The BLOG Is Back

Welcome back to my randomly-used BLOG, such as it is. 

Today has been crazy. I had to get up early for a Noon meeting (I work 1pm - 10pm). I spent the next 5 hours trying to attend two meetings at the same time. I really needed a clone.

Recently Facebook has decided that random harmless things go against their "community standards”, which is just ridiculous since they allow lies to be shared by Republicans without repercussions. Today they told me a GIF of a kitty pestering its human for treats was removed for violating community standards and had been labeled as SPAM. It was a GIF made from this TikTok video. 

Yesterday they told me a GIF comparing the sizes of germs, viruses, and the world’s smallest snowman, among a few other things, went against community standards, again for being SPAM, and was removed. My Google-Fu is on the fritz today, and I wasn’t able to find that one to share.

WTF Facebook? Are you TRYING to make us all ditch you? Okay, I can play that game just fine. Now I am going to put stuff on my ill-used BLOG so I can share what information I choose. If I want to call a murderer a disgusting white trash monster, then I am going to call a murderer a disgusting white trash monster. If I want to share a cute cat photo, I’ll share a cute cat photo. And I won’t be in danger of being thrown in Facebook Jail for it. I expect to put the same sort of stuff here in my blog that I would have shared on Facebook or Twitter in a day, only it will be all together and concentrated in one place.

Stan the Brandon Handyman

Stan the Handyman came on a Saturday to do a list of jobs I need done around the house that I cannot do myself. Stan does a relatively decent job while he is here, but I am not happy that he would never turn off the breakers while he was working on the lights and fans. I am alyso not thrilled that he can’t put the garage shelves up the right way, and now I have to purchase more parts to make up for his lack of skills. Okay, I can deal with this. 

Stan isn’t able to finish everything. No problem, it was a long to-do list. He says he will come back the next day, Sunday, to finish. 

After he leaves, I am looking at the white bookcases he assembled. There are several footprints on the sides. Apparently he stood on them while putting them together. This does not make me happy, but it seems the only damage is dirt, which I can clean.

Services for Linda Ann Davis Blankenship

The Viewing for Linda Ann Davis Blankenship will be held on Sunday, 28 February 2016, from 5-7pm at Del Angel Funeraria Martin East, 1460 George Dieter, El Paso, TX 79936. 

In accordance with her stated wishes, interment will be next to her husband, Richard S. Blankenship, on Monday, 29 February 2016 at 9:30am at the Ft. Bliss military cemetery, El Paso, TX. 

Flowers are welcome. So are donations to your favorite charity, in lieu of flowers. If you smoke, the best gift you can give is to quit.

Another One Bites the Dust

I got home Monday night to discover my living room DVR had bit the dust. It appears that a software upgrade became its death sentence instead.

I tried the suggested Microsoft reboot method (in this case unplugging it for 30 seconds, then plugging it back in). No luck. It was still dead.

I called Verizon on Tuesday to make an appointment for someone to come out and replace my dead unit, and the automated system told me I had a DVR that needs to be replaced, and asked me if I wanted to be sent a new one. Well, yes! That was nice that it already knew I had an problem, and offered a suggestion to resolve my problem. I never had such swift customer service from anyone at Brighthouse! It was always half an hour of my trying to convince a very bored-sounding person that I had tried everything, and that my DVR was indeed dead. 

Day 3: Tuesday, 12 August 2014 - Cardiff, Wales and London, England

First Great Western trains.

Cardiff, Wales
Seriously, I stayed up way too late again last night. My body still seems to think it’s on Eastern time. It needs to get with the program!

10:56am, Leaving Cardiff for London
Well, I'm on the train, despite not sticking to my original plan. I just could not convince myself to get up at 8:00am, and decided to once again forgo breakfast. I made it downstairs and checked out at 10:30, hoofed it to the train station, and still had time to order a cappuccino and croissant with 3 minutes to spare before the train arrived. I don't like cutting it so close, but my body thanked me for the extra sleep. I got five and a half hours, instead of only four.

Day 2: Monday, 11 August 2014 - Cardiff, Wales

8:00am, Cardiff, Wales

I set the alarm for 8am, thinking I would get up, shower, eat breakfast, and get a start on the day. I'd be able to hit nearby St. David's Centre (shopping) to get a charm from Pandora, straighten out the local phone, go to the Doctor Who Experience, and still have time to do something else, like visit Cardiff Castle.

