Wow, yesterday I read that Lemmy passed away and today I read that Brad (John Bradbury) from The Specials has passed away as well.

I'm sad.

I know it's been a while since I posted anything, but I thought you guys deserved a break.

Thanksgiving was nice, I spent it at my friends' house in Pasadena.  Since my parents moved away, I don't usually do anything.  This year I decided to make the most of it and spend time with friends.  I had a good time.

I went to a 9am showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Saturday the 19th.  I can't wait to see it again.  I got the same feeling seeing it that I did when I saw the first one when I was a kid, way back in 1977.  I thought it was a little too short, with certain things needing some explaining, but it was excellent nonetheless.  Perhaps the questions I have are going to be answered in the next installment?

Christmas was fun as well.  As usual, I went to visit my parents.  For the first time in a few years we had snow, which was neat (and super-cold).  It was nice spending time with the folks.  Thank goodness we dodged going to dinner at one of their friends houses.  My mom thinks they may have been trying to set me up with their broker.  That's not going to happen.  1) I'm not interested in living up there. 2) I've been in the business for too long and brokers are bad news. 3) Never date the friend of someone, if it doesn't work out (and let's face it, my relationships never do), I'm the one that's going to look like the asshole (rightly so) and it will ruin my mom's friendship with the matchmaker.  and 4) I think I'm destined for a single and solitary life with my cat (how pathetic!).

My parents' two kittens are insane, cute and, in the case of Walter, a little on the stupid side.  But they are both adorable.  Since they are still "kind of" kittens (small and play all the time, but growing bigger), it was weird coming home to my handsome cat.  He seemed like a gigantic fat-ass (like me!).  It looks like he ate all the extra food I left out for him.  I thought cats only ate when they were hungry?  I guess he comfort ate!  He's been yelling at me since I got home Saturday night, the jerk.

I'm glad the holidays are nearly over, I'm exhausted, but also excited for the new year to start.  I'm ready for (hopefully) some changes.  I've been doing a lot of thinking the last few months, especially while I was visiting my parents and I really need to make a change.  I'm keeping my fingers-crossed that something will happen in the new year.  So, if you have any good thoughts you want to send my way, I'd be grateful!

I'm not sure I'll have time to post anything between now and the new year, so if I don't, I hope everyone has a peaceful, prosperous, loving and wonderful 2016.

The holiday season is about to start and I have no idea where the year has gone.

I have this week off, so I was planning on making the drive on Tuesday to go visit my parents for Thanksgiving. Turns out they're expecting snow Tuesday and Saturday, so it looks like I'll be staying home. I was looking forward to it since I haven't spent Thanksgiving with them for years, but, as silly as it sounds, I don't drive in snow or ice.  My car is too old and I don't have chains.

Maybe I'll finally get around to REALLY cleaning my apartment since I've got all this time on my hands now.....nah, probably not. Realistically, I will probably just watch Hulu or Netflix or something.

I went to see Squeeze last night at the Ebell Theater and, as always, they put on an amazing show. It actually wasn't the entire band, but a "Difford and Tilbrook" show, but it was still awesome. I've never been to that venue before and it's really cool.

I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a ticket from a friend of mine that turned out to be front row center, which I normally don't like, but worked out very well for this gig. There was actually an empty seat next to me for a while, so I was going to get my friend to come-up and sit there after the intermission, but some dude beat me to it. He was okay to sit next to, I guess, but he got kinda sloppy once he started drinking straight from the plastic bottle he had of either vodka or white rum (I couldn't tell which it was).  It was a booze-free show, so I'm surprised he was able to sneak it in. He also got kinda distracting when he would take pictures (he flailed his arms a bit). I know it's nice to have photos, but jeez, enjoy the show! Neil Finn once made a speech about that. People are so busy taking pictures to remember a show by that they miss the show and the only memories they have are of taking pictures. I agree wholeheartedly!!!

It was nice to see some of my old "concert" friends. I hardly ever go to shows anymore, so when I do, it's good to catch-up. It seems so long ago that I used to go see bands at least once a week.... It was a lot of fun.

My last thought before I went to sleep was the same thought I always have after Squeeze shows: "Seeing Squeeze play makes me happy".

Wow, I had a pretty scary morning.

How was it scary?  Welllll, a dude in a large black/gray truck started following me because he got angry that I didn't jump a traffic light as soon as it turned green.  Before I could even move my foot from the brake to the gas, the guy laid on his horn. He was really angry!!!

Him following me all over Pasadena went on for more than 25 minutes. The longest 25 minutes I've experienced in a while. On streets and on the freeway.  I was trying to remember where the police station was, but I was so freaked, it wouldn't come to me.  Right before I remembered and then got near the police station, I came across a huge fire truck at a traffic signal and was going to ask them for help. The scary guy in the truck bolted the other way.

It was really frightening.  I had written a lot of the details, but deleted them because I don't want to worry my friends that read this.  But I was really shaken-up.

When I got home, I looked-up what you are supposed to do if you are being followed and it turns out that you are supposed to call 911 (which I was about to do when I saw the fire truck). So remember that you guys!!!

Evading a crazy dude in a huge truck with anger issues is not the way I planned on spending my Sunday morning! I didn't even get all of my errands taken care of.

Today is shaping-up to be one of those days.

I had to get-up early (again) to go check my bosses house before work (so I'm tired), it turns out I'm wearing one black sock and one blue sock for the second day in row (I guess the pair I pulled out this morning exactly matches the pair I wore yesterday), I hurt my back sleeping (getting old sucks) and I had a bloody nose when I got to the office.


A couple of observations.....

1.) I remember being on a date once and the guy I was with mentioned in passing how awful he thought runners were.  At the time, I thought it a rash comment, but now I'm kind of in agreement.  The only change I would make to his comment would be to add cyclists to the group.  The guy I was on the date with lives in the area I have to drive through to get to my bosses house and I don't think I fully comprehended what he went through with runners until I had to go through it myself.  Let me tell you, the runners and cyclists are always out in DROVES in that area.  CROWDS of them.  They don't care that cars have to share the road, they do what they want.  Forget it if you need to turn right and a bunch of them swarm around your car, traffic will just have to back-up behind you until they decide to go on their merry way.  They even do it in the dark early morning!  Do they know that it's hard to see them in the dark?  Some have dim flashing lights, but they are still difficult to see and because they have those lights on, it seems that they feel it gives them a free pass to be pretty careless when it comes to what they are doing.  As the driver of a car, it's my responsibility to read their minds and anticipate what they are going to do next.  On Saturday I had to inch by two older guys running on a particularly curvy part of Sunset where there was no sidewalk or protected lane for them to be in.  It was scary.  I'm super-cautious when it comes to runners and cyclists, so I end-up running behind schedule.  I'm all for fitness, but there has to be a better, safer way.

2.) Do the families that have those car decals showing stick figures of each member of their family (and, in some cases, pets) and their names know how stupid that is? Think about it, by having that information on the outside of your car, you just gave any twisted insane criminal all the information they need to know to really do your family harm.  I see a lot of those decals when I'm stuck in traffic on the way home and I always wonder if the parents thought anything beyond "How cute this is, it's just like our family!".  They even come in zombie stick figures for the hipster families out there..........

End of observation section. :-)  I'm sure I'll have more later.

Update from my last few posts - As you can probably tell, I'm still being a doormat (I know, you're not at all surprised). I'm definitely unhappy about certain things right now.  I need to make some difficult changes, but I'm not sure how to go about it. It's scary and I feel kind of isolated.  I've asked some friends of mine for help with those certain things, but that hasn't panned out yet.  I feel like I'm on a fast-approaching deadline and I'm getting kind of stressed-out.  I need advice, but I'm not sure who else to ask.  It is NOT life-or-death stuff, so don't get all freaked-out for me.

I wish someone would just swoop in, give me some sound advice and help me make some decisions.  Does that happen outside of the movies?

Being an adult sucks.

It's been a hectic few weeks and I've been in a bad mood for most of it.

I'm exhausted by the fact that it is such a rare thing for me to see people being kind (or simply nice) and not self-centered. "It's all about me-me-me and I don't give a shit about anyone who is not me or how my actions will affect (effect?) anyone else". It's all such bullshit.

I'm also exhausted from being taken advantage of.  I'm not always successful, but I try really hard to be nice, patient, flexible and kind. Before I react to things I try to stop and imagine myself in the other person's position and then take a deep breath and respond/act. I try not to say the first thing that springs to mind and really attempt to help the person and do what needs to be done.

I'll be the first to admit that this isn't my natural go-to behavior and I don't always succeed, but I try really hard to cut other people some slack before I get short with them (and let one of my famous "fine" or "whatever" out). I try to remember that me being nice to them could possibly do some good and maybe, just maybe change that persons attitude and they might be nice to the next person they deal with. I'll take the hit if it helps the next person.....

I think I need to stop that shit and start acting like everyone else.

But I probably won't. That's "Ms. Doormat" to you, thankyouverymuch.

the crappy mood continues.

Question- Am I being unreasonable to be ticked-off that my bosses have assumed that I will watch/check their home every day while they are on their annual fall vacation (3weeks)?  I found out that I was doing it when I was sending an email to their contractor that said I would be there every day.  Especially taking into account that there was a major flood the last time they were away for a significant amount of time.... Most people might ask me if I was even willing to do it.  Of course, I'll say yes, but it's nice to be given the option.

Another question- Am I also unreasonable to be ticked-off that they are giving out my personal email and cell phone number to anyone they think may need it?  So far, they have given it to 3 contractors!  That's bullshit.

