How NOT to Start Your Monday

We had a rough morning. Mars’ truck wouldn’t start, and he had to take my van to work. So while I was fixing breakfast, I warned …

Hey, I think I’ve just solved a long-term problem! Mad Scientist hates that nickname, and he’s been campaigning for something less childish. He suggested Lego-something. Snore! But I just thought of something better. He’s discovered a real gift for computer animation,* so from now on Mad Scientist is — the Animator. 

As I was saying, I warned the Animator that I don’t have a car. Because he’s feeling so stressed at school, we’ve given him a cell phone to carry and permission to call at any time and I’ll come and get him. I haven’t actually had to go get him yet, but he has called a time or two.

We talked while I fixed breakfast. I reminded him of a few stress-management tips and told him to feel free to call just to talk. And I told him in a real emergency, Mars could come and get him, though it would take forty-five minutes at least.

“Don’t forget to take the phone,” I said as he headed upstairs after breakfast.

Update About Telus

Well, the Telus customer service guy called me back. Yep, the same guy. You may note I don’t have “customer service” in quotes in anymore, which I suppose is a bit of a spoiler.

But he was wonderful. He treated me like a human being. Funny, how far that goes!

Oh, and they didn’t turn off my phone again, so I wasn’t a frothing, raving lunatic* without internet.

Walking in Moonlight

Yesterday when I walked the kids out to the bus, it was a magic place. Still dark but for the full moon hanging low in an empty sky and glinting off the ice.

I tried to take pictures with my phone, but it just wasn’t up to the job. So today I took a better camera and a tripod out with me.

 

Beautiful, no?

It was even prettier yesterday because the moon was completely full, and the sky was cloudless. But you get the idea.

You’re Turning Off My Phone AGAIN?!

Forgive me for a moment while I rant against Telus. Feel free to skip this entry, and come back another day, when perhaps my sense of humor will be restored.

Good thing that Christmas cheer crap is over, eh? Otherwise, I’d have to stuff all this infuriation into Mom’s Christmas Cake Cookies and my sister’s Frosted Eggnog Cookies and my friend’s Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies, and then I’d never be able to fit into my adorable clothes.

I just got a text from Telus saying I have almost reached my credit limit* (again!) and need to “make a full payment now” or they’ll shut off my phone.

Frankly, this makes no sense. Since the last time they shut off my phone, I’ve been religiously watching my usage, and as of yesterday, I’d used about 2.75 GBs (I’m allowed five per month), with an overage charge of $40-something.

So I’m naturally wondering how the heck I used 2.25 GBs and spent $160 overnight – especially since I haven’t been able to get on the internet for the past two days.

I called their “customer service” (in quotes because that’s what they call it, though personally I think “customer f***ers” is a more apt description).

Ice, Ice, Baby!

I guess I’ve become a real Albertan. I blogged about hockey, and now I’m talking about weather. But it’s weather worth noting.

See, it’s unseasonably warm. I mean warm warm. One day last week, it was 45°F in Edmonton — as warm as it was in Chehalis!

The problem is, the warm spell came after a slight snowfall. Slight enough that most people (including us) didn’t bother to plow their driveways. What’s an inch of snow, after all, when you have X-Ice tires? Then it poured rain. And every night it cooled back down, below freezing.

All of which equals ice. Thick rinks of ice on all surfaces.

This is the road in front of our house. It’s actually not too bad because it was plowed after the snow, and kept sanded. But in the sunshine, you can clearly see the sheen of ice.

The ice is everywhere.

Last week, I took Mad Scientist to the psychologist, and as I drove around the parking lot I realized I had absolutely no control over my vehicle. I was surprisingly calm about it.

So Done With Christmas!

Whew! Thank goodness that’s over.

We took down the Christmas tree, cleaned up the pine needles, and put away the gifts. Now I can be grouchy again.

Oh, it was probably good for me to try to keep up the Christmas cheer for twelve days. Certainly the kids and I (and Mars when he could) had a blast.

But I’m ready to get back into a more normal routine. I’m ready to be done with the holidays. Heck, I’m ready to face 2012. I’m looking forward, not back. And I’m filled with optimism.

That and a furious determination that it sure as hell isn’t going to be as bad as 2011.

No Internet. Again. *sigh*

Just FYI: I have no internet again. This is becoming almost laughable.

I think there must be an Amish or Luddite ghost haunting our house, making sure modern technology doesn’t pollute the property.

If you want the gory, boring details, they’re below the cut.

13th Day of Christmas: 13 Fascinating Facts

1. Titanic artifacts were preserved for posterity, but the ship itself is still at the bottom of the ocean, being eaten by iron bacteria. They estimate the ship will collapse and disappear in forty to ninety years. Do you suppose Iron Out and bleach could rescue the Titantic like they rescued my towels? Yeah, yeah, I know … the environment.

2. Millvina Dean was nine weeks old when her family got on the Titanic. They were supposed to have traveled on a different White Star liner, but a coal strike left it docked. Her mother and older brother survived, but her father was lost. She did not know she’d been on the Titanic for many years. When she died at age 96 in 2009, she was the last remaining Titanic survivor.

3. First class passengers ate peaches in chartreuse jelly. I’d kill to taste that dish. I would not, however get on the Titanic to taste it.

4. Third class passengers also ate well, though they missed the chartreuse jelly. They had roast beef and gravy, potatoes, sweet corn, biscuits and plum pudding. And they slept on real mattresses, not straw, like steerage passengers on other lines. Didn’t keep ‘em alive though. Unlike airplane seats, the mattresses could not be used as floatation devices.

12th Day of Christmas: 12 Pool Laps

Yeah, I’m stretching it, I know. I didn’t even count the laps.

But I was delighted to Mad Scientist swimming laps, back and forth across the pool. Just ten days ago, he bailed on a class swimming trip because he was afraid he’d be teased because he “can’t swim.” And for a solid hour, Girly Girl did surface dives to grab a diving ring, despite the fact that she insisted she couldn’t go under the water.

The good news is that we’re almost done with this Christmas cheer crap, and then we can return to our regularly scheduled programming of gripes and grouses.

Not just yet though. The kids and I are headed to the Telus World of Science Friday, so I’m going to make the “12 Days” of Christmas a baker’s dozen.

11th Day of Christmas: 11 Songs Downloading

We were planning to go to the Telus World of Science today, but it poured rain last night — and then froze. So Mars took the van with the X-Ice tires to work, and we had a quiet day at home.

As a result, I thought I would have trouble coming up with eleven special somethings today … but then Mary Jane Alm posted a Facebook link to an amazing song called, “Let the Wind Chase You.”

I didn’t catch the title or the singer before I clicked on it, but I recognized the voice immediately. Trisha Yearwood. She’s one of my favorite singers (and one of my favorites karaoke artists too), but somehow I’d missed this song.

It stopped me cold — reminded me of a Postsecret I saw last month on the Postsecret app (sadly now defunct). I was going to link to the secret, but apparently the entire website has been shut down, not just the app. But it was about investing your heart in the wrong people.

Of course I had to have the song, so I clicked over to iTunes.

There are thirteen songs on the album, but since I already had two of them … bingo! Eleven songs downloaded.

I’ve been listening to them over and over as I write critiques for my group, and they’re just getting better with every listen (though “Let the Wind Chase You” is still my favorite).

In fact, this might be my favorite Trisha Yearwood album, by far.