I'm getting pretty tired of washing dishes before they go into the dishwasher then again after I take them out. As a matter of fact, I don't even know where some of these food stains come from...it's like they get dirtier in there. Where the hell's the sludge cycle on the dial?...somehow missed that one. Anyhow, I've just had an "aha" lightbulb moment with the realization that I should just bypass the middle man and wash the damn things by hand. My dishwasher is now classified as extra pots & pans storage.

It's gorgeous out...what a screwed up bunch of weather this is. Snow Wednesday...beach Friday. What the hell to wear???

If you've noticed the new addition to my sidebar (yes, a couple of years later and Deb has added something new here!) you'll probably be as WOW'd as I am about this release. I immediately thought of you Barb...something about every single time the Decemberists are mentioned I visualize you prancing lightly about your kitchen, stirring with a wooden spoon in a large mixing bowl as you make something with oatmeal in it (large flake of course). Anyhow, a wonderful project that raises money for the Red Hot Organization AIDS/HIV charity. I'm going to find it now (for Linds, for her birthday...shhhh, don't tell). Really it's for me though, as the minute she opens it I'll be hijacking it and adding it to my iTunes. And dancing in my kitchen. (FTR: I'm in love with Sleepless and have played it at least 80 times already). Here's the track list:

THIS DISC
1 Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2 Cello Song (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3 Train Song (Vashti Bunyan recorded, written by Alasdair Clayre) – Feist + Ben Gibbard
4 Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
5 Deep Blue Sea – Grizzly Bear
6 So Far Around the Bend – The National (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
7 Tightrope – Yeasayer
8 Feeling Good (popularized by Nina Simone) – My Brightest Diamond
9 Dark Was the Night (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet
10 I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan) – Antony + Bryce Dessner
11 Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12 Sleepless – The Decemberists
13 Stolen Houses (Die) – Iron and Wine
14 Service Bell – Grizzly Bear + Feist
15 You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC
1 Well-Alright – Spoon
2 Lenin – Arcade Fire
3 Mimizan – Beirut
4 El Caporal – My Morning Jacket
5 Inspiration Information (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
6 With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) – Dave Sitek
7 Blood Pt 2 (based on original song “You are the Blood” by the Castanets) – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8 Hey, Snow White (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers
9 Gentle Hour (Snapper) – Yo La Tengo
10 Another Saturday (traditional song) – Stuart Murdoch
11 Happiness – Riceboy Sleeps
12 Amazing Grace (traditional song) – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
13 The Giant Of Illinois (Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird
14 Lua – Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
15 When the Road Runs Out – Blonde Redhead + Devastations
16 Love vs. Porn – Kevin Drew

I've missed you guys, but have had to take a bit of a break during the glorious sunshine here to reacquaint myself with my bike/walking shoes. I've been at the river daily and it's been wonderful. I'm liking this unemployment just a wee bit too much and, hello, could someone please get those lotto numbers right so I can do this fulltime. Please?

Dad just had another surgery last week, which also explains my absence. He's doing well - this is run of the mill for us now. I told the lady at the desk to go take a break, I could register him in and get him prepped. But he's all stapled up and being his usual stubborn self (trying to vacuum)....I actually had to wrestle the thing away from him.

Linds hates her new school (I don't blame her - it's lame). Her teacher's a moron and when you've had the pleasure of being associated with the wonderful staff at her old school, it's a hard act to follow. We're trying to be patient, but c'mon - her teacher doesn't know how to spell!? There is no room for individuality/creativity and Linds feels completely overwhelmed and stifled there. Her teacher's new handle is Ms. Manclown (a twist on her name - yes, I know...I'm as mature as the banana in my fruit bowl). The only good thing is that she's hooked up with a great counsellor whose attitude is "just get by - I'll help you with that". Her old counsellor is also networking with this guy in an attempt to get her through so, although it won't be perfect, she has some people to support her in her quest for survival there.

Well, off to the record store (do they still have those?).

I will try and be more regular here because I truly do miss you guys when I'm away. It feels like months.

YEA! Fifteen days later and we just got the ok on the water - no asbestos or creepy crawlies to be found! You have no idea how much you miss clean water until you have to live without it for awhile. I sympathize with those dealing with this on an ongoing basis in other countries - it's rough. We've been showering all over town and using bottled water for washing/brushing teeth (at least we have that option). Man, it feels like Christmas around here tonight as we're all giddy over showering at home.

One thing I am less than giddy about is paying for air. Yes, AIR. When I pulled into the gas station tonight to fill the tires I learned that they'd installed a coin operated air compressor - a loonie to fill a tire! So a big F U to you Petro Can...I should charge you to operate on my street. I was actually so pissed off that I left without getting gas...I begrudged giving them any of my money after that slap in the face. So now I'm driving around on under inflated tires with an empty tank. And I need antifreeze. I'm on a roll....the other day I drove around with the E brake on. A winner fo'sho.


I was so tired today when I got home that I actually tried to use the car key remote to open the door to my house - I stood there pointing it at it. What a clown - glad the neighbors didn't catch it.

"Oh hey, whatcha doin'?

"Not much. Just bein' a complete tool (again)."

Silly fool - although I do think it would be a nifty idea. I hate coming home with an armload of groceries only to have to put them all down to let myself in. I think I may be onto something here.....

