travel plans and dreams
In response to the questions to my last post...
The reason I applied for a passport was my brother's impending move to Paris for the next three years. We plan to visit him, with a side trip to London, in April 2009.
My husband and I will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary in September 2009. As a means of marking the event, we've decided to do a Caribbean cruise, probably in February 2010.
My son has expressed a desire to go to Italy at some point. So, we have a tentative plan to visit Rome and Venice in April 2011.
I've never been a huge fan of travel, at least not the process of getting somewhere else. However, I have long had a desire to see distant places. Now that I have a passport and plans to go at least a few places, maybe I will be able to fulfill some of those dreams. Here are some additional foreign places that I thought I might like to travel to:
There are also a bunch of U.S. trips that I've been contemplating:
I doubt that I'll ever get to see all those places unless we hit the lottery, especially with the soaring price of fossil fuels (and the declining dollar - though that can't last forever, can it?). However, it's nice to dream.
The reason I applied for a passport was my brother's impending move to Paris for the next three years. We plan to visit him, with a side trip to London, in April 2009.
My husband and I will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary in September 2009. As a means of marking the event, we've decided to do a Caribbean cruise, probably in February 2010.
My son has expressed a desire to go to Italy at some point. So, we have a tentative plan to visit Rome and Venice in April 2011.
I've never been a huge fan of travel, at least not the process of getting somewhere else. However, I have long had a desire to see distant places. Now that I have a passport and plans to go at least a few places, maybe I will be able to fulfill some of those dreams. Here are some additional foreign places that I thought I might like to travel to:
- Iceland
- Germany
- Ireland
- Israel
- Scottland
- Wales
- Switzerland
- Amsterdam
- Do an inland cruise (or two) along one of Europe's rivers
- The Canadian maritimes (Nova Scotia, PEI, etc.)
- Montreal
- England (Lincoln, York, and Hadrian's wall).
- See the pyramids in Egypt.
- See the great statues on Easter Island.
- Visit the Galapogos Islands
- Antarctica
- Sleep in a huge stone castle in somewhere in Europe
- Attend the World Science Fiction Convention in a foreign country
There are also a bunch of U.S. trips that I've been contemplating:
- New Orleans
- Stay in a penthouse suite in a hotel in Manhatten for at least a weekend.
- Attend the St Patrick's Day parade in Jackson, Mississippi and meet Jill Conner Browne.
- Attend the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in Madison Square Garden
- Visit Washington D.C. during the Cherry Blossum Festival
- See the ponies run on Assateague Island in Maryland
- Visit Mammoth Cave in TN.
- Visit Legoland in California and then in Denmark.
- Cross the U.S. in one of those scenic-view trains.
- Cruise the Mississippi on a riverboat.
- Visit Niagra Falls.
- Visit the Grand Canyon.
- Visit Yellowstone National Park.
- Spend a week on a house boat on Lake Powell.
I doubt that I'll ever get to see all those places unless we hit the lottery, especially with the soaring price of fossil fuels (and the declining dollar - though that can't last forever, can it?). However, it's nice to dream.
Monday, April 07, 2008
I can finally travel the world!
Just over a week after applying for my passport it arrived in my mailbox! I was worried that my application might have been rejected because of a mistake on my birth certificate (my mother's married name was listed instead of her maiden name). But, apparently, the mere fact that I had a birth certificate and had a corroborating official photo identification at the time of my application was sufficient to garner me the precious document. I am now well on the road to become a world traveler!
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