my soft spot

just a mom who plays hockey and knits

Friday, August 31, 2007

Encounter with a loser

I'm standing in line on Tuesday at Laney College, waiting to get my parking hang tag for the semester. A guy is behind me. I've noticed him before, downstairs while a bunch of us were waiting for the elevator. He is listening to an iPod so loudly that even though the earbuds are firmly in his ears, I can hear everything perfectly well. The line is long, so the music proceeds through several thumpety-thump songs. Finally, it gets to one so obnoxious that it's just driving me nuts. I've turned around and looked at him a few times but he can't possibly get the hint.

So I turn around and say, "Can you turn it down, please?" He immediately pauses it--but says, "What?" Of course, he couldn't hear me. I repeat my request and he mumbles something about it not being mine, it's his. "Yes, of course, but I can hear it, and it's driving me nuts. Can you just turn it down, please?"

Then I get the stare. Yep, straight out of the kindergarten playyard. "Are you?" I ask again, knowing the result. Yep, more stare, music blasting. Ass.

I finally get through the line, get my decal quickly and easily, glare at him one more time, and go to my car. On the way, I'm composing all sorts of nasty Things I Should Have Said. And I get mad, because in the situation, I felt like I had no power. Irritating. Yuck.

Then, finally, I realize that this sort of situation happens to me maybe once every 2 years. And I have a great family, house, pets, job, friends, hockey... I am lucky. I win. You know?

He is an ass and his disrespect of others will just eventually bite him in the ass. Hard. I wish I could be there for that, but I have to have faith that it will happen.

And in the end... I win. Totally.

Fun from the police blotter

Alameda police blotter, Thursday, Aug. 23:

Arrest: for attempting to bail out an inmate at the Alameda police department's jail using a fraudulent driver's license.

Oh, dude, you so suck! Arriving at the police station to help out a friend and ending up in the clink yourself. Ha!

Too freaking HOT!

I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer that records the max/min temperatures since it was last cleared (which was about a month ago). It tells me that it has been NINETY-ONE degrees inside my house. Inside! This is too much!

Go away, warm weather. I'm done with you.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

I seem far younger than I am (if your name is Wii)

Just played some kind of Fitness thing on Wii Sports, and at the end it declared my Fitness age to be 35. Hoo-wee, I've lost 8 years! :)

Seriously, this thing is FUN.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Extra dogs

Friends are out of town and I'd agreed to take their dog, Claire, until next Thursday or so. Then my ex had to go out of town and asked me to watch their dog, Riley (a.k.a. Riley-boy). So we have 3 dogs at the moment.

This morning, I let them out into the back yard, and after a while, only noticed Riley having come inside. As I walked to the back door, I thought,

"Where my bitches at?"

Maybe you had to be there...

Monday, August 27, 2007

Taking care of oneself, Part 2

I was having a very bad week last week. My car was ransacked (although TG, nothing stolen), I had dirty laundry sorted and in piles on the bathroom floor for a week, can't figure out how to teach my son how to clean his room, etc. Just feeling sucky as a mom and as a human being.

Then I talked to my therapist and she pointed out all the ways I am actually taking care of myself. I am tired of being fat and of my low stamina, and have started my twice-a-week swim class at Laney. I have put myself on a yarn diet after spending SO much on yarn/knitting in the past 3 months. I decided I wanted sex, and went out and found it, safely, and with very good results. I was tired of dishonesty, and found that being honest with people was refreshing and uplifting (e.g., I was supposed to call someone to meet up with her, and was just too nervous. Realizing that made me actually feel better and make time to call her).

So the rest of the stuff was what my therapist calls a tantrum. And boy, was it. And in the end, I was OK. Nothing stolen from the car, I got my shit together and did the laundry, I have a new plan for the boy's room, and so on.

And today, I got a copy of the police report from the previous time my car was ransacked and stuff was actually taken so that I can get credit for the FasTrak transponder that was taken, and turned in the cable modem I've paid approximately $240 for, in $10/month installments (the one I bought that has a nice, fat rebate having worked out just fine).

And you know what? Taking care of me is actually fun!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

That's kind of funny

Just found my weekend update... in my knitting blog. Whoops! I added it here just now.

Sometimes, it's in the retelling

Yesterday, after picking G up from Y-kids, I told him a little about Val's visit to NJ, and how her grandmother finally acknowledged her tie to Val. As I was telling it, he asked the appropriate questions, "Why would she think she wasn't a grandmother?" and I didn't have an answer, really... but when I got to the 'po po' part, I was just crying. It is such a huge deal.

On G's part, though, he couldn't stop laughing at the thought of a baby speaking Chinese. "I've never heard of a baby speaking Chinese!" (Watch movies set in other countries, where they're speaking English, doesn't help!)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Chalk one up for the little guys

I need to move my safe deposit box. My old bank, which originally offered the box FOR FREE with a checking account, the monthly fees for which were waived because I was an Alameda resident, changed their strategy a few months ago: Now, they'll not only charge me $35/yr for the box, but also charge me $8/month for the checking account. A savings account is $4/month. Which brings my yearly safe-deposit-box costs to a whopping $131.