Because, I'll tell you something, I AM most definitely ticked-off.

It's probably my fault. I should have said something, but I didn't.

I am probably being unreasonable. :-(

Either way, it makes for crummy days and a shitty mood on my part. Especially since we're heading into our really busy/stressful quarter-project time the day after tomorrow.

Fingers-crossed something good happens to me pretty soon (I don't care how big or how small!).  I'm really tired of crappy days. A compliment, a nice phone call, heck, I'll take the parking guy wishing me a good morning!

Bah.

Have you ever woken-up knowing that you were in a crappy mood? That's been me since last Wednesday (mainly during the work week). No matter what I do to try and kick it, it's still there. I tell myself "It's going to be a great day!!" (over and over) and I've plastered a smile on my face, but neither has worked. I'm hoping for something (anything!) good to happen that might snap me out of it. So far, nothing!  Work sucks, so that's not helping much.  Neither has the horrendous traffic home each night or the heat we've been experiencing.

My folks were in-town this past weekend. I spent Saturday with them....those few hours were the only respite from my shitty mood. Although, to be honest it only lasted until I was on my way home.

If anyone has good news or ANYTHING that might help, you know where to find me.

Yikes, I can already tell that it's going to be an exhausting day.  My boss is supposed to come in to the office and I didn't get much sleep last night.

I woke-up to the news that Jack Larson passed away.  If you don't know, he was Jimmy Olsen in the old black and white Superman television series (with George Reeves).  To be honest, apart from the Christopher Reeves movies and the old Bruce Timm animated series, that was the only Superman I really watched.  I remember my dad liked the show, so that meant I got to watch it with him every-so-often, if he was home (and in the mood to watch it) when it was on.  I just loved that show as a kid.  I wasn't a huge fan of how they portrayed Lois (she seemed so mean!), but it was such a neat show for a kid like me.  If you can believe it, I haven't seen any of the recent movies, the Lois and Clark TV show, or anything else.  I was going to watch that one with Brandon Routh, but when it came time to "press play", I just didn't feel like it.  I probably switched over and watched an episode of Mob Wives instead, LOL.  Rest in peace Jack Larson....

Like I said above, I didn't get much sleep last night.  In addition to the heat and humidity, I was dealing with iPad issues.  Like a dumbass, I went in to update it to iOS9 and it got stuck on the "swipe to update" screen.   Turns out, a lot of people have had that problem and the only way to fix it it (other than go to the Apple Store) is to either back-up the unit and restore it from that back-up (it somehow fixes the bug) or you have to put your iPad in recovery mode and restore it to the factory settings.  Now, when I was about to update the iOS, I turned off the the "find my iPad" feature and it gave me this scary-looking warning message, so I thought "shit, I better not turn it off" and turned it back on again.  Welllllllll, did you know that you can't back-up your iPad or restore it from a back-up if that feature is still on?  WELL YOU CAN'T!!!!  I went on to the iCloud to manually turn it off and it took about 5 tries before it worked.  I was still unable to to restore it from a back-up as my computer still showed that feature as being turned-on, but I was able to put it in "Recovery Mode" so that it could be restored to it's factory settings.  That took over 5 hours.  And it wasn't just "plug it in and leave it" for over 5 hours either.  It was "sit by it and keep putting it into recovery mode by pressing the power button and the home screen button simultaneously when the iPad disappears from the screen every 15 minutes (or so)" for over 5 hours.

When it was finally done wiping my iPad, I noticed that all of my previous back-ups were gone from my computer, so I had to use a back-up from my phone that I did 3 months ago (yeah, I'm bad about backing-up my phone).  That took a while, then I had to try and get things close to how they were before......I didn't do so well.  I was up (the first time) until about 2:30am fiddling with things, then I tried to go to sleep since I had to be up in four hours.  I couldn't sleep, so I started fiddling with it some more.  You know, trying to get the websites I always have open back into Safari, Trying to get the text messages that used to show on iPad to show again (I failed), etc.  I didn't accomplish much, apart from losing valuable sleep.

Why is it that I always have trouble with stuff like that?  Coupled with the fact that you cannot expand an iPad's storage capacity and you have me seriously thinking about whether I should even get an iPad when I upgrade.  My unit is about 3 years-old and I'm always getting close to the limit on storage since I didn't think I'd need more than the 13GB offerred.  It may be time to break away from Apple.  I dunno.

So today I'm tired and a little sad.

Spontaneanation was great fun last night. Super Ego and Kristen Schall were hilarious. But, because it's me, something just HAD to happen to complicate the evening.

As I was getting out of the car, my phone fell out of my purse, hit the ground, bounced and went right down a gutter and into a storm drain. OF COURSE IT DID!!!

We called DWP since their name was on the man hole cover (is man hole one or two words?). After lots of hold time and talking to a very nice woman who didn't believe me that the man hole cover said DWP, I got the number of the Sanitation Department. The guy who I talked to was great. I explained the situation (and he didn't laugh once!). He said to call back after the show and he would send someone out. He totally understood that I couldn't go right then and wait as I had tickets to something I didn't want to miss. Hey, it's not like my phone was going anywhere. There were no freak rain storms expected.

I called back at about 10:15pm and he promised someone would be out within the hour. Apart from the bummer of leaning against a car in the muggy heat until they got there, it wasn't too bad of a wait. The truck arrived in about an hour. Two guys hopped out, got the man hole cover off (after a few attempts), climbed down and got my phone for me. They were so nice, friendly and professional.

I am so grateful it happened in a residential area and that it wasn't raining. They told us about some of the things they've seen in storm drains....gross.  Those guys saved the night!  Not only did they get my phone for me, they did it without encountering  a single Morlock!  They also made me feel better by telling me it was a pretty common occurrence. Thank you Department of Sanitation!!!

Always zip your purse closed before getting out of a car. Lesson learned!!!

Dead Authors was a blast.  Of course, as always, I misjudged my fellow audience members and when someone behind me defended Spaceballs (don't ask), I said "yeah" kinda loud and got ripped by PFT for it. Delightfully ripped though. :-) later on, while I was standing on the sidewalk chatting with my friend, Paul walked by, seemingly oblivious that we were there......until he yelled "YEAH" at me as he passed (and kept going, never looking back). It was an awesome way to have a heart attack!  I hope he doesn't do it tomorrow if I go to Spontaneanation!!!

As I expected, Chris Tallman was a genius. Being the last regular monthly show, they pretty much abandoned the format of the show for most of the time. It was great!

I'm going to miss this show. :-(

My friend made it out (and early!) but informed me that they hadn't gotten a ticket for Spontaneanation tomorrow (I got my ticket when they said they were getting theirs).  It's sold-out and I doubt she is going to try to come out on the off-chance she can get a ticket.  I wish I could say I was surprised....  I don't really want to go solo, so I'm kinda bummed.

That leaves Reading Aloud on Sunday.  We'll see if that happens.

Tonight is the LAST regular monthly Dead Author Podcast, so (friend or no friend) I'm going to be there. Chris Tallman is playing L. Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz) so it should be amazing. I can't wait to see if he riff's on the Native American controversy!  The trick will be getting to the UCB (Franklin) early enough to get a good place in line (it starts at 6:30pm). I invited one of my friends that cancelled at the last minute last time (and about three other times this year) so we'll see if she leaves work on time. We're also supposed to be going to Largo tomorrow night (Super Ego is joining Spontaneanation) and to Nate Corddry's Reading Aloud on Sunday, so we'll see what she makes it out for.

I was going through some of my old cd's, records and tapes yesterday and I have to say, I'm glad I did! I've rediscovered my fondness for Grace Jones!! I know she's not to everyone's taste, but I love her! I remember hearing "Pull Up to the Bumper" and being blown away. None of my friends liked her much ("She looks so weird with the flat top"). I remember, before that, seeing her on the (I think) Mike Douglas Show (or was it Merv Griffin?) one day. If I remember it correctly, she performed in a lilac spandex bodysuit that went from the top of her head to her feet and it was amazing.

"Demolition Man", "Warm Leatherette", "La Vie En Rose", "My Jamaican Man" and, of course, "Slave to the Rythmn". Will be blasting from my car tonight when I leave work!

Too bad my album "Fearless" was on tape and broke last night. Nina Hagen is another great performer from my high school days. I can't find it on cd online. Bummer!

Oh yeah, the other night, after 11pm, I was rudely woken-up by some girl sitting outside my bedroom window engaged in a loud conversation on her cell phone. At first I played "Los Angeles" (by X), but she didn't take the hint in the lyrics "Sheeeeeee had to leave. Los Angeles......(edit) she had to get out, get out, get out, get out, get out". So then I broke out with the loudest Clash songs, then the Sex Pistols.  She didn't move!!! It wasn't until I resorted to playing disco that she finally left. Thank you Peaches and Herb (Shake Your Groove Thing)!!!!

Been a weird week!

To all the folks who looked at me weird on my drive home: "Yeah, I was blasting and singing along to Stevie Nick's (and Don Henley and Tom Petty's)  "Edge of Seventeen", "I'll Run to You", "Stop Dragging My Heart Around"  and "Leather and Lace" at the top of my lungs, so what? Traffic sucks! A little interlude into the music of my past helps make it better.....DON'T JUDGE ME!!!"

:-)

What should I listen to tomorrow to get strange looks..... I'm thinking Heart, Queen or Pat Benatar.

