A whole lotta nothing getting done

Day 1 (yesterday) was spent sort of clearing out the kitchen. My sister
wanted to move things out of the kitchen. I told her we don't have the
room. She said we could move things into Apt. B. Problem is when she
moves things out, we start losing things because she ends up throwing
them out without asking anyone.

5 trays of slides mom took when we were growing up went missing years
ago while out at my grandparents' house one June. They were stored in a
suitcase she and my other sister threw away. I don't know if anyone
looked inside (there was a fluorescent light in there too that I had
been using). My younger sister claims she's got those slides, but as of
now I've still not gotten them. And there was nothing wrong with the
suitcases my sister "made us" get rid of.

She made supper last night and I woke up with a bad sinus headache this
morning. She's on yet another eating fad - vegetarian. Milk is Bad! Oh
no! She takes the fun out of watching TV because she has to comment on
all the food related commercials with unsubstantiated and unresearched
claims and bullcrap from books she's read.

I hope she ends up with osteoporosis.

Anywho Day 2 is today and a whole lot of nothing is happening. She's had
to take care of some bounced check problem via wifi and her Epic Fail
Mac. We've called a couple plumbers to see about estimates on the work
that might need done. She's now demanding we cap off the water to the
bathroom in our apartment and insisting on pulling out the tub. So mom
during the winter will have to resort to a sponge bath out of the sink.
that's unacceptable.

Thankfully we should have one of the 2 plumbers called around sometime
today. We really just wanted the faucet replaced and the tub patched. I
explained to my sister that we didn't call her about the problem when it
first started because we don't have the money for the work to be done.
We also don't like what happens when she's involved which usually ends
up with a situation worse than a sensible solution. I figure the hole in
the tub can be patched (it's a fiberglass thin piece of crap) with some
expanding foam insulation out of a spray can and some duct tape or
something. Oh no, the wood is wet and there will be damage so we have to
resort to extreme measures to dry it out before we can remodel it.

Which would be a YEAR from now. It makes sense to pull it when the
actual work is going to be done. She doesn't have a job at the moment.
Why should we be forced to wait forever?

Then there's still the question of what to do about Apt. B's hot water
heater. Figure out what the hell is wrong with it (some stuck valve?) or
re-pipe Apt. C's heater to supply Apt. B (might have to change electric
wiring, too!). Then we're stuck with another electric bill to pay!!!!

Unacceptable. A slum lord does crap like that.

So right now none of the still existing kitchen ceiling is being
removed. My sinus headache is still throbbing.

I also found out that for CompTIA A+ certification there are 2 tests you
need to pass. Problem is each test requires its OWN Test Voucher, and
that's $168 a pop. Each Test. BVR isn't going to like that. Hopefully I
can find their testing schedule Somewhere.

Not stirred

Be aware that when you see this sign what you get has no dairy products whatsoever and the sign actually describes the way your drink is mixed.

WTF Dept.

I don't know why dad is lying about this part. I'll just get this out of
the way.

"I tried calling him and heard someone scream, "Don't ever call here
again." The second call, a few minutes later, yielded nearly the same
result. A third call, after 5 minutes, was greeted with silence."

We have been getting these numerous hang up calls for the past few
months. We don't know who they are because they don't ID themselves. I
never screamed anything at him. I did use my Pocket Stewie to say "Who
the hell do you think you are?" And only after one pick up on these
calls did we finally ID it was him after he said "Silence is Golden."
and his voice was recognized.

We didn't know who was hanging up on us. If it's really important, leave
a damn message.

"If Andy wants anyone to help him with anything, he should learn to say,
"Thank you". "

I'm not asking for his help. I don't want him around, and I'd never ask
for HIS help anyway. I don't need it.

Grr...

Well, I see my picture post from Rogers didn't arrive, so I will try to
send it again.

Other news, my older sister is planning to be up in the area at the end
of the week. Her plans are overly ambitious. First, seal off the roof
over the kitchen so that it doesn't leak anymore, properly this time.
OK. Sounds good.

THEN she wants to rip down the entire kitchen ceiling and put up sheet
rock in its place. And hopes to have it done in about 1 week.

Not going to happen. First off, she expected me to begin _Ripping down_
the existing ceiling. Now.. Part of the ceiling is just fine. Nice and
solid. Doesn't need any ripping down. The part that did get ripped down
already has shown a variably existent structure for the support of the
previous plaster and lathe ceiling that rotted out and fell off and at
some point was removed.

Let me say this: I cannot do some of the things I used to do a year or 2
ago. I haven't been up in the attic for any reason, and I barely managed
to clean the gutters on the front of the house. I had a hard time
getting back in off the front porch roof.

LEST I REMIND PEOPLE - I cleaned up all the ROOFING SHINGLES that were
unceremoniously ripped off during that whole debacle 2 years ago. I
CLEANED THAT UNGODLY MESS BY MYSELF. As well as picking up over 360
nails using a metal detector to find them.

I may have ripped out carpet in the kitchen and bathroom, but I will NOT
rip down perfectly good parts of the ceiling and then be expected to
clean it up. This is a major and unreasonable disruption.

Oh and get this.. I emailed her about the leaking bathtub faucet and the
cracks (and hole) in the bathtub. All I really wanted is some decent
seal treatment for the tub but mainly I wanted the faucet replaced. Mom
and I can't seem to decide how to go about this or how to pay for parts
and labor.

My sister wants to rip out the tub and replace it with just a shower
stall. Not Going To Work. Mom uses a transfer bench. There will not be
enough room in a shower stall for her to sit on that bench and she's
unable to stand when she gets her shower. But then my sister also
proposes that we go into Apt. B to use the tub and shower there. Problem
with that is the water heater isn't working right. The pressure
discharge thingy just runs the water back out. I don't know how to get
it to stop doing that. Then she considers switching Apt. C's water to
Apt. B's hot water lines. Which requires a plumber. and a lot of work.

