Long Way Home

This is the expedite tag they put on our lost suitcases to get them back to us.

Really? Newark to Baltimore via Chicago?!
 

Good Luck or Bad Luck?

So, on Tuesday at lunch time, I visited Sally's blog. She had a link to another site called Inspire Me Now, a collection of links to really cool products and images. One of the links on that site crashed my browser and about a half-hour later, my computer had a virus.

This virus killed all my applications except for Firefox. I couldn't do any work except read my mail through the web portal. The guys at the help desk tried to run their virus killer to save my machine and even it was affected. The only thing left was to erase the hard drive and start all over. I gathered all my documents I wanted to save into a folder.

Wednesday, I found my work ID. It was where it was supposed to be, in the storage tray in the car, just stuffed down really far so I didn't see it the first four times I looked.

The help desk guy, a guy with some kind of sinus problems, saved my documents to the network and re-imaged my drive, or whatever the technical term is. Wednesday afternoon I had nothing. I did have my messy desk I could clean, my cell phone for a game of solitaire, but I was growing tired of that, and I had a purse I could clean out. So, I did that while Mr. Sniffy Snort brought my PC back to life.

I found an envelope of money I'd forgotten I had. Nice. I found health care receipt I could send in for about $400+ in claims for 2009 before I lose them. I also found another SD card reader. Good haul, I'd say.

I saw my massage therapist in the afternoon and relayed all the happenings. She suggested I buy a lottery ticket, so I did. Fingers crossed.

This morning, I disinfected Mr. Sniffy Snort's germs from my keyboard and mouse. My PC is almost back to life, still need to get him to install some more work applications, but he'll do that remotely.

Hopefully, I'll be back to normal soon. I'm so tired of loading and rebooting and passwords. Yuck.


 

The Last 24 Hours

I had one of those killer headaches yesterday, you know the kind, 800mg of ibuprofen and a 1.5 hour nap wouldn't touch.

I found my card reader, the one I've been looking for for months! Now I can get around to posting those promised pictures. I found it when I was looking for my work ID in the car. So, there's the good news with the bad. Getting through security here at the "reservation" is a royal pain without the ID. First you have to get a Temporary Employee Pass at the guard's shack. But that's just a sticker you're supposed to wear. Then you have to stop at the badge office to get an activated card that'll let you ride the elevators to your floor for that day. The next day, it's the same deal. Bless my husband for waiting for me while I stopped at the guard's shack these mornings.

I have no idea where the work ID is. None. I may have forgotten to take it off Friday, then it fell off somewhere while I was at the mall with the kids Friday night. I hate losing things!

But, now I'm pleased to find my card reader. I've started unloading pictures from my camera cards. I won't overload you with things to look at all at once so I'll just post this time-lapse movie of our recent little snowfall to start with.




 

Attitude Change

I played a lot of golf this weekend, 18 holes with Dan at Bowie CC and 18 with Mark and AM at Glen Dale. I normally don't to play so much in a month, much less a weekend. Both times I was lousy on the front nine and much better on the back: 64/51 & 63/50. or something like that.

When I started playing golf I got the pretty colored balls specifically marketed to women. They had a clear cover over a pastel color which made them "sparkle." I loved playing with them, and for some reason I found them easier to find than the white balls. Maybe it was the "sparkle." I never hit the ball so far I couldn't find it, but occasionally I did. I hated losing these balls, it broke my heart, it felt like a piece of my soul was forever drowned in a water hazard or lost in the woods never to be found again. OK, OK, I'm being overly dramatic, but still, you get the idea, I hate losing golf balls.

(When AM and I were in Florida I lost my last two yellow balls, both to ball-eating trees, large palm trees with enough nooks and crannies to swallow more than just a few balls. Didn't matter how long I begged, the tree wasn't giving up it's new possession.)

On the other hand, or maybe I should say in the other hand, I often find other people's balls (OPBs) when I'm looking for my own. They were easy to identify, they were white, often with initials, dots, lines and other scribbles. This weekend I played predominately with OPBs. I didn't stress when then one got lost in the lake on No.4 at Glen Dale on Sunday. And it felt good not to stress over them. I almost don't want to put the last box of pink balls in the garage into my bag so I won't start stressing again. Who needs more stress?


I'm still doing the 'happy dance' over that 50 yesterday on the back nine. hee-haw!



 

The Puzzle is Together.

There are three missing pieces. I hate that. I was so careful, checking my elbows and everything.


 

Things I forgot to mention about the weekend:

A chocolate bunny pooped in my purse. I found the evidence when I was looking for my misplaced credit/debit card.