I had a hair appointment this evening and I finally took took the plunge..... I got bangs. Bettie Paige bangs. It has taken a while to get up the courage to do it, but I finally did.  I also had about 4 inches taken off the length, so now it's about to my shoulders.  It's so weird! I haven't had bangs since my hair was much shorter. It's been about 5 years!  I'm not sure what I think about it yet.  I'm just hoping that I won't have to color my roots as often! When my bangs were long, I swept them to the side with a barrette, Lauren Bacall- style, so the roots showed right away. Now that I have bangs, I'm hoping it will take a little longer. :-) 

I heard from my mom tonight. They have two new kittens!  One boy and one girl. The girl doesn't have a name yet, but the boy is Walter. I love it! I'm glad they rescued them too.  

All in all, a good day.

A friend / ex co-worker of mine who moved to San Francisco was in town, so we went to dinner last night.  We went to a place near my apt that I've been wanting to try.  The food and the service were really good.  PLUS they have pork belly lollipops! 

I caught her up on my stuff (not much there!) and caught-up about stuff going on at my old company and what she was up to.  It was nice.

There aren't a lot of people who know about my parents cat.  I  mean, why would they?  It's not like you meet someone and you say "So, my parent's have this cat....".  Anyway, I'd told this friend about his antics over the years, so it was good to tell someone who knows how much I loved that cat that my parents had to put him to sleep last week.  :-(  It needed to be done, the poor thing has been unwell for almost a year.  He had cancer, which had spread rapidly over the past month. 

It was so sad.  My dad sent me a text to let me know that they had done it.  I knew my mom would take it hard, but I was taken by surprise at how deeply affected my dad was.  I touched base with them over the weekend to make sure they were okay.  Their cat was around 17-18 years-old, he was a member of the family.  Plus, my parents have not been without a pet at any point of my life.  They had pets before I was born!  That means that this is the first time in about 48-49 years that they don't have something running around the house.  I think it's a good sign that they told me they were packing-up the cat's stuff last Sunday and not "throwing out" that cat's stuff.  Hopefully that means that they'll get another one when the time is right.

I need to remember to check-in with them and ask how things are.

I'm looking forward to the long weekend.  Since it's been so hot here the last few weeks, my cleaning and laundry chores have seriously suffered. Luckily, I own a zillion sets of sheets, fine washables, socks and white shirts! 

I started re-arranging the furniture in my living room before the heat-wave kicked-off, so it kind of stalled.  I'm hopeful that I can finish that project (at the very least).  I have too much stuff, including a kitchen table that doesn't fit in my tiny kitchen (neither do the chairs), so I have to get creative about where I'm going to put them.

It's still supposed to be kind of warm, but I'm hoping that as the weekend is three days, I'll be able to accomplish things in short bursts.

Plus, I'm on a mission to get good tomatoes.  I used to drive out to the Underwood Farms "Pick Your Own" farm in Moorepark for their to-die-for tomatoes, but they've changed their rules.  I might take a drive up there, but I'm not sure I want to pay an admission fee to pick my own fruits and vegetables.  We'll see.

Wish me luck!

So, today I went to get my car's smog check taken care of. Since it was supposed to be so hot, I made sure to get out of the house early, while it was still cool. Who am I kidding, I always do that stuff early.

I get my car smogged up in Glendora.  There a good place up there that is very reasonable, fast and they give you a really good free car wash. :-).   I lucked-out and they'd opened a half hour early, so I was able to get it done before 9am. Neat!

After getting that taken care of, I had to hit Trader Joes and the grocery store....

When I was going through the check-out, the gal bagging my stuff noticed I had sugar-free Red Bull. She said "Did you hear what they're saying about Red Bull?"  I figured she was talking about the usual health scare stuff, but said "no, what?". She didn't want to say at first, so I had to convince her to tell me. She hesitantly said "Well, what I heard was they put bull sperm in it. Do you think that's true?". She really seemed horrified about it.  I said that I hadn't heard that, nor did I see it listed under the ingredients. I stifled a laugh and assured her that I didn't think it was true, but the best part was when she said "Well, I had one yesterday, I didn't care if they did or not".

I love people!!!

I found out on the way to work this morning that Yvonne Craig and Bud Yorkin have passed away.... Two people who each played a big role in my childhood. I'm sad today.

Man oh man, did I have an epically bad day today. Work was terrible (I mean REALLY terrible...I actually quit my job at one point). Drama, angry discussions, super high emotions, etc. I've had a headache for the majority of the day that none of my prescriptions have put a dent in and now I'm exhausted. I'm going to have a cocktail, take a bubble bath and then go to bed.

By the way- the quitting my job part didn't count, it was to a co-worker, not my boss.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Okay, first day back at work after having my forced week off.

While I was making my trek out west to work this morning, I was overcome with a great desire to turn my car around and not come in to the office.  I mean, I REALLY wanted to go back home and tell my bosses that I wasn't going to be in.....ever.  Then I thought about my bills and stuff and decided I should probably continue on my way.

I got to the office early (as usual) and there's an approximately 2-inch thick folder with stuff in it waiting for me.  I sighed and looked at it.  You know, there's nothing like being out of the office and coming back to a ton of work that needs to be sorted through.  Especially stuff I thought was taken care of while I was out.  It's stuff like that that makes me not want to take time off.  At least there weren't a zillion voice-mails, so that's a plus.

While looking through everything I see a note that some papers have gone missing and can I check to see if I have them anywhere.  Now, I KNOW those pages were filed in the appropriate book because I put them there myself.  As I look for another set, I see that 2 sets of other papers are now gone from my desk.  I don't mention this to the gal who told me the others were missing, but WTF???!!!???  I had to spend an hour re-printing and copying pages (some were on letterhead and couldn't be filed as printed, they had to be copies).  We use the 2 sets I discovered missing as the basis for next quarters project, so I needed to re-do them as well.

This really pisses me off.  Each quarter we have a major project and there is a checklist that everyone initials after they have checked to make sure that all the copied sets are there.  That's 3 people who have checked and said "yup, all the copies, including the ones for next quarter are here" and now they're gone?  How?  The thing is, I can't say anything about it because the gal who backs me up is GOLDEN here and I honestly like her a lot and need her around.  It's just weird that things seem to disappear and she's the one who discovers it.  It's happened a couple of times before when she's been here and I arrive late because I had a dentist appointment or something.  I didn't think much of it before, I just sort of figured that I was absent minded and misplaced papers.  This time, no way.

Now I don't know who's doing it and I'm not going to point fingers, but someone is fucking with my papers.  Maybe the gal I replaced or her best friend who used to work here have managed to get into the office and screw with things?  Maybe the woman who backs me up does it so she can "find" things and look good?  I doubt it.  I just don't know.  What I do know is, my papers (that I discovered missing today) were in my desk drawer, in a folder for next quarter's project and they had post-its on them noting what they were and now they're gone.

The shitty thing is, I'm known for keeping everything, paper-wise.  It's a C.Y.A. thing.  With the way my bosses are, I don't want them ever blaming me for doing something they didn't want done that I only did because they told me to and then forgot.  So I keep all my drafts and working copies for an entire quarter before I shred them.  They think it's silly and unnecessary and takes-up too much room (which it does).  The gal who comes in for me thinks I lose things in it as it's not as neat and clean as she would like (she's a neat freak), but I can usually pull out anything I'm looking for pretty quickly.

I'm not going to say anything to anyone about it, but I think I'm going to re-think how I file the papers after we finish October's project.

Maybe I SHOULD have stayed home today after all..........

My bosses decided that I had to take some vacation time, so I took this week off.  Those of you that know me are very much aware of how much I dislike summer and the heat that comes with it, so yeah, August is the PERFECT time to force me to take vacation.  They probably made me take time off so they can get a new manager. I bet they spent the week interviewing people to replace me anyway.  I'll come back to a pink slip!  I should sound sad, right?

Nah, with my luck, they still love me and want me to work there forever.  I really should update my resume though. I'll do that when I'm done with this.

Since I had the time, I decided to drive up and see my parents for a few days. The 8-hour drive seems to get easier each time I do it. My car may disagree though, especially during the mountainous part of it.

I left here around 7am and got up there around 3pm on Saturday and got home around 2pm yesterday. I'm exhausted and have no desire to get behind the wheel of a car in the near future, but I had a really good time. My folks are doing well. It was relaxing to go up there and to not "have" to do anything, apart from help my parents with some electrics-based stuff.

My dad is funny.  I was checking the Netflix on his Roku and he was pointing out that he doesn't watch it much anymore because of the "Recommended Viewing"  lists that show-up when he logs-in. Apparently, he REALLY doesn't like to be told what he should watch, LOL.  He said "fuck them" a few times.  Ha! I need to see if I can go online and try to get rid of them for him.

Speaking of my dad, he showed me the area on the car that intakes air from the outside and circulates it through the filter to the inside of the car. While he didn't notice the smell that my super-nose smells, he said that if I spray Lysol into that area, it should kill the smell. We tried Febreeze and it worked for a little bit. I think it's weird that the intake is in the area where the windshield and the hood meet. I thought it would be under the hood! I probably won't use Lysol though, nasty smell and too many chemicals. He said a friend used vinegar and water (a douche for your car!) and it worked for them. I'll probably try that before I put smelly chemical-ly Lysol in there.

I feel bad that their cat is really sick. I think he's around 18 now and his illness has progressed pretty far. He's also really thin and is having some mobility problems. Poor baby.  Both parents are taking it pretty hard.

I probably gained about 20lbs in the 5 days I was up there! Every night was a different, delicious dinner, the best being when my dad barbecued strip steaks. One of the things I've missed since they moved is my dad's barbecue. He's a master at it! I was lucky enough when I was growing-up  to have him teach me his secrets, but I don't have a barbecue to use them!

