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 |  Because I am the most interesting person I know |
| I lead the most boring life. I have challenged myself to write about my life so that it seems interesting. |
| I’ve decided to stop being so neighborly. In fact, I may never speak to any of my neighbors again. It was the weather that did it. Specifically that last storm that paralyzed Chicago and the Midwest. While everyone else was snowed in, I was snowed out. The storm came in two parts here in NJ. The first part, early in the morning wasn’t too bad. I made it to work at 4 pm just fine. Hours of watching The Weather Channel had told me that the second part, due overnight, was going to be a monster. I called the nightshift guy (who lives in PA) and told him not to bother trying to come in. I would work a double shift, riding out the worst of the storm in the office. Sure enough, it was a monster. The company that plows our parking lot had been told that there is a nightshift and that they should keep at least a lane open in the parking lot. It snowed so hard, however, that try as they might, they couldn’t keep the parking lot plowed. The storm wound down by dawn. The contractors got busy clearing snow from the parking lot and the town plows went to work on the roads. I was eligible to leave by 7 am, but hung around until 8 am to make sure that the roads were plowed before I attempted to go home. “Plowed” was a relative term. It took an hour of white knuckle driving before I pulled up in front of my house. As usual, every driveway in my neighborhood was cleared except mine. Eighteen inches of snow filled my driveway, ending in a waist high wall left by the plow. The difference this time was that I had been awake for 24 hours straight. I was so exhausted that I could barely stand. I couldn’t leave my car in the street which had been cleared only to about 1 ¼ lanes. I had to get it into the driveway. I grabbed my snow shovel and began the Herculean task of removing snow from my driveway. I had to turn off my mind so that I couldn’t see how huge was the task I had set for myself. I might have gotten too discouraged to even try. My body was crying out for rest. I literally screamed in pain as I heaved the snow over my head onto the piles left from the previous storm. My neighbors ignored my agony and continued playing with their kids in the snow. I cleared ¾ of a car length before my strength gave out. Too exhausted now to stand, I crawled on my hands and knees down the driveway, into the street and then slowly and painfully pulled myself into my car. Still my neighbors ignored my agony and played with their kids in the snow. I pulled the car into the driveway as far as it would go, ramming it through the last few feet of snow. Then I staggered the rest of the way up the driveway and into the house, fed the Fur Patrol and fell into bed. I had had one brief thought as I made my way through the snow: the mailman wouldn’t be able to reach my mailbox because I hadn’t cleared my walk and porch. The rule is that if the mailbox is inaccessible, then the mail isn’t delivered. I could live with that. When I got up hours later, it was late and I was still tired. I didn’t need to go anywhere. The rest of the driveway and the walk and porch could wait until the next day. Then I noticed tracks in the snow. My mailman had braved the drifts and delivered my mail. And he did it again a second day before I had a chance to finish shoveling. It dawned on me that my mailman, who barely knows me, treats me better than my neighbors! So no more Ms. Nice Guy. My neighbors have taken advantage of me for 15 years, always calling on me when they need help but never offering any help in return. I’m done. They have become invisible to me. PS – I dropped off photos for the competition at the State Flower Show before work. Judging will be Thursday morning before the show opens. I’m working the first shift at the Rutgers Gardens booth so that I can see how I did as soon as the judging is finished. Wish me luck! |
| Call off the search parties and the dogs. I have been located. I was nearly done in by bad weather, a greedy bank, an inept payroll clerk and a sinus infection. Let’s rewind the tape. When we last saw our heroine, she was working insane hours thanks to the weekly winter storms that were sweeping across NJ. The nightshift was unable to make it in, so she bravely volunteered for nightshifts, double shifts and even vacation coverage (who takes vacation in January?). Despite her exhaustion, she noticed a $25 monthly maintenance fee on her checking account with Bank of America. She recognized this as highway robbery. Luckily for her, she is a bit of a packrat and had saved a mailer from TD Bank advertising free checking accounts. A quick internet search told her that the nice bank that had just opened a branch close to her house offered free checking for people over age 50. Okay, I’m tired of talking about myself in the third person. Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised to hear that I marched into TD Bank and announced that I wanted to open “one of those old people accounts”. I do have a way with words, don’t I? Opening the account was just the first step in an arduous process of transferring my financial life to another bank. The next step was filling out the paperwork to have my paycheck direct deposited to my new account. The payroll clerk assured me (twice!) that my February 11 paycheck (after a required one pay period delay) would be deposited in my new account. A word about that payroll clerk. The ladies who work in the HR department at my company are all very nice, very sweet and complete and total morons. I have never met so many intellectually challenged people in one place outside of a group home for mentally challenged adults. So I didn’t close my old account. Sure enough, both the January 28 and February 11 paychecks were deposited in my old account. I spent this past weekend shuttling money from one bank to another, setting up online bill pay, informing NetFlix, The New York Times and my gym that they should bill my new Visa debit card and, finally, re-upping with WDC. Thank you for your patience. We have finally made it to the punchline. You see, while I was battling snowstorms, greedy banks, inept payroll clerks and a sinus infection, WDC informed me that my membership had expired at the end of January. There were a few minutes of complete panic but a close reading of the fine print told me that I had four weeks before they deleted all of my writings. Phew! Because until that paycheck hit my new account, TD Bank wouldn’t issue me a new Visa debit card and I didn’t want to use a credit card. Money has been deposited, debit card has been issued and I’m back on WDC! I must say that I’ve missed it. More than once in the past few weeks, something has happened that I’ve wanted to blog about and then I realized that I couldn’t. So hopefully going forward I will be better about writing in this blog. Special thanks to tangerinedream for organizing a nationwide search for me during my absence from WDC. |
