To mourn or not to mourn...

Nope... Michael Jackson should have been in jail.

I totally agree with a statement a friend of mine made...
" he had allowed himself... "
MJ made the choices that got him where he ended up. No pity here. I mean, come on.... MJ had his peeps going around the world SOLICITING 'Lifetime achievement awards' for the boss-man.... there is something REALLY WRONG with that outlook.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, as grandma would say....

I am thinking that I would like to be hired by some rich rich person (need not be a celebrity, but it would help) as the voice of reason, and that I had written into my contract that my decision on any given matter would supersede that of both the rich person AND the handlers/enablers AND that the rich person would be forced to thank me afterward for making the right decision AND that I would get paid exorbitant amounts of money for the honor of telling the rich person to shove it.

Just goes to show you that the right amount of narcotics will stop anyone's breathing (just like the 24 year old from Wilco that OD'd on Fentanyl patches... duh... )

...sigh... It's good to dream.

I can't wait till it's over

(okay, okay..... my opinion didn't stop me from watching the drooling, panting mobs on teevee last night... or from cackling gleefully while watching the news helicopters chase the sherrif's helicopter to the morgue... that was FUNNY!!!! ONly in LA!!!! But at least I watched most of it with the sound turned off and closed caption off)

Is today over yet?

Welcome to the support day from hell. It's my first week on call for my new job. AARRGGHH!! And, I am supporting a computer application that is getting new users added every week. And the computer application generates their paycheck. And it is the last day of the payperiod. Oh, well. I signed up for this.


On a lighter (or different) note, Chuck and I decided to move in together when our leases were up this spring. What a fiasco that has turned into! More later.....

Gimme My $$ Back!!!

Why are we wasting Congressional time investigating steroid use by baseball players? Who cares? Professional athletes are entertainers, nothing more. And if Congress wants to investigate entertainer’s use of steroids, I think we should look at ALL the entertainers out there. I don’t see any Congressional committee investigating NASCAR drivers, they are entertainers. What about pro wrestlers? I don’t see my local Senator breathing down their necks. (And they even call themselves entertainers!) What about basketball players? Soccer players? Ballerinas? What about the acrobats in Cirque du Soleil? Surely THEY are entertainers! Why not investigate them?

Professional athletes are entertainers. They don’t set national policy. They don’t police my streets. They don’t put out fires or provide medical care. They don’t teach children reading and writing. They put on a show, that’s it. They are adults and if they want to inject themselves with banned substances, so what? How are they different from heroin users? Or alcoholics? Or people who smoke? All of that is bad, but Congress isn’t investigating those people.

Quit wasting my hard-earned tax dollars on pointless steroid investigations. What are you going to do, send users to jail? HAHA! Spend my tax dollars on something substantial. I know, how about health care reform?

A lesson to be learned

Susan Boyle is the greatest find on "Britain's Got Talent" since Paul Potts.

And she looks just about as good.

By the time I saw her video, the cat (pardon the pun) was out of the bag and I was expecting good things.

I doubt I would have been that charitable had I seen the show live.

My bad.

Our bad.

Will we ever quit this behavior?

I wonder how many people look at me and think unkind thoughts?

How many people do I look at and think unkind thoughts about?

Can we quit this behavior?

Is it even worth trying?

Observations in the bath...

Have you ever wondered about where all those name tags on lanyards have been?

The ones, especially on women, that hang just below the bust?

The ones that swoop right into your undies when you bend over to sit on the toilet?

I feel the earth move.... wait, it's just my STUPH moving...

Will someone please explain to me why I have Oprah magazines from March 2006 sitting in my apartment? And April 2006 and May 2006 and and and.... 3 years of Cooking Light and Rachel Ray? I am nuts. I have too much junk. And it is now going to haunt me. Again.

I am moving.

Again.

But different this time...

by July 1, Chuck and I will be co-habitating. We've been talking about this for the last 18 months and now that our leases are up, we have decided it is time.

Or maybe it was more... (me) Hi, my lease is up. I am moving out. Are you coming with me? (him) Ummm.... well.....

