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February 28, 2003
Overwhelmed...
.....and overcome.
Welcome to our world Kieran Gregory....
Daddy really knows it's 2003, not 2002, too.
...and Lori and Demian...welcome to our world..of sons.
xxxooo
Posted by frani at 05:22 PM | Comments (8)
February 27, 2003
Aaaaaawwwweee
Mr Rogers died....
...and if any one has anything to say that will shatter his image, please keep it to yourself...I just don't want to know if he was any way other than the way I perceived him Genuine.......I need at least one public figure to be genuine.
Update: ok...at least one of my son's has therapy issues with Mr Rogers........sigh. I liked Mr Rogers for his calmness after Sesame Street.
Posted by frani at 07:12 AM | Comments (1)
February 26, 2003
Wednesday's Words...
~~The Knoel Cat-ometer registered 0 this morning before moving up to 2 ( minutes) after the shock of the open door. That's cold....the kind of cold that does not even register in ~Elmo degrees. I had hoped we would be moving toward Spring by now...yeah Riiiight, Fran...it's still February!
~~I was absolutely in shock yesterday when I got home from the dentist...I received an orchid plant from all of them...congraulating me on my new mouth and birthday greetings. Somehow I suspect they don't do that for all of their patients...they like me. I do have one nagging thought though...if I manage to kill the plant, does that mean my teeth will fall out? This is worrisome since I have killed every plant that I have ever owned..including those air plants. When I checked out the new garden center last week, I happened to notice a photo poster of me in the back room with one of those red slash marks across my face...do not under any circumstances allow this woman to adopt one of our precious plants. It's a curse, I tell ya!
Posted by frani at 08:25 AM | Comments (7)
February 24, 2003
Bus Bus to Albany......
It's really hard to know how to respond to the events of yesterday. Do the ends really justify the means?
USAir has no control over the weather...I will give them that much. However, if their planes were on schedule ( aircraft maintenance issues), they would have made it in and out of this airport before the snow storm....there would not be 2 planes of people diverted to CT...there would not be a bus of people shipped to Montreal...there would not be 2 busloads of people shipped to Albany. Passengers were basically told to take the buses to Albany or expect not to get out of Burlington for at least 2 days. Those small regional jets just can not accommodate flight cancellations! Ggggrrr.....
So while Greg was being bussed to Albany ..in less than ideal driving conditions ( the driver admitted later he was quite nervous about the drive on occasion), I proceeded to try to get him to DC. Now of course this is no easy reservation swap...no no no...we had some creative ticketing options in play to take advantage of tickets already purchased to go someplace he didn't need to be....it just happened to be on the way to DC. Got that? Sooooooooo..the straight forward approach would have been to just put him on a direct flight from Albany to DC...BUT that could not really be done because of mysterious ticket swapping policies( not to mention extra $$). So we did the best we could and got him on a flight to Phillie with a connection to DC...he'd still get there this morning...early. Sooooooooooooooooo...he arrives to check in at 4:30am...and he isn't booked on those flights. hhhmmm...is he booked on anything? "ahhhh yes here you are...you are booked on the direct flight from Albany to DC." !!!!!?????
Kind of hard to be angry.........but it sure is a mystery.
PS.....how we know about the bus to Montreal. Greg's cousin and her husband were bound for a cruise. They got to the airport at 5am from God's country up in the Northeast Kingdom....after hours of delays they were put on a bus to Montreal where they were ( will be?) put on a flight to Cozumel or Cancun or somewhere to meet up with the cruise ship......all because THIS regional airline posing as USAir can not seem to do anything right. Just maybe USAir wants to cut service to Burlington but just can't seem to pull the bandaid off quickly.......they would rather torture us first. Losing their customer base would certainly justify pulling up stakes in Vermont.
...I may have been awake since 2:59 this morning but at least I wasn't bussed to Albany....
Posted by frani at 06:26 AM | Comments (3)
February 23, 2003
From Demian
I am the number 2 I am friendly _ |
this quiz by orsa
I am p Everyone loves pi _ |
this quiz by orsa
Posted by frani at 03:37 PM | Comments (3)
Damn woman....
It's that time again...my tenant has been lurned away by his involvement with a woman! The apartment just isn't big enough for cohabitation..they always move out when he/she wants to become a they. Rats.
Coincidentally, last evening someone stopped by in answer to an ad in the Free Press from someone looking for a roommate...the house he was looking for was further up the street. However, at first glance this would appear to be beneficial to all. He would rather have a place of his own...he is a transplant from Germany working for a Canadian firm up the interstate..no girlfriend as yet. My tenant won't be leaving until May...this prospective tenant has a paid hotel room from his company for 3 months......sounds like a match ..right?