When I got home, I had a very pissed-off cat waiting for me.  He's STILL yelling!!   He's also really fat! I thought cats only ate when they were hungry?  Not my fat-assed cat!! He over ate just to prove a point that he can't be left alone. Clever move, but he still can't go with me on the next trip.

I'm going to tonight's Dead Authors (second to last monthly show) and I'm really looking forward to it. Luckily my friend is driving up, after she visits a friend, so she's picking me up so I don't have to drive.

Other than that, it's a quiet weekend ahead. Just a couple of trips to the grocery store and Trader Joe's early tomorrow.  I think CicLAvia is sometime this weekend.  If the street closures are what they usually close, I don't think I'll be moving my car!

UPDATE: I just had both of my friends cancel for tonight.  They didn't even know the other one was going and I got a text from each of them 1 minute apart. I'm bummed. It's too late to try and get other people to go. One of the friends has cancelled many times, so I think I'm done buying tickets for people.

After my last pathetic and weak-sounding post, I feel like I should put up a palate cleanser or something.  I'm at a loss though....sorry.  (I'm also gonna go back and edit the shit out of that last post...it's too embarrassing!)

I will share this though, I got my car back from the body shop 12 days after they took it to repair the damage from the old man that hit me in the intersection by my work (asshole that he was).  Now my car has a new rear driver-side door and I even got  a new side mirror!  Don't worry, I didn't commit insurance fraud,  I paid for the mirror myself since the car was clipped while it was parked by an anonymous jerk at LAX who fled the scene a few years ago. Since then it's been held up alternatively by black gorilla tape or epoxy ('cause I'm classy like that). The new door and mirror look good. I need to get the car detailed though. The new paint looks a lot nicer than the rest of the car.

Anyway, they had to paint the new door to match my car, so I didn't think much about the awful way my car smelled when I picked it up.  I thought it was weird that it didn't smell like paint, but instead it smelled like a dirty wet dog. Bad.  I figured the smell would fade in a few days.  WELL IT HASN'T!!!!  I got my car back almost two weeks ago and it still stinks.  It's fine when I get inside, but when I start driving it gets stronger.  WFT?  It's not as bad as it was, but it's noticible.

I thought maybe something had gotten in somewhere and died while it was at the body shop, so I went about searching for the source.  I found nothing.  I looked under the hood, the seats and in the trunk. Nada.  I even had the guys who changed my oil and topped off my coolant this morning look. They didn't see a thing.

I'm truly at a loss. I figure it's too late to call the body shop about now.  Plus, I don't have the time to take it up there to be checked.  I'm sure you all will be on pins and needles about this, so I will keep you posted.

On another note...

I went to EC's last night.... It was fun. I had my first cocktail in about a month (since the last time I was there). Booze still makes me want to gag, so I nursed one Stella for the duration, I'm not even sure if I finished it. I had a good time nonetheless. I met a friend of Sam and David's, who was cool. (Calm down folks, he's married.). We all had fun chatting about nonsense and 80's movies. I'd told them I was planning on watching "The Burb's "and "The Money Pit" this weekend, so that started it all off. "Caddyshack", "Meatballs", "Fletch".....we talked about them all. Nerds that we were, quoting "My Blue Heaven" at a bar.

It was weird leaving EC's after not having a single margarita!

SDCC time again (sigh).

As much as I loathe to admit it, I'm a sentimental softie.

Every-so-often, I'm tempted to reach out to touch base, just to say hello or check-in with an old friend.

I am too old for this kind of thing, and far too mature. Clearly.

Anyway, as I always do around this time each year, for the next few days, I will be on a media black-out and trying to avoid anything and everything SDCC.  It all just makes me remember so many wonderful things and a time when my old hobby made me happy.  Now it just makes me sad.

**Anyone re-reading this will notice it as been heavily redacted. Sorry if you came here wanting to see my dumb entry again.**

The weather during this past month of June has been weird.  Rain, sun, heat, mild-- we've had everything.

When I looked out one of the windows in our office in Brentwood before I was about to leave for the day, I was dismayed to see serious-looking storm clouds east of us, headed right in our direction. Yikes.  My car got hit the last time I drove in Brentwood in the rain.

I got to my car, slowly pulled into the traffic on San Vicente and settled in for the long commute home just as the mega-sized rain drops started to hit my windshield.  Rolling down my window in an effort to enjoy the rain, I felt a blast of muggy heat hit my face (it was 84 degrees, according to the weather app on my phone, which I checked while parked).  Not the brisk air I was expecting!

Then I got a hit of the foul-smelling, electricity-charged air.  I can only describe it as the same smell I remember my hand smelling like after I rifled through the bottom of my moms unlined leather purse looking for gum and only coming up with old pennies, unwrapped Certs and leaky ball point pens when I was a kid.

That's exactly what the air smelled like.

I rolled-up my window and hit the a/c.

Welcome to Southern California.

This was from June 9th. Not sure why it didn't post.


Okay, the last four days have gone as follows:

Day 1: found out something really shitty (current job work-related). Then I found out that someone I worked with closely for years is dying and taken home for hospice-type care.  He was always nice to me and would tell me how he was glad to work with me and how good I was at my job.

Day 2: While checking on my bosses house,  I got there to find part of the house flooding. Had to take control, stay calm and deal with the situation.

Day 3: had to deal with contractor and insurance, plus continue working on projects due when my bosses get back.

Day 4: (Today) I spoke to another former co-worker who told me they got a call from the one that is close to dying and they said they were calling her to say goodbye. How heartbreaking is that? She reported directly to this man for many, many years. I feel terrible for her.  Then, as I was starting on my drive home, an older man making left turn at the intersection I was crossing through, decided that my car was a mirage and that it would be a good idea yo drive through me.  He hit the back door. I. Don't. Need. This. He doesn't want to go through his insurance. My pen ran out of ink while writing down his info, so I took pictures of his cards, license and card. One didn't turn out and I don't think I can fix it.  Of course.

Tomorrow I have to go get blood drawn at 7:30am for annual tests, then  an annual doctors appointment at 9am (far away from work), afterwards I have to rush back to my bosses house to meet with a contractor, then I have to get back to the office to take over from the gal covering the office for me. Then I have to try and finish more of the projects. How and when am I going to deal with the car thing?

I am trying to keep good spirits and thinking of the positive, but jeez......there's only so much I can deal with at a time.

I. Am. Stupid.

It turns out that me going out Friday night when I've been sick, stressed-out, haven't eaten since Thursday morning and getting only sporadic sleep was pretty much the worst thing I could have done. Combine that with one huge margarita from hell.... POW.

I still feel gross and sick and my weekend is almost over. What a waste.

Pathetic.

I've been feeling down the last few weeks. I think I'm going to go to EC's tonight in hopes that it might help.

I think (and my GP agrees), among other things, the stress of work in combination with the flood at my bosses house while I was house sitting (giving official written statements to them as well as their insurance as to what happened), the car accident, dealing with the jerk who hit me, then the insurance company of the jerk who hit me after he decided to lie and say it wasn't his fault (it was), my bosses going out of town again and leaving me projects to do as well as looking in at their house every day (again), my eye doctor's office never doing what they are supposed to do (so I still don't have my new glasses) and having a supposed day off to go to doctor's appointments, but still having to do favors/errands for my boss (including getting-up at 5:30am so I could check their house and still get to my first doctor's appointment on-time at 9:30am). Feeling crappy the whole time.

I feel like I'm spread really thin and I feel like crap. I'm exhausted and achy. I want someone else to deal with all of this stuff and give me somewhat of a break.

We have our big quarterly project at work starting next week and I have to take my car in to the other guy's insurance quote/repair place tomorrow.

I hope a margarita (just one) and a taco will help me relax and feel better, even if it's only for a little while.

On the way home tonight, I was sad to see that they changed one of the billboards near Wilshire and La Jolla (near Wilshire and San Vicente, west of Fairfax). I usually get stuck in traffic and spend some good quality time near that traffic signal and, about a week ago, they updated the third billboard in a row of three.

What we had as the first billboard, just west of La Jolla, with an ad for "San Andreas" that had a close-up of Dwayne Johnson as a pilot or something. The third in the row was an ad for "Ballers", again, with Dwayne Johnson. This time he's got some sort of championship ring or something. His arms look pretty huge.  He looks really good in both (as you do when a movie PR machine is picking out the billboards).

What was sandwiched in-between, you ask? I'll tell you! An IFC ad with a slightly disgruntled curmudgeonly-looking Marc Maron sitting in, what looks like, a huge number of those small multi-colored balls kids play in.

If you are familiar with Marc Maron, you'll know the expression.  It looked like he was thinking "Of COURSE my billboard would be placed between two with The Rock on them".

In reality, I was probably the only person who who noticed, and/or thought it was funny.

I'm glad I got a couple of pictures on my phone (while my car was stopped thankyouverymuch) before Marc Maron went away.

It's the little things that make me laugh. :-)

Soooooo, yeah.  I just had a birthday. Getting older for a woman sucks! It was a quiet day.  I had to work since my bosses are out of the country.  It was dead at the office, but hey, I DID get a hug from the UPS guy. It was unexpected to say the least. He's a nice guy.  I'm not sure why I even mentioned to him it was my birthday, that's not something I usually tell people!  I think he felt bad that I had to work and the office was empty. I got a pity hug!

I got a few nice texts and emails, which was nice.  My parents each sent me a text.  That's the second year they have done that.  I used to get a phone call!  Weird that my parents are embracing technology like that.

