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September 27, 2008

September draws nigh.......

Remember when it was Sept. and not Sep? Remember when you were young, the year dragged by - you thought Christmas or Halloween or yikes, your birthday would just take forever to roll around again? Ta Da! No longer the case, it's nearing the end of September - three quarters of this year gone already. Oh well, I'd rather be on this speeding train than left at the station....... ;-D

So the other day, we got a phone call from our local fireman's association selling concert tickets - yup extolling the many local programs, mentioning local high school and elementary school ( one of three only)...almost had me believing there might actually be someone local until**** " I know you're a busy woman and hope I didn't get you out of the pool on this lovely day..." POOL? Idiot...not from around here, are ya...pool, Vermont, September ...geesh. ...and worst of all the concert was the Lovin' Spoonful and although I sounded young, he wonder if I remembered o/'o/'o/' Do you believe in Magic o/'o/'o/' and started signing....yeah right, that would get me to buy tickets...

Moving right along........This past week brought some activity to the woods next to our house. Dumont park...who knew it had a name? Seems the city thought they'd lump some extra looking around in there in case they ever wanted to do some recreation paths through the area. Sure whats the problem with spending a little extra looking at another 15 acres of mosquito invested swampland..just in case. The archeologists uncovered all sorts of remnants of past lives in there... "Lurch" was said to have lived in the woods for many years, well that's what the kids in the neighborhood said anyway. Probably nothing older than the 1970s...;-D Needless to say it caused a little ripple of interest in the old neighborhood - we like having our 15 acres of "Vermont" right smack in the middle of town.

Speaking of the city...I'm not sure there is much doubt that we could use some new facilities for our police dept and or city offices but it hasn't been an easy process. A couple of years ago there was a proposal to build a new police station for $10 mil and it had a copper roof...yeah..I don't think so. So they went back to the drawing board and scaled it down but now they want to build it on some property we all bought to keep as recreation and open lands. We're all invited to a public hearing to discuss the plan next week before the Nov vote...yeah we can ask questions but have been told it's not a forum for expressing opinions...umm..err.. excuse me, I have a question..."Are you people out of your minds? Lost sight of who you are talking to? Are you telling us what we can and can not say in at a public hearing? Oh yeah, that would be three questions and I'm not sure you could gather enough votes this week to pass a bond to build a dog house much less a new police station"...telling a SB taxpayer they can't express an opinion...snort... That will be the day. I hope we can attend that meeting! I just love SB politics these days.

let's see...My computer tried to die again last week. This time it was the fan. Poor thing had even reached the point where it spit out a little message that said "Fan Error" and refused to boot. Silly 'puter, as if we we had to be told that grinding noise was the fan trying to give up. Well once again my hero came to my rescue and replaced the fan - all is well. And yes, his old computer is now starting to make the same noise - the fan for his is ordered thank you.

Guess that's about all I can muster up from around here this week. Have a good weekend all.....stay dry.

Posted by frani at 08:20 AM | Comments (1)

September 12, 2008

If it's Friday...

I haven't quite got myself into the mindset of weekly traveling but I do have to pack up to go home today. The good news is I don't have to check out of the hotel by 12-1pm then hang out homelessly for 5 hours waiting for Greg to get out of work before going off to the airport.

As with any new place, this apartment has it's quirks. I've acquainted myself with the little 4.5 capacity washer - it's so cute and it plays a little tune when it's done. I don't remember the exact tune but it's akin to "It's a small world" - a little disconcerting but I can live with it. We have racks to dry the clothes - I like them better than the ones I have at home but I'm sorry, shirts need to go into a dryer to get the wrinkles out. I haven't found an iron here yet...right, as if I'd ever use one anyway. Of course there are full size washers and dryers on the first floor for our use but I haven't even gone down there yet. Some things are easy, such as the dishwasher. Alarm clock, not so much, the obvious off button opens the door to the cd player...hhhmmm. Our landlords are of Chinese descent and while I have no problem learning to use chopsticks more effectively, I have yet to coax those Cheerios onto the ends of them so I might need to buy a few more spoons and forks. I love the woks at my disposal and I just may need to buy a good one for home.

