The Tale of My Bathroom

So this is the Tale of My Bathroom.

 Let me first say that I am not the pickiest person, when it comes to housing. Is it in a decent neighborhood? Is the ceiling going to cave in? My apartment building was built in the 1920s, so we are going on 90+ years here. I don't expect perfect, and I like quirky most of the time. My floors squeak when my 12 lb dog walks on them. My kitchen cabinets don't close because of all the paint. My one drawer is painted a different color from the rest. Does it have significant space for my gnomes? :) I need a shower curtain on both sides of the shower...I actually repaired WHERE the shower curtain should be.

I will begin with last November. For months I had been telling my landlord that the bathroom was moldy on the ceiling and not functioning properly.

One day I came home and it was raining in my shower...so I called the landlord.

LL: Did the upstairs neighbor just take a shower? Did you ask him?
Me: Um, I don't know.
LL: Does he maybe have the window open in the bathroom?
Me: It's not raining...

He doesn't send anyone out to see to it. Just like every time I make a call to him, he ignores it. Like it is going to magically disappear. So by November I am tired of this BS that I write him a letter and include pictures of the mold and disgusting and ended it with a note about sending a copy to the city. This finally got his attention. Suddenly he was calling and saying "oh I was waiting on the plumber to come over there tomorrow." Right...

This began the "Two to three day" repairs...12 days later I was back in my apartment. Supposedly it would take two or three days, so I packed up and went to my parents. Well after 2 days, I called in to check up on the progress. "Oh tomorrow it'll be ready."  He didn't even know. I went back after work on the third day; yeah there was nothing done. My bathroom had been ripped to shreds, but nothing was ready.

By day ten, I was homicidal. Each day I checked in after work. Never seeing much progress. Finally we got to the point where we were waiting for the plaster guy, so I was home one evening...too old to be at my parents all the time...

I introduce to the plaster and paint guy. I am on the couch watching television, while he is supposed to be working in the bathroom. Truck has Gothic font and the world "alchemy" involved, if that tells you anything.

PG: Are you into Norse mythology?
Me: Um, not really.
PG: Ah, cuz if you were I'd show you my Thor's hammer tattoo.

I must have looked like a deer in headlights as he wandered back into my bathroom. WTF do you say to that?!

After all that, LL did not repair the floor or ceiling...and did not replace the faucet.  And he had the wall open, but did not just put the shower into the wall. Still the same diverter (or however you spell that), which always had shot water down into the tub.

Fast forward to this week. A couple of months ago, the kitchen sink stopped having water come out. "Something must have broke out in the pipe." Oh that is special. So when the same thing happened on Sunday in the shower, I called the LL. On Monday morning, my landlord sent his brother over to take care of it. When I got home, the showerhead that I bought was gone. Got a new spout/diverter out of the deal. So I called the LL.

Me: So any reason you took my showerhead.
LL: It was too corroded.
Me: I bought it and put it on in August, since the old one was shooting into the ceiling and over the curtain.
LL: Oh it must of had something to stuck in it from the pipe. Do you want me to have him bring it back?
Me: (very obviously) Well, if you say it is no good. No!

I head off to Target after work the next day. New GOOD showerhead. Sweet! Time to clean the shower on yesterday. Better clean up the bathroom. Scrub tub and shower...what's that?! Faucet is broken and water won't shut off. Call in the reinforcements. Papa. "You've got a screwdriver and a pliers?" I turn off the water as best I can. Call LL at 4:05...no answer and leave message. Call LL at 5:25 no answer and leave message. All the time water is poured out. At 6:10 call LL's brother. Oh it is Poker night. He goes over there at 5:30. A-hole didn't bother to call me back

Brother comes over while I am on my BIRTHDAY dinner to turn off water. (Yes, I am that old that I would clean my bathroom on my birthday.) He cannot call me back?! Take care of his property! Brother can only turn off hot water to our half of the building.

So this morning I get a bucket of hot water out of the laundry tub and "showered" in this tub.