Since my bosses are away, I'm looking in on their house every day.  I forgot how much of a pain it is to get to / from their home with the different schools enroute.  The "checking the house" part is fairly easy, it's getting stuck in traffic in Brentwood (near Sunset by the office and again on Sunset nearer to their home) that's a pain. There is only one way to get to their house, so if you time it wrong, you're stuck. Today, I timed it right (mostly). Only got stuck in moderate traffic by one of the schools.

We've had some drama at my apartment building the past few days.  The gas to the entire building was shut off last Thursday morning due to a small non-dangerous leak. That meant no hot water or use of the stoves.  I took it pretty much in stride. Yes, cold showers suck (but my hair is really shiny!) and having to cook with my George Foreman / microwave/ pressure cooker has been a pain (and boring), but it's not like there wasn't a reason for them shutting it off.  I once lived in an apartment during a really cold and very wet winter where we didn't have electricity for a week due to a car crashing into and destroying the power pole thingy.  That was WAY worse.  No heat, no hot water, no lights, no fridge, no freezer, NOTHING.  Except the stove, THAT worked (too bad all the food in the fridge / freezer went bad!).  These past few days were a cake walk. 

I came home yesterday the hot water was on! Hooray!  No stove yet, but I'm hopeful it will be back on today or tomorrow.

I also came home to a petition up on the bulletin board by the mailboxes. One person in particular seems really angry about the gas being shut-off. A couple of people signed it, but not many.  It was really intense, lots of "we must band together" stuff.

I had no intention if signing the petition until my apt manager called me (on a different matter) and mentioned it in passing and then said I should sign it.  I figured I would do it in the morning. When I got to it this morning, I saw another sign from the lady who posted it, complaining that hardly anyone has signed it.

I didn't want her showing-up at my door (we're friendly with each other) and asking me to do it face-to-face, so I signed it as I left.

I just don't see what the big deal is.  Apparently, most of the other tenants don't either.  Maybe we're just too laid back and easy going?  Ha!  Who ever would have thought that I'd be described as either of those two things?  I tell you, the last year and a half has seen me develop the ability to let a lot of things that used to make me angry slide right off my back.  I was told recently that I am a "really patient person". Wow, was I was flattered when I heard that!

I know I get dramatic with  my complaints / rants on here, but that's usually for effect so that my friends will laugh and shake their heads when they read it.  Normally, I just go about my business and keep it calm / serene.  Pretty much, with few exceptions, the only places I get pissed off are in the car and sometimes at work and those are totally justified.  :-) 

Back to the apartment thing.  Fingers-crossed the stove will be hooked-up again when I get home.  If not, I'm sure I'll be fine until it is.

Not much else is going on.  A friend got me a ticket for Eddie Izzard at the Bowl Saturday as a birthday gift, so that should be fun.  I'm supposed to pick a place to go eat, but I don't know where to choose.  Maybe I'll keep it casual and request Juicy Burger, if they're still in business.

True story:

Today I witnessed a very wealthy businessman go apeshit while reading a first draft of a letter. He yelled and pounded his fists on a table. You might be thinking "wow, that must have been a pretty terrible letter".  Well, not really. I saw it and this is what he got mad about.....

ABC Corp.
Attn: Jane Doe
123 Main St.
Any town, Zx 12345

Dear Ms. Doe

Apparently, when you put an "Attn:" in a letter, you can't start a letter with "Dear".  Who knew? Granted, I'm not as up on proper letter formats as I should be, but stillllll.

I shit you not, this guy went crazy and threw a tantrum over it!  He looked like a child.  His face all screwed-up and everything.

Then, besides being a jerk, he asked the person who typed the letter if they could stay late.  Now I saw this guy roll in at about 4pm......and she got in between 7:30-8:00am.

 But,  it's not like the gal could say no.

I called my mom on Sunday morning to wish her a happy Mother's Day. She sounds like she's doing well, so does my dad.

We talked for a while, mainly about the pros and cons of certain types of cookware (yeah, I can hold a conversation about pans).  She caught me up on how all their friends are doing.  We didn't argue at all, which is rare, and rather nice!

I asked about the timing of their annual trip down here and mom said they aren't coming this time, due to a couple of things at home. I'm kinda sad. We usually celebrate my birthday when they come to town for that trip.  I mean, it rarely coincides with my actual birthday, but it's close enough and, as much as I gripe about the hassle of driving to see them and wasting all that time,  I really do like spending time with them.   I guess it's just not to be. :-(

By the way, my asshole cat didn't even get me a card for Mother's Day....again.  He's lucky he's so handsome or he'd be out on the street (not really).

When I put up my last post I thought I was just going to sail home and on to EC's after work, as traffic had been pretty light. I found out yesterday that the road closures for the march are going to be until 6pm, not rolling closures with some ending at 3:30pm, as posted.  I spoke to one of my bosses this morning (I got to work an hour and a half early, but apparently, that doesn't score points or count for anything) and they said that I might be able to leave early, but they're out and about, doing what they do, and I guess forgot about letting me know if I could bail before 5pm.  It's after 4pm now......

I'm still going, but frustrated that it's going to be stressful getting there and that it's going to take longer than I'd hoped. <sigh>.

Since I'm having a discouragingly difficult week at work, I decided to take my friend Sam up on her offer to meet her and her husband at EC's tomorrow (Friday 4/24) after work.

I really need a little cheering-up and I'm hoping this will do the trick.

This weekend cannot come fast enough.  I just want to enjoy not "having" be to be someplace that I'd rather not be, LOL!

The city started about three different morning construction projects on my side of town, all of which are on my routes to work.  Besides making it difficult to get to work on the streets with construction, all of my alternative routes are now heavy with traffic.

Wilshire in the Miracle mile has construction, Wilshire, between San Vicente and La Cienega has construction (the San Vicente on my "home" side of town, not the San Vicente on my "work" side of town), plus there is something going on between Fairfax and approximately Orlando on Third that requires these HUGE trucks to line both sides of the street.

I've tried biting the bullet and taking Wilshire all the way (45+ minutes), I've tried taking Wilshire to San Vicente, to Burton, to Little Santa Monica to Wilshire (60+ minutes), I've tried Beverly to La Cienega to Burton, etc. (60+ minutes).  It's crazy.  My morning drive is usually around 20 minutes, give or take.

I may have to try going down to Olympic or Pico to see if they're any better, but from past experiences, I doubt they will be.

I think I saw a sign this morning alerting us to the fact that Wilshire is going to be closed tomorrow at one point.  It's not the city this time though, it's for a march.  They're also closing other streets on my way to work, so I guess I'm going to have to leave really early, which kinda sucks.  Thank goodness I have EC's to look forward to!

Weird thing lately, going home hasn't been too bad the past few weeks.  It's only been taking me about 50-60 minutes, instead of over an hour and a half.  The only real back-ups have been on Wilshire, East of Beverly Glen through to about La Cienega.  I know that sounds like a long way, but it's a dream compared to how the drive was before.  Plus, there are a lot of things to look at, especially if you're like me and you like to drive in the left-hand lane cruising through Beverly Hills.  Only drawback is that you get stuck if you're caught behind a tour bus that wants to make a left up Rodeo Drive and they end-up blocking both the lanes because there's not enough room for them.

If the commute home continues to be fairly good (and I didn't just jinx it), I should be able to be at EC's before 6:30pm!  Because of the previous horrendous traffic on my work side of town, in addition to the regular bad traffic on my home side of town, I was averaging 7:15 - 7:30pm the last 8 months or so.  Not that I go all the time!  It's actually been a few months for me.  I think the last time I was there was before I went to my parents house for Christmas.

Anyway, one more work to go!  Not counting today, that is.

I mentioned in my last post that I had a couple of things to do this weekend and they, unfortunately, required waiting in line to get seat assignments.  I wasn't wrong.

Saturday was the final, regular monthly, Thrilling Adventure Hour performance.  I got my ticket months ago and was excited!  Since parking in my neighborhood is so awful, I took the bus up to Largo.  I'm sure I looked odd hauling my chair, umbrella and backpack, but whatever.  I got up there around 12:30pm and I was right, I wasn't the first person in line.  There were about six people ahead of me and a few more turned up right after I got there.

So I set-up my chair, pull out my "line book" and settle in and read.  It was a nice day, so I didn't need to pull out my umbrella yet....or so I thought.  My friends got there about three or four hours later.  They don't assign seats until 6pm, so it was still a wait.  I told the guy behind me that I was going to have four people join me and he was cool with it.

Fast forward to 5:00-5:30 and all of a sudden there is about 15 people who cut in line in front of me, apparently most don't have tickets (it was sold-out).  This means that they got better seats than the people who already had seats that happened to be behind them.  Including me. I wasn't angry as we got 2nd row and I prefer that row to the front row. I always get a neck ache in the front row. Last time I got front row was Eddie Izzard about a month or two ago. My neck was sore for days!

Len Wein was there. I let him cut in front of me in line (because I'm nice) and he didn't recognize me. I swear,  I've met him at least six times. I feel bad for him though. He's been sick. Plus he's very nice each and every time we meet.

The show was amazing. Emotional and packed with guest stars.  I am so fortunate to have been able to be there.

I got home around midnight.  I had to get back to Largo the next day to wait in line for my seat assignments for Neil Finn (again, a sold-out show) so I went directly to bed.