Hold on big fella...first of all...why on earth would anyone drive into our driveway in the dark looking for an address that is 7 houses further down the street? Then when no one answered the door (we have no doorbell and we are watching TV in the livingroom) he proceeded to wander along the side of the house and tap on the window in the living room. Let me tell you I was less than thrilled to figure out someone was actually tapping on the window out there in the dark..." Is someone tapping ont he window? ...ummm Greg..I hear tapping...is someone tapping on the window? GREG! Go look and see if someone is out there!!!" " yup..there is someone out there..." Now there's an understatement...I was about to stroke out as it was...I can't imagine what I would have done if I had been alone...yes I do..."Hello, 911?"
This is hardly the good old American Welcome mat but on the other hand, do I really need to rent to someone who would do something like that??? Noooooooooooooooooooo, I don't think so.
Posted by frani at 10:24 AM | Comments (3)
By Popular Demand....
Ok...maybe one request doesn't constitute demand ...
Posted by frani at 09:49 AM | Comments (1)
February 22, 2003
How to lose your customer in 10days
Take one Businessman traveler on an airline...let's say it's USair.
First you lose one of his shirts while doing a luggage check ( 5 come out 4 go back in)
You change flight numbers without informing him or post two flights going to the same place under 2 different flight numbers. You make it impossible to connect with a rental car bus from the puddle jumper baggage claim without walking to a different terminal outside ( I know the blizzard was not within their control)
Your Web-check in may work just fine..too bad no security gate will accept it as valid
You restructure your feeder airports with regional jet service which can't handle complexities such as operating on schedule and luggage handling.
You inform passengers their flights is ontime right up to boarding time when you announce the aircraft on which they will be traveling has not left their last destination and has yet another stop before it arrives to get them.( see above)
You arrange to have 1/3 of your passengers have luggage issues upon arrival at their destination at 11PM but the next flight from PHL is due in around 10am( see 2 above)
You then inform said passenger the next morning that his luggage did not make the connecting flight and is scheduled to arrive after 3pm . Hard to conceive of it's missing it's connection on a direct flight. ( see 3 above)
You send Mutt out to deliver luggage where upon he cannot manage to back out of the driveway without running onto the lawn...and proceeds to spin his back tire continuously until he has buried it completely. He calls Jeff who has a 4 wheel drive Subaru and they proceed to spin their tires and create the beginnings of a gouge in the driveway which was rescraped in Nov to remove gouges. They call in a tow truck and upon arrival it's driver exclaims "How the hell did you manage this in a driveway as big as the interstate?"
Ok..so it was midly entertaining for a few minutes and I'm starting to do laundry at 4pm Saturday afternoon for repacking for a 3:30 Sunday flight on ...you guessed it...USAir! ...and thus the cycle continues
Checking for competitive flights to next month's destinations produces a likely candidate....ah yes United Airlines....didn't we abandom them in favor of USAir a few years ago??? Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiight! sigh!
Curses Foiled again..........
Posted by frani at 06:17 PM | Comments (1)
February 21, 2003
Another 4 years...
I have my new photo ID/Vt Driver's License. I also realize I have GOT to stop talking when I have a picture taken...that's the issue. I was talking again and my mouth is all screwed up. Well she told me to smile big and I allowed as how when The Man pulls you over, you wouldn't exactly be smiling. Of course then I realized I really use my license for ID for airlines more . hmmm That's the ticket...the airline agents would see me smiling...That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I was not at all thrilled with the crowd of people ahead of me at the DMV...nor the one and only one employee handing out "numbers"...nor the sob stories I was hearing from those in line ahead of me...nor my "number". They were on B53 and I had D47..... I was soo afraid they were going to go through all the Cs before they started on the Ds. Alas...I was the next number called , I was shocked..it took me longer to get to the point where I explained why I was there than to renew my license and get the heck out of there! Yea! I did it a whole 5 days before it was imperative! It's a good thing.
Posted by frani at 02:21 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2003
Be careful what you wish for...
How many times have you actually uttered the words..." there ought to be a law against that..." ? Right, so have I...unfortunately some of our elected officials have taken those words way too literally. I'm all for safety but I'm not real excited about legislation designed to protect me from stupidity...my own included. Oh sure...there are arguements for such crimes as concealing an Uzi on one of your random trips to the Grand Union or screeching "Fire" at the top of your lungs while watching "Back Draft" yet again in the dollar theater. However, I have taken exception to such laws as the seat belt and helmet laws ( yeah yeah...except where children are involved....someone has to try to protect them from stupid parents) Now our esteemed elected representatives in Montpelier are rolling out there proposals for this legislative session. Hhhhmmm....there sure are some meaty issues...along with state property tax reform ( which pays for our schools..and not well) some are weighing in with issues such as making it illegal to ride your bicycle two abreast or more...and smoke in a car with a child younger than 12 as a passenger. hhhhmmm....while it may be good idea to ride single file or refrain from smoking around children cooped up in a car....should it really be a LAW?? I don't think so... It sort of reminds me of viewing the sights in Victoria Falls....it took a minute to realize we had unobstructed views. No Barriers and signs protecting us from pitching ourselves over the cliffs and into the gorge as there would be in the US. I think I did read a sign somewhere that said if you did slip off the edge, your chances of surviving a fall would be around zero. At any rate, my point is you just can't legislate against every dumb thing we can do to ourselves ...oh wait...maybe you can...just one generic Anti-Stupidity Law...don't you just love big government?