Today I come back to new faucet...but now the diverter shoot water out to the ceiling like a geyser! WTF! It worked yesterday.

I give up! Three calls for fixes in one week is too many for me. I duct taped the shit out of that diverter! What?! I cannot see without my glasses, so eff it!

Moral of the story. Do NOT rent from Dan Debe! I cannot wait for next August when lease is up.

On the wishlist for the new bathroom in new apt.

1. Fan in bathroom-no mold
2. A MAXIMUM of 1 curtain needed
3. Matching paint...everywhere
4. Cabinets that close
5. Electric outlets that the plugs don't fall out
6. Trustworthy lighting

But anyway I am out going to bide my time and get a perfect place either here in MPLS or someplace warm, since it is snowing tonight. :)

Thank god for for nice teenage girls!

Boisterous teenage girls announced their presence at Panera as I read and ate alone the other day.

Originally there were 4 who sat down at one table for four, chatting loudly, when a fifth showed up. She looked at them awkwardly. Like she was uncomfortable and new as she sat at the table next to them. I felt for her. Being the odd man out and looking visibly uncomfortable.

I smiled at her and looked away. I know/knew how she felt.

Thank god for nice teenage girls!

The girl closest to her reached out to touch her shoulder and turned to everyone to introduce her. I could hear “from class.” And then another girl said “pull the tables together and eat with us” and you could see relief in the girls face.

Food, Waste & World Population

Every once in awhile, I find an article that strikes me and draws my attention into a topic or two that I really start thinking about.

 I stumbled on this article the other day, and I thought "Wow! What the hell are we doing?!"

http://www.dw.de/one-third-of-worlds-food-wasted-each-year-un-says/a-17083367
Really? We are wasting how much food?!?!

As Americans I know we fall into this wastefulness partially actively by purchasing more food than we could possibly eat. We've all seen the newspaper ad/coupons where you buy one-get one free or $1 off when you buy three. Do I really need three boxes of noodles as a single person, who often eats less than one meal a day at home? I have purchased more food than I need and spent three times more than I intended/needed to just to use the coupon/advertised price. And I will probably not eat this food while the food is at its best.

It really isn't a bargain in the end.

Also we passively waste with the amount of food in our portions while eating out. On Sunday, I purposely turned down adding a side salad to my meal for the discounted price, because I knew I already had more on my plate than I could possibly eat. But turning down the "bargain" isn't always that easy, so we take the extra food, which we will not eat. The portion sizes in general are completely out of control.

Now for me, I think that the number of those suffering from hunger is what strikes me as the most amazing...makes me the most angry. It has been many years (probably since college) that I have had to actually put thought into where my next meal would be coming from and how I would pay for it. I cannot imagine that being part of my life as an adult let alone a child.

We turn a blind eye to those around us that are going hungry. We don't recognize that there are people in our own towns, on our blocks who do not have enough food. Even those who see it staring them in the face ignore it. Now this isn't just a mid-American problem, but if we focus on those around us, eventually that it will ripple out across the nation and world.

In 2000 I worked in a school program with kids from a wide range of economic backgrounds; there were two sisters in first and second grade that made me want to cry every day. Just at a glance, you could see they were hungry and poor. They were the oldest of the five children in their family. During our all day programs, I learned that at 7 and 8 years old, they were so concerned with food that they kept half their packed lunch (a cheese sandwich) "for supper tonight." Can you imagine that?! But what made me angry during this time was the arrogance and mean spirited-ness that came about in regards to them from adults. Each day the program provided a snack to the kids, and during Christmas break they over estimated how much food we needed. Well, I decided to slip these two little girls a little extra. When my boss found out, she came into my school and chewed me out about it. There was no reasoning with her about how the food would go bad and they needed to eat. Her response only made me more angry; she even mentioned that the program was on a sliding payscale and they didn't pay anything to be there. I was fuming by the time she left as was one of my employees who witnessed this. She not only ignored their hunger, but punished them because it. Treated them like they were worth less because of their economic status and hunger.

