When I bought my house three years ago, I wasn't too keen on the neighbor's Halloween decorations. They put up orange lights around the doorway (no problem there), some pumpkins on the porch (still no problem), and a plethora of fake headstones in the front yard. Nothing says "Good Morning" like leaving for work and seeing a cemetary in your rearview mirror.
But alas, culture (or is it permissiveness?) has continued its slide toward...something, and the innocent cemetary of my neighborhood has been overtaken by The House on Farr.
At this house, a huge grim reaper hangs from their front porch so low that even the tiniest trick-or-treater's heads will be brushed by the hem of its death cloak. Every inch of landscaping is covered with spider webbing. Iron stakes line the front walk, complete with fake skulls skewered on top. There are headstones...with skeletons digging their way out of the burial plot, expressions grimacing and contorted in pain. In front of the driveway hangs the piece de la resistance - a headless, bloody torso.
For the love of Pete. I'm 29 years old and it freaks me out to drive past the house. What if I were a 9-year-old girl with a group of friends, tasked with not looking like a wimp as the rest of the group fearlessly tromps to the front door?
I know, I know - they're just decorations. It's all make-believe, right?
Yes, to a point. It's all plastic.
What is not make-believe is the insensitivity and poor judgement of the homeowner who purchases said plastic decorations and with them, litters a holiday meant for children. It's not make-believe when the majority of trick-or-treaters are NOT afraid to walk up to a house that looks like that.
Boo hoo, right? Kids like to be scared. No harm, no foul. It's all in fun.
Okay, great. For fun, let's amp it up a notch and instead of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," let's give them a real scare and sit them in front of "Saw IV," or "Hostel," perhaps.
"Scary" used to be defined by witches and ghosts and goblins and scarecrows that jumped out at you from the porch. Haunted houses had bowls of "eyeballs" that you'd stick your hand in, later to find out it was only wet grapes. I can't compare that with what haunted houses currently do, because I haven't been in one since peer pressure was a mitigating factor in my life.
The scariest part of Halloween nowdays is that imaginary fantastic has been replaced with realistic. As adults in charge of shaping the next generation of children, what the hell are we thinking?
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
In need of head repair? Call Trumie Weiner.
Two days ago I spent 437.41 to repair my heating system. Yet again.
Upon waking this morning, I checked the system because it seemed to be firing a lot. I stepped into the laundry room where the system is located, and promptly put my foot in a puddle of water.
My water tank is leaking.
The same water tank that was replaced less than 3 years ago for leaking. That tank was replaced under a warranty. Is there a warranty for the warranty?
To be honest, while I'm in an even worse financial situation than I was a couple years ago when dealing with this and can even less afford to just eat the costs of repair and not fighting it, I just don't have it in me to fight for getting the tank replaced under warranty. Hopefully I'll wake up in the morning and magically have the fight in me.
Until then...what better way to cheer up oneself than dress one's dog in a Halloween costume?
Upon waking this morning, I checked the system because it seemed to be firing a lot. I stepped into the laundry room where the system is located, and promptly put my foot in a puddle of water.
My water tank is leaking.
The same water tank that was replaced less than 3 years ago for leaking. That tank was replaced under a warranty. Is there a warranty for the warranty?
To be honest, while I'm in an even worse financial situation than I was a couple years ago when dealing with this and can even less afford to just eat the costs of repair and not fighting it, I just don't have it in me to fight for getting the tank replaced under warranty. Hopefully I'll wake up in the morning and magically have the fight in me.
Until then...what better way to cheer up oneself than dress one's dog in a Halloween costume?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Why I'm not the President.
Every evening around the dinner table, my parents and I solve the world's problems. We second-guess world leaders from our perch within our small worlds, implement policies that would never have a chance at partisan, let alone bipartisan, acceptance, and then we laugh off our outlandish ideas.
Only, our ideas really aren't that outlandish. President Obama was on to something during his campaigning of 2008 when he sat across from regular Americans at their dinner tables. Not only are we the "boots on the ground" who are living the consequences of policymaking, but we're not idiots. We may not have a background in politics, but we Americans are educated through school, through life, and through the good ol' Americana concept of freedom of speech.
People change once elected to office. They do what they can to keep their jobs. No reason to spit at that - we all do what we can to keep our jobs.