Day 1: Sunday, 10 August 2014 - Did He Say We Landed In Paris?

12:10pm: I slept through breakfast, which is fine by me since I ate WAY too much food yesterday and had an upset stomach all night. When they announced we'd be landing soon, I quickly used the lavatory, and put on my shoes. We should have landed around 11:00 am, but it didn't register with me that we were landing an hour late.

As we descended, I lifted the blind on the window next to my seat to watch the scenery go by. I am sitting next to an enormous engine!

We landed with a quick and fast stop, causing the water bottle next to me to go flying, as I forgot it was there and didn't move it. 

The flight attendant came over the loudspeaker to announce that we had landed in Paris. Since we had been flying to London, I assumed it was a gaffe on the part of the flight attendant after a long flight. It's happened before. 

Day 0.5: Flying to London and Time Travel

Using an airplane to time travel is always fun. Today we will travel five hours forward in time. 

Day 0: Leaving for London, 9 August 2014

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

No, wait, that's wrong. Well, not wrong, exactly. Well, you know what I mean.

Today is the first day of a 3-week vacation, and I'm headed off to Cardiff, Wales. After that it's London, England (for Worldcon), Dublin, Ireland (Shamrokon), Atlanta for Dragon*Con. and then back home to Tampa. Yes, I am going to three conventions, three weekends in a row, in three different countries. I am going to have a marvelous time, and I am going to be TIRED at the end! 8-)

Stealing is Stealing - A Followup

This is a followup to my post from Saturday regarding wait staff who steal from their customers.

I've received various replies to my actions from Saturday night, where the only tip I left my waiter was the money he stole from me. 

One person posited that all I did was perpetuate the myth that white women (that's what I am) are bad tippers (that's what I am not). To that I say that the myth is a self-fulfilling situation. Somewhere along the way the waiters and waitresses (servers) decided that white women tip poorly, so they give lack-luster service in expectation of receiving a bad tip, and the poor service received results in a bad tip. If the servers would simply give everyone good service, without trying to pre-judge their tip, and the level of service they plan to provide, based on the size, shape, sex, skin color, nationality, or clothing of their customers, I think they would find a marked increase in their tips.

Stealing Is Stealing

Tonight I dined at Longhorn Steakhouse on Westshore, in Tampa. I received mediocre service from my waiter. Not bad, but not great. I never got a bread plate. He did a "drive-by" drop off of my salad onto the far side of my table as he hurried to another table. My steak and shrimp arrived sans the shrimp. I was 90% done with my steak by the time the shrimp arrived. But both were hot, and my steak was cooked properly (a less-than-average occurrence for me; I'm just lucky that way). And my glass had been empty for 10-15 minutes before I got a refill. 

I declined dessert and the waiter brought my check. I put in two $20s, expecting most of one of them back as change. I started paying cash at restaurants whenever possible after a waiter at Mimi's Cafe failed to notice that he didn't return my charge card because he had dropped it on the floor on the way back to my table. Lucky for us both that a kind person found it and turned it in. 

Teri's Attic Logo

Here' the logo I made for my eBay virtual yard sale. What do you think?

Apartment Living Sucks - March 2014

Today, I got a call from my apartment complex office, demanding information on my renter's insurance. 

What business is it of theirs whether or not I have insurance on my belongings? 

Turns out that back in December 2012 they implemented a new policy requiring all residents to have renters insurance. Of course, they never bothered to get around to notifying all of the current residents that there was a new policy which affects us. The office crew are reviewing all the accounts this month, and calling people who have "failed to supply the proper paperwork". How can I supply information I had no knowledge was required?

I'm no fool; I've had renters insurance since the day I moved in. Now I have to find my policy to see what coverage amounts I have, and because this "new" policy of theirs requires minimum coverage amounts, if I don't meet the minimums I will have to buy more insurance. Oh, joy.

I'd like to say that I'm sick of all the things the apartment complex springs on the residents in a retroactive fashion, but sick isn't quite a strong enough word. 

I REALLY need to get my house-buying ball rolling faster! 

And win the lottery so I don't need a mortgage. ;-)

I'm Saying No To Poisonous Drugs

That does it. The cough is coming back. I am SO done with this nasty blood pressure medicine, and the doctor who refuses to listen to me that it's been making me sick. I've felt worse since taking this garbage, and had higher blood pressure, than I did on no medication at all. 

