Random thoughts

When trying to make microwaved baked potatoes, one does not simply put the potatoes in the microwave and walk away without setting the time and hitting the start button.

Three men were putting a car on a U-Haul trailer in front of my apartment last evening, and one actually pulled out (and read) the instructions. I was amazed. I bet he'll ask for directions, too. If anyone is dating him, he's a keeper.

No matter how hard one is hit with the urge to twirl upon entering the building one works at in the morning, one does not do it, because one is an adult. Exceptions may be made for days when one is wearing a skirt with sequins on it while walking in bright sunlight, but today was not that day. What can I say, I got rest (hence no blogging last night) and was in a happy mood.

When trying a recipe for the second time that didn't turn out right the first time, one should check and double-check the ingredients and amounts and directions. I am trying the bread again. This time I put a whole tablespoon in the yeast bin (I have a bread machine that has a separate yeast compartment which releases it at the right time in the process). We will see how it turns out.

Despite having a driving phobia, one's best friend has an incredibly calming effect on one, so that even if one forgot to take one's medicine, the drive across town to the pharmacy and back was pleasant and almost relaxing, even in rush-hour traffic. When one dropped off one's best friend, everything went downhill from there. Fortunately rush hour is now over and one is home.

When leaving the pharmacy, one does not turn sharply to exit into the parking lot, or one makes a horrible scraping noise on the kerb. However, there does not seem to be any damage, so one was lucky.

When one is driving someone with back problems who has expressly told one that his back popped earlier and he has been in quite a bit of pain, one should not turn suddenly or move quickly while driving (or run up on kerbs). One should instead pretend one has plants, animals, or children in the car, and drive gently.

A great big thank you to my bank branch at the Alexandria Road Kroger, which stays open on weekdays later than the others, so I was able to put $1.50 into my account rather than $2.00 to cover a bill I will be paying tomorrow, and as a result I had a whole $4 for gas. :)

It was nice getting free stuff via the Apple settlement from Amazon today--I got a blue cloth elephant-print purse, a phone case (what can I say, I like them, even though no one understands my need to match them to my outfits), and the second series of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'. One more DVD to get at some point, and then I'll have them all, yay!

I was so happy to see a co-worker who had been hurt return to work today. She started at the hospital the week I was born, and so next year, she will celebrate her 50th anniversary with the company before the hospital closes and becomes an ambulatory care centre instead, moving over by the University of Kentucky hospital.

I moved an appointment I had for tomorrow to Tuesday so I could have more time to get ready, and be on time, for a meeting of the library committee tomorrow. I already had a noon appointment Tuesday, so now I have one (same general area) at 2:30 as well, so I took the day off. That means I have a four-day weekend, although one will mostly be spent at appointments. :( I don't think I'll go to the downtown festival for the Fourth this year, as I haven't really had as much fun in recent years. However, I still plan on going to the Idle Hour fireworks as per usual (employees can park at the hospital using our badges to get in, and we're right across the street from the fireworks display). People normally park along the road and spread blankets or take chairs and sit on our front lawn. It'll be the last year the hospital will be open for it, and who knows whether the new owners will allow that sort of thing. We also allow sledding in the winter, and again, I think things may change. The neighbourhood tends to treat our grounds (there are slightly over 29 acres, mostly rolling grass and trees) as a local park, walking, biking, taking the dogs out to play, etc. There's even a bunch of little kids (very little) who practice soccer out in the back forty some afternoons. If the property is developed, or if the new owners don't want that kind of thing, the neighbours will be very disappointed, I think.

Okay, I'm going to make boiled eggs and the eggplant pasta later, but the bread machine is going right now. I think I'm going to lie down for just a bit, as I have a headache. I should write later.

I lucked out

I was finished with my work for the day and needed to go to the bank, so I left work a bit early and one of my co-workers not only took me to the bank, but took me home as well, so I got home in record time. Now I'm in a sunny room having some of the pasta YKWIA made, although it looks like it's cloudy on the western horizon and might even rain later.

Tomorrow I have free time, although as usual when that happens, I don't have money to go out and do things. Also, a co-worker is giving me a couple of small tables and might stop by if she's in Lexington, so I'll probably stick close to home in case she calls. I'm looking forward to reading and maybe watching some movies. I do still need to do the notes, and I will start earlier this time, as last time was awful. The house is in good shape, so I don't need to do anything on that front, except maybe vacuum and put some water in the aquarium for the fish (it evaporates). So tomorrow is a fun day, for the most part.

Okay, I think I'm going to go read the news and then that HP Lovecraft graphic novel. Have a great night.

Seriously?

Someone gave me a $50 bill today and I stopped by my bank to change it for smaller bills. The teller asked if I had an account and when I said I did, he asked me to send in my debit card through the drive-through pneumatic system. Meanwhile, one of the other tellers was trying to butt in on the transaction by taking my card while he was getting the money, and generally making things more complicated than they need be.

Really? To change a bill? Whatever happened to going into a bank and, I don't know, presenting money and getting money in return? Would they ask someone with a ten for ID before they exchanged it for a roll of quarters?

Speaking of quarters, I asked if they could send me a roll through the system (I didn't think they would; most banks won't, because the roll could break and get everywhere). But I guess he realised I was a bit annoyed. So he stuffed a roll into an envelope, told me he was making an exception, and sent it and the other $40 through.

Is this common at all banks, or is PNC just more than a little odd?

Up at the crack of dawn

Literally, although I know lots of my co-workers are already at work by 7 am. I'm doing two loads of laundry, and I also wrote a complaint in regarding a delivery order I made last weekend, where they didn't have a drink so instead of modifying the order, they took the whole order off, then had me pay for it over the phone when it was delivered. The problem is that original amount has been sitting in pending for six days (four of them business days), unavailable. The bank says it sometimes takes that long to fall off. I don't think that the restaurant can do anything to help, at this point, but I respectfully suggested they find a way for stores to modify web orders without capturing people's money for days on end (and no, I didn't put it that way). I forgot to mention that I think they overcharged me the second time, by putting the tip on twice, as it actually wound up another $4 higher.

I suppose this is the universe's way of punishing me for ordering pizza. I will say I ate on that pizza till yesterday, so I did eat over several days. Still...maybe it will discourage the diabetic from ordering things she shouldn't eat.

Turning the tables

With moving truck, Fla. couple threatens bank with foreclosure: Bank of America wrongly foreclosed on a house that the Nyerges’ had paid for in 2009

Months after Bank of America wrongly foreclosed on a house Warren and Maureen Nyerges had already paid for, they were still fighting to get reimbursed for the court battle.

So on Friday, their attorney showed up at a branch office in Naples with a moving truck and sheriff's deputies who had a judge's permission to seize the furniture if necessary. An hour later, the bank had written a check for $5,772.88.