So let's make it not a job. What if congress was like jury duty? Two years of your life, very handsomely compensated, and at the end of those two years you go back to the workforce with experiences that make you a valued employee. While some individuals throughout history have been very beneficial career politicians, they're the exception by far. New perspective is what the Occupy Wall Street movement is all about (at least I think that's what it's about. I'm not quite sure).
It might seem scary to entrust the power of legislation to a random sampling of Americans. Who knows what backgrounds they have? What if they have no education? What if they're crazy liberal/tea-partier/republicans? Average Americans are not up to the job of Congress.
Every day, twelve average Americans sit in groups in courtrooms across America, collectively deciding the fates of those charged with crimes. Average people are tasked with deciding whether someone lives, or is killed.
I think average Americans are up to the job of Congress.
Only, our ideas really aren't that outlandish. President Obama was on to something during his campaigning of 2008 when he sat across from regular Americans at their dinner tables. Not only are we the "boots on the ground" who are living the consequences of policymaking, but we're not idiots. We may not have a background in politics, but we Americans are educated through school, through life, and through the good ol' Americana concept of freedom of speech.
People change once elected to office. They do what they can to keep their jobs. No reason to spit at that - we all do what we can to keep our jobs.
So let's make it not a job. What if congress was like jury duty? Two years of your life, very handsomely compensated, and at the end of those two years you go back to the workforce with experiences that make you a valued employee. While some individuals throughout history have been very beneficial career politicians, they're the exception by far. New perspective is what the Occupy Wall Street movement is all about (at least I think that's what it's about. I'm not quite sure).
It might seem scary to entrust the power of legislation to a random sampling of Americans. Who knows what backgrounds they have? What if they have no education? What if they're crazy liberal/tea-partier/republicans? Average Americans are not up to the job of Congress.
Every day, twelve average Americans sit in groups in courtrooms across America, collectively deciding the fates of those charged with crimes. Average people are tasked with deciding whether someone lives, or is killed.
I think average Americans are up to the job of Congress.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Sarcasm?
Training to be a transcriptionist makes one uber-aware of the basics of grammar that we tend to ignore on a daily basis.
I couldn't sleep last night. I was thinking about "sarcasm," which is a noun, and "sarcastic," which is an adjective. Then I wondered, what is the difference between being sarcastic and being facetious?
I couldn't answer that. So, what about "facetious" in all of its glorious adjectiveness. What form of the word makes it a noun?
"Sarcastic, sarcasm. Facetious, fascism"???
I couldn't sleep last night. I was thinking about "sarcasm," which is a noun, and "sarcastic," which is an adjective. Then I wondered, what is the difference between being sarcastic and being facetious?
I couldn't answer that. So, what about "facetious" in all of its glorious adjectiveness. What form of the word makes it a noun?
"Sarcastic, sarcasm. Facetious, fascism"???
Monday, October 10, 2011
Saving a quarter - but at whose expense?
Like most of America, I am peripherally aware of the concept of "extreme couponing." (In case you live under a rock: This is where people use many, many coupons, 76 or something, per shopping trip to end up with a bill of $39 dollars for a cart with $258 worth of groceries.)
Time magazine this week had an article in their feature "What We Spend" on extreme couponing. Basically, couponers gather several newspapers' worth of coupons and cross-reference them with the in-store sales going on around town.
Example: Local grocery store offers in-store sale of 10 Tony's Pizzas for $10. Awesome deal, right? Not good enough for the couponers. They dig out the manufacturer's coupon good for $1 off of 3 Tony's Pizzas, and they have 3 of them. So now the store is having to give the couponer 10 pizzas, which normally retail for, what, $2.50? A $25 dollar value for $7.
Fine, whatever, good for couponer. They put forth the effort to do all the research and gathering, why not let them benefit? But then they have a buy-one-get-one for toothpaste. And that toothpaste happens to be half-off at drugstore. So they target store and for $2 tube, they walk out with 2 tubes for $1. I think. My math skills are way below extreme couponing.
However, the Time article left a sour taste in my mouth, which was not the gluten-free burrito I was eating at the time. Coupons are voluntarily given by stores and manufacturers to boost sales of select items. I get that. Also, discounts bring shoppers into the store in hopes that they'll purchase something else at full price while there. Again, I get that.
What I can't put my finger on is why I feel it is wrong to "work the system," a system that admittedly puts itself out there. Perhaps it is because many extreme couponers purchase things they do not need in quantities that NO one needs, just for the sake of having scored a huge deal.