I've been reading "user reviews" on WebMD and now I know I'm not the only one who's had their BP GO UP on Benicar. Plus, I'm suffering many of the same nasty side effects as other people, such as nauseating head pain (probably from the soaring BP), extreme lethargy, muscle and joint pain, periodic blurred vision, dizziness, inability to think clearly, high blood sugar, high cholesterol. Others have had kidney failure. 

One thing almost everyone with bad side effects seems to have in common is a doctor who refuses to believe the drug is causing the patient's ill health, even when presented with the fact of the improved health of the patient after discontinuing the drug.

I feel 90 instead of 50. 

I'm going to be the boss of my health and quit taking this poison before it kills my kidneys. Or me.

I just wonder what the recovery time is. I don't want to go to another doctor while I am suffering from these crappy side effects, only to have them try to treat me for diseases I don't actually have. That is what this doctor's been trying to do, too, instead of backing off the poison and giving my body a chance to hit the reset button. 

Nothing is worth feeling this bad. 

Monday Night Update on Jonesy

Thank you to everyone for all of the love and support for the sick fur boy. We both appreciate it.

Jonesy on Monday evening at the overnight Vet's office.

Jonesy spent Monday at Livingston Animal Hospital, our regular vet. They did an ultrasound on his kidneys, and heart, and did a needle aspiration of an unknown mass on one kidney. They aren't sure if it is cancer or not. The lab results on that won't be back for 2-3 days.

Monday Afternoon Update on Jonesy

Today Jonesy is obviously feeling better than he was on Sunday, but the jury is still out on his overall health.

This is how he looked at the regular vet this morning, after I had picked him up from the Emergency Vet where he spent the night. The Emergency Vet gave him the awesomely cute bandana. He didn't seem to mind having that on his neck. What bothered him was the IV line thing wrapped around his leg.

He's at the regular vet all day for more tests, including ultrasounds of his kidney and heart. Then he has to spend the night in the ER again so they can keep giving him fluids and monitoring him.

Tomorrow we should know more about what's causing his issues, and if its fixable.

Book Review: I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

I don't like cops who are thugs. Whenever Michael Bennett has the opportunity to abuse a criminal, he takes it. Whenever Michael Bennett has the opportunity to abuse a perceived "bad guy", he takes it. 

Sure, he treats his kids well, but that's not all there is to being a good person. He's not home enough to qualify as a decent parent. This time he even forgets one of his kid's birthdays! He won't win any Father of the Year Awards in this decade. 

He treats Mary Catherine as if she were a pet dog, expecting that she will always be there at his home waiting for him, with a smile on her face, regardless of how he treats her. I was so happy when she finally leaves, and very sad when, at the end, she is basically forced to stay with him against her will.

The story was at least interesting, until you realize that there is no real resolution as in the previous Michael Bennett books, but that it is, instead, a convoluted setup for the next book, and an excuse to get the whole Bennett clan into Witness Protection. Personally, I find the idea that you can "hide" a family consisting of a single dad with 10 adopted kids of various races preposterous. They'll stick out no matter where they go.

Book Review: The City & The City by China Mieville

I decided to read The City & The City because it won a Hugo Award. So far it has made me question the sanity of everyone who voted for it. It's made me question my own sanity for continuing to read it past the first 5-10 pages.

First, I really hate when writers feel the need to invent new words for everything. It takes the reader out of the story when they have to consult the cheat-sheet they are required to create and maintain in order to keep up with the story and the over-use of invented terminology. Sometimes this amounts to needing to create an English translation of the story while you are reading.

Another thing I find annoying is bad grammar and punctuation. This book has an over-abundance of both. Proper punctuation is sparse, and there are too many extremely short, non-sensical sentences. I had to read some sentences three or four times to figure out what the writer meant. Good punctuation would have resolved the problem.

Stupid Writers of SPAM

I found this in my SPAM folder, and thought it was too hilarious not to share. You'd think they'd bother to at least learn grammar and spelling if they're going to attempt to intimidate you with an email, and convince you to send them money.

Day 14: London and Tampa, 14 May 2013 (Tuesday)

(this is a placeholder until I have finished writing it)