| I met with my boss and the head of HR today who informed me that they have “suddenly” been given the ok to create a new dayshift position and to hire someone for it. And then they had this GREAT IDEA!! Instead of hiring someone for this new position, they would offer it to me and hire someone for my job instead. They had a whole litany of reasons why The Powers That Be had changed their minds about the hiring freeze but everyone in that room knew that it was BS. Legal had obviously told them that they would lose in court, so they should just give me what I want. But we all pretended to be thrilled about this “miracle” because that’s the way it works in the corporate world. My boss is already putting together some of the projects that he wants me to work on when I move to days. I’m sure that with the horrible job market, it won’t take long to hire someone to replace me. I’m not even going to get depressed about having to work nightshift this weekend. I’m just going to focus on the fact that I will soon be able to lead more of a normal life. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. |
| Today I discovered how desperate realtors have become to sell houses. Yesterday, my realtor left me a message that another realtor wanted to show my house at 7 pm today. I began to wonder about this when I arrived home at midnight to a cold, DARK house. I fumbled for light switches and stumbled over furniture and cats. It occurred to me that if I have this much trouble navigating my house in the dark after 15 years, how could a realtor and buyers find their way around? I called my realtor today and pointed out to her that it is dark at 7 pm. What did the buyers think that they were going to see? My house would be totally dark. She asked, “isn’t there a light switch near the door?” My reply was “no, it’s all the way across the room at the bottom of the stairs.” “How about a lamp?” “It’s next to the switch. Besides, even though I have shoveled my driveway and walk, there are still patches of ice that would be dangerous in the dark. I don’t want to be making a claim on my homeowner’s insurance if I am going to sell the house.” “Can’t you leave an outside light on for them?” I finally put my foot down and told her that the buyers should either come during the day or when I am home to turn on the lights for them. Then I went to the gym. While I was there, my realtor had called the other realtor and told him my house could only be shown during daylight hours. His solution? He would try to get there while it was still daylight but if he wasn’t able to, not to worry, he was bringing a flashlight because he had other houses to show. Would you buy a house that you had only seen by flashlight? Realtors have become truly desperate. |
| New Jersey seems to be blessed with weekly snowfalls. First there was the Christmas Blizzard, then a couple more inches last week. It was so little that I didn’t bother shoveling it. Last night we were graced with another foot of snow. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. There was only 6” to 8” in my yard, although some areas of NJ did get up to a foot. Most people were probably glad that the storm happened over night. They were able to get home from work before it started and when they got up this morning, the plows had cleared the snow away. It was another story for those of us who work non-traditional hours. There was already 4” on the ground when I left at midnight. After cleaning snow off of my car, I crawled home at 25 mph over snow covered roads in the darkness. The concept of “lanes” no longer existed. Traffic lights became the enemy. Red lights had to be carefully timed so that I could either roll to a stop or glide slowly through them praying that the drivers coming the other way would allow me time to clear the intersection. Even green lights were a problem. Once I was stopped, starting up again was a problem as my tires fought for traction in the snow. My normal 20 minute commute turned into a 45 minute white knuckled odyssey as I negotiated inclines and curves in a vehicle over which I had little control. Even my driveway has a slight incline so rather than being relieved at arriving home, I was unsure if my car would make it up the driveway. Today I made the happy discovery that it is a lot easier to shovel snow when I have had more than a couple of hours of sleep and there is less than a foot of powder rather than the 2’ to 3’ of snow that I had to deal with two weeks ago. I was all shoveled out in less than 30 minutes. Which made the birds happy. They were fed early today. I always spread seed on the snow for ground feeders like the mourning doves and juncos. |
| Last night I dreamed that my car was stolen. The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to check to make sure that it was still in the driveway. If this doesn't make sense to you, please read the previous entry. |