Sometimes these excess goods are donated to charity. That tempers my feelings somewhat. But often, these goods are stockpiled in a room in the couponer's house specifically dedicated to stockpiled goods! That is ridiculous! (It's also hoarding. I can see it now on TLC: "Extreme Couponers - Hoarding Edition.") Seriously. You just took money out of a store for the sake of it, money that is going to trickle down to lower employee wages, eventually increase overall consumer cost, for what? The thrill of the deal chase?
I pay a shitload of money in medical expenses. Anyone who knows my history should be well aware of this. I hit my max out-of-pocket every year, without fail. I think that is the only thing keeping me from getting audited from the IRS in my deductions. If, for some reason, I don't hit my MOOP some year, that's going to send up a flag for sure : )
The point of this aside is that I USE MEDICAL CARE. I have a great need for it. I am not getting superfluous colonoscopies just because they're fun, mammograms because my volumptuousness should be counterbalanced or something. I am not stockpiling medical needs, as it were. I use them as I need them. And I need a lot of them.
Thus, I pay for them. Dearly. I am careful about costs. I use only generics. I recently switched from a generic tab to a generic capsule just because that was cheaper for my insurance company, even though it changed nothing in my prescription cost. And the capsule tastes like donkey dung. We all have our burdens.
So, extreme couponers of the world, let's graciously bear our burdens. Let's pay the generous-to-begin-with price of $10 for 10 entire pizzas rather than forcing the store's hand in cutting that price even further. Because, secretely? Does your family even LIKE those pizzas?
Time magazine this week had an article in their feature "What We Spend" on extreme couponing. Basically, couponers gather several newspapers' worth of coupons and cross-reference them with the in-store sales going on around town.
Example: Local grocery store offers in-store sale of 10 Tony's Pizzas for $10. Awesome deal, right? Not good enough for the couponers. They dig out the manufacturer's coupon good for $1 off of 3 Tony's Pizzas, and they have 3 of them. So now the store is having to give the couponer 10 pizzas, which normally retail for, what, $2.50? A $25 dollar value for $7.
Fine, whatever, good for couponer. They put forth the effort to do all the research and gathering, why not let them benefit? But then they have a buy-one-get-one for toothpaste. And that toothpaste happens to be half-off at drugstore. So they target store and for $2 tube, they walk out with 2 tubes for $1. I think. My math skills are way below extreme couponing.
However, the Time article left a sour taste in my mouth, which was not the gluten-free burrito I was eating at the time. Coupons are voluntarily given by stores and manufacturers to boost sales of select items. I get that. Also, discounts bring shoppers into the store in hopes that they'll purchase something else at full price while there. Again, I get that.
What I can't put my finger on is why I feel it is wrong to "work the system," a system that admittedly puts itself out there. Perhaps it is because many extreme couponers purchase things they do not need in quantities that NO one needs, just for the sake of having scored a huge deal.
Sometimes these excess goods are donated to charity. That tempers my feelings somewhat. But often, these goods are stockpiled in a room in the couponer's house specifically dedicated to stockpiled goods! That is ridiculous! (It's also hoarding. I can see it now on TLC: "Extreme Couponers - Hoarding Edition.") Seriously. You just took money out of a store for the sake of it, money that is going to trickle down to lower employee wages, eventually increase overall consumer cost, for what? The thrill of the deal chase?
I pay a shitload of money in medical expenses. Anyone who knows my history should be well aware of this. I hit my max out-of-pocket every year, without fail. I think that is the only thing keeping me from getting audited from the IRS in my deductions. If, for some reason, I don't hit my MOOP some year, that's going to send up a flag for sure : )
The point of this aside is that I USE MEDICAL CARE. I have a great need for it. I am not getting superfluous colonoscopies just because they're fun, mammograms because my volumptuousness should be counterbalanced or something. I am not stockpiling medical needs, as it were. I use them as I need them. And I need a lot of them.
Thus, I pay for them. Dearly. I am careful about costs. I use only generics. I recently switched from a generic tab to a generic capsule just because that was cheaper for my insurance company, even though it changed nothing in my prescription cost. And the capsule tastes like donkey dung. We all have our burdens.
So, extreme couponers of the world, let's graciously bear our burdens. Let's pay the generous-to-begin-with price of $10 for 10 entire pizzas rather than forcing the store's hand in cutting that price even further. Because, secretely? Does your family even LIKE those pizzas?
