Well, I hate car dealers as a rule, so I try to buy cars as rarely as possible. So I was very disappointed when I brought my beloved 10 year old Mitsubishi in for service and they told me it would cost $3000 to fix everything that's wrong with it. (Which is double its blue book value).
On the other hand, I've been longing for a hybrid ever since they came out, oddly enough, 10 years or so ago. So I gritted my teeth, did my research, discovered that I could have Costco do my bargaining for me, and came home with a brand new Prius at just $700 over invoice. Considering the other dealerships were quoting me $2000 over MSRP, I felt like I got a decent deal, and there was NO haggling involved.
And I LOVE my new Prius. It doesn't even have an ignition key. I just walk up to the vicinity of the car with the fob in my pocket, and it automatically unlocks whichever door I walk up to, then I get in and press a start button, et voila, it starts. It's the ultimate gadget car. Pictures soon, though I imagine you all know what Priuses look like.
I've had my cat for well, several months now, and he still doesn't have a name. He was adopted under the name Tomas, which is too hard to say, and is just silly anyway. I've tried on "Killer" and "Sir Kitty no-name", and Nando (which is short for Ferdinand, a loose reference to his love of shoes, because I can't call him Imelda). I refuse to call him "fluffy" or "sleepy" or "grumpy" even though he's all of those things. He occasionally has psychotic episodes and has a real affinity for catnip. So if any of you are inspired, I'm fresh out of name ideas for my cat.
Well still no news at work. No travel in my immediate future, but I'm getting to do a little training again , which is both fun and nerve wracking It's like slipping back into an old comfy sweater that you suddenly remember has a scratchy tag at the neck.
So the big news around here is, now that I'm home for what I hope to be a nice length of time, I'm going to TRY to toilet train my cat. I know, it's crazy. But he's already embraced with open paws the move of his litter box into the bathroom. Even if we get no further than the move from big stinky house in my living room to nice tidy flushable litter box next to the toilet, I'll be happy.
Well this summer seems to be passing me by. I spent most of last week holed up in a hotel conference room (yes, that includes the weekend) replanning the project we're working on. The outcome of this meeting (which remains to be decided) either means I'll be scary busy for the next couple months and traveling endlessly, or it means I'll be scary busy for the next year and traveling not quite so extensively for the moment.
Meanwhile, the cat is getting used to having me home again, and is showing a decided affection for catnip. I didn't realize it was addictive until I decided one week that he really didn't need anymore catnip, and after about 5 days he started leaping around the living room, jumping at shadows and teething. A little teaspoon of catnip and he was back to his old mellow sleepy self. I feel a little guilty about feeding his habit, but at the end of the day, it's not like he's going to end up in a crack house selling his body for his next fix....
I'm beginning to think I must be allergic to something in Iowa. I've had a cold every single trip here, which miraculously disappears as soon as I get to Seattle. Sigh. So today Ross and I got a fabulous tour of Gateway, where we got to see the process from beginning to end. I was so inspired I ran out and bought a laptop immediately.... well, actually, I have had a laptop in the works for a couple of weeks now (ever since I realized that I couldn't take my desktop computer with me on a cruise ship), and the opportune laptop and moment presented themselves (it has integrated wireless, and only weighs 3 pounds!) today, and so now I just have to figure out how I'm going to get 2 laptops home with me on the plane. Suggestions are welcome. I'm going to take a nap now, though the siren call of my new toy is keeping me awake.
FINALLY - one can register online to get placed on the National Do Not Call List, so after Oct 1, Telemarketers can't call you anymore. Here's the link, run by the FTC, as reported by KIRO. Yay - http://donotcall.gov/ . Gah, I sound like an infomercial, but I was just called by a telemarketer, whilst in the middle of creating a rather tricky shrimp scampi, and when I told her I was in the middle of making dinner, rather than apologizing, she assured me she wouldn't take much of my time. Shrimp cooks in 30 seconds! It took me that long to answer the phone and hang up on her.
I have GOT to stop watching FOX News. I never thought I would rant about CIPA in my blog, (I'm leaving that to my more eloquent companions who actually ARE librarians), but they just had the most inane coverage of the supreme court decision where they kept cutting off the librarian who was talking about what a blow this was to libraries, so some self satisfied republican could swan on about what a victory this was for parents , so now they could send their little darlings to be babysat by the librarians without fear that the evil library would allow them to look at porn. The commentator then turned to the librarian and said, "well, the cost isn't really THAT prohibitive, you can buy this filtering software for $30, and well, at most it might cost you a few hundred, that's not that big a deal is it? What library budget has this man been looking at? And of course, they didn't begin to touch the fact that none of these filters actually work. I'm with Aaron, I think I'll move to the South Pacific.
Okay, rant over. So I find myself in Boston now, at the airport, and technically I could hop on the subway and go visit the sites, but I have to say I'm feeling pretty lazy and disinclined. That, and driving in New Bedford (where apparently, at the green light, left turners have the right of way over people who are going straight) has made me hate everyone in cars. Or anyone who stands to close to me, or looks at me, or gets in my way, or walks too slow.... oh, wait, I said the rant was over. UM - they have a really nice workout room here at the Embassy Suites. The whole place is brand spanking new and smells like carpet. Maybe I'll just avail myself of the free happy hour and work on CSS tonight.