Now if we are wasting a third of the food produced now, what are we going to do when the Earth's population is 9 billion? Why are we allowing this much food to be wasted? Why are we allowing people, families, kids to go hungry while this happens?

I truly believe that when people do not have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from, they are happier, more productive and can focus on living a better life. Hunger drives many of the world's problems. Violence grows out of this basic need. It might not seem connected, but if you are starving, you will fight to get food. Whether it is full on war or rebellion or domestic stress and violence. If you need to put your all energy and thoughts on food, you are unable to learn, work, interact happily.

As for the environment impact, I believe if we put the focus on feeding those who need it and not wasting this will help with this part of a growing issue. Perhaps even create minimum waste. But at the same time, the methods used to produce this wasted food needs to be changed. Deforestation and water use are not doing us any favors.

So I guess some options for me to work on this will be:
*Actively reduce waste through shopping critically
*Donating extra food, if/when I over purchase food
*Actively reduce waste through better choices while eating out, asking for smaller portions & actually eating my leftovers
*Continue to compost my scraps
*Eat foods that are grown and produced closer to home

So far, so good

I've been doing fairly well with the treadmill. Lost some weight, lost some inches, and feeling better! I've moved up to being able to it for longer and faster. Hooray! Hoping that I will be ready for vacation in June. Feel good while I wander the streets of New Orleans. :)

Update

It's been one week, and I have been very good with using my new treadmill. I took measurements to start and remeasured this afternoon. I've been doing pretty well and have made progress. Hooray! Now to keep up the good work. I've also been being really good about packing my lunch for work. Baby steps to healthier living.

2013!

It's that time of year again!

Time for some ideas of what I am going to work on this year.

I might keep them to start working on them a little at a time. I am thinking, if I focus on making one thing a habit at a time, I will be more likely to follow through.

So I won't be beginning all at once, but these are the themes of what I am hoping to work on for this year and upcoming years.

Live Healthy
 -I have gone ahead and ordered a treadmill. The new rule will be that I cannot watch tv unless I am walking on the treadmill.
-Pack a healthy lunch.
-Eat more real food.
-Eat less processed food.

Live With Less
-Clutter
-Debt
-Weight
-Mindlessness

Live With More
-Passion
-Strength
-Travel & Entertainment
-Reading

Why oh why?

Why oh why do people expect me to go above and beyond for them? Do they just expect it of me, cuz I give of myself easily? Do they expect this of everyone else? Do they assume I will do it for them? Do they appreciate what I do for them? Most of the time, I don't even think of it, but just do some things cuz they need to be done and they asked for my help. It is something that someone needs done, help with or would just plain be a good thing to do for them. Nice, helpful, loving. The problem is that although I give without thinking, when I do ask for a simple helpful hand/favor, my thoughtfullness is rewarded with lame excuses and outright lies. I give without questioning. I assume, if you ask, it is because you need me. I truly think that it is expected of me, but not of themselves. More and more I see people do this to me. I am not a person who asks often or even really expects anything in return for being good to my friends, but the responses recently are more than annoying. It has become downright insulting. The simplest things are met with insulting responses. The medium things are rewarded with an outright ridiculous answer. Good thing I haven't needed anything remotely large. Someone might fake their own effing death to get out of it. That's my annoyance of the week. Month. Year.

35 Years n this Earth

Tomorrow is my 35th birthday! Can you believe it?! I can still remember thinking 20 was old. ha! What a little perspective can do for you. :) Nothing big and exciting to report on the home front. Just a lot of lounging with Teeny Weeny and trying to keep warm. Which brings me to a newish idea that I am bouncing around. Moving to someplace that is not ungodly cold in the Winter! I have thought of a few places. Here is some brainstorming. Savannah, GA-Warm, easy to get home, easier for visitors. Brisbane, Australia-Warm, laid back way of life, but harder to get home and have visitors Southern Europe-Warmer than here, easy travel for me and others, closer to so much. There are many, many ideas, and I really need to stop watching House Hunters International. It gives me too many ideas and makes me want to go so bad. In order for any ideas to become reality, I have a lot of work to do. Lots of money to save.