Posted by frani at 07:45 AM | Comments (4)
February 19, 2003
Heat Wave...
~~ The cat thermometer (~Elmo requsting to go outside) registers 15 minutes which translates into temperatures in the 20 degree range. It's not an exact science but since he had not been out of the house in weeks, I can expect to go out there myself and not have my lung freeze as I breathe. Maybe I'll go out later...I'm still a little gun shy.
~~I have to renew my driver's license this month. I'm not looking forward to the ordeal ....I don't have to take a drivers test again but I'm sure I'd fail for speeding or something like that. It's the photo ID. I'm not the most photogenic person to begin with ( no, no, I can accept the truth...) but I think the people at the DMV are specially trained to photograph everyone as if they were suspects in a line up or escapees from the traveling freak show. I didn't have to worry about flashing my ID for all those many years after I stopped getting carded to buy alcohol. ( gee when did that happen??) It's the airline industry...positive IDs to get ticketed and of course now you have to flash your ID a minumum of 3 times just to get on the aircraft. I know I've heard snickering and seen smirks. Security should at least question the photo ID match! It will be interesting to see what I will have to entertain the masses with for the next four years....it can't be any worse than the Deer Caught in Headlights photo on my passport! I must do it this week though since next week is school vacation around here and every 16 year old with a freshly signed completion of driver's ed form will be vying for photo-shoot time. You just know the camera person won't be in an especially good frame of mind then! sigh....
~~I shouldn't watch John Edward Crossing Over before going to bed.... it gave me nightmares. Besides who want s to know that all those dead people are hanging around you all the time watching your every move...is there no privacy?? I'm better off watching The Pet Psychic....I hope I dreamed the part about John Edward doing a special show with Sonya Fitzpatrick...it's a cruel viewing season on TV.
Posted by frani at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2003
Another week....
So I'm sitting here freezing to death yet again while those South of us are getting hit by a blizzard. It was -18 or worse over the weekend ... never got warmed up to above -2 yesterday. Lake Champlain has frozen over...first time since 1996 I think. I bet Joe's Pond won't thaw until July! We'll get more snow tonight but nothing like what is happening in South. So they say. Is there no justice this winter???? Why are we not in Arizona??
Posted by frani at 10:27 AM | Comments (5)
February 15, 2003
Saturday Morning Toons...
~~Another Friday night spent waiting for an airplane to arrive from Philadelphia ... 2.5 hours late when it wasn't due in til 11:15 pm is really really bad! AND they are no longer flying the big boy jets into Burlington. Woe is me...so much for all those upgrades.
~~Orange alert HA! This was only a rouse by the security guys in White Plains to get themselves some new shirts...hrumph...5 freshly laundered shirts were taken out of the suitcase and scrutinized...4 went back in.
~~Happy Valentines Day to me...*I* got a new shiny RED cover for my cell phone. Works for me.......
~~It's still Darn COLD here...I want winter to be over or else at least get warm. It didn't help being sick the last two days and running a slight fever...I was under two wool blankets and a down comforter before I felt warm enough.
~~I still don't want to go out there but since we have joined the geriatric drug culture, I have to go to the pharmacy to pick up our stash for the month. ( guess I'm still a child of the 60s) Even with 'script insurance we pay enough for our drugs...I can't even imagine what it would be like it we ever had serious health issues!
~~BTW...I found those pesky updated proof of insurance cards...
~~TV is bad enough as it is...worse when you are sick and worse still when you don't have to share the clicker with anyone else. Why do they call it "Reality TV"...those shows have nothing to do with MY reality...or any one I know either.
Posted by frani at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2003
As the mind wanders...
~~I was given a red and a white carnation from the dentist/crew this morning... how sweet is that for Valentine's Week? Of course when I had to return this afternoon because a temporary veneer came off a back tooth, I was afraid they would think I was after more flowers.