Vanishing Act - Parts 2 & 3

Part 2

While we were in Manhattan on Wednesday on our way from the bus stop, sans phone, to Arrojo Studios, Fern and I stop in a shop and she tries on clothes. She ended up buying this adorable high-waisted black skirt. Very hip.

At the end of day we're back in the apartment. We have a dilema. I need to be back in Washington at 11:00 on Thursday for a meeting which was already postponed twice for me, I'm so important, Dahling.... We need to watch Lost. We need to drive 4 hours. And we need to get some sleep.

The plan, albeit not a good one, becomes return to the apartment, take a nap, eat dinner, watch Lost, leave Brooklyn, drive home, sleep till 10:00, get up and go to work. Fern didn't have to do that last bit, just me.

The nap was cut short by a quick dinner delivery guy, but we were diligent about cleaning up during commercials and were ready to go.

I'm blaming this next part on the fact I didn't have an adequate copilot/navigator. Somehow, after crossing the Outer Bridge Crossing I ended up on the way to Atlantic City instead of Washington. I saw the signs for the Turnpike, I just ended up on the Parkway instead. And, I was in the express lanes so I couldn't correct my mistake quickly. It wouldn't have been a problem at all had I crossed the Goethals, but nooo.

When I got off the Parkway I pulled over to check my (mostly) trusty iPhone. I plugged in 'hotel' in the map and it came up with one less than a half mile down the street. And they had a non-smoking room available, for a whopping $68. They even had quilts on the beds. :) The alarm was set for 5:30 and we were out of there before 6.

When we got home Fern cleaned out the car and I took a shower before heading off to work. She couldn't find her new high-waisted skirt which she had been wearing the night before. I'm usually the last one out of a hotel room so I can look for hidden belongings, but not this time.

I called the hotel to no avail, they didn't see it. I think they did and liked it too much. But, that's just me.

Part 3

BG&E wants to take down all our trees along our back property line that borders the state highway. They are too tall and can cause too much trouble for the power lines. They will give us $100 voucher for each tree they remove so we can have shorter trees put in. Somehow I don't think that'll be the same as the 60' shady Cypress trees they'll be replacing.

 

Vanishing Act

Wednesday morning Fern and I were in New York. We were staying in Brooklyn at a friend's apartment and planned to take the express bus into Manhattan. On the way to the bus I say "Phone check," and we both tap our pockets. "Got it," Fern assures me. "Got it," I reply back. "Camera check?" "No, I left it in the apartment." That's ok, I say, I've got two, three counting my phone.

I hand Fern her Metro card for the bus while waiting for the bus by a garden wall, she's sitting on the wall, I'm leaning against it. Then she can't find the card. While we're searching frantically the bus pulls up. I swipe my card and we sit in the front seat of the bus to find her card. Finally I find it in my tote bag and all is well.

The bus is a long distance coach bus, not a typical city bus so it's comfy in the front seat. We stay there. Fern and I chat about what we want to do in the morning, our hair appointments aren't until noon so we had time to kill. She wants to eat breakfast. The driver can hear us since were are so close to him. Eventually he learns our plans and suggests a stop and a route to walk which should provide ample opportunities for food on our way to our destination on SoHo.

We get off the bus downtown near the Battery and the financial district. I check our seat on the way out and grab Fern's iPod which had slipped off her lap. The bus turns the corner and vanishes.

Fern's phone isn't in her pocket.
It's not in my tote bag. Not in my purse.
I call it and we're not hearing it ring.
My heart sinks.

We found a place to eat and called AT&T to suspend service on that phone. By the end of breakfast I was feeling better and not stressed about the phone. We went on to have a good day, got our hair done, putzed around Times Square, used the restroom at Tiffany's, and got new headphones at the Apple store.

I took my "big" camera with me. I had checked the battery before we left home and it had a full charge. The first time I pull it out to take pictures, it won't, no juice. So I had to lug a big heavy useless camera with me all day. The Kodak is having issues again with acknowledging the memory card, so I'm down to my phone. Grrr.

For a small donation...
I took this of Fern and Elmo. I actually thought I took two pictures but only this one was there when I looked later. Naturally, the other picture was better.

This is the entrance to the Apple store near the southeast corner of Central Park. While Fern and I were in there, I plugged in my phone for a quick free charge.

By that time we were pretty tired and our feet hurt. The bus stop for our bus back to Brooklyn was only a few blocks away so we called it a day.

When we got off the bus near the apartment Fern scoured the area for her lost phone to no avail.

Thursday, back at home, we went to the AT&T store and got her a new phone. Same model as before, and through the magic of desperate economic times, I got that, and added unlimited texting for the whole family and got a 15% discount on my bill for only $30 out of pocket.

