I've hung up some pictures, but what is slowing me down is the mass of boxes and assorted crap that needs to be gone through, and about half either thrown away or photographed to sell on eBay and Amazon.
Blarg. No fun.
DJHJD
Friday, January 09, 2009
Slow starts, beautiful Fridays
I guess I can't be TOO self-critical; I did get all the stuff going to the church rummage sale, the resale shop and the office for the big eBay sell-off loaded into the car.
Why was it again that I didn't buy a truck? Lord.
I'm reading the most amazing book any gay man will ever take up - "Velvet Rage," which seems to be transformational for me, but the transformation is yet to be fully revealed.
If you're a gay man, or worried that you may be, you should read this book at once. Then, read it again.
Also, you MUST see "Revolutionary Road" unless you require your movies to be mindless, flashy distractions. It's an excellent piece, complex, nuanced, beautifully produced and filmed and splendidly acted.
I'm hoping there's a hammer at the office, since there isn't one here and my three are all locked up in my storage unit.
Did I mention that I found my fabulous little video camera yesterday? No? Sorry, it was in a box at the office, just as I suspected.
Tonight is a movie night at the church. Sunday is the big come to meeting day. I'll be away from the house most of the weekend, which is agreeable, I guess.
I guess I'd best get showered and join the stuff in the car for the trip into town.
Why was it again that I didn't buy a truck? Lord.
I'm reading the most amazing book any gay man will ever take up - "Velvet Rage," which seems to be transformational for me, but the transformation is yet to be fully revealed.
If you're a gay man, or worried that you may be, you should read this book at once. Then, read it again.
Also, you MUST see "Revolutionary Road" unless you require your movies to be mindless, flashy distractions. It's an excellent piece, complex, nuanced, beautifully produced and filmed and splendidly acted.
I'm hoping there's a hammer at the office, since there isn't one here and my three are all locked up in my storage unit.
Did I mention that I found my fabulous little video camera yesterday? No? Sorry, it was in a box at the office, just as I suspected.
Tonight is a movie night at the church. Sunday is the big come to meeting day. I'll be away from the house most of the weekend, which is agreeable, I guess.
I guess I'd best get showered and join the stuff in the car for the trip into town.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Re-arranged, now to unpack and unload
What a whiner I was this afternoon. I guess since I was paying for the privilege, it's acceptable. I can't find my Marvin the Martian camera bag that contains my cute little video camera. I wonder where in the heck I have left it.
Probably in a box at the office. Along with three boxes of VHS (which are all for Half-Price books on Friday,) six boxes of books (which have to be vetted through Amazon first,) 20 boxes of client files (which need a home in the unused front room) and ten boxes of miscellaneous file folders, laminating supplies, etc.
Just had a terrific response from the guy who did my Fabulair bag samples a year ago - ooooh, baby! Anyone want to buy a Fabulair bag? I'm getting 25 black and 25 white. Let me know. I can post a picture thereof, if it's something you'd like to see.
WHERE is my camera bag?
I have a 9 am doctor's appointment, and it's a 25 mile drive there. Officially - yuck.
But, it will have me at the office early. I have my work cut out for me.
Probably in a box at the office. Along with three boxes of VHS (which are all for Half-Price books on Friday,) six boxes of books (which have to be vetted through Amazon first,) 20 boxes of client files (which need a home in the unused front room) and ten boxes of miscellaneous file folders, laminating supplies, etc.
Just had a terrific response from the guy who did my Fabulair bag samples a year ago - ooooh, baby! Anyone want to buy a Fabulair bag? I'm getting 25 black and 25 white. Let me know. I can post a picture thereof, if it's something you'd like to see.
WHERE is my camera bag?
I have a 9 am doctor's appointment, and it's a 25 mile drive there. Officially - yuck.
But, it will have me at the office early. I have my work cut out for me.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
the failure to shop around
The other day, I took my car back to CarMax for some repairs under the service agreement. Seems they don't just take your car in, you have to make an appointment, and tell them what they're going to be doing, and then bring it BACK. You have to go in because they don't answer the phone in the service department. Ever.
Well, I made an appointment to have these things done, and the service writer tells me that since I've nearly got 60,000 miles on the car, I need to schedule the 60,000 service for $440. What do I know? I remember when cars had to have brakes every 15,000 miles and their chassis fittings lubricated every 3,000 miles, and fell apart completely around 75,000 miles.