~~My brother Roger is the family geneologist and while reserching my maternal grandfather's family, he found that our Great-Aunt Mary kept a journal in which she wrote something daily..even if it was just the weather report. There was a journal for each year and I'm so thrilled her family kept them intact to show him. He looked up his birthday and sure enough his birth was duly recorded along with his name and everything added after. I think that is something I am hoping this Blog (or something like it) accomplishes for me and my descendents. Not that my life and thoughts are all that monumental, but that Maura and Baby Too ( and cousins?) will be able to know me as more than Grandma...can maybe read this when they are adults as well and be able to relate to being Grandma themselves. Waving at them all now and wishing I could know them when they become Grandparents too. I'd really like to chat with my Grandmother right about now.
~~Nostalgia is great...maybe that's what people think about as they age but please stop me if I drop into discussing my bowels. ( that didn't constitute a bowel discussion, did it?)
~~I do think about serious things as well....I don't like war ( does anyone, really??) but I also don't think it is the solution to the issues we are facing right now. Maybe if I had answers, I'd be inline for the Nobel Peace Prize down the road. I do know that regimes who have no respect for the value of human life at all must be contained...
~~However, Even if I was in dire need of plastic sheeting and duct tape, I wouldn't buy it this week even if I could find it. Maybe I am too blase' but pul-eeze, I won't be terrorized like that. I've never liked the notion of "being had". I am out of bottled water though...rats.
~~Ahem...I do expect my family to get all their collective butts up to Vermont if anything weird happens though...(they can bring random friends if they want too.)
~~Ack! I'm feeling that scratchy throat precursor to full blown pain...time for lemon tea...a book...a blanket ...2 warm cats...and most likely a nap.
Posted by frani at 03:29 PM | Comments (1)
February 12, 2003
moving on...
I was having way too much fun with Maura to contribute to my blog since visiting. Yeah I know I could have written when she napped or went to bed for the night BUT that's when I recharged my batteries. That's a euphamism for being pooped! We played lots of games of Hide and Screech, Choo Choo and Follow the Leader....her being the leader and making up the rules. She's quite the task master and I've got the hand prints in my backside as evidence. Of course she gently guides us where we need to be and the couch is not one of those places. We went to Tumblebee's before I left yesterday Now this is a place where THIS Grammy will take her again.
The whole week has reminded me of time spent with my Grandmother and trying to figure out how old she was when I was Maura's age I think she just may have been the age I am now...maybe 10 years older since I've been really thinking....that's a big deal in Grandma years. I only had one Grandmother when I was growing up..my father's mother; the rest of the grandparents were long since dead. She no longer had her own home either. She would move between the homes of my father and his 4 sisters....goodness...she lived without her own "Stuff"..I can't even imagine that! As I recall, she traveled rather light as well....goodness, I brought more with me to stay here a week than she used to for months! She didn't have a car either...as far as I can recall, she didn't even drive!!( cuts down on those pesky speeding tickets then)
Yikes! I'm not sure I'm liking making this comparison between my grandmother and me.
At anyrate...My Grandmother would never have gotten into a pit with foam blocks with me. I never saw her wear anything other than a housedress and apron and those black lace up heeled "sensible shoes". She didn't read to us or tell us stories but if asked she would confirm or deny gossip about my father and his sisters. She also made the very best doughnuts from scratch...fried in lard and as an extra treat we could roll the holes in powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar....my favorite. Hmmm...I think I have that recipe..I'll have to hunt it up someday when I feel our arteries aren't too clogged up to withstand them.
She died the week after Morgan was born ...a shame Demian and Morgan never got to know her....
Posted by frani at 05:58 PM | Comments (3)
February 06, 2003
Posted Speed...
~~The posted speed limit on the Merritt Parkway in Conncticut is 55mph. CT has very high fines for exceeding the speed limit. Exceeding the speed limit by 20mph results in a fine of $240.
~~Failure to carry an updated proof of insurance card is called an equipment failure violation and the fine for that is $78
I was "cut some big time slack" as the officer explained all this to me. ( Being from VT and all he didn't think I understood the ways of CT). Fortunately, he only charged me with the equipment failure.....whew....I DID appreciate what he did for me and promised to slow down.
~~I might add that I was ONLY keeping up with traffic...not leading it even if I do admit to "exceeding the speed limit, however I did not point this out to the gentleman who was "cutting me some big time slack".
~~It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to keep that car under 60mph....I nearly had to drive with my foot on the brake. Hmmmm....maybe that's where the CT drivers pick up that habit.
Posted by frani at 07:46 AM | Comments (4)
February 05, 2003
~~Have you ever noticed that
~~Have you ever noticed that when you change your plans based on weather reports, the weather turns out to be not as bad as predicted? Hate that.
~~Driving instead of flying allows for bringing things on a trip you would have done without........more shoes!
~~It's later than I think......yikes...I'm behind "schedule" when I don't even really NEED to be anywhere. Things we do to ourselves.....
Posted by frani at 08:30 AM | Comments (6)
February 01, 2003
Separated at Birth?
Life imitates art when actor endorses "self" for president.
Posted by frani at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)