Turns out that a friend of mine from San Francisco was getting into town early and was going straight to a Largo to get in line. He got there about 8:30am AND WASN'T THE FIRST IN LINE!!!  Now comes my rant.... Getting in line that early ruins it for me.  Ticket assignments (as I have said) aren't until 6pm.  Fuck that, I'm not going up that early.  I've already wasted too much time standing in lines.  Then I get a text from a friend that I got a ticket for around 10:30 or something and she wants to let me know that she doesn't feel well and us going to take something and then lie down and rest and oh, by the way, "are you in line yet?".  I responded "nope". I guess her friend texted her and said there were 10 people in line.  Whatever! Again, fuck that! My friend was picking me up, and I didn't expect her until 3:30. We got up there and I set-up my chair at the end of the line (if you value your life, you DO NOT jump a Neil Finn line).  There were about 25 people ahead of me. No problem! I still got my seats in the second row.

I was exhausted from being out in the sun for too long over two days.  My eyes feel like they have sand in them. BAH!

The Neil Finn show was amazing.  Again, I am so fortunate to have been able to go.  I haven't been in the position financially to go to his shows for a couple of years, so I was excited to be back on the scene.  I saw so many friends that I haven't connected with for a few years. It was awesome.

There is another show tonight, but I knew that getting there after being at work all day would suck. Plus, I'd get a shitty seat assignment if I got there after 6pm.  I have a great show to think about, so I'm good.

On the downside, Saturdays moment in the sun resulted in a sunburn on my right arm and forearm (up to the shoulder as I was wearing a sleeveless dress) and the inside portion of my left arm., which was the part of my arm facing the sun while I was reading my book. I'm REALLY pale, so I burn easily and I'm still red and it still hurts.  It looks so stupid. Now I have to wear long sleeves until it fades.

Anyway, no worries! I'm still trying to catch-up on my lost sleep and recuperate from being in the sun from the weekend, so laying around watching tv is about the most fun I can handle today.  I'm so glad that I have no plans for this weekend. I'm sorely in need of going grocery shopping and cat supply shopping. Not to mention that I have at least one load of laundry to do (fingers-crossed no floods!).

How way my long weekend you ask?  It was okay.  Quiet.  Ran errands on Friday and stayed around the house the rest of the weekend.  On Saturday I decided that, because I hadn't watched it in a while, I would watch Mad Men from Season 1, episode 1 through the most current episode on Netflix.  I got through two seasons and one episode of season 3.  I forgot how good of a show Mad Men is... or is it "was"?

I would have gotten through more episodes, but early Sunday was taken up by me trying to clean up the laundry room in my building.  My normal pattern if my laundry has gotten to the point where I just HAVE to do it is to get up early on Sunday and run down to the laundry room and get it done before it officially opens at 9am.  I usually get down there around 6am.  The manager says it's okay, so I figure it's worth a little loss of sleep to ensure that the machines aren't being used.  I hate going down those stairs, lugging all my dirty clothes and detergent, only to find that the machines are in use.

We have two washers and three dryers, so it takes a while to get everything done if you have more than two loads to do.  The only caveat about using both machines at the same time is that you have to wait for one to completely fill-up and start agitating before you can start the other one.  No problem!  I'm used to it, so it's second nature.  I put in the first load, let it fill-up, etc. then I started the second load and went back up to my apt.  30 minutes later I made the trip back down and the laundry room and entry way were flooded.  Crap!!!  I checked and one of my loads was done, but one was still going.

I don't know why or how it flooded, but I had to get it cleaned-up.  I didn't want someone coming down and seeing it, so I got to work with a broom and "sweep" the water towards this big scary grate in the floor of the entry.  I got most of it in, put the laundry from the first load that can go into the dryer and glance over that the load that's not quite done yet and "whoosh" a bunch more water comes gushing out.  Shit!!!!  I started all over again sweeping water to the grate, hoping that no one walks in on me.  Keep in mind, I'm wearing boxer shorts, a t-shirt and a hoodie (I'd taken my slippers off when I saw the water).  I wasn't exactly dressed for seeing people.

I get as much water as I can into the grate (again) and my second load finishes.  I pulled out the clothes and loaded the few items that can go into the dryer into the dryer and set the stuff that needs to air-dry aside.  I loaded my last single load into the washer, started it and then grabbed my things and went back to my apt. to hang them up to dry.  It's only about 7:30am at this point, so most of the building is still asleep (I couldn't smell the weed smoke in the hallways yet from those who like to "wake and bake").

30 minutes later I went back down to the laundry room and it's flooded AGAIN.  How can this be?  I only did one load!!!  I'm guessing the sink must be clogged, but I can't tell for sure as it's inside this weirdly cobbled together enclosure.  I went about sweeping the water to the grate again and made the executive decision that, when my final load is done, I'm just going to air dry everything in my apt.  Turns out that my final load was sheets, so my apartment looked like furniture warehouse that keeps all the items in it covered.

I was exhausted and it wasn't even 8am yet!

I should probably mention that the laundry room floods all the time.  The floor is cement (painted a weird bright blue) and the grate that I was sweeping the water into always has water in it (it pretty much stinks all the time too, but not overpoweringly so).  I think it's a drain, but I'm not sure.  The creepy scary part about that grate is that there is a power outlet on the wall a few feet above it (set approx. two feet away) and there are electric cords that are plugged into it going down into the grate.  I always think I'm going to get electrocuted when I go down there and see the water from a flood!  I'm guessing it's safe though.  We get inspected by the fire dept and the city on a fairly regular basis and they've never said anything, that I know of.  Maybe there's a pump down there or something?  I dunno.  All I know is I got the heck out of there as soon as I could and I hope the floor dried before the next tenant came down to do their laundry and flood the laundry room.

Back in my apartment, I sorted out the laundry situation and took a nap.  Yes, I took a nap in the morning.

I called my folks a little while later and they're doing well, which is nice to know.  Other than that, I didn't get much else done.

I had a lot of stuff I wanted to do around the apt., it's a shame I'm so lazy!  I won't get a chance to do anything next weekend either.  I have two things to go (one Saturday, one Sunday) and they both entail me waiting in line all day in order to get a good seat assignment.  It sucks because I already have tickets, but they don't assign seats until 6pm and both of these things have a HUGE fan base now, so I have to get there early (probably around noon and I can guarantee I won't be the first person there) wait in line all day.  Some friends are going to meet me at some point, but since I live the closest, I offered to get there first.  Fingers-crossed it's not hot and that it doesn't rain.

Can't seem to get to sleep tonight. Took my melatonin and everything. My brain is overloaded with random things it keeps making me think of, plus I just have this nagging feeling that something is wrong with someone I know.

I hope this isn't the case and it's just something I ate or maybe just me processing the stress of the week at work ahead of time.

Oh yeah, and my handsome cat has taken up residence between my head/pillow and the wall....well, more on my pillow than not.  Plus he's purring and flexing his paws (which happen to land on my face more than a few times through the course of the night).  It's also kind of warm in the apartment, so I have fans running, but a handsome, furry cat tends to negate any fan that you have directed at you.

It's going to be a really long night.

**UPDATE**

It WAS a really long night.  I think I got about an hour and a half's worth of sleep.... in 10-minute increments.  My cat is kind of spoiled ("Duh!" says everyone who knows me) and every time I turned or moved, he let me know he was unhappy about it.  He would yell at me, jump off the bed and leave the room, only to return a little while later, yell at me once again (so loudly that I thought his food or water dish was empty, so I went out to check), then he would jump up on the bed and lay down in the place that he'd vacated earlier, which is weird because I repositioned myself and the pillow every time to get rid of the space he made, but he would just burrow in and make it work.

I checked with most of my friends this morning and everything seems to be normal with them.  Haven't heard anything from my folks, so I'm guessing things are fine there as well.  I'll call them on Sunday (as I usually do on Easter) to make sure.  That reminds me, I need to buy and send them an Easter card.  I used to love Easter (all that candy and ham!)..... now, not so much.

This week and next week are the two most stressful weeks of the quarter for our office, so I'm hoping it was just my brain dealing with that.  I've had my parts done for weeks, but I can't control other people!  Even though it adds to the stress because I've lost a day, I'm glad it's a short week at the office.  A day off sounds really nice.

Happy Birthday CBLMW, I hope this next year is your happiest year yet and it brings anything and everything you could ever want.

I don't usually see a lot of people when I get to the office, apart from the really nice parking garage attendants.  If I do see someone getting out of their car, I will try to give them a head start to the elevators before I get out of my car.  I just don't want to engage in awkward "stranger chat" while waiting for an elevator. 

I have to laugh though, this morning I happened to get to the elevator bank at the same time as some older guy who came from the other side of the parking garage.  He gave me the funniest look!  I felt like saying "I know I look weird. Trust me, once I get to the office and do my thing, I look presentable.  DON'T JUDGE ME MAN!".

Instead, I just stayed quiet and held the doors open for him.

Speaking of encountering people in the elevators at the office - I mentioned when I started this job that I work in a pretty affluent area (Brentwood) and, unlike most of the people who work in my building, I'm not rich.  Well, since I started, a gym has opened-up.  Now I get see (and smell) really rich people before and after they work out!  I wouldn't mind if they were nice, but so far just about all of them have been rude.

This happened day before yesterday: It's the end of the day, I'm tired and I just want to get to my car and go home.  The achingly slow elevator stops at the gym level, the doors open and...nothing.  I hear people talking, but no one getting in.  The doors start to close and I see someone move towards the door.  Like a dumbass, I stick my arm out to keep the doors open (and get my arm smushed in the process) and this gaggle of about half a dozen sweaty people get in (they were shiny, it was gross).  They spread out inside the elevator and don't even think to say "Hey, thanks for holding the door, is your arm ok?".  Instead, I get dirty looks (because it's obvious I'm not on their level) and get moved into a corner and have to hold my bag at a weird angle so they can have more space than they need to talk and gesticulate while they ride the ONE FLOOR to the valet parking level (yup, they valet park their cars).  I was so relieved when they got out.  Too bad the elevator smelled so bad!  Side note - They just went to the gym, shouldn't they use the stairs?  It's only one floor and it would be faster!

