The Cupcake of Doom

aka my day.

Today being the first day of the month, we had objection hearings.  The magistrate doing them was ready, the hearing room was set up, and we had a LOT more people show up than we were planning for.  Two of the cases wound up being re-directed to another magistrate, and as I was running back and forth with files and making sure everyone was checked in, a co-worker snapped at me about how poorly organized the hearings were and how a third co-worker (who hadn't said a thing to me) was being importuned by people asking her questions.

Later, when my boss said something to me, I told him the truth about how I felt, and essentially got told to get over it, that's just this co-worker's personality.  HellOOO that does not make it okay.  If I went around interrupting visibly busy people just to snipe at them and then said it was how I roll I don't think I'd keep my job very long.  Fortunately, the magistrate didn't think it was a big deal and the actual hearings went smoothly.

By the time all of that stuff was handled, it was lunchtime.  An hour away from my desk was really not long enough, but I went back like a good employee, only to spend the afternoon trying to audit inventories while taking phone calls from idiots.

After work, I went to Staples, intending to mail three simple packages.  Of course, instead I locked my purse, packages, phone and AAA card in the car.  A nice manager at Staples let me use their phone to call Mom and ask her to call AAA, which she did.  I waited for almost an hour, missing the UPS pickup while I did, but eventually a tow truck arrived.  The idiot inside said truck pulled up behind my car and sat in there until I approached him, then rolled down his window and asked for my card.  IT'S IN THE CAR, IDIOT!  is what I did not scream at him.

Once the car was unlocked, I got my stuff out and turned in and paid for, got back in the car and came home with a pounding headache.  At least the poor neglected hound was glad to see me, oh, and my hair still looks good.

Car stuff!

1958 Volvo PV544 with my dad in the driver's seat.

In Dad's own words:

In spring of 1963 this Little marvel of Swedish engineering agreed to take me across the plains and deserts of Rt. 66 to the Mojave Desert. It never failed me, although it sacrificed portions of its valves and piston rings to get me there. Long May it Run.

I have my oil change appointment tomorrow morning at 8:42 (yes, they're that precise).

In other car stuff, to the owner(s) of the nice house in the spottily-gentrified area of Akron I drive through on my way to and from work, your BEWARE of dog signs only work as long as people don't see your two little terriers in the yard being all adorbs.  Hyperbole aside, cuteness is not a killing weapon.

To the dude with the Star Trek personalized message on a Superman license plate, I am really impressed at your mingling of fandoms and a little bummed that you're probably married.

To the person with the plate 8U4DNR, why would you hate someone for choosing a Do Not Resuscitate order?  That's very selfish.

To the person with the plate N8FKIN, whose next of kin and why does it matter?

Bits and pieces

My adorable dog is hard on toys, so I buy inexpensive ones with no faces.  This is what she does to them:

So on Sunday night, I went in with the big trash can and cleaned up all the bits of stuffing and other debris while LMPP made pathetic noises which I translated as "I'm not done with that" and "That one's still good, really!"

When I got out of the shower, she was lying in the hall on top of two unshredded toys, nibbling on a third.  Nobody is going to get Smaugette's hoard now!

Work is interesting right now.  We've had a streak of people doing really dumb things, like forgetting to mail in paperwork, etc.  There is also lots of work going on as the front counter area gets renovated.  Most of the work is being done at night, but today maintenance was taking apart half of our file storage shelves and moving the other half.

Power tools on metal shelving made our court sound as if we should be answering the phones "Stormer's Tire and Lube, how may I help you?"

Yesterday was Call Day, so that's over for the month and we have Monday off, so I'm getting an oil change.  For the first time since I bought Edgar, I am truly angry with Ford.  The coolant light was on, so I bought universal coolant and then couldn't get any in the car because the fill opening was under the rigid part of the hood.  I wound up using a kitchen funnel held at an extreme angle and my hand braced around it to catch any spills, all at 7 p.m. in my unheated garage.  But the light went off today, so victory for me!

A matter of taste

So yes, after at least five years of wanting to, this was the year I did this:

When the kits to turn your car into a reindeer first came out, they were at least $30 or so, and I passed.  But last Saturday I was at a local discount store and found this particular set for $3, so of course I grabbed it!

So I posted a picture on G+, and my buddy Rob commented to the effect that he thought I had better taste than to do this.*

Guess what, Rob?  I don't have better taste, I just have iron control over my terrible taste.  The louder, flashier, shinier, gaudier and more ridiculous it is, the better I like it.  But since I'm not going to get very far at work looking like a drag queen exploded in my closet, I pull back.

Way back.

And because I don't have the budget to light up a ghastly fantasy of outdoor lighting in garish colors every year, I skip it.