So I Googled "alameda bank," and got the list of possibilities. I contacted four banks, and sent them my simple query on Sunday: Were there small safe deposit boxes available at any of their Alameda branches?

The results were unpleasantly predictable:

Wells Fargo sends me a "secure email" for which I have to log in to their website to read, three days after I send my query:

"Dear Jennifer lastname:

"Safe Deposit Boxes are available at most Wells Fargo branch locations including our in-store locations. The yearly rental fee varies by branch and by box size. Please contact your local Wells Fargo branch for details about establishing a Safe Deposit Box rental.

"To find Wells Fargo locations near you, please visit wellsfargo.com/locator . The Locator includes addresses, driving directions, maps, and business hours for Wells Fargo branches and ATMs.

"Thank you for banking with Wells Fargo."


Yeah, you're welcome. And thanks for the complete lack of information.

Bank of America sends an even less helpful response, two days after the query:

"Dear Jennie lastname,

"Thank you for your e-mail.

"Please contact one of our customer service representatives at
1.800.346.7693 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm for further assistance. We apologize for
any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Bank of America


Hm, thought I was contacting one of your customer service representatives. Apparently, sending email from your website is a step to be avoided.

And our hometown favorites both answer the next day after my query--

Bank of Alameda has an actual person's name attached to the response:

"Hi there,

"Yes, we do have Small Safe Deposit Boxes Available. They're located at our Towne Centre Branch at 2130 Otis Drive."

...and she answered all my questions promptly, by return email. Boxes are $25 a month but you do need a bank account, which carries a monthly fee, a minimum of $5. Total: $85/yr.

And US Bank, whose phone system claims they're the Best Bank in America, may actually *be* the best bank!

"Dear Jennie lastname,

"Thank you for the opportunity to be of assistance.

"We do have four branches in Alameda, California that do have safe deposit boxes. The
addresses and phone numbers for these branches are as follows:

(list omitted)

"You can also,[sic] locate a branch near you by visiting us at the web site listed below:

"http://www.usbank.com/usbanklocations/search.jsp

"Please let us know if there is anything else that we can assist you with. "


Again, signed by a human being, who was so perky when I called that I said, "Maybe you are the best bank in America!" And they are: $45/yr, no account required, but if I do get a checking account, it's free, with unlimited check writing and use of their ATMs (which are sprinkled liberally throughout Alameda), and even draws interest above a certain balance.

Pinch me! Is this 1950?

Score: big banks 0 and 0, little ones 1 and 1. Restores my faith.

Excuse me, but now I have to move my will, our birth certificates, and my Rice Krispy treat (I have to get some kind of reward for visiting my safe deposit box!).

Welcoming the flood

I can hardly remember having worried about getting my period before. Now that I've been through that again, no thanks. I'm glad Aunt Flo is here.

And glad I have a choice. Think I'll go with penislike devices that can't get me pregnant, thankyouverymuch.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Lazy weekend after a week of hockey

I managed to play hockey three times in a week last week, a rare feat for me. I had a hockey game on Tuesday (2-0 loss; felt the same as our previous game against them, which was a 4-2 win), went to the Oakland Ice hockey class on Thursday (a little short because the fershlugginer figure skaters took an extra 15 mins to get the heck off the ice), and then a game on Friday (a very tough and fun 1-1 tie, even after 5 mins overtime). "I was tired" is an understatement.

Oh, and I finally get it about Fremont being The Big Ice. I was way more tired after/during Friday's game than I was for Thursday's. Way. It is a lot more ice to cover, and a sprint into the corner is simply longer. But we did have faster subbing, which was A Good Thing.

Saturday, we had very little to do. Got up late, went to Dharma and TGF's "tag" sale, came home with a strawberry iMac for the little guy. His Mac games haven't been working on my computer, under Classic, for a while now. This one only runs 9.2.2, so it's perfect for this. I scrounged up a keyboard and USB mouse for him, updated the firmware, loaded a Humongous Entertainment driver, and updated the 9.0.4 OS to 9.2.2 (all this while walking back and forth to my computer with burned CD's), and we were good to go. He is so happy.

Saturday afternoon, I had a Stamp A Stack with my Stampin' Up rep, who had created a tremendous variety of cards to make. I enjoyed it as always, and even modified a few of the cards and was so pleased with the results. Now to actually mail them to someone...!

In the middle of the SAS, I took off (thanks to my friend for agreeing to this!) and left G behind to go to a 1-hr coffee date at Peet's. (Of course at Peet's.) What a great date! I had such fun getting to know this gal, who Dharma found on Craig's List for me. We really connected and are both looking forward to spending time together.

After finishing my SAS cards, we came home and pretty much collapsed. I slept well until 3:30 am, until I had a rare insomniac moment. I think I was up till about 5, tossing and turning, walking around, wanting to sleep but unable to. I've heard you should just get up when you feel like this, as lying down doesn't help, but I felt tired. G and I slept in on Sunday, whereupon he declared it a Mom And Kid Day. Which turned out to mean that we didn't go to church (which I'd kinda wanted to do), but mostly meant we spent time together. That was when I updated his iMac and set it up (with some clearing of his desk, which is a Good Thing). I also made banana muffins in my silicon muffin "tin," which is floppy but it really does not stick, and after that, granola for me (almond with cransins this time). I used less oil and honey, which kind of didn't work. (not as crunchy this time.)