The best part of the story is that I end-up behind one of them at the exit and this guy has decided that he doesn't want to drive in sweaty clothes, so he has to change his shirt before he gets in the car.  Not just a quick change either.  A looong drawn out process (while he's chatting to his companion).  There he is, peeling off his gross shirt (doesn't towel off the sweat that's still there), opening the back door to the car, rummaging around for a clean, dry shirt (takes a while), then he puts on a new shirt, has to adjust it so it looks good (what??), then has to put the dirty shirt in the car in just the right place (apparently), because he doesn't just toss it behind the driver's seat like most people would do if they had a line of cars behind them.  I almost started crying.  All I wanted to do was go home and I was stuck.

Like you guys care about any of this, LOL.

It may have been a wasted day, but what a pleasure it was to watch two of my favorite movies of all time....Godfather and Godfather Part II.

I can't help but think that I'm Fredo.

Exhausting couple of days. Went to my second (and final) Dame Edna show on Friday (it's the farewell tour...again). I was given tickets Earl purchased before he passed away.  I don't know if he bought them with the intent of going with me, but we spoke about it when we saw "We Will Rock You" last year, so I'd like to think that he got them for him and I to use and that, in some way, he would approve of Midge and I using the tickets.  Being Earl's tickets, they were amazing seats.  Much better than the seats for the other performance I went to a few weeks ago.

Tonight was the second to last monthly Thrilling Adventure Hour. It was the 10th anniversary show and very bittersweet. A fan, who happens to make puppets professionally, made spectacular character puppets for all the main cast. Sparks, Croach, Red Plains Rider, Amelia Erhart, Dorothy Parker (as the Thing), Ginny, Colonel Tick Tock, Philip Fathom, Bar Keep (not presented as Josh Malina wasn't there), Frank and Sadie Doyle, everyone! I don't think I missed anyone, if I did, I'm sorry.

I had a good time at both, but I'm still on the sad side of things.

We set clocks back tonight. It will be nice to get home from work while the sun is still shining.

Okay, so I went to Cost Plus this morning when they opened (9am, if you're wondering) to pick-up a scone mix I like.  I was going to walk, but really, why?  It's not far, but I decided I wasn't in the mood to walk down 3rd with all the super-fit joggers / runners passing me by.

As I drove over, I kept reminding myself what I was going there to buy. Scone mix. Scone mix. Scone mix. (I have a shitty memory and I am easily distracted.)

So, how is it that I went in there for something that costs about $4 a package  and I walked out having spent $60? Damn you Cost Plus for making me buy stuff!!!!

Also, damn you Woodfire Grill (or Ranch or whatever) next to the Grove for smelling sooooo good as I walked to / from my car.  I can't tell you how good it smells over there.

Updated at the bottom.

Trying to decide if EC's is in the cards for tomorrow (Friday).  I've been so tired by the time I get home, I'm not sure it's do-able.

I dunno.
------
Update: I don't think I'm going to go to EC's tomorrow night (Friday 2/27) after work.  I haven't heard back from my friends yet, but I just got an email that my ex-boyfriend has business a few doors down the street tomorrow afternoon/evening.  I guess I'll just have to make up an excuse to beg off.

You may be asking why I would change my plans.. well I still have a lot respect for the guy.  Pure and simple.  (Who knew?!!??)  It's a rare distinction he shares with only one other man I've dated either before or since I dated him.  I doubt I am conveying this in a coherent fashion, but he really is an amazing, talented and good person.  The last thing I want to do is make things awkward or uncomfortable for him, so it's probably best if I just gave EC's a miss tonight, on the off-chance we would happen to cross paths.  This isn't about me it's about being respectful of him and his work.  Plus, I'm pretty sure that he would rather not ever see my ugly mug ever again, LOL.

Besides, EC's was where we had our first dinner date, it holds really good memories of that night for me  (it was a truly amazing date) and I don't want to ruin that. It was around this time of year too....
 

BAH! I shouldn't have had that glass of wine with dinner.  It's made me all nice and stuff.

I can go to EC's another night.

I hope he has a good time on my side of town. :-)

Kind of a surreal day.  I woke up feeling crappy, but went into the office anyway.  Was hit with SIX urgent messages with complicated work attached from my boss, plus an email (he also called me on my cell on Saturday). Not a great way to start the week! Then the power went out and the building was evacuated. Nothing like walking down flights of stairs and into a dimly lit parking garage to make you feel safe.

The weather is pretty weird too. Pouring rain in some spots, fairly strong winds, big white fluffy clouds in other areas and big dark clouds in still others.  It just seems spooky.  Too bad I still feel crappy or else. I would have enjoyed getting out early.

Of course, while typing this my boss called and gave me stuff to do....

The week is going by fairly quickly, thank goodness.  Today is the sixth day if Shiva, so Timary, Tina and I went to spend time with Earl's family.  It's customary to bring food, but since we don't have a refrigerator at work, I didn't want anything I may have cooked to go bad and get everyone sick.  So all I had to give was a card.

It was nice to sit and talk with everyone.  I'm not sure Earl's mom knew what to make of me. Let's be honest, my sense of fairness is pretty strong and I felt like Earl's brother was getting swept to the side.  Even with his mom.  That's not right! Everyone talks about the other brother that passed away, but rarely this one.  I made a point of telling everyone that while Earl did indeed talk about the brother that passed away, he also told me great stories about the brother who was with us.  Luckily for me, when I went to Earl's birthday luncheon late last year, his brother arrived when only two of us had gotten there ahead of him.  The other gal, Lou, didn't know much about Earl's family, so that left it to me to make him feel welcome. I was nervous, and you know how I react to that: I talk a lot. I mean A Lot. I pulled out everything Earl had ever told me about his brother and asked him about what I'd learned.  There's no way I would have known that stuff if Earl hadn't told me.  He seemed grateful to know that he mattered to Earl. He did matter, It's just Earl didn't show it very often.  His brother is a musician, we had a great time talking about Cal Tjader! I was humbled to learn that he'd mentioned me to his wife after that lunch. He told her back then how nice I was! Can't ask for more than that!

When the Minion showed up, it was time to leave. Timary wanted to go to Sur, so we went there for dinner. Now, in case you didn't know, Sur is the restaurant on "Vanderpump Rules", so I expected to see some fan girls. Dude!!! There were tons of people having their photos taken with the waitresses and bartenders. They were kinda snobby when I mentioned we didn't have a reservation, and we had to sit at these low tables near the bar, but the food was good.  So was the conversation. We told Earl stories we couldn't say in front of his family, plus I'm on a never-ending quest to get my friends into better jobs!  They deserve better.

The only drawback to the night was the fact that by the time I got near my apt there was no parking in my neighborhood, apart from the area where you have to move by 7am. Stupid city decided that it was a good idea to complete work on multiple blocks at once (while parking their zillion bulldozers on our streets overnight, taking up great swathes of spaces) in an area of Los Angeles known for it's shortage of parking spaces for residents. Bah.

I should probably go to bed now that I have to get up early to move my car....

My weekend was full of highs and lows. Mostly lows.

I arrived at the GallifreyOne convention Friday afternoon. I was surprised to see how much programming was going on.  It used to be a Saturday and Sunday convention.  Now it looks like they're starting Thursday afternoon and going through Sunday.  Weird.  You'd think I'd notice changes like that.

I think this was my 9th or 10th year. I remember when I discovered this little convention. One August afternoon a while back, I was bored at work on my lunch break and Googled "American Doctor Who Conventions" (or something like that) and saw a gloriously simple website.  The cheese factor was so amazing! I emailed a link to my friend with the note "We HAVE to go to this!".  So we got tickets and went a few months later. It was awesome.

Did I have a ton of fun this year? To put it quite simply, "No". There were a couple of moments where it was fun, but overall, I didn't really have a good time.  This year it came the day after Earl died, so I was dealing with that. <The section that used to be here has been edited out.>

Earls funeral yesterday was so beautiful. I was surrounded by people I care about and I could really feel the love in that chapel.  I cried like a baby, of course. I held it together until I saw one of my really strong friends crying. Then it was floods of tears from me.  There were so many people there, I mean A TON of people. I've never seen that many people show up to a funeral.  Earl was loved by so many. I don't think he knew how beloved he was, which is such a shame.

Rabbi Wolpe did a wonderful job and the speakers told the best stories. Seeing Earl's 99 year-old mom be so stoic through the whole thing made me marvel at how strong she is.  I wish I could be that strong!

A bonus at the funeral was that I was able to avoid my old asshole boss.  Samantha went with me and was under strict orders from my dad to keep the guy away from me. She did a good job!  I think it was cool that the boss I used to have (that I really liked) came and sat with me.  I think he knew that our little group would have a bit of  "gallows" humor happening (which we did) and that it would be more tolerable sitting with us than it would be sitting with quiet people not saying anything.

I didn't go to the reception at the temple afterwards, I didn't want to tempt fate. If I had gone, asshole old boss would have found me and would have wanted to talk. I would have either said something I would really regret or I would have done something I would really regret. I think I made the right decision to go with my friends who knew Earl and have dinner and talk about our different Earl stories.