Happy New Year!

It's 2011, and things are going to be AWESOME this year! Going to make some changes and they will all be good. No big resolutions, but some things for the better. A couple little changes to diet, activity and location. Hoping to get some big changes in motion, but going to start small.

Currently looking for an apartment and that is the one big change. Lots of options, but don't want to get into too much trouble getting a place that costs too much, is a icky neighborhood, not what I really want. Taking my time, so that I can find just the right place. It's going to be hard to find space where I can work on my projects and in a close neighborhood that I really like.

Here's to hoping a good place and making good changes. :)

Jim-enese

My nephew, Jimmy, speaks his own language, which I call Jim-enese. He's 3 and no one understands him besides a select few of us. Me, his mom, and Grandma. He's speech is so bad that my sister hopes they put him in speech therapy once he gets in school. He also speaks incredibly fast and REALLY REALLY loud. Well, the other day, his big sister said that she was in the gym. This confused the crap out of Jimmy. He then went on a 3 year old question binge with my sister about...what is a gym? what do you do there? what games? what is dodgeball? Once my sister has explained how one plays dodgeball, Jimmy looks at her in all seriousness and says "I don't EVER want to play dodgeball." Now if you could hear how he says these things you would die laughing. Plus if you have ever seen a serious 3 year old face, you would be in heaven with the giggles. I of course had to question him on his lack of love for the game of dodgeball. He thought I was NUTS! :)

A little catch up...

Last week was challenging to say the least.

We have the house torn apart to paint the kitchen. Painting from top to bottom. Cabinet doors are in the basement in my processing arrangement. Dogs have only been painted a little bit. And to top it off, the mainline of the sewer decided that it wanted to start backing up, and we were without water use. Nothing like not being able to pee to stress out a couple of girls. When it was finally fixed, we were super excited. Relieved, but now we need to pull things out and get a crew to get all the nasty stuff out of the basement.

Work has been not so awesome, cuz people are busy freaking out about the new system that we are moving to and that I am training them on. And one of the people who will be laid off soon fell outside on the ice and busted her shoulder. This was the day before the first person for the layoffs had her last day. We are suddenly down two people, and we are training/changing processing. It was crazy around there before, and now we have even more craziness.

We ended up going to the roller derby girls for a friend's birthday. Awesome time. Then some bar time in Nordeast for more good time.

I've spent today going through OkCupid and Plentyoffish profiles. I've been slightly inspired (for lack of the appropriate words) to update after last night's events. Got to meet a friend's newly acquired lady friend via Plentyoffish. She seemed pleasant and like a good time. It has only been a couple of weeks, but seem to like each other fairly well so far. If nothing else, maybe I will meet some interesting people.

Life Lessons from Old Grannies

Oh story from lunch yesterday and a life lesson that I will live by when I am old.

There was this little old lady in the café. She was little and frail and had apparently got her hair done at the salon. Same salon that the another little old lady drove through.** Well, she wasn’t strong enough to open her crackers, so she used a pen from her purse.

Life lesson: if you are not strong enough to open your crackers, please don’t drive.

**A few months ago, a little old granny drove up through the lawn, jumped a landscape wall, drove through an empty office and the hallway and then into the salan in the downstairs of my office building. No one was hurt, but one of the salon ladies had to push a customer out of the way and said that the granny was still revving her engine, when the car finally got stuck.