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Cat-and-Mouse
A few nights ago, Mom was driving back home after having been at my house. With winter approaching, it was already pitch black outside despite the relatively early hour.
As she rounded the corner from my street onto her street, she saw movement dart in front of her car. She braked, peering over the steering wheel.
A black-and-white cat froze in a pointer position. Mom waved to the cat. "It's okay, I'll wait."
The cat seemed to understand. It turned its attention back to something in the roadway and crouched real low. It shook its heinie, then made a leap to the center of the street. A small reflection in the high beams, and Mom watched as the cat bopped a tiny mouse on the head. Having stunned its prey, it picked up the mouse in its jaws and trotted the rest of the way across the street. At the curb, the cat turned to Mom.
"Thanks."
Mom drove the rest of the way home questioning her sanity.
As she rounded the corner from my street onto her street, she saw movement dart in front of her car. She braked, peering over the steering wheel.
A black-and-white cat froze in a pointer position. Mom waved to the cat. "It's okay, I'll wait."
The cat seemed to understand. It turned its attention back to something in the roadway and crouched real low. It shook its heinie, then made a leap to the center of the street. A small reflection in the high beams, and Mom watched as the cat bopped a tiny mouse on the head. Having stunned its prey, it picked up the mouse in its jaws and trotted the rest of the way across the street. At the curb, the cat turned to Mom.
"Thanks."
Mom drove the rest of the way home questioning her sanity.
"How many times is your grandfather going to turn 90?"
My grandpa is turning 90 this weekend. My parents are in California to celebrate with him.
I am in my living room.
For the entireity of the months that Grandpa's party has been in the planning stages, I've known that traveling is just too much for my body, and my brain, right now. I sincerely hope that this isn't a permanent thing, but all I can do is make choices based on previous outcomes.
I went to my cousin's wedding in Arizona this past June. I wouldn't say I was miserable - my family is full of great, wonderful people. However, like with any family, more than one person is usually talking at a time, and not quietly, either. Music is usually playing, or a television has been left on. You're in mid-conversation with someone, only to be asked a quick question by someone else.
These used to not be issues for me. Now, the mere thought of these situations makes it almost impossible to concentrate enough to keep typing. I've been seeing several specialists lately, all of whom are of the mindset that I need to adapt to fit my new capabilities (lack thereof...), as the amount of improvement in cognition required to get me back to where I was is just not going to happen.
That's fine. I'm really okay with that. I'm used to having to adapt my activities to fit what my body cannot do. Being in California for the next week while family bustles and scurries and laughs and talks and is a big mish-mash in one place would leave my marbles pretty rattled. It took me a few weeks before I was feeling on an even keel after my cousin's wedding.
What I can't say is that I'm completely fine with missing this milestone in my grandpa's life. I went to Grandma's 90th birthday, and it was a kick seeing her surrounded by everyone who loved her.
I hope the party is great fun, that he gets to visit with everyone who comes, and that in all the memories he makes of the day, he doesn't remember that I wasn't there.
I am in my living room.
For the entireity of the months that Grandpa's party has been in the planning stages, I've known that traveling is just too much for my body, and my brain, right now. I sincerely hope that this isn't a permanent thing, but all I can do is make choices based on previous outcomes.
I went to my cousin's wedding in Arizona this past June. I wouldn't say I was miserable - my family is full of great, wonderful people. However, like with any family, more than one person is usually talking at a time, and not quietly, either. Music is usually playing, or a television has been left on. You're in mid-conversation with someone, only to be asked a quick question by someone else.
These used to not be issues for me. Now, the mere thought of these situations makes it almost impossible to concentrate enough to keep typing. I've been seeing several specialists lately, all of whom are of the mindset that I need to adapt to fit my new capabilities (lack thereof...), as the amount of improvement in cognition required to get me back to where I was is just not going to happen.
That's fine. I'm really okay with that. I'm used to having to adapt my activities to fit what my body cannot do. Being in California for the next week while family bustles and scurries and laughs and talks and is a big mish-mash in one place would leave my marbles pretty rattled. It took me a few weeks before I was feeling on an even keel after my cousin's wedding.
What I can't say is that I'm completely fine with missing this milestone in my grandpa's life. I went to Grandma's 90th birthday, and it was a kick seeing her surrounded by everyone who loved her.
I hope the party is great fun, that he gets to visit with everyone who comes, and that in all the memories he makes of the day, he doesn't remember that I wasn't there.
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