Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Our driveway isn't ours - or so you'd think.

CF and I have about had it with neighbors who allow their dogs to go the bathroom on our driveway. It's bad enough that people allow their pets to crap on lawns and on trails in the woods (hiking trails mind you!), but letting your dog dump one right on a driveway has got to be the most evil act ever.



What's the deal?

If you get a dog, you've signed on to look after and love that animal...FOR LIFE. That entails picking up after the animal, keeping it leashed (if that's the law) and training your pet so it doesn't terrorize humans.

Unfortunately, the same idiots who are having children and then letting them run rampant are the same geniuses who are buying dogs and then neglecting them after the novelty wears off. My newest cause is a waiting period for pet buyers - just like they have for gun purchasers.



Yes, we have an overpopulation problem in the kennels and pounds, but that doesn't mean we should be letting people with the IQ of a walnut acquire a living, feeling being that needs to be trained.

One of the discussions around the house has involved the moving of the automatic light sensor so it goes off whenever anything comes into the boundaries of the property. We've also discussed putting up signs.

Lastly, we talked about taking shifts sitting on the porch with the pellet gun.

To be clear, our driveway isn't paved and is often unused as we like to park on the street. But with the recent snowstorms we've moved into the parking pad. So, what makes a person walking their dog decide that it's a good idea to let their mutt crap in the same location as two automobiles?

Today it's rainy and 50 degrees, so the feces is starting to deteriorate and would adhere nicely to the bottom of my sneakers if I'm not careful. How about letting Fido crap near the telephone pole where nobody walks? Or better yet, bring a bag with you and pick it up!



I'm not sure what to do short of putting electrified fencing around the property line. Maybe I'll set up some motion cameras so I can track the animals that are crapping on the driveway and lawn and then email the photos to the newspaper. Now that's pretty good - I'm already leaning that way.

That way, it'll serve two purposes. It will alert the dog owners that we're not pleased having their animal's excrement on our driveway. And it will figuratively rub their noses in their dog's crap - while the rest of the town gets to watch.

What do you suggest we do?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Getting ready for the Holidays

Just had the party at my mother's and now decompressing with some Nog and some gift wrapping. And we did some gift unwrapping. As we sipped our 'Made in Somerville' 'nog drinks we each unwrapped one gift in honor of the start of Hanukkah. A pair of fleece lounge pants for Jeff and garden seeds for GK.



Lazy weekends where you can't go out and do stuff are far superior to those where you feel obligated to rush around like a maniac.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Gift Wrapping

I'm busy doing a lot of wrapping tonight while CF sits on the couch watching NCIS.

It's relaxing. Like the yoga of consumerism.

Ahhhh.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Saturday list

Make list
Make breakfast
Eat breakfast
Finish laundry
Run dishwasher
Put away clean clothes
Frost cookies
Finish card for Robbie
Make cookie bags for people at work
Dump run - computer, sweaters, books and tables
Wrap secret santa presents (GK)
Pull in mail at neighbor's house
Clean bathroom
Make bed
Play
Wrap hostess gift for dinner party
Go to dinner party

Home-age

How am I supposed to feel when I discover that Jeff has told his Tweeple that the work I did today is actually work HE did today? Dump run - I did it. Cookies to the dump people - that was me. Secret Santa gift wrapping - yup me. Prepare omelets - me again. Clean up after the delicious omelets - Jeff did that (NOT!). Hmmmm. I guess I could take it as a form of appreciation directed not at me, but towards the outside world - a form of homage. Yes! That's what it is. A homage to me. Perfect.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Jeff likes eggs and other things you might have missed.

Gretchen is making me do this. Don't ask me why the list has to have 16 things. Just bear with me. Here they are...16 things about me. Most of which will probably be lies just to get a reaction from readers. But some will be true.

16. My license says that I'm six-feet tall. OK. It doesn't say that anymore because I had pangs of conscience and changed it. But at one time I was officially six-feet tall. You see, while standing at the counter at the Registry of Motor Vehicles I overheard the enormous guy next to me say he was five-feet-ten-inches tall. I knew that I was actually 5'10" and I was easily half a foot shorter than him. So I decided - as I'm wont to do - to test the intelligence of the Registry folks. REGISTRY INTELLIGENCE FAIL. When I said I was six-feet, the woman didn't blink. She typed it in and I immediately got taller. Better than Bobby Brady, huh?

15. I believe that someday I'll be called to Hollywood to star in a movie. Don't know how. Don't know why. Just know it.

14. In a guise developed to snag chicks, I had business cards made up that had on them my name, the words The Corporation, and my dorm-room phone number. These were purchased during the Citibank Years - a time when I used plastic to buy everything from sneakers to snacks. They were also used a grand total of once. The cards worked miracles and my roommate and I ended up walking home from a local bar with two hotties. I don't know what he ended up doing, but again the conscience thing got in the way and I told her goodnight.

