Thoughts on Hosiery and Making a "Major Transaction"

Karen shares some thoughts about pantyhose. I've decided to stop wearing them myself (*grin*).

Also, there's a guide to making that "major transaction" at work. Very helpful indeed.

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Getting Ready for the Small Print

Mood: deliberate
Listening to: K-Love
Reading: Visual Basic 6 Object-Oriented Programming
Eating: McDonald's Steak, Egg, and Cheese Bagel; hash brown; 16 oz coffee with three creams and one packet of sugar; one Granny Smith apple

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Last night after dinner we went to the Super Laundry to do laundry, of course. Also, I brought along some stuff with which we could do our taxes. Federal and state income tax returns for 2004 must be filed by this coming Friday, April 15th.

Getting Ready for the OTHER Big Day

My birthday is this coming Saturday, April 16th. I share it with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , a woman from church, and a co-worker. Lately it's been hard to look forward to my birthday until we've filed our tax returns, but since we're getting very close, I'm glad to share about a card that my daughter Keisha, who is almost 8 years old, made me yesterday:

On an 8-1/2 by 11 sheet of notebook paper folded in half, she had drawn on all four sides of the card with crayons and pencil. The front has a blue background, and a card in red, blue, and black stripes on it, with the words "I Love You Dad".

I open it up, and the inside left reads as follows:

Happy Birthday!

Dear Birthday -
Dad have a great
BirthDay Day 35 will be
great! your Love is
so sweat you know
you are so, so, so, handsome
true Love. from Dad and Mom
to: Dad
from Keisha

The 'g' in great (both times) is written backwards as is the 'y' in "you know you are". The "i" in Keisha has a heart for the dot.

On the facing page - i.e., the inside right side - is a picture of a girl looking at the words on the left side. This girl is wearing a black turtleneck with a purple-beaded necklace. Her hair is black, straight, and in five brown bows. Keisha told me that it's her. Inside the face is written:

how old are you?   35.

Turning the card over to the back, I see on another blue background, a red plate with a spatula, a knife, and a lit birthday caked colored in black, blue, green, and red stripes.

But that's not all! Keisha had found all the paper money Jennie had left on our dresser, and, with some tokens from an arcade we went to a long while back, put it all inside this card! I gave the money back to Jennie, of course, and put the tokens away, but the heart behind what Keisha did just made me feel so special.

My daughter is AWESOME!

Me, Myself and I: Charmilla!

My mom has uncovered one of the newest buzzwords to hit our pop culture: Charmilla

Think of it as the new Bennifer.

Making a Major Purchase - Gasoline

I did it. I finally broke down and made a major purchase. But it wasn't without its inherent difficulties.

I'm talking about buying some gas for our car, naturally. Here's what happened:

Shopping Around - The Internet

Yesterday, as I pulled into work, I noticed that our car was going to need some gas soon. In the afternoon, I went online to GasPriceWatch.com to check the prices at filling stations around here. I found a station that was on the way back to Cincinnati (I still work in Dayton).

Thursday Afternoon Reality

As I headed home, I saw that the price for a gallon of gas at the station was actually much higher than I'd seen online. Gas stations always raise their prices on Thursdays. I glanced at the fuel gauge and decided to continue on, hoping to find a better price as I continued home.

At Home, Unfuelled

Arriving home, I had not found a better price for gas, so I didn't buy any. The fuel gauge still said that it was okay. Perhaps we'd get some as we went out for the evening to go to the store and the library (see "Mind Change Needed").

As we returned home last night, Jennie and I remembered that we'd forgotten to get gas. "No problem," I said, "I'll just get some on the way to work tomorrow morning."

The Next Day

This morning I was late in leaving, but determined to get some gas. I decided to forego the shortcut that would bypass the commercial area that is Colerain Avenue and, instead, made the trip north on Colerain, checking the prices at gas stations along the way.

By the time I reached the entrance ramp for I-275 eastbound, I still had not gotten any gas. I'll pull off somewhere off I-75 and get some, I said to myself.

Listening to a Book

I mentioned earlier that I've been listening to the audiobook on cassette of Jeffrey Deaver's "The Vanished Man," (see "Aunt Nominated for Award")and I guess I got really into what I was listening to because I'd stopped looking at gas station prices.

That Familiar Shudder

Until, of course, the car began that familiar shudder that indicates it's close to conking out. I've ran out of gas with this car two other times since friends from church gave it to us last October. Fortunately, I was able to get on the Ohio 73 Springboro exit ramp.

Come on, I said to the car, trying to keep the car going. I spotted a Sunoco gas station sign just off the exit ramp. Just a little further...

Then, right as I made the turn onto Ohio 73, the car conked out. I turned on the hazard lights, put the car in neutral, tried to start it, but to no avail. I opened the door, got out, and began to push the car toward the Sunoco station entrance.

Not What I'd Expected

It was then that I noticed that the sign indicating the prices for the different grade of gas was blank. Sure enough, the station was closed - out of business or something. Great, I thought, slowly inching the car toward the entrance anyway, as I glanced around for other nearby gas stations.

The Good Samaritan and a Near-Miss

Just then a red SUV pulled around into the Sunoco station, and a man came out to help me push the car into the lot. "Hop in," he said, "I'll take you to the Speedway down the road."