One of those weeks

It struck me midweek that it has been a year since my grandpa passed away. I am generally pretty good with dealing with death, but this one bothers me for a number of reasons. Shortly after moving back to Minnesota from Des Moines, I decided that I had had enough of my dad's family. In general, they are very nasty people and were not supportive in my move back or anything in my life for that matter. They are mean little people and I often found myself as the outcast and singled out for their meanness. Normal people do not call you drunk in the afternoon to yell at you for an hour about donating a mattress that no one wanted or needed. They also don't show up at your college graduation and insult you on your looks. Anyways, not the point. I hadn't seen or talked to them in years, when my stepmom called me to let me know that my grandfather had died. Okay, that sucks, but what sucks more is that he had had an accident on Christmas day and been in the hospital, having surgeries and being in and out of it for almost a month and he had actually died 3 days earlier. Nice. Thanks guys. Not only did they not tell me he was hurt, they waited to tell me that he had died, AND this comment from my stepmom "your dad doesn't know I am calling you, but you can call me on my cellphone and he won't know you called." He hadn't even thought of calling me himself. He is a selfish prick, but really?! Who does that? She told me where the service was to be and that they would be cremating him...strike that, they already had. I didn't go. I wrote my sisters a card and one to the whole family in general and left them the day before the service at the cremation society. Stepmom tried to call me one more time after that to thank me for the card. Not my dad. Not my grandma. Not any of my aunts, uncles or cousins.

BUT enough about that. Let's talk about funny stuff...

I had to take my grandma (mom's mom) to mass on Sunday for my nephew's baptism. She goes to mass more than once a week. Practically everyday, but I am not sure how she does it. I personally do not feel a calling to god or church, but she has no attention span. I realize that she and I are very similar. My mom calls me Little Rosie, cuz of it, but wow. I was zoning out, but she was hysterical. We weren't even 5 minutes in and she was whispering and giggling. I had to shhh my own 82 year old grandma, cuz we were getting looks. The priest was telling the wedding story of the water into wine and mentioned that there were 6 vessels of about 20-30 gallons each that were turned into wine. At this point my grandma turns to me and says "20-30 gallons times 6. That's a lot of wine. It would be quite the party" and wiggles her eyebrows at me. Now I am in the pew giggling next to her, and we are both getting looks. For the next 45 minutes, she is commenting on the stain glass, staring at the ceiling and peeking around at all the people in the church. I'm not going to lie; I was just as bad. I love that goofy little grandma.

If I have kids I want them to know her. Have her make them "skinny pancakes", caramel corn, quilts and crocheted dolls. To laugh with her, when she calls them every name but their own (she does this all day long-always has) and learn to read between the lines to figure out who she really is talking about. Wander through her garden, eat more berries and peas than go in their bucket. Show up with them on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to eat fresh made rolls with homemade raspberry-rhubarb jelly.

Why should I train you to do the job of coworkers that are being laid off

and probably my job too. Okay, today they sent me the questions from the technical writer who is making instructions for the new people who will be taking the jobs of 5 of my coworkers away to another office. First, I have already written these instructions and trained a bunch of people with how to do everything from changing the Mr to Ms to adjusting their taxes. Secondly, if they would have thought ahead, they would have had the supervisors of these folks come out and learn from us(me-I am the trainer) on how to train their new employees. Or send me out there. Also, if you are going to hire a technical writer to produce and instruction book, don't you think you should maybe hire someone who has used the system before? Just some thoughts I had, when I began going into his questions, which he had so kindly put into his actual instructions so that I could answer them in the instructions. Then I started getting into the instructions this douchebag was hired to write...oh wait he hasn't WRITTEN anything. He has taken MY instructions, shrunk down the screen prints and changed nothing but words like "locate" to "choose." Oh and changed the sizing on my arrows and font. Wow. Just wow. How much are they paying this guy? I mean this is word for word my instructions. They only thing he really added was "why should they use the pay period beginning?"

This weather must be getting to me

It's sad, but it is January, and I am already tired of the cold. We've had a cold spell where it has been hovering around zero (without the wind chill) for way too long for my liking. I am actually excited that it might reach 30 in the next few days. How sad is that?

What's sadder is that being trapped in the house, hunkered down in down blankets is getting to me. I feel very little ambition and am getting kinda sad about that whole thing. Taking things to heart and not thinking about them rationally. Some things I know where meant as a slight, but following items probably were not. Lame. I was sick from Christmas until now, and I don't think this is helping too much.