It's easier and to just seal up the tub or find some cheap replacement
and replace the faucet.

Sheesh. Hell for the next week. and I can't leave because I need to
protect my stuff from her.

Random stuff

When someone has noticed you have changed clothes, a nice way to
reciprocate could be to say "Yes, I was generally becoming aware of the
odor about my person." IE I was beginning to smell my stench, too.

Finally got some good sleep for 2 nights in a row. Washed my blankets
and pillows. Some people say you should throw them (pillows) away every
so often and buy new. Not at the prices I paid I don't.

Went out to do some shopping. I ran out of Ibuprofen and didn't have any
of the stuff I buy at Aldi's. They ask only 99 cents for 50 Ibuprofen,
200 mg. One store in town charges double, and it's less than half of
Aldi's in the bottle. 24 Ibuprofen for $2. Rip Off.

But I needed it. So I buy a bottle. I get out to the car, hoping to
happily dive into some pain relief, and find no safety seal and only 3
Ibuprofen in the bottle. What luck is that?

Yes, it was exchanged for another but think of the odds that you grabbed
a random bottle of something and found it less than what it was supposed
to be.

My mom is an Addict

I really need to get my mom off Pogo.

It's 4:37 am. If it weren't for the fact that nature called and my Air
conditioner was making an odd sound, I would not have woken up to find
my mom on the computer, claiming she "couldn't sleep" so instead of
trying to go back to sleep, she's on the 'puter at this ungodly hour -
playing Pogo games.

This is just like the time during which she burned through $13,000
shopping on eBay in 2001 after she put her father in a nursing home the
previous november 2000, and then got injured on the job Jan 2001. The
$13K came from bank deposits withdrawn from my grandfather's accounts
which was primarily to be used to pay property taxes, utilities, etc on
his house, but instead she burned through it spending it on ... things
like pillowcases made from seed bags, for one useless example.

She would use any excuse to get on WebTV during that time to check on
her auctions - even during thunderstorms, times when she full well knew
she shouldn't be on the phone line.

And she'll still doing the spending of money. She bought some Shamwows
recently online. We don't need Shamwows. I like Vince the Shamwow Dude,
but we don't need Shamwows. She for some reason bought a few Michael
Jackson CDs. Admittedly, I was going to price a couple for myself, but
she just went ahead and ordered a couple from Amazon when it seems
they've replenished their stock.

Products like Shamwows were seen all over Rogers on Friday.

I have been an unwilling victim of my mom's indiscretionary activities
for the past 8 years. I yell at her until someone helps me drive home
the point or she finally gets it.

I don't need to see her on that damn computer at 4:37 AM again. There is
no reason for it.

HELP.

Went to Lucky Star

Kagamin came along to help me eat pork lo mein!

Holy crap! Michael Jackson did what?

This has been one hell of a week. Please, don't let any more celebrities
die for no reason the rest of the month!

Ed McMahon died Tuesday, then today we get a double blow - Farrah
Fawcett and then.. What? Michael Jackson? Holy crap. I'll bet no one had
him in their death pool.

The news channels have been covering this since around 6 pm, and ABC and
NBC pre-empted their evening schedules, both with 2 hours about Michael
Jackson and now with one on Farrah. CBS is like "well, damn, we don't
have anything."

Michael should be remembered for his talent. Farrah should be remembered
for her work on "The Burning Bed."

Steve Martin once said on a comedy album (which I own a vinyl copy of):
"Farrah has never called me once - even in spite of all the hours I've
spent holding her poster up with one hand."

More or less like that anyway.

I'm sure Ed will be missed on the MDA Telethon. I had a cousin named
Ricky who had MD, and he passed away at age 21. I barely knew him.

I'm thinking of pricing the Michael Jackson albums I don't yet have and
maybe buying them. He was such a big part of our culture in ways we
probably don't realize. Gone way too soon. And then there's people who
aren't gone soon enough, even if it's just back to where they came from
(they don't have to die to just go away).

Wrangling Firefox 3 into shape

For some reason I mistakenly told Firefox 2 to download the latest revision of Firefox 3 and all attempts to stop it didn't work when I thought it had. grrr...

Already I had problems with it.

First off, there's a crapload of plug-ins I did not ask for, and therefore I have disabled them in Firefox 3.

AOL Media playback plug in? NO.

Metastream 3? NO.

Microsoft DRM crap? DOUBLY NO.

Move Media Player? What the hell is it? NO.

Quicktime plugin for Netscape? I don't use it when I don't have to.

Real Networks for Jukebox, Player, and their LiveConnect. OMG NO!!!

Silverlight? What the hell is it? NO.

Windows media player DLL? Not right now, thanks.

Yahoo! application state? Are you nuts?

MOZILLA, WHY are these plug ins installed with Firefox 3? Why don't you give people a chance to opt out of these instead of being a bully and forcing them on us?

In addition, I had to install a new version of my Download Manager Tweak, and then Turn Off Firefox 3's auto virus scanning of downloads. The delay was annoying. I can do that myself. I don't need it for JPG images!

And then I was SO annoyed at the "awesome" new Address Bar in Firefox 3. There are tweaks you can do for that from About:config to stop your bookmarks from appearing and turning off autocomplete, but the real beauty came from a plug in called "oldbar 1.2". Ah... So much better.

Let's see what else I'll have to change.

Japanese steakhouse

Went to Wasabi. Had the Unagi don. Oishii!