We have assigned parking places. I have indicators I use to aim for our spot...yep, there is space between us and the Jeep with the flat tire. That space is likely to be filled with a car whose owner likes the jaunty angle approach to parking. Of course, the first night a Realtor and prospect took our spot plus one. The closest "available" spot was a block away and of course she was back to her car about the same time I walked back from parking our car down there. Hello, maybe next time she ought to think about finding an empty spot! Hrumph...I play by the rules and find it difficult to understand why other people think they are above them. It will be interesting to keep 'em all guessing when we show up with a different rental car each time orrrrrrr see if people get lulled into seeing an empty space for a week at a time and encroaching on it. I know it's more effective to lay on the sugar when people are rude but I find my prickly side sneaks out in such instances.

This is the fourth project HGJ's worked on in this area so I'm finding it easier to assimilate into the culture and get around efficiently as I recall short cuts and what streets connect with main streets etc. I haven't had a chance to use the Metro into DC as yet or the buses but I've got my routes all mapped out for when the time comes. I've got to go to the Zoo, ya know. ..and maybe the National Archives and the Capitol. I have enjoyed going into DC many times on the Metro but these two buildings have eluded me so far.

We'll see you all from home - God and AirTran willing.......have a good weekend all.

Posted by frani at 09:24 AM | Comments (2)

September 08, 2008

Ups and downs.......

So you may have noticed I haven't been traveling much over the last few months; it's been good staying home but then I get complacent. Last week's trip to Gaithersburg reminded me that rental cars are like a box of chocolate - you never know what you're going to get. Of course speaking as someone who used to stick my finger up the bottom of the candy before choosing....um...never mind, we won't go there.

Last week's vehicle was a white (go figure!) Elentra with a "miss never-lost". We bonded but I found the viewing from the drivers seat a little hard - someone ran over a curb and it wasn't me. This week is even less of a thrill - the dreaded PT cruiser. Talk about embarrassing - I feel like apologizing for parking near other civilized people...sorry, sorry...yes I know but it's a rental, you see. The only thing worse would be if it were bright school bus yellow. ::::::::shudder::::::

Hotels...we are back at our suite type hotel this week. We allowed ourselves to be lead astray last week and stayed at your basic hotel - just bed and bath no cooking facilities and lots of pretension. Sometimes it's best to inform people of the LIST of hotels with "the corporate rate" and let them choose what suits them best. There's a novel approach. At any rate, we prefer our Marriotts so this time we are staying at a TownPlace Suites because they have a "full kitchen" which means an oven as well as stovetop. It doesn't hurt that with a Platinum status we are upgraded...yes, a two bedroom suite will do nicely but hey! Where's the second bathroom!?! The noive! Actually this type of place does well for us...we don't need/want daily housekeeping etc...geesh, we aren't used to it at home, why should we pay for it away? I mean really, it's a pain to make sure the underwear is off the floor and our jammies put away before the housekeeping service comes around. Now now, before you start scoffing at us...there's a price that's been paid for this upgrade... oh yeah. Do you know how many nights have been stayed in a hotel to achieve Platinum status? Yeah well neither do I and I won't take the time to look it up but, I can assure you it's a LOT of nights away from home so I'm not going to begrudge us/him an upgrade.

Now.......back to that rental car...I think we have to get back on the guys who put us in the drivers seat's good side. We haven't rented a lot of cars in the last few years so they've forgotten us and how nice we are and deserving of upgrades. If the PT cruiser is any indication of how they really feel about us, we have our work cut out for us...;-D

Happy Day..Happy week...make it a good one for yourself.

Posted by frani at 08:53 AM | Comments (1)