Watched part of Die Hard With a Vengeance, which I realized I'd seen like 30 seconds into it. "Oh, yeah, that guy's going to [SPOILER]." Argh. I hate that!

Despite never seeing the light of day, it actually was a pretty good day.

Friday, August 10, 2007

What to do? What to do?

I have a hockey game tonight, at 9PM. My option for childcare is hiring a sitter who would put G to bed after half an hour, and then just hang around, or put him in Parents Night Out at a local gym, where he gets dinner, lots of exercise (plenty of stuff to jump on, climb on, run on), and a movie for $30. He's happy; I'm happy; and I can make it by 10:58 if the traffic gods smile on me. A win-win, really.

But since I drop him off at 6, I'm left with about 2 hours to fill before I leave for hockey. I found myself casting about for something to do--should I call a friend and arrange dinner (and explain that even if we're having a great time, I have to jet at 8PM)? Go shopping? Something else?

Then I realized: hey, I can just have some time to myself, relax, watch TV, knit. Sort of a night off. Works for me! (and I get time to finish laundry that I'll need to wear at the game)

Isn't it funny that I frantically need something substantive to fill the time? What is that, the Protestant Work Ethic?

Thursday, August 09, 2007

When spell check bites you on the ass

http://oaklandice.com/news.html (page down)
"...one of the nation's leading municipal deplorers of solar power."

"We're so unhappy that solar power continues to exist; we really had hoped it would die away by now!"

Um, folks? "deployers." Duh.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

USAA Comes Through

Checked my bank account today, and it looks like USAA managed to cancel the extra payment. Phew. (Would have been good of them to let me know, though.)

Called WFB and actually got a kind, knowledgeable, honest person to cancel the refund. (She hasn't canceled one of these before, she says. Can she do worse than any of the 4-6 idiots I already talked to?) She even told me how to get that "stop payment" fee refunded (I have to fax my statement to a specific number and attach an explanation; God forbid it would be easy).

Monday, August 06, 2007

All resolved

Yes--I'll get my extra mortgage payment back!

By a week from Tuesday at the latest.

So I have wasted 5 hours on the phone, when I could have just spent that time listening to a tape of I can't... I can't... I can't... over and over. And thrown a thousand dollars out my front door all over my walkway.

Well, done, Wells Fargo. Well done.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

I hate banks

I hate them I hate them I hate them.

"We can't do that; call your bank"
"We can't do that; call WFB"

Doesn't make it any easier when the perky young rep answers the phone by asking how she can provide excellent service to me today. How about by not saying "I can't/ I can't / I can't"?

Friday, August 03, 2007

Do you see the steam? Do you see it?

Well$ Farg0, which has been fine for my mortgage so far, has changed their online billing program to a new server. They have been sending nearly threatening emails for several months now. I finally got my ass in gear and set myself up on the new system. Aack! It set up payments for September! It was going to skip August, as I understood the old system to be done as of July. I tried to do a one-time payment on the WFB site, and it was going to charge me like $10 to do it. To pay them.

So, I went on my trusty USAA.com website, and found I could schedule a payment, one time, there.

Imagine my panic when I get an email from WFB today that says that they've processed my August payment (and again, this old system is going offline--as if I need another reminder). I go online at USAA, and can't cancel that payment. I called WFB. Entered a million keypresses. Got transferred to the wrong department. Got transferred back--and cut off. Called back and ended up listening to a lot of Spanish. Called back again and got a very slow guy to whom I explained the whole thing, carefully, and he say, get this:

"Oh that old system. You don't have to do anything."

Um, yes, yes, I do, unless you are going to HAND ME my mortgage payment back.

Predictably, WFB was useless. USAA says the check has been created and I can put a stop payment on it. WFB will probably charge me a bad-check fee.

feck.

Update: Now I see why I was confused. I have an email from 7/5 saying that the site is retiring as of 7/12/07. They are so going to pay any and all associated fees. Dammit.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Well, ain't that a slap on the ass

Your Life Path Number is 5

Your purpose in life is to life freely and collect experiences.

You love life - new adventures, new people, new ideas.
You are very curious, and you crave novelty in all forms.
You tend to make friends easily, and you enjoy the company of all types of people.

In love, you are fun and even a bit intoxicating. But you won't stick around for long.

You are impulsive and spontaneous - which sometimes leads you to do things you regret.
Sometimes you can be overindulgent with food, sex, or drugs.
You have many talents, so many that you are often scattered and unfocused.


"scattered and unfocused"... sheesh. It's like a backhanded compliment--"You look so good with mascara smeared under your eyes."

Four years

That's how long I've been playing ice hockey. 4 years. Since G was about 3.5 yrs old.

So that makes 6 seasons I was in Green (seemed like that long!), and 1 now in Red.

And I still love it like a brand-new love affair, wide-eyed and over the moon.

Bring it!