13. I'm paranoid that I might be autistic and have ADD...and that I'll be misdiagnosed as being just a normal teenager. Please shuffle these parts as you see fit. They work every which way.

12. My feet have gotten larger as I've gotten older. This might not be surprising, but they're supposed to slow down. In the last ten years I've gained a whole size. That's either the real deal OR shoe manufacturers have changed their sizing methods.

11. I cry during West Wing and Scrubs and even during some other television entertainment.

10. Remembering how long I should cook soft-boiled eggs still escapes me. Luckily I don't mind snacking on hard-boiled eggs and the incidence of raw eggs has dropped with practice.

9. Moving to a warmer climate is definitely in my thoughts when it remains 12 degrees out - like it is right now!

8. I once had my finger bitten off by a turtle. It grew back.

7. Wherever I travel, I adopt the local accent. It makes me feel closer to the natives. It's especially difficult in South Boston, Scotland and Jersey.

6. I get really annoyed at shows like CSI and NCIS that are based on real science but really rush results. Conversely, I allow Numb3rs to fly fast and loose with math and science. My prerogative, I guess.

5. My proudest moment was when I saved a Right Whale from swimming into the Cape Cod Canal.

4. My main goals for 2009 are to ride a century and to find an agent for my novel.

3. I'm a little worried that I'm losing my hearing.

2. I'm convinced that I'll either win the lottery or not win it. That way there's no disappointment.

1. I know that I'll push for a MUCH shorter list the next time we get Facebooked into doing something like this.

16 thing thing - Gretchen's perspective

Thanks to Sarah Gibb Millsaugh and Facebook for sharing this list exercise.

Make a list of 16 random yet poignant things about yourself (non-work related). And share them here.

1. I'm smack dab in the middle of five kids raised (nearly) solo by an extraordinarily strong mom.

2. Aforementioned strong mom now takes in immigrant refugee foster kids and I have had"brothers" from Sudan, China, Afghanistan, and other African, Asian and Central American nations. I think about cultural competency and immigrant rights a lot - from a personal perspective.

3. I worked very hard to earn two graduate degrees - one in social work and one in public health.

4. I'm toying with the idea of getting a PhD. I have a dissertation idea. But am not sure I want to do the coursework.

5. I lived for 2.5 years in an urban commune, which influenced my personal philosophy of recycling and living simply.

6. Very few things make me laugh out loud. A challenge for you comedians out there perhaps?

7. I have no relationship with my biological dad. Or my (former) step-father.

8. Two of my four siblings are either gay or in same sex relationships. I think about gay rights a lot - from a personal perspective.

9. I have very fond memories of playing the character Jacob Marley in my fourth grade performance of "A Christmas Carol." It was taped for and rebroadcast on local cable access television that year.

10. I wish I had received sufficient high school training in the sciences to prepare me to succeed in medical school.

11. I regret not having joined the Peace Corps when given the opportunity.

12. I regret not having attended state college for my undergraduate degree.

13. I'm not Jewish and I find the observation of Yom Kippur to be deeply moving. And I am sometimes embarassed to attend services because I assume I stand out like a sore thumb.

14. I choose not to have children of my own partly because I'm deeply afraid of being a bad parent.

15. The movie "The Color Purple" makes me weep uncontrollably. Really, just the last twenty minutes of the movie "The Color Purple." Or hearing the song playing during the last twenty minutes of the movie "The Color Purple."

16. I miss my grandmother, who died in November 2002.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Yay cleaning lady!

I work between 9-10 hours a day and commute an additional two hours a day. I leave for work at around 6:30 AM and am usually home after dark. This leaves me exhausted during the week and wanting to use my weekends to recharge and play.

Jeff works from home, but isn't invested in having a tidy home.

As a result, the dust piles up, recycling overflows, and dishes get a little crusty. And I get cranky about "having" to do the cleaning on MY weekends.

We've talked about getting a cleaning service to help - at LEAST once a month. And tonight, as I left the bathroom following the ritual evening tooth brushing feeling like I SHOULD take a few minutes to clean the porcelain but not wanting to to take a few minutes to commune with Comet cleanser, I said to Jeff, "Honey, you know what I want?" "Is it time to call the lady about helping with the cleaning?" "Yes, that's EXACTLY what I want," I said with sighing enthusiasm. "I'll call her," Jeff said.

So, maybe by the first of the year we'll have someone who comes in to help us out. I mean, help me out. Yay cleaning lady!