Today I spent the day recovering from the weekend. I didn't even get out of my pajamas until I took a shower this afternoon / evening. I'm a lazy sloth! Although, I did put a table and chairs together. So I guess I'm not too lazy.

Argh, work tomorrow. :-(

My friend Earl passed away today and I am heartbroken.

The whole day went by in a blur after I got the phone call letting me know he was gone. If I wasn't crying, I was sitting at my desk trying to figure out what to do and failing at everything I tried to get done. The entire drive home tonight I was in a daze. I still am. I've cried so much, it hurts.

I am supposed to be at a Doctor Who convention tomorrow afternoon through Sunday night, but services are Sunday afternoon.  So, at the very least, I will have to leave early. I really don't want to go to the convention at all now, but I think Earl would be mad if he thought this caused me to miss it.  Maybe it will help me take my mind off of the loss of my friend.

If I'm able to, In a few days I'll post a couple of stories. Right now I don't think I can.

 At 76, it was too soon for him to go.

I don't know how to describe how I feel right now. I feel lost.

You guys, I'm so tired. Exhausted is a better word.  Physically and emotionally.

A friend of mine is in the hospital.  I'm trying to stay positive, but it's hard. I've been friends with this person for 15 years and we were co-workers for 14 years.

I went over to the hospital this morning before work and it broke my heart. Luckily, the family was asleep, so I was able to just sit quietly next to the hospital bed and  hope that they get better. As of this Morning, I was told they were in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator.  Watching a machine breathe for someone you care about is heartbreaking. It was all I could do to not cry while I was sitting there. The family doesn't need that, they need people to be positive and rally behind them that this special person is going to get better.  Their mom is 99 years-old, there is no way I'm going to tell her that I've given up.  I haven't given up at all, it's just hard to keep a bright and positive attitude.

They looked frail, but I've seen worse. I know they can beat this. They have to. This person gives so much to different charities (not just money, but time) and cares about everyone. We need people like that in this world.  They have been a good friend to me.  I am a better person because of them.

Please spare a good thought for them, they can use it!!!!

I'm going to go and have a good cry now.  Don't tell anyone though, it will ruin my reputation as the big blue meanie.

PS: I just read that Len Wein is in the hospital and going to have surgery, so please spare a good thought for him as well. I know I joke about him never recognizing me, no matter how many times we have met, but he is a nice person and I want him happy, healthy and well.

I got my hair cut yesterday, it was almost down to my shoulder blades again.....it's now a little shorter than I like (okay, a lot shorter).......and a few more layers than I like (okay, a lot more layers).....but hey, it will grow back.  So, for now, I get to live with shortish choppy hair. Not really my normal retro-ish style. Hopefully, I can do something with it.

I went back to my old hairdresser, which was fun.  I hadn't been to see him, for various reasons, in about three or four years. It was neat to catch-up.  He's a daddy now!  It looks like he's finally starting to settle down after all these years.  I think his girlfriend has been a good influence on him.  He still flirted with me though, which was nice.  It's rare that I get flirted with!

Don't ask me why, but when I got home from getting my hair done, I decided to go through my drawers and closets and purge my clothes and stuff.  You know the drill, getting rid of stuff I don't wear or need. Halfway through, I decided to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom.  Did I finish either project? No.

I don't know what I was thinking!!!!

My place is a mess, my entire body hurts, I woke up with a headache and I'm covered in bruises.

I have been up since 5am, (on a Sunday!!!!) when my sore back woke me up.  I need to get to the grocery store and run a couple of errands, plus re-do my roots, but I don't know if those things are going to happen.  They sort of require getting out of bed. GAH!!!!

Today is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.  I've shed more than a few tears today while reading the accounts of survivors returning to the camp to mark this date.  Do yourself a favor and read a few yourself.

We must never get to a point where the world forgets the horrors inflicted upon the Jews, Catholics, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Disabled and everyone else the Nazi's deemed unworthy of life within the so-called "Third Reich's Master Race".

There is no pretending these terrible acts "weren't that bad" or trying to prove the Holocaust did not happen.  There just isn't.  We must face our past, learn from it and never, never, NEVER let it happen again. 


With the rise of Religious Extremism,  Antisemitism and hatred is on the rise once again across Europe and the rest of the world is, seemingly, turning a blind eye (again).  I don't care who you are or what your beliefs are, there is a group of people out there who would do to you exactly what was done to those I mentioned above both before and during World War II.  Don't think for a moment that you would be safe or exempt, because you wouldn't.

Don't let history repeat itself.............

Most of you know that I have a really good relationship with my dad.  Weird way to start out a blog post, right?

Anyway, it's a credit to my dad that I have the diverse taste in music, kitsch and comedy that I do.  He's the one who got me watching old timey comedy and listening to everything from classical to jazz (not fusion though), swing, 60's brit pop, 70's rock and roll.  Comedy-wise, TV shows were Batman, Addams Family, Honeymooners and Monty Python amongst others.  He also got me started with Star Trek (which led to me finding Doctor Who).  Gotta love it!  Anyway, I'm rambling...

So, for Christmas my dad got a Roku.  I'd initially bought one for my folks as a gift (I have one and haven't had cable for a few years), but my mom told me that she'd bought one, so I returned it (mistake).  Christmas rolls around and when I visit them, I help with the set-up of the Roku.  My dad asks if we have one for him (no) so my mom goes out and gets one for him.  We get it all set-up and now I think that's all he watches, apart from his British Football matches.  He can watch all his favorite shows and movies without commercials.  It's so neat!  He gets all the Poirot, Star Trek and Hawaii 5-0 that he wants.  It's nice to see him use and enjoy a Christmas gift!!!!

Side note - Just to give you an idea about his musical taste, he has an ipod playing in his office day and night.  It never gets turned off.  He's set it to shuffle, so you never hear a bunch of songs by the same artist.  While I was sitting in there talking to him, I heard: Hank Williams, Led Zeppelin, Frank Morgan, INXS (yes, INXS!!!) and the Bee Gees (Jive Talkin'!!!). 

How can you not love a guy like that?  Too bad he sort of blew my Vespa dreams all to hell.  When I broached the subject with him he told me, basically, "If you get one and I have a heart attack and die, it's all your fault".  So no pressure to not get one then...........

That's my dad!

Reading Aloud last night kicked ass (as always). If you haven't discovered it yet, you need to check it out.

Last Night's Cast:

Steve Agee
Joe McIntyre
Paul Scheer
Brian Stack
French Stewart
Kevin Sussman
Maria Thayer

Great talent, awesome material and an intimate venue.

Only drawback was an audience member, who I think was there to see Joe McIntyre.  She must have gotten in line late and was very unhappy that she didn't get that front row center seat. Instead, she got a seat right at the stage, but off to the side. This meant that she was in every other audience members line of sight. She spent a good portion of the show texting on her phone and looking really pissed-off / unhappy...... Unless if course she just has "bitchy resting face". If that's the case, I apologize for the looking pissed-off comment. If not, LOOK HAPPY, YOU WERE FRONT ROW!!

People, just remember, it's rude to text during a show and you aren't the only person in the room, people can see you!

You know, there are times when I REALLY miss my ex-boyfriend (a LEGEND in his field of work).  One of those times is tonight!  I would have loved to have sent him a text, email or just plain called him, just to make him chuckle with this anecdote.  No one else would really get it, but he would.  It's not my normal traffic horror stories, either....

On my way home from work tonight I was stuck in traffic, as usual.  I was in a pretty good mood though. I had good music playing, so I was nice and relaxed.  Then this asshole in a Mustang cuts me off (almost hitting my car in the process) then when I change lanes, he cuts me off again!  As is generally known, I do kind of have a problem with getting angry when I'm behind the wheel (No comments from the peanut gallery please) so I start to get pissed-off, but try to calm myself down......but I'm not stupid and the dude is in a distinctive car, so I keep track of him (you should know where the dangers are at all times).  He cuts-off all kinds of people, uses lanes he's not supposed to be in and I finally lose him, thinking he got on the freeway.

Turns out he didn't and I catch-up to him a little bit later (not on purpose), where he cuts me off AGAIN.  Him in his fucking ugly Mustang!!!

I did a few evasive moves to get out from behind him, then when I finally got to the point where I'm next to him (he was in a turn lane), I gave him a steely glare and flipped him off (might have also called him a c********* as well), then I realized that it was quite possibly one of my ex's colleagues.

I was SHOCKED, but I think I recovered pretty well (and quickly).

Now this guy is someone everyone loves and thinks is the nicest guy ever. He's almost considered a "rock star" in his industry (not sure that's deserved though). I'd heard stories that he could be a dick who backstabs and talks crap about his contemporaries behind their backs, but that side of him is kept pretty much off the radar.  He's the All-American guy everyone loves.

Anyway, this guy is really revered in many circles and I'd just gone and flipped him the bird and called him a c********....and you know what?  I'd do it again (twice!)  'cause the guy was a dangerous and shitty driver tonight.

Am I 100% sure it was him? No (after all, he wasn't wearing the "distressed" baseball cap that was usually on his head whenever I used to see him around) that's why I'm not calling the guy out by name.

Let's be honest, I probably wouldn't call him out even if I was sure, because I'm classy like that.  Calling someone a foul name and flipping them off doesn't mean I lose my classiness, right? RIGHT!??!!?

UPDATE: I got a couple of questions about this. NO, I did NOT shout the bad name out of my car window. My window was rolled-up.  I mean, I'm sure it was clear to him what I was doing and saying, but I wasn't overly aggressive about it...Sheesh! Have any if you ever heard me yell ANYTHING? I doubt it.