We're having bigtime water issues here again. Not just me - the entire complex...two units have completely flooded out in the past week. "Asbestos?" "Main line in". "$100,000 to replace" blah, blah, blah.

Anyhow, this place is a joke. I've explained our entire council situation before...it's improving and there are my two friends now on board who gets things done. They take things seriously and don't lolllygag around like the other old farts (who are hard to drag out of their recliners unless they have an issue).

So in growing tired with the management company (who, as I've documented in previous posts, I like about as much as a flaming case of indigestion), I've bypassed the strata and sent an email off yesterday. I've also contacted the city (who are currently working on a huge watermain replacement in our neighborhood...I'm also suspicious that this may tie into our current problems). I've yet to receive a response from our management company, so you can imagine what my next email will be like (something that involves a lot of #@%$*@&*!'s).

What do you think?...if you were getting paid a gazillion dollars a month to manage property, would you not respond to this?:

Dear (Fuckhead):

As a concerned resident of (*insert address here*..."Shitsville" works for me) I am wondering when we can expect results from the pending water tests to our complex. As you are aware (as indicated in your email to Associate Fucktard #2 of Jan. 30/09), the water is yet to be deemed "safe" for consumption and we are currently purchasing drinking water for our families. According to your email, we cannot drink the water until it has been "tested for asbestos" which, understandably, is extremely alarming to those of us with children (most units).

Many of us have decided that the water is currently also unfit to bathe/brush our teeth in, as your report citing a status of "questionable - may contain asbetos and/or bacteria" suggests there could be serious health implications if we do. Would you put YOUR child under a shower knowing what we know (which is currently very little)?

This is creating frustration and concern amongst the residents here and we need an immediate response to this issue - we've been waiting for this testing to be done for several days over a week now. It's completely unacceptable to keep us in the dark and it's creating a lot of unnecessary anxiety for families, who feel you've dropped the ball here. I, personally, have fielded calls with regards to this matter (as a longtime resident whom people trust in). The only problem is, I don't have any answers - only questions, which has prompted this email. It's your job to answer them for us.

Please consider this an urgent matter and notify all residents immediately upon receipt of the test results. We need to put this matter to rest and there simply is no excuse for any further delay here.

Regards,
Me
Erin Brockovich.

As usual, it's been filed under the "woops, spilled coffee and donut crumbs on this one" pile.

I am SO sick of this BS and this has been consuming a lot of my time lately - the contractors that we've hired from our end (who are extremely nice/helpful) actually are becoming "friends". When I walked up yesterday to see what was happening (yet another leak/flood), "Bob" said "hey Deb, I'm back. What's for lunch today?". As much as I like these guys, I'll be happy when they're gone...each time I see them out there my heart sinks at the "what now?" prospect. They're trying to be helpful but I think, at this point, they should build us an ark.

Time for Deb to spring into action....where the hell's my Ninja costume?

I'll keep you posted....

EDIT: Update....the city's response was impressive/immediate. Within an hour of emailing them, I got a call back from a worker attending a conference who was on a break. Now THAT'S service.

I had what I feel was a fairly successful job interview today, although I guess there's no way of knowing if it was successful until you actually get the job. It was at a sports physio clinic and the interview was conducted by the actual physiotherapist himself (like who else was I expecting?). He was a really nice guy - the atmosphere was extremely laid back and I could really see myself fitting in well there. The position is a front desk one, but it also includes some other stuff as well and I'd even be trained on some of the equipment. It sounded absolutely perfect so I've got my fingers crossed - although I'm not getting my hopes up too high because I know with the economic climate the way it is, 8,000,000 people are probably being interviewed. I don't think the young girl before me did too well...they were wrapping things up as they walked out and Mr. Physio was fairly apologetic in explaining that she might be a bit too young and they were looking for someone a bit more mature ("ahem, right heeeeere, woooohoooo"). He questioned her flexibility in scheduling and wondered if she'd be able to work around the hours (the clinic's open from 8-7, including Saturdays). I was quite surprised to see that she was wearing blue jeans...have the times changed that much? I'd never imagine wearing blue jeans to an interview for a front office position - I'd actually considered buying something new to wear as my wardrobes getting a little thin lately. But I threw together a fairly nice outfit and felt good when I saw the competition. ;)

Anyhow, there are two other receptionists in the clinic and one of them sat in on the interview...I feel like I connected with both she and Mr. Physio. It was very relaxed and the conversation was "easy"...we even joked a bit. I don't get too frazzled over interviews anymore - I've been fortunate and have had success in the past in getting pretty much every single job I've ever applied for. I was pretty confident and surprised at the lack of butterflies. I guess at this point in the game, what you see is what you get and I don't really feel like I have to impress anyone. Sometimes I feel like I'm conducting the interview....."so, why'd the last girl leave?" (I actually asked that). Anyhow, I've told myself not to get too excited over interviews because it'll just set me up for disappointment - I go in thinking "meh, whatever". I don't like rejection and haven't had to deal with it too much - could be a shock to the system. I see how Ty's been trying to get a job and aces interviews that go nowhere. It makes me more empathetic towards his situation.

But I really can see myself working in this place, so I'd appreciate you all doing a little drunken lion good luck dance for me (see demonstration below). Much appreciated.
(Sorry, lame...it won't let me link you there. Good ol' copy/paste time) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3SbgiK1Th0