I have spent a little time in the gym, which is helping, but I want to get outside. Phew. Back to work.

The Journey of a Lifetime

About 2 hours ago, Bekah and I decided that we will be doing a roadtrip along the longest garage sale route DURING the garage sale! Hooray! Now I am in full planning mode. I need to figure out the actual route, camp sites and timing! Super Awesome. It looks like she and I will be going tit alone, but if any of our friends really want to attend, let me know!

I have had enough.

For the past few years my out of town "best friend" has been incredibly rude and really not much of a real friend. Not responsive. Generally late when she is supposed to meet up with me and other MN friends. Last year she was a half hour late to meet me for the hour she had, and then she got pissed, when I called her on it. This year she didn't bother to let me know, and I saw a post from a friend that she was out with. I am done. When she first moved away, she was glad to be home and meet up, but more and more I got the feeling that she is too good for me. When I have gone out to see her, I got the attitude that I was a waste of her time and not really welcome for a majority of the trip. I have made myself available to her, when she needed someone to talk to, when she didn't have friends out there, to offer her assistance when she was having a rough time. But have gotten guff, when I needed her to do the same for me.

This was just the last slap I needed today. I had already been feeling like I do not fit in and lonely.

Nothing motivates like a 5 year old & a measuring tape.

Yep. That's right. Megan found a tape measure and we HAD to measure all my body parts today. Yuck! I know I am a chubby little lady, but that was more of an eye opener than I was ready for on Christmas. It's that time of year, when I come up with a new game plan for the new year and try to motivate myself in so many ways.

Game plan,Rules and such:
1. Eating better. One can of pop a day. Pack my lunch like a good kid. No snacks/sweet beverage after 8pm. No fried food.
2. Exercise. Get off my butt
3. Pay off bills. Save money. Don't buy useless stuff.

That's what I have for now!

Cheese to my macaroni

So yesterday was my 33rd birthday. Like usual this brought about much reflection and fun. And unfortunately too much drama like too often as of late. Decided today that I needed to lay around on the couch and watch Juno, since I have been thinking a lot about having a macaroni for my cheese. I went on a date on Thursday evening, and it was okay. Not my counterpart and that sucks. I've been lonely without anyone lately, and I wish that I could find my other half.

We went Downtown after dinner at the Rail Station, and we had a pretty good time. It was all good until it was time to leave and then the misunderstandings. Unfortunately, that created drama and it makes me sad to know that I probably alienated myself even more so than usual. I did the ugly cry and probably said things that came out completely wrong. It seemed okay this morning, but I feel like an idiot.

How does one person

continue to make you feel like shit years later?

On Friday, I snapped at two friends for something that would be seen as innocent to anyone else. Unfortunately, to me it brought on thoughts of someone else's typical behavior. Sara's behavior and how I stood by and watched it, while she acted more and more abusive and deceitful to me. In a matter of minutes, I reverted back to that time in my life. I was angry. Irrationally angry. And instantly sad. Sad from the memories of why I was angry and sad because I had just alienated my friends. It was time for sleep, so I tried to sleep, but only ended up dreaming of those times.

In the morning, I tried to apologize for losing it, but there is no way for them to understand what I was worked up about. I don't even understand it, when I try to explain it. I have worked so hard to move past the things that she put me through, and I brought it all back in an instant. Fear, denial, loneliness, sadness, self doubt. Every hateful and demeaning thing she said and did to me are playing through my mind over and over. Night and day.

I thought I would be able to put it out of my mind this week, but it has been harder than that. I am exhausted and feel like I could cry at any moment. From all the times that she told me that no one liked me and that they just tolerated my presence and wished that I didn't even exist, I am doubting friendships and myself. Especially those that were snapped on.

She (and her memory) has once again made me feel like I am worthless, unliked and useless. I feel alone. I feel unloved and...despised. I am down, and I don't know how to pick myself up. I don't know how to explain it any other way.