The man - I never got his name - pulled his SUV next to a pump, and I went toward the store entrance. As I got closer to the door to the store, I stepped on what I think was a small oil slick, almost losing my balance. Close call.

A Confused Clerk

I asked the manager where the gas cans were, and he directed me to them. I picked one up and went to the cashier. "I'd like to buy one gallon of gas and this gas can," I said.

She seemed a little confused, as though she'd never had a customer pre-pay for one gallon of gas. "87 octane on pump 5, please," I added, giving her some money.

The Cost of Procrastinating

After I filled up the gas can, the good samaritan drove me back to my car at the vacant Sunoco station. "Thank you so much," I told him. "I could have saved a lot of money and time if I'd just stopped somewhere sooner to get some gas."

"Just be sure to do this for someone else who may be stranded on the road," he replied.

"Like in that movie "Pay It Forward" with Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment," I said. As he dropped me off, I thanked him again, added the gallon to my tank, and drove back to the Speedway.

Finally Fueling

Walking back to the store entrance, I slid on the same oil slick, nearly losing my balance again. I went inside, got a drink from their cooler, and returned to the same cashier I'd had just minutes before. "We meet again," I said. Handing her a $20 bill, I said, "I'd like to pay for this drink and use the remainder for gas."

Before I left the store, I made sure to mention the oil slick to the manager. Then I went to the pump, fueled the car, and drank my energy drink. After that, I got back in the car and continued my journey to work.

The Only Legitimate Place to Get Free Credit Reports

Clark Howard, the consumer warrior who hosts a syndicated radio talk show, recently mentioned that there is only one place to get free credit reports:

Entering the term “free credit report” into Google’s search function returns more than 22 million hits. This is a hot entrepreneurial area right now and that is not necessarily a good thing.

Tons of criminal outfits are claiming they will give you a free credit report, as long as you enter your information first. These scam artists then use that information to steal your identity. You need to know that there is only one legitimate Web site that offers you a free credit report with no strings attached.

The Web site, annualcreditreport.com is not directly accessible so there is no need to get confused. People in the West and Midwest can now get their reports for free. The entire country will have access by September of this year. For more details, visit the site – and only that site! And do not give out your personal information to anyone you don't know.

Extending Daylight Savings Time Saves Fuel

This just in from the AP wire:

WASHINGTON - If Congress passes an energy bill, Americans may see more daylight-saving time.

Lawmakers crafting energy legislation approved an amendment Wednesday to extend daylight-saving time by two months, having it start on the last Sunday in March and end on the last Sunday in November.

"Extending daylight-saving time makes sense, especially with skyrocketing energy costs," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., who along with Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-sponsored the measure.

The amendment was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that is putting together major parts of energy legislation likely to come up for a vote in the full House in the coming weeks.

"The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use," said Markey, who cited Transportation Department estimates that showed the two-month extension would save the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

The country uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day.

8 April 2005 Update: I saw this on the AP wire:

WASHINGTON - In an April 6 story about Congress considering a measure to extend daylight-saving time, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the time change would be extended to cover from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in November. Instead, the measure would cover the period from the first Sunday in March to the last Sunday in November. Daylight-saving time now runs from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.

What do you all think about this?

Mind Change Needed

I'm at the Groesbeck Library. I just dropped Jennie and Keisha off at the store while I stopped here to return some DVDs, renew those that we hadn't watched yet, and pick up a book I'd reserved.

I decided to get on the Internet here so that I could type up a letter to God about how I'm feeling (see "My Well Is Bone-Dry").

I look forward to some changes in our circumstances happening soon:

• Keisha to be back in school
• Jennie's orientation for her new job to be over
• I to have a PC, internet connection, etc., to be able to work from home
• Keisha to have her other hearing aid
• Our car to have its right front tire assembly to stop wobbling
• Our stuff to be unpacked and stored away where needed

Yet as I look at this list, it seems that it's really my perspective that needs to be changed the most. I can change the way I perceive these things, and dealing with them will be easier.

Well, it's time for me to head back to the store to be with Jennie and Keisha. I look forward to apologizing to them. Thank you, God, for mercy and forgiveness!

Aunt Nominated for Award

Listening to: The Vanished Man, by Jeffrey Deaver (on cassette)
Watching:Dodgeball and Daredevil

Mom forwarded me this e-mail about my aunt, her younger sister:

Your little sister has been nominated for the Florence Nightengale Nursing Excellence Award, given yearly to 2 nurses in Cincinnati from the University of Cincinnati School of Nursing.

I also was nominated for an award by the clinic that I work near for the "Residential Services" award, given to an agency or individual who has furthered the health of the community residents.

I don't think I won the Florence Nightengale award since one of our Parish Nurses won last year, and I don't know anything about the other one, but it was an honor to be nominated either way.

I'm also moving forward with my community health worker program that I've been trying to get off the ground for 5 years. My boss has taken up my cause with the higherups and she snuck me a note with some really good news today.

11 April 2005 Update:Mom posted some more encouraging words: read "My Sister, Mary"

Talk Therapy Is Sometimes Best for Depression

One drawback in seeking treatment for depression may be the thought of having to take medication. According to this WebMD article, new research challenges the widely accepted idea that drugs are the only effective, initial treatment for major depression.

I QUIT

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