The morning of, I had a conflict. The snow fell, Yellowstone blew up, people voted Republican, SOMETHING. I started calling the CarMax folks at about 7:30 a.m. to tell them "I must reschedule."
But, CarMax's service department doesn't answer their phone, remember? I never got through to anyone. Left several messages. No calls returned.
Weeks pass.
I still need the work done, but I've had the oil changed and the cabin filter replaced (which involved a great deal of jerking, prying, wedging and swearing, but was finally done.) The total cost for these two services was less than $80 (plus the skinned cuticles and knuckles.)
Yesterday, I had decided that trying to communicate with CarMax and getting the car TO CarMax to re-make the appointment and then take it back FOR the appointment was too much trouble, and I'd just take the car to reliable Poutous Auto Repair on Kelvin.
I ask the nice lady at the desk what the cost is for the 60,000 mile service. She asks one of the owners. He says "there is no such thing." Uh, what? The CarMax guy was making it sound like it was a crucial thing - successful economic stimulus depended on my having this done RIGHT AWAY. Mike Poutous tells me "you probably need an oil change, a cabin filter replacement and a bunch of stuff checked. We'll check it for you, and then call you and tell you what needs to be dne, but I'm not going to tell you I'm going to charge you four or five hundred dollars to do the 60,000 mile service when it's an oil change and looking around under the hood."
I came back to the office, and looked at my owner's manual. At the 60,000 mile interval, GM tells me to:
* Change the oil
* Change the engine air filter
* Change the cabin air filter
* Rotate the tires
All of which have already been done, except for the "poke around under the hood."
By the by, my "dealer," David Taylor Cadillac, would like to collect $498.25 for this "service," PLUS PARTS and state sales tax. They'll install a PCV valve for me, and a fuel filter. Mind, the PCV valve and fuel filter would be EXTRA (and costs a buck sixty-nine and the fuel filter is seven bucks at AutoZone.) The fuel system "flush" involves putting a can of Wynn's fuel system flush in the gas tank.
Caveat Emptor. Ya better shop around.
Well, I made an appointment to have these things done, and the service writer tells me that since I've nearly got 60,000 miles on the car, I need to schedule the 60,000 service for $440. What do I know? I remember when cars had to have brakes every 15,000 miles and their chassis fittings lubricated every 3,000 miles, and fell apart completely around 75,000 miles.
The morning of, I had a conflict. The snow fell, Yellowstone blew up, people voted Republican, SOMETHING. I started calling the CarMax folks at about 7:30 a.m. to tell them "I must reschedule."
But, CarMax's service department doesn't answer their phone, remember? I never got through to anyone. Left several messages. No calls returned.
Weeks pass.
I still need the work done, but I've had the oil changed and the cabin filter replaced (which involved a great deal of jerking, prying, wedging and swearing, but was finally done.) The total cost for these two services was less than $80 (plus the skinned cuticles and knuckles.)
Yesterday, I had decided that trying to communicate with CarMax and getting the car TO CarMax to re-make the appointment and then take it back FOR the appointment was too much trouble, and I'd just take the car to reliable Poutous Auto Repair on Kelvin.
I ask the nice lady at the desk what the cost is for the 60,000 mile service. She asks one of the owners. He says "there is no such thing." Uh, what? The CarMax guy was making it sound like it was a crucial thing - successful economic stimulus depended on my having this done RIGHT AWAY. Mike Poutous tells me "you probably need an oil change, a cabin filter replacement and a bunch of stuff checked. We'll check it for you, and then call you and tell you what needs to be dne, but I'm not going to tell you I'm going to charge you four or five hundred dollars to do the 60,000 mile service when it's an oil change and looking around under the hood."
I came back to the office, and looked at my owner's manual. At the 60,000 mile interval, GM tells me to:
* Change the oil
* Change the engine air filter
* Change the cabin air filter
* Rotate the tires
All of which have already been done, except for the "poke around under the hood."
By the by, my "dealer," David Taylor Cadillac, would like to collect $498.25 for this "service," PLUS PARTS and state sales tax. They'll install a PCV valve for me, and a fuel filter. Mind, the PCV valve and fuel filter would be EXTRA (and costs a buck sixty-nine and the fuel filter is seven bucks at AutoZone.) The fuel system "flush" involves putting a can of Wynn's fuel system flush in the gas tank.
Caveat Emptor. Ya better shop around.
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