Post Script

Sunday night I got a call on my cell phone from a 718 number. The caller's mom found Fern's phone at the bus stop in Brooklyn.

Whew

Dearest Husband found the ID in the garage on the floor below the driver's door on the Toyota. Thanks again, Hon!

One of those days

My mind's going crazy.

Why this time?

I'm trying to retrace my steps and figure out what I did with my work ID badge. Can't leave home without it.

Well, apparently, I did. I couldn't find it this morning so I had to get a temporary badge today. Which is a pain because I have to stop at the guard's booth first, then go to the badging office to get one to use for the day.

Yesterday I left work. I had it then, I used it at the badge reader to get out of the building.

I went to my massage therapy appointment and I'm pretty sure it was still clipped to my pocket when I left.

I took money to Fern so she could have a snack during tutoring.

I got gas in the rental car.

I went to the dealership to turn in the rental and pick up the Toyota. I could have bought two HD LCD TV's for what the repairs cost. But hey! They gave me a new battery, yes, GAVE. I guess I can't be too mad at them for the other lapses in customer service. Did I tell you they wanted $40 to install two light bulbs? sheesh. Granted, changing an auto light bulb is a smidge more difficult than changing your garden variety household incandescent bulb, but not $40 more difficult. I'm pretty sure I had my ID badge there and hadn't left it in the rental.

I went back to the gas station to put gas in the Toyota.

I went home to wait for Kevin to come home from swim team practice.

I went to pick up Fern from tutoring and took her to softball practice, but it had started raining so it was canceled. Today is the HSA test, the High School Assessment in algebra. I hope all the tutoring "takes" and she does well and she doesn't have to take the class over again. She'll be bored out of her skull if she has to repeat the class. So bored, she probably won't turn in any assignments and get low grades again. sheesh.

I went to the grocery store to buy an EZpass.

I drove home. This is where my mind gets fuzzy. I think I still had my badge on my pocket and told myself to take it off, I didn't need it at home. But did I? Did I take it off? Where did I put it? I normally drive the van, but Dan had been driving it this week while I took care of the repairs on the other car, so at that point I couldn't have put my badge back in the van where I usually keep it because Dan had the van at golf league.

I did some Girl Scout badge sewing and talked to a new client. Her daughter is in a troop in a different service unit from the troops I've been sewing for, which means the mom will spread the word about my service and I'll potentially have more clients from the troops there. My ID never came into question.

So this morning, it's not in my bag, nor in my jacket pocket. It's not clipped to yesterday's clothes pocket. It's not visible on the kitchen counter. Not on the bathroom counter, not on the bed-side table. Not on the sewing table. I'm going nuts, I tell you.

Where did I put the silly thing, the ID with the horrid picture of me?

Oh, Not Again!

On the packing list for spring break is the Nintendo DS we got Kevin for Christmas. The plan was to take it with us to keep The Boy occupied on long stretches of travel.

We can't find it anywhere. Kevin was playing with it a week or two ago and probably put it "away" to hide it from Fern and me, we both love to play too. I'm pretty sure the charge was running low and instead of bringing it back to plug in, he might have stashed it somewhere "safe." You've heard me whine about lost things before (like here and here). I hate it.

I've scoured the living room where I'd seen it last. I've looked in his room where he puts his iPod when he's done listening or it's run out of juice, under his bed, under the couch cushions, even his underwear drawer. Everywhere.

We have less than two days to get our things together and packed. I'm racking my brain: what else can we pack for Kevin's travel bag and where can that darn DS be?

I Found It. And I Found It Again.

I was looking through my desk this morning for a catalog I remembered seeing when we packed and moved offices last year. I haven't found the catalog yet, but I did find the CD I'd lost. It was in a zip bag of CD's and liner notes, none of them matching each other. Of course.

I'm sure since I found this today, the new one I ordered from Amazon will be waiting for me when I get home. Isn't that the way is always is?

The back of the CD is badly scratched and not playable in many places. I've been listening to it anyway through my computer and have been enjoying my long-lost child. I better save this in case the new one never comes, right? I clicked "rip" to save it and it had been in the library on my computer the whole time. D'oh!

MIA

I hate when things are missing.

I've been listening to The Proclaimers on my iPod recently, a Scottish rock/pop duo. They are twins who have great harmonies, fabulous vocals, jangly guitars, and write fun lyrics. You might know I Wanna Be (500 miles). Most of the songs fall into a couple categories: love songs (Let's get married, I love ya and I wanna stay with ya/ have kids and grow gray with ya/ hold hands when we walk in the park/ oh, alright, you can have a cat as long as it barks), or drinking songs (The drink that I had three hours ago/ has been followed by 14 others in a steady flow). There are societal/political songs and a couple covers in the catalog too. One of my favorite songs is in a subset of love songs, songs about sex, called Oh Jean. It has a strong driving beat and a catchy chorus and it makes you wipe your brow at the end. Whew.