I really hope I am learning to compromise and that it didn't go that way. I think some days he feels like I run roughshod all over him. It's never my intention, but seems to frequently be the outcome. [sigh]

Anyway, we will be leaving the apartment where we have lived the last 2.5 (me)-3 (him) years and will be living under the same roof..... which technically we have been doing for the last 2.5 years, but not within the same 4 walls. It will be a change... I hope we survive. ;-)

So for the next couple months I need to be cleaning... and cleaning and cleaning and throwing out and throwing out and throwing out.... today I started with the old magazines and about 50 or so old floppy disks (which, of course, had to be looked at one more time to make sure I wasn't throwing out the ONE AND ONLY COPY of something important). I am not sure how I wound up doing that as I was originally headed down the hall to work on my t-shirt quilt. [shrug] I am easily distracted.

(why, oh why, do I have 3 year old magazines?)(I suppose it's not as bad as the 20-year-old National Geographics my parents had)

Chuck brought up the other day that we will be needing to trim our belongings. He asked about my microwave (thanks, Mom! the Amana Radar Range still works like a champ!) and how we probably didn't need 2. Which immediately put me into a mild panic.... WHO'S STUFF DO YOU DUMP? How many TV's do you really need? How many wooden spoons? How many potholders? Pots? Pans? Bath towels??? AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good Will is going to get quite a haul this July.

We went out to look at a couple townhouses yesterday. What fun! I love looking at new places. Sometimes I think I could do it endlessly. And as much as I am going to whine from now until August, I like moving to a new place... the surprise you get when opening unmarked boxes... the angst over the broken _____. Getting used to the smell of the new place... wondering what cupboard/cabinet/closet you put something in... I really love moving. At least I should, I have done it enough. 15 places of my own, one shared house with my sister, and 3 stints at Mom & Dad's house... storage units in Miami, Phoenix, Colona, Jayne's basement (sometimes all at the same time) and my current storage unit which will be going away by June 30!!! Hopefully for the last time.

Chuck has mentioned several times that perhaps, it is time for me to thin out the pile of 'stuph'.

I am having problems with that.

I am a packrat.

I was raised that way.

There was no minimalist zen in my childhood. More was fine. More was normal.

On the other hand, do I really need a 1980-something copy of Parade magazine featuring Richard Speck and his murder spree?

I have visions of my side of the garage being filled with boxes upon boxes of stuph that Chuck won't let in the house until I go thru it (again).

Some years ago, my mother, sister and I agreed that we had reached a point in our lives where it was 'okay' to let go of things that other family members had made or given to us. I would venture to guess that I am still having problems with that. I have known for years that i needed to go thru the boxes. But out of sight is out of mind.... at the rate of $170 a month for storage. Okay, so maybe I'm not entirely rational about this. Is my stuff really worth $5270? I think so. It's my "STUPH!!!" On the other hand.... I may have too much stuph.

There was a house for rent just around the corner from us with about 3000 square feet of space... plus a basement. I was really interested in seeing it although I was a little scared that it would be a little too much space and that I would irrevokably expand into the space (kind of like Veruca Salt, the blueberry in Willy Wonka) and not be able to move ever again. Fortunately (unfortunately??), it was rented the night before I called. (We have decided to rent for the next couple years-long story, involves 3 kids, a divorce and college next year).

Here are the links to the places we saw yesterday.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2112-N-Juniper-Lane-Unit-2112_Arlington-Heights_IL_60004_1105783518

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/151-Schiller-Square-Unit-151_Itasca_IL_60143_1107381749

es we sa We liked the Juniper place. you can see a gazillion photos of it on my Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94935649@N00/
The realtor we are using is the one who sold my townhouse 3 years ago. She laughed and laughed at all the pics Chuck and I took. The best part about this place is its location. It is right across the street from where we live now. Would make moving easy!


The Schiller place had some issues (not the least of which was it's proximity to the train tracks)... cracks in the ceiling AND wall drywall, leaks in the plumbing in the utility room, a clothes dryer that runs on 120 volts instead of 220 (been there, done that, no repeats wanted), a dungeon for small children in the basement.... we decided to pass on this one.

But... we have just started this process. It's a long time until June 30.

Way up north....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM

The reason Chuck won't move to Minnesota with me.

Rats.