But the truth is that I have terrible, terrible taste, and for now, antlers on my car.

*The sister of my heart, the lovely Vio, commented that I needed a speaker which played "Gramma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" as I drove.

Random factoids

Yes, another list, because I lack the brainpower for narrative structure.

1.  I have my first chest cold in quite a number of years, and it's as horrible as I remember.  I left work early on Thursday, called off on Friday, and had a holiday today, so a long rough weekend.

2.  Little Miss Piggie Pie had her annual pincushion appointment this morning, and had to be muzzled for snapping at Dr. Bob despite a handful of Bil-Jac treats.  The good news is she's finally gained some weight, and he thinks she's perfect at 54 pounds.  She got more treats when we stopped at Pet Supplies Plus to get dog food--I hope she doesn't think that kind of treatment is going to last! ;-)

3.  On the way home today, I passed by the repair shop owned by the guy who bought my Saturn.  Norm is a 17 year-old Saturn SW1, with no luxury options and 118,000 miles, and the guy who paid me $600 is asking $3195.  Good luck, Mr. Lotsaballs!

4.  My taxes are done and I am getting a teensy refund, which will go straight to the Cleveland Clinic to pay my portion of the bill for my MRI.

5.  There is a blizzard going on outside right now, and even with a racking cough and lizard-rough dry skin from taking a zillion hot showers, it's nice to look at it.  I do like snow, and I'm trying to store up some cold for when I'm miserable in August.

His name is Edgar, and he is not a Stupid Useless Vehicle

He's a station wagon on steroids. :-D

When in doubt, make a list

I've been terrible about updating this blog, so here's what's happened since Thanksgiving:

• I bought new tires for the car at the beginning of December.
• 
  
• I drove to Columbus and back for Christmas Day, and had a great time aside from discovering that my car heat wasn't working.
• 
  
• My nephews and my SIL loved their presents, I'm not sure about my dad and my brother, and Mom was unsurprised by hers but happy with it.
• 
  
• On the Friday after Christmas I took my car in and discovered the heater core needed to be flushed, the thermostat was bad and there was an oil leak somewhere.  I paid $250 to have it fixed.
• 
  
• On the Saturday after New Year's, I bought a new-to-me car.  It's a 2013 Ford Escape that had 9800 miles on it and a reasonable price and the dealership was offering 1.9% financing.   While I could have done without another white car, the red and blue ones both had at least twice the miles on them and the same price.  
• 
  
• Now I have to sell the Saturn and try to get at least my money back on the tires and the heater work.  Oddly enough, nobody seems to be in the market for a 17 year old car with an oil leak. 'Magine that!

All Hail Rusty!

That would be the owner of the auto shop where I got my second opinion this morning.  It's also the auto shop where I got both my brakes and my exhaust fixed for under $300.  I had to move some money out of savings, but I saved a thousand bucks I didn't have, so I feel like I came out ahead.

Also, note to self--have Steve do your oil changes, but never trust him with an estimate for anything more complicated!

*le sigh*

So after Mouse scared me to death with his pacing and panting and we did the flying panic run to the vet hospital, the Tramadol has worked freaking miracles and while his foot is still paralyzed and/or numb, he's back to bouncing when I get home, and mostly eating okay.  I wish Tramadol were this much help for the e-bro of my e-sis!

I had an appointment today for an oil change, and although I have an appointment elsewhere on Saturday for a muffler estimate, I told the mechanic that yes, he could give me a quote on the muffler.  He poked, prodded, hemmed and hawed and finally told me I needed a complete new exhaust system AND all new front brakes, and it would be around $1300.

Rationally, I know that if I go to a brake place and to the muffler place, it will probably cost less than that, I'm thinking it won't be much less than that, and considering I've got about $250 in savings right now, I'm feeling particularly depressed about money tonight.  Do I want to pour $1300 I'd have to borrow into a 16 year old car, or borrow a whole lot more to buy a new one?

*le sigh*

The turkeys were an omen.

Gah, what a day.

My drive to work this morning was perfectly normal, right up until I had to brake for the flock of wild turkeys crossing the road.  That was when my brakes went almost completely out on me.  Fortunately, I didn't hit a turkey.  I drove carefully and slowly the rest of the way to work, and told Mom what had happened.  Oh, Mom and Dad were supposed to be en route to Dallas for Thanksgiving, but they didn't leave on Wednesday because of Mom's work schedule and they didn't leave this morning because Dad didn't feel well.  I will spare my readers a rant on the idiocy of people who do not take antibiotics that have been prescribed for them and who instead prefer to fix dental problems on their own.