As I'm listening to my iPod I realize I'm missing one (or more) of the CDs, there songs I know but aren't listed. They aren't in our iTunes music library. So I go searching through all the CDs binders in the house to find them. No luck. I search all those stacks of plastic cases that have gotten shoved aside into nooks no-one knows about. I've looked in the kids' rooms. I've looked on the visor holder in the car. I've looked in the CD tray in the stereo we never use anymore. I've looked in the binders of software discs. Nada. Absolutamente nada.

Where's my copy of This is the Story? AAAAAAAAAAAAARG. (And no, it's not with my channel-locks, I looked.)

I hate it when I can't find something. Drives me absolutely nuts. Maybe I should call ahead now for a room (with a view, of course) at St. E's.

Must get CD! Must get it now.

iTunes doesn't have it.
The library doesn't have it. (Should be filed between Prince and Queen, by the way.)
Border's doesn't have it.
Nor does Barnes & Noble.
A quick trip to bestbuy.com is fruitless.

Looks like Amazon is my only choice. Can I wait that long? There's a holiday on Monday to slow down shipping. sheesh.

Must find that CD.
Must find it now.

Controlling the Flow

Have any of you seen my Channel-locks? I think our hot water heater is circling the drain. What else could it be? Every couple weeks I have to take the kitchen faucet head off and clean out the little white crystals that collect on the little filter screen because they build up and block the water flow. These little buggers have wreaked havoc on the shower head too and there is no way to clean them out, no filter. Water squirts out where it's not supposed to. sheesh.

So Saturday I went to Home Depot to buy another shower head. Now, I like a shower with a lot of pressure, not some mamby-pamby trickle, but enough force to actually rinse the shampoo out, not just water it in. I picked out a $40 shower head, very pretty, "euro design" and removed the water-saver feature and installed the head. Had to use the adjustable wrench since I couldn't find the Channel-locks. OK, they are really Craftsman groove-joint pliers, but "Channel-locks" is easier to write. Sunday morning I take my shower and I was in there for-ev-er because there was no pressure. Sheesh. I hate that. So I box the fancy new head back up and return it to the store. After church, not right then with a towel wrapped around me. It turns out the head had too many nozzles so the water was distributed too much and the pressure drops to nil.

This time I pick out a smaller $14 model and install it. And the flow is marginally better, but not good enough to keep. Maybe I'll put it in The Girl's bathroom. The guy who made up the 2.5 gallon per minute regulation on all shower heads must not have any hair. I guess I need to get one from Canada. Before you tell me to get one like the model I had before, I need to explain it was part of a set, not sold separately. Might still be under warranty, I'll have to check on that.

In addition to the shower drama, sometime over the weekend I have to clean out the filter on the kitchen faucet again and I'm reminded I might need to address the washer again. About a month or two ago I had to pull the washer away from the wall and clean out the intake filter. Man! that's no easy task and it was full of these little white particles. This is driving me nuts! Is this a symptom of a dying hot water heater? Maybe I should call my dad and ask, he'll know.

I wonder. My Channel-locks might just be on the shelf above the washer. I'll have to look when I get home.

Two forms of ID

Last Friday I went over to the pea patch to check on the status of my emerald delights. The seedlings were just starting to poke through. Then we loaded the car and headed to OC for the weekend.

Monday on my way to work I reach for my work ID, my credential, as I approach the gate. Nada. Gone. It's not in my usual location in the car, in the cup holder tray. I get my driver's licence and check in at the guards' station to get a temporary pass. I then keep my DL handy because sometimes the guards ask for it too when entering the building with a temp ID. By the time I got to my desk the licence was not in my pocket. Hmm. At lunch time I retrace my steps and cannot find it. No one has turned it in to the guards' stations. All the while I'm racking my brain to remember where my work ID might be. Not in my purse, or tote bag. Not in my coat pockets, not in the car. Where could it be, I didn't go far?

How on earth am I going to get another temporary pass tomorrow if I can't find my licence?

As the day wears on, my panic increases. Then I get a call from some woman who found my licence in the hall. She's in her car on the way out for the day. "Can I bring it to you tomorrow?" Aye yai yai. Well, no. I meet her in the parking lot and get my card. Whew.

Monday evening when I get home from work I walk over to check on my peas—did all that rain on Sunday help any? Any more sprouts? And there is my work ID lying in the wet grass.