Confusion, irritation, and humour

So on my way home yesterday I did something. I didn't think much about it before I did it. I didn't think much about it while I was doing it. It was an impulse. A simple action. But through it I confused, and possibly irritated a driver... and confused and definitely amused a police officer.

What did I do? I took something off a windshield.

Ok... so there's more to it than that, I suppose.

On my daily trek from work to Union Station I pass the exit from the Convention Centre's parking garage. This exit is directly opposite another street and is controlled by traffic lights. Inevitably, traffic at this intersection is a mess from about 3:30 onwards, so there's usually a cop on duty to assist in traffic control. This is especially the case if there's an event happening downtown (as yesterday... I think there was a hockey game? That's what the scalpers seemed to be implying, anyway ;) ).

Anyway... As I was waiting for the signal to cross the exit from the parking garage, I saw the driver of the car that was stopped there was trying to get a flyer of some sort off his windshield. Flipped the wipers. Tried to grab. Couldn't reach. So when the light turned in my favour, I took 3 steps out of my way to grab it off his windshield for him and asked "did you want this?" He took it, and I moved on.

The cop started to laugh and as I passed he said "He thanks you... really".

Now, when I said "Did you want this" I actually meant it... if he didn't want it, I would have taken it and put it in the garbage somewhere in my travels. But the cop's comment made me think... if I hadn't handed it to him, would he have just let it blow off and fall to the street? Probably. I find that annoying. So I'm ok if I annoyed him a little bit.

I KNOW I confused him *laugh*

Maybe I should think more before I do things? ;)

Public Washroom Etiquette (aka... uncommon courtesy)

OK, those of you who know me, know that public (or shared work environment) washroom behaviours are a source of some frustration and disgust for me. Today’s rant shouldn’t surprise you in the least.

What the hell is wrong with some people????????

I don’t care what the hell you do at home in terms of personal hygiene or “water conservation” or just sharing the joy, but PLEASE grant me my illusions at work?

Example: I just made a trip to answer the call of nature… when I walked in, there was a woman at the sink brushing her teeth. Good sign, I figure… good oral hygiene is always good. So I park myself in a stall and she goes into the one beside me. Problem #1… 5 stalls available and she uses the one beside me? But I can overlook that if I try hard enough. Problem #2… the stall she’s chosen in the handicapped one. Ok, so there’s nobody on the floor generally who NEEDS it, but c’mon… she’s perfectly able-bodied, petite… there’s no need for it. Leave the damn thing free in case there’s actually someone on the floor for a meeting who DOES need it!

She does her thing… walks out of the stall, grabs her toothbrush & toothpaste, and leaves. Problem #3… she didn’t flush. That’s just gross… who wants to walk into a stall and be confronted with that? *spew* Problem #4… she didn’t wash her hands. This is a biggie for me… skeeves me every time *shudder* Problem #5… she used the handicapped button (power assist) to open the door to leave… exposing the people who have to work outside the washroom to the joy of whatever sounds or odours may be eminating from it at any point (not in this particular instance, but still… a little courtesy) AND exposing those in the washroom to the knowledge that people can hear whatever they may be doing (and some people are shy and would rather not admit they ever have to eliminate waste products of any kind) for however long it takes for both doors to close. Plus, it’s a waste of power. Plus it’s wear and tear on the opener making it that much more likely that it won’t work when someone NEEDS it to (bad enough that the doors from the elevator lobby into our work area are automatic doors… you swipe your pass and the door opens… why this is the case on our floor but not other floors in the building with any consistency, I will never understand)

5 of my top public washroom peeves and they were all done by the same person on one trip!!!! Gah!

What????! Two posts in two days??!

