Thursday, September 22, 2005

I Plead Stupid

Who would leave money out in the open for anyone to take? Me!

I had lunch at Big Bowl today with a co-worker. She had cash, I didn't, so I charged the whole meal on my debit card and the co-worker gave me her portion of the bill in cash. Perfect, right? Nope.

I left it at the table. Don't ask why I didn't put it in my wallet immediately upon receipt of said funds. It just didn't happen.

I didn't realize till I made my way out of the house for a quick trip to the store, and to deposit a refund check at the bank (refund check for the monitor we bought two months ago...man they're slow!).

Store - With my purchase already scanned through the self check-out station and placed neatly in the bag, I dig into my wallet expecting $15 in cash for my $12.37 purchase. My head starts reeling...did I take the cash from the table? I had no memory. Maybe I'd grabbed it and just put in my purse. Of course, I couldn't check my purse because it was at home. I'd only walked out with my wallet. Argh. I pay with my debit card.

Next was the trip to the bank to deposit the refund check - envelope deposit. I pull up to the machine, grab a deposit envelope and automatically reach for my purse which is usually on the passenger seat, but which is now at home, possibly with $15 from lunch in it. Okay, now I'm mad. I have no pen to write anything on my deposit envelope! No pen in the car either. Dag!

Upon arriving back at home, I dig through my purse. No money. Taking a HUGE leap of faith, I call Big Bowl. Maybe our waiter is an upright, honest, hard working American who'd turned in the cash thinking the owner of said money would realize her dumb over- sight and call for her money later that evening....

Sadly, our waiter saw an opportunity, authored by a sometimes empty headed customer, and made off with a $15 'tip'.

Monday, September 19, 2005

When Clinton was President

I'm pretty bad when it comes to things I should do and make good practice of as to prevent further injury or suffering to myself and others.

Eye exams are one of them.

The last time I had an eye exam, Clinton was President and a show called "Melrose Place" was all the rage. Sadness (the show, I mean)!

I'm lazy, I admit it. Instead of wearing the glasses I was prescribed those many years ago, I opted to squint, neck extended, mouth slightly open in that dumb "who's doin' what now?" look, attempting to read a road sign as two cars jam on their breaks to avoid impact as I'd unwittingly drove through a red light.

Well, now my job requires me to read very small, very fine print on a daily basis (one marketing gibberish after another - sigh) and it has taken a toll on my eyes. I guess I first recognized a problem while reading the last Harry Potter book. My eyes felt like they were going to cross. Even as I lay in bed at night to go to bed, I could feel my eyes trying to cross.

Two weeks ago, while I was at home, watching TV from my couch, which has always been a more than comfortable distance for me, I felt a 'zinging' sensation between my forehead. I thought it may have been from lack of sleep, so I took at nap. The problem didn't go away. All of a sudden, I could no longer follow the characters moving across the screen from left to right without that zinging sensation happening again, and now, I had a slight headache.

I ponder about why this is happening (I'm not that brite) and after a few minutes, I decide to put on my glasses (I'm cursing the marketing gibberish I've been auditing under my breath). Ta-Da!

Of course, it wasn't a 20/20 kind of view even with the glasses. The lenses are scratched up, and seeing better doesn't mean seeing well.

I have an eye exam tonight. I may come back with bi-focals....pray for me....

UPDATE:
My vision is crap. Even as I am typing this I can 'just' make out the letters on teh screen. Sigh. My left eye seems to be the problem. I've been asked to come back two months from now as a follow up for my left eye.

Let's put it this way...if my right eye could see 10 feet ahead of me without the aid of glasses, my left eye could see half that and 'just' be able to make out letters.

I have not picked out my new frames. I still need to some shopping around. Might be fun to do during lunch tomorrow! Hehehe.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Cat News Network

It's a fragile truce in the Maidy-land these past three days. Negotiations have failed, and the two debating sides refuse to concede to any conditions less than impossible.

Holding fast to the Northwest corner of the Maidy territory is Her Highness, Nellie - the tuxedo cat. Though slightly injured from Saturday's front line battle, she continues to recover - the recovery apparently being fueled by her outrage and anger from the losing battle that took place. When asked if the loss had affected her mental health and pride, she replied, "It is a smaller portion of Maidy-land, but it's rich in resources. I have the master bedroom, the bed, the laundry basket, two closets and the bathroom sink. The opposition has more space, but all he has is a couch and a few more windows...it's like Russia...big but useless."

The bathroom sink has been a thorn in the side of peace talk efforts for the past two years. Both sides claim they have exclusive rights to the sink, whether it is occupied all day or for five minutes by the rightful owner.

"It was an honest mistake." commented the opposition, Maidy-land's 'Operation Door Jam' director Newton Francis, who controls the Southeast territory.

The battle ensued early the morning of 9/10 as an un-named third party (most likely a large, lumbering species of human) sounded a false alarm in the ever important Agriculture region where both sides have heavy and strong interests and investments. Reacting to the alarm, and what appeared to be an attack by Her Highness to seize control of the shared area, the director struck back, full speed.

"I would like for things to get back to normal, but when hostilities are thrown at me, I'm going to throw it right back - sink or no sink!"

Talks broke down again last night after only 3 minutes as Her Highness spat at the director's tepid apology. The two sides engaged in a stare down, both still very cautious and on edge.

Despite last night's dismal results, the Prime Minister, and the Head of Affairs of Maidy-land will resume negotiations tonight. If there is one thing Her Highness and the director can agree on, are the skills and competence of the two officials. Their election to the position and status in the government has and still is highly criticized as they were tied to the Agricultural scandal during the 2004 Thanksgiving season (then the Maidy-Park Administration).

"They were giving our resources away in the name of foreign aid, and NONE came to us, the citizens of Maidy-land...who have to purr, beg and use the cat box for those resources." Her Highness has been quoted over the months following the scandal. "I'll leave a 'gift' just outside the cat box every now and then these days...as a way of protest and keep them on their toes."

"They're plundering resources." the director accused during last year's vaccination. "Who's to say they won't go as far as to sell off our precious Agricultural resources in the name of what they call hospitality? And they'll probably give it away to some country that doesn't even need it! Like the Lim's - who I might add, has been helping themselves by the handfuls!"

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The Approach

It's September already. Labor Day has come and gone.

It seems just yesterday I was dreading summer and having to wear shorts. And now, we're only one month away from the holiday season kick off (yes, I consider Halloween a holiday, it's one of my favorite two holidays -the other is Christmas).

So what did I do this summer? Did I actually honeymoon in Rome, Italy? Was there a trip to Marietta, OH? My goodness, Ellie is 2 years old! Did I really get married? :-)

In a way, I wish I had the summer back...to do things I said I was going to do but didn't get around to (there are so many things) and in a way I'm glad Fall is approaching with cooler weather, colorful trees, and new sweaters and boots to add to my collection from last year.

Time is a funny thing.