At any rate, Mom was home, and she and I talked while she had her second cup of coffee, and then I checked the voice mail while she paid bills.  There was a message from the outside company we use to prepare QDROs (court documents dealing with the division of retirement accounts for divorcing clients) saying that they didn't want the form we'd sent to them for one of our clients, they wanted a different form, which, btw, we'd sent to them in April, at which time they rejected it.  So the first thing I did was call the client and tell him what we now needed.  Next, I tried the local tire & brake shop, and got a busy signal.  So Mom and I started work with a look at the payroll account and then doing a bunch of letters.  When I finally got through to the tire place, they said if I could bring my car in and leave it for the day, they'd try to fix the brakes for me.

With Mom ahead of me in her car, I drove very, very slowly down a main road until we got to the tire place. I dropped off the keys, gave them my information, signed the form and hopped in with Mom to go to the post office and then back to work.  Almost immediately the phone rang, and a semi-hysterical non-client tried to drag us into an estate dispute involving one of our incompetent clients.  I told her Mom was unavailable, took her name and number and wrote up my notes from the call.

Mom then decreed a short break, and we went to the Disney Cruise website to complete our pre-registration.  That's when we discovered that there is no record of transportation from our hotel the day of the cruise to the ship.  Mom was livid.  She sent an e-mail to the travel agent (who still hasn't replied) and then had to pick up all of the assorted paperwork all over the floor.  While she did that, I talked to a client in a divorce case where opposing counsel is ignoring us AND ignoring the judge's office.  Unfortunately, we can't send enforcers to his office to make him return our calls.

Then the phone rang again, and it was one of our clients who is involved with a nasty estate dispute.  Mom did her best to talk to the client and tell her what she needed to do so Mom could do her job, and when that phone call ended, it was time for lunch.  While we were getting lunch ready, the phone rang again and it was the semi-hysterical non-client again.  This time Mom talked to her, then we ate, then she wrote up her notes and I went downstairs to look for some paperwork.

While I was down there the phone rang again, and the tire place told Mom that my car wouldn't be ready today, that they had to replace two brake lines and that it would cost at least $300.

The rest of the day went downhill.

Cars suck.

What they principally suck, of course, is money--right out of your wallet. On the 2nd, I took my car in for new brakes. I had that budgeted at $300, so of course it was $303. Then on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Mom and I had three very rough days at work, and this culminated with me walking to my car on a cold, wet, dark evening only to find that it wouldn't start. The gentleman from AAA advised that I stop at an auto parts store and have them see if the battery needed to be replaced. I did, and the guy who helped me couldn't even get a reading because of all the corrosion. *sigh* So that was another $104 that I didn't have budgeted, and good bye pretty new nail polish, holiday smellies or anything fun.

Dad was still sick all last week, which is hard on Mom, Vegan Lawyer had two briefs due which were driving her and her staff crazy, and I have mice again. *shudder*

Speaking of the mice, I went to Home Depot and asked for some help. The sales associate took me to the area reserved for pest control, waved at the shelves and said "Here you go." When I asked about a poison that wouldn't kill my dog, he said all the baits were the same and that the mice would run away and die. I bought two traps and a bait station with refills, came home and checked the interwebbinetz, only to discover that if Little Miss Piggie Pie ate a poisoned mouse, she would be poisoned! So I set the traps, which are nice in that they are self-contained and you don't ever see the dead mouse. Tomorrow night I am going back to HD and exchange the unused bait station for more traps.

Last night I did have to use a trap that wasn't self-contained, and LMPP was very interested in that corner of the floor this morning. I made her leave it, because I was not up to dealing with a dead mouse before my second cup of coffee. Yes, there was a dead mouse, and the worst part of disposing of the trap was the tail. *full body shudder* I can't wait to get more of the fancy traps.

Dad advised just the simple wooden traps, and made fun of me for "killing at a distance," but Mom has him to dispose of dead mice and I just have me. I told him that if it wouldn't ruin my kitchen (and the house, and the neighborhood, and the city and so on) I would nuke the damn things! So far, I've gotten two, and I will keep setting traps and hope for the best!

Does this SUV make my butt look fat?

No, I'm not really going to buy one, but I've been thinking idly that it might be getting to be about time for a new car. I love my Saturn, but it's 11 years old, and sooner or later it will need work that costs more than it's worth. I've ruled out the Dodge Caliber, which would have been my first choice, because it doesn't come with an automatic transmission and I'm too old to learn how to drive a stick. The Passat wagon is too pricy for me, and Saturn, damn their eyes, doesn't make wagons anymore.

I wouldn't get a sport utility vehicle anyway, but the ones I've seen on the road recently look terribly pear-shaped. I've noticed a number of models that seem to swell at the middle. They resemble a bench full of heavy-hipped people seen from the back. I don't care what pretty colors they come in, I can't imagine driving a car that makes my butt look that fat and my head look even fatter for buying the damn thing. :P