Yes, I am feeling alright, but thanks for asking ;)

As I was sitting in someone's office this morning, I saw something posted on the wall that grabbed my attention and refused to let go. Since I tend towards the shorter end of the attention span ratings, that's pretty impressive *laugh* And now for startling revelation time... I had never before today read Desiderata. I had heard of it, but I had never read it. Funny, though, since I try to live it, it seems. For all that I tend to come across as cynical and jaded... for all that I rant and rave (to vent frustrations so they don't fester)... for the most part, this prose poem (if such a term exists) speaks of my philosophy of life.

If you've never read it before either, you can find it here

And on a completely different subject (I did mention the short attention span, right?)... anyone out there a psych grad/major? Back in first year psych I took part in a hypnosis experiment (an extra credit thing)... I ended up in their "control group" because they determined that I'm "not a candidate for hypnosis". And ever since I've wondered why. What part of my personality or physiology makes me a bad candidate for hypnosis? Is it the short attention span? How easily distracted I am? That I tend to be reluctant to completely surrender control? Trust issues? *laugh* Very little has driven me quite to crazy as wondering why I can't be dragged up on stage and humiliated *laugh* Or the other applications of hypnosis other than stage mesmerism, either ;)

That's it for today folks.... play safe!

Wow I suck at this!

So.. an online conversation today made me realize that I haven't written anything here in 2 months. Which has reminded me, yet again, that I really suck at blogging... and journalling. I have a journal at home that I started for a particular journey in my life that's been going on for the last few months (ok... I started it in September), and I haven't written in the darn thing since November, I think... although the journey continues.

Why is it that some people are able to blog about anything and everything on a regular basis, and others of us find it so challenging?

It's certainly not that I have nothing to say... those who know me know that there's little that could be further from the truth ;) Maybe it's a time thing... there's always something that seems more important. Maybe it's just that I haven't had nearly enough in the past two months to rant about (no, wait... that's not right either....). Maybe it's just that I suck *laugh*

Or could it be that I have a niggling fear that the people who haunt me taking great joy in my misfortunes or lack of photogenicness (I married an English major... I have the right by marriage to make up words ;) ) will stumble across this tiny little corner of the blogosphere and report back every little thing they can think of poking fun at. Considering how hard I try to be a good person and keep things diplomatic in places where my particular sense of humour doesn't carry well, it's amazing to me how many people really don't like me *laugh* Of course, some of that I find highly amusing (like the people who cling to things for years and won't let go... how sad is your life that you can't move on from some imagined sleight 2, 4, 8, 10 years ago? Some things are more important. Really.)

So... let's see the highlights....

D and I are going on an Alaskan cruise in a few months. It's been on our list of things we really want to do since before we were married, and since this will be our 5th anniversary year (yup, we're going to stretch it out for the full year 2008, even if the anniversary isn't 'til November!) we figured what better excuse to treat ourselves! I'm really looking forward to it!

I've recently reached one year in my current desk at work. I say it that way because I'm now on my 3rd team name, and second job description in that year. Not by choice. Stupid re-orgs. I'm now doing nothing remotely like what I left IT to do, but life goes on.

I'll mark 10 years with the company in April... right now that's my goal to shoot for *laugh* Once I pass 10 years all bets are off and if I get too peeved I might just up stakes and move on. Who am I kidding? I'll be here 'til I die... or 'til we win the lottery. I'm thinking the odds are better of the first *laugh*

Yup.. pretty dull year so far... you haven't missed much by me not writing ;) But I'll try to write more often in case there's anyone actually reading this thing.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to anyone who might be reading this blog.

Here's hoping 2008 is better than 2007 was.

Digital Hydro Meters - watch your bills!

So... we're Toronto Hydro customers. yippee. So what? Well, I just want to get that out of the way, because I'm not sure if the following is a reflection on the company, or the meters (which are employed by hydro companies throughout North America).

I used to pay our hydro bill, but 3 bills ago, D took over paying them. That doesn't have any bearing on the story, other than to say that I wasn't quite as aware of the amounts on the bills recently.

