Just Because I Could

So I was roaming the Halloween aisle at the store and what did I see? Pumpkin Peeps. Knowing that there were still some Easter Bunnies floating around at home, I did what anyone should do, and brought the pumpkins home for a war.

In no time flat, the pumpkins had the bunny surrounded. And into the microwave they went.

Scary! Looks like everyone has fainted for loss of...well, not blood....

But the stale Easter Bunny can stand back up in one piece--those fresh pumpkins were too oozy to make a last stand. So bunny went into the trash, and pumpkins went into s'mores. Not a bad ending to this little match, I must say.

Happy Halloween!

Go West!

To anyone who doesn't understand why my heart resides in the West, I submit this picture of the north end of Cache Valley--Red Rock Pass in Idaho. I just got the last of my pictures from this summer back, and this was among my favorites. See how the clouds trail off into the distance. See the varied colors of green against the foothills. See more mountains off in the center distance. This is beauty and freedom. You should see it in person.

And Amilynne is cute too.

The Problem Won't Go Away

This morning I woke up at 4:30. The people above me were taking a shower and there was some serious water coming down on the plastic over the hole in the ceiling. So much water that when they stopped, I decided to take a lightning shower before someone else got in and the water gushed. Good thing. Five minutes after I got out of the shower, one corner of the plastic came free, and a great gushing of water poured into my tub. How disgusting if I had been in there when it happened. How disgusting anyway.

So I waited until I was about to leave for work and called it in to maintenance. I think I woke the maintenance person up. He didn't sound happy to hear from me. I explained that I was pretty sure there was a leak related to the tub/shower above me because the dripping got so much worse when they were in the shower.

I got home this afternoon around 5:30. There was a note in the door saying that some plumbing and re-caulking had been done upstairs, but I came in to find that there is still a hole in the ceiling and there was a mess of ceiling particles in the tub, along with some footprints from a work boot. I flipped. Not only was the ceiling not fixed, a mess got left behind for me to clean up again.

I called the management office.

After telling the whole story to the girl who answered the phone, she said that they have ordered in sheetrock to fix the ceiling, but it's not in yet, and she offered, "well, I can send maintenance in to clean it up tomorrow." No good. No good at all. How am I supposed to get ready for work in the morning if I wait for maintenance to clean it up? No, I told her that I want a discount on my rent this month for my inconvenience. She told me I would have to speak with the manager, who (of course) was on the phone. I said I would hold. Every three or four minutes the girl would be back, acting surprised that I was still on the line. After more than ten minutes, she took my number, promising to pass the message on. Well, I did not receive a phone call. I am irritated beyond belief.

They think I am being terrible, but at work today the other teachers said, "You haven't called the health department yet?" I figure I am a fairly patient person. I just don't like being taken advantage of. Like what's this about ordering in sheetrock. Can't they just run to Home Depot? Are you telling me that there is not one piece of sheetrock to be had in this whole town?

New Shower Curtain

Well, today I purchased a new shower curtain for myself. You see, the ceiling above my shower had been looking suspiciously as though water damage were happening, and I called maintenance to have it looked at, but it wasn't a big enough problem to send someone until the ceiling fell into the tub and ripped up my shower curtain. The ceiling fell Friday evening, and at 10:00 p.m., after diagnosing the problem as the people above me do not use a shower curtain and they let water pool on the floor, maintenance said they would be back Saturday to fix it. Saturday afternoon. And then there was the whole mess to be cleaned up--moldy dust, bits of drywall, etc. etc. etc. CHE SCHIFEZZA!!!! You ask me, the freaks who live above me should have been down here sanitizing my bathroom and purchasing a new shower curtain for me (and one for themselves as well). It's not really even fixed yet--they have hung plastic under the hole and will fix it sometime next week. The disturbing part is that water is dripping onto the plastic. Not tons of water, just little drips, and I do still suspect that the problem lies in the plumbing as much as with the non-shower-curtain-using-fools. But I could be wrong, I could just be underestimating the damage a fool can do. At any rate, I get to look forward to cleaning the bathroom again after they come in and fix the hole. I should charge the apartment complex for my time.

As you can see, I'm posting this at 3:15 a.m. This is because it was after one when I finally felt like attacking the mess. That is probably due to a lot of factors, but the real one is that I am a night owl and I do better after one than at any other time of the day. Deciding to take a job that requires me to arrive at 7:15 really went against my nature. My retirement goal is to never see 7:15 again. In the middle of the night, my energy and creativity pick up, and I can get a lot done. Anyway. I digress. Or I'm done. Enough complaining. I've got homework to do.

Junior is the Cutest Baby

Look at his stand-straight-up hair and long little fingers! Look at his big big eyes! I am the proudest auntie. We'll keep him.

LOST is driving me crazy!!!**

**I should probably expound on the topic, but anyone who is following the show knows exactly what I mean, and anyone who is not following the show just wouldn't understand anyway.

Call Me Auntie

Junior was born this morning at about 11:00 a.m. EDT. Healthy, with some dark brown hair*. Hooray! Hooray! Kiddo and the Wifey are doing fine as well. So all my students were greeted this afternoon with the conversation starter "Io sono una zia!"

I can't wait to see the whole family at Christmas! 59 days and counting.

*note, added at 10:58 p.m.: The Kiddo reportedly told Amilynne that Junior's hair sticks straight up. Which is wonderful, because it was a year before the Kiddo's hair would stay down. Good to see some traits passed on.

PandaCam

I am an absolute geek, but bears are my favorite animals, so when I bumped into the PandaCam from the National Zoo I was hooked. There is a new baby panda that was named Tai Shan in a ceremony yesterday, but really, if you're lucky, you'll get to see mom attack some bamboo. (Tai Shan just sleeps a lot.)

Bears are fun! Bears are cool!

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

With all the bad news that has been filling every second of every day, some good news was finally reported on CNN.com--Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter of New Orelans is ready to reopen Wednesday morning at 6 am. Hooray! Who doesn't love a beignet?

The Cell Phone Middle Ages

Once upon a time you could get a Nokia 5160 or something like that -- anyway, you know the phone I'm talking about -- the ancient one that resembles a small brick. Well, I had dropped mine a few too many times and it wasn't working so well. Big deal, you say, you can now get a real phone with a camera or iTunes or something on it. Except that if I change phones, I will get kicked off of my plan and have to pay much more for less monthly service. I subscribe to a company that was part of AT&T Wireless, which of course was gobbled up by Cingular, and they really just want you to pay too much for limited minutes. Right now I have unlimited minutes, and I want it to stay that way. To do so, I have to keep my phone working, because if I change phones I have to change to a Cingular plan (or switch companies).

So last night I was picking up the new Franz Ferdinand disc at Best Buy and Lo and Behold there was a battery for my phone on clearance for $8. I bought two. I intend to ride this unlimited phone wave as long as I can. I got the battery attached to the phone, and it doesn't jiggle off in mid-conversation, and it doesn't die so much in mid-conversation, hooray hooray hooray. It appears that my fabulous phone plan is mine for a little while longer.