We had a fairly 'usual' hydro bill amount. Obviously, it would be slightly higher in the summer (A/C) than in winter (lights on timers, so the more hours of darkness weren't a big impact for us).

The last bill I paid was in June (based on a late May reading).

Then they changed our hydro meter from the old analog ones to a new digital meter. Very fancy, supposedly more accurate... and no requirement to have someone come out to read it.

The next bill (based on a late July reading, usually) was listed as an "estimate"... probably because of the change in meters. Ok... it was about $40 more than our 'usual', but it was also summer, we'd had a couple of heat waves... possible it was accurate, I suppose.

The next bill (based on a late September reading) was about $125 higher than 'usual'... but I didn't see it for it to raise flags with me.

The most recent bill (based on a late November reading) was about $300 higher than 'usual'!!!! WTF!?!?!? Umm... no. Well, we paid the damn thing because I don't want my credit rating to be screwed (the bill's in my name), but we did some investigation before calling them.

Here's the thing...

The bill says the meter reading of November 26th was 6770... D did a visual check of the meter on December 22nd (nearly a full month after the bill's reading) and it showed 4515. Ain't no way in hell that meter ran backwards or rolled over in that month, so obviously the damn thing is pooched and 'called home' with the wrong number... or their billing system pooched it.

So I called Hydro this morning to try to sort it out... and I don't think I quite got my point across to the woman I was dealing with. Although, I did get across that there's an issue with the last 3 bills, that the reading one month after the current bill is LOWER than the one on the bill, and that our lifestyle has not changed significantly since we moved into this house over a year ago, but the last 3 bills have been getting increasingly higher out of our 'usual' range.

They're sending someone in person to look at the meter within the next 7 days, but we won't see any adjustment (if there is one) until the next bill... which I expect to see sometime mid-February... stay tuned, and in the mean time, Keep an eye on your bills if you've been switched to a digital meter!!

Traffic Lights and Devious People

Yeah... I know... strange title for a blog post. But those are the subjects of the day.

First, the traffic lights. This was just odd. So, I've been off work or working from home every day so far this week, so this was my first morning heading to the GO station to catch my usual train. To get there, I hang a left at a stop sign, hang a right at some traffic lights, hang a left at some traffic lights, and then a right into the parking lot (with straight lines of varying lengths between them all, obviously). The problem? The traffic lights at which I turn left were red. And not changing. At all. After 4 minutes trapped in line, I finally got a break in traffic turning right and ducked into a plaza that also feeds out onto the cross-street. Made my left and sailed on through the green light. Which stayed green. In my rearview mirror, I saw several other cars pulling out of the plaza or turning right and pulling a u-turn. Very odd. I feel kind of bad for the people who were on the bus I was behind and trying to catch the train, because when the train pulled in 12 minutes later, that bus still hadn't managed to turn.

Now on to the devious people.

The house beside us was sold at the end of May. In mid-September it was busted as a grow-op (nice... you'd think they'd do some research, since the house directly across the street from them was busted 2 years ago... so now the neighbours know what to look for ;) ). Over the past couple of days, a For Sale sign has appeared on the boulevard outside the house. Odd. They city hasn't been by to inspect and do necessary post-grow-op renovations (which they're required to do). So I hop on mls.ca and look up the listing. Interesting... the picture is the same one used back in May (different agent, though). I can tell, because it's nice and sunny and green... the front door is red (that was the first change... the door got painted white)... and there's lots of plants out front (that was the second change... all the plants in the flower bed got razed... looked like they just started mowing and kept going). The listing says the house is being sold in "as is" condition. First alarm bell. The house is listed at $349,000. Second alarm bell... and third, actually. Second because that seems pretty high for a house that was sold 7 months ago with no significant upgrades listed in the listing... plus it's a bungalow (we paid less than that for our back-split). Third because that price is completely at odds with the words "as is condition". Deduction: either the seller is trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes... or the listing agent is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of potential buyers. Not cool... and I feel bad for whoever buys the place.