| After years of no tickets and no accidents, I managed to be the victim of two collisions in one week. I had no idea what to do in the aftermath of the first accident so I called my insurance company who told me to call the police. Police were called, a repair estimate was obtained and on the day when I had planned on going to the police station to pick up a copy of the accident report, I was hit by a snowstorm and a plow. This time I knew what to do. Police were called, another repair estimate was obtained, police reports were picked up and I headed off to my insurance agent’s office with a folder full of paperwork. Reporting the accidents was a breeze. Trying to actually collect money for repairs has been a headache. I’ve never dealt much with my insurance company. Although, come to think of it, my experiences have not been positive. When I traded in my old Volvo for a new Corolla, I was frantic about the insurance. My agent calmed me down, telling me that my old policy covered my new car for a few weeks (I don’t remember the exact number) so I didn’t have to worry about getting a new policy right away. Secure in that knowledge, when I traded in the Corolla for a new Camry, I drove the new car half a mile down the road to my agent’s office to get a new policy. The same agent who had been so sanguine five years previously now had a complete meltdown that I had driven half a mile with no insurance. Didn’t my old policy temporarily cover my new car? Alas, the rules had changed or my policy had changed or my agent had got it wrong. I do wish that there was some way to keep up with this stuff without having to actually read the dense prose of my policy. The next time someone tells you “don’t worry, I have insurance”, worry. I am having the exquisitely painful experience of trying to collect money from an insurance company to whom I have never paid a cent in premiums. They were very quick to send me paperwork to fill out. And they took my call right away when I inquired about getting an adjuster to look at the damage to my car. I was told one would call me to make an appointment to see my car. And that’s the last I heard from them. My plan was to start my week off with phone calls to both my own insurance company (first accident vs uninsured driver) and the company who insures the pickup/plow from the second accident. I hadn’t heard from either one and I’m tired of driving a car around that looks like it barely survived a demolition derby. Do they still have demolition derbies? They were big when I was a child. For those of you who have only known the joys of monster trucks, demolition derbies were opportunities for grown men to smash up cars for the fun of it. Similar to Bumper Cars but with real automobiles. Apparently, getting people out to look at my car was so much on my mind, that I dreamed about it Sunday night/Monday morning. The dream started with a 7:30 am phone call from “Bob” telling me that he was coming to see my car that day. I said fine and hung up. The phone rang a second time about an hour later. Bob was informing me that he was on his way to my house and needed directions which I gave him along with some helpful landmarks. I asked him if I needed to physically present when he inspected my car. He told me no, but that I should leave a note with the mileage under a windshield wiper. Mileage? It’s amazing the weird details that my brain comes up with in my dreams. Twenty minutes later, the phone rang a third time. Bob was lost. I gave him turn by turn directions and told him to stop calling me because I work nights and needed to sleep. And that was the end of the dream. I knew that it was a dream, of course, because I had specifically told both insurance companies that I worked nights and no phone calls or appointments should be made prior to 10 am. I would be available late mornings/early afternoons ONLY to take phone calls and meet adjusters. I had my usual coffee and oatmeal, then donned my gym clothes and headed off to the gym. But wait a minute. What’s that piece of paper under the windshield wiper? It was a note from Bob that he had inspected my car. WTF? I worked off most of my anger at the gym, so that I was at a slow simmer instead of a rolling boil when I called both the insurance company and Bob, demanding to know which part of “do not disturb prior to 10 am” they were unable to understand? Bob said he didn’t appreciate being yelled at. I said that I didn’t appreciate being wakened at 7:30 am. How would he like it if I called him at 3:00 am? And then continued to call him, again and again? I also pointed out that his inspection was useless because there is interior damage that he didn’t see because I wasn’t there to open the car for him. Bob said he was doing me a favor by acting so quickly. I said since when was doing your job considered a favor? The insurance company has yet to return my call. It’s their fault. They neglected to tell Bob that I work nights and should only be called after 10:00 am. I just don’t want to get shortchanged on the claim because not all of the damage was visible. Is there a handbook on how to deal with insurance companies? |
| I seem to be too old to multi-task. I can’t seem to write blog entries and other stuff at the same time. So here are links to some of the other things that I’ve been writing when I haven’t been writing here: I took a walk with my camera through Rutgers Gardens on New Years Day. I posted a few photos from my walk on A Photographers Garden  .If you are looking for a yummy, healthy dessert that is easy to make, check out the Rustic Pear Pie recipe on The Wooden Spoon . Yes, I know it’s dated December. I’m way behind posting recipes.In the mood for a little feline fun? "Invalid Item" is just the thing. The Fur Patrol never ceases to amaze me.We are being snowed on again here in NJ, but in smaller quantities for shorter periods of time. I have my fingers crossed that I can get to the grocery store this weekend so that I can try out a recipe for Mongolian Stir Fry. Watch out for flying cats! |
| After one of the worst years of my life, I had high hopes for a better year in 2011. Alas, it did not start out that way. I went on a New Years photo shoot at Rutgers Gardens with my suitor. You know, the one that is old enough to be my father? Afterwards, he asked me out for coffee. Again. I said no. Again. Undeterred, he wished me a Happy New Year and leaned in for a kiss. I adroitly slid into my car. To give you an idea of the ickiness of this situation, imagine romantically kissing one of your father’s cronies. Ewwwww….. I really hate to give up this “friendship”. He has taught me so much about photography and how to use my camera. But he just doesn’t seem to get the message that I am not interested in a romantic relationship. Sigh. Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . I am being buried in seed catalogs. I love it. I did no gardening at home last year but dabbled in the Dried Flower Bed at Rutgers Gardens. It was assigned to me at the last minute last year, so I had to settle for leftovers in the greenhouse. Needless to say, it was not a success. This year, I will be able to grow flowers ahead of time in the greenhouse specifically for the Dried Flower Bed. I’ve found a lot of interesting flowers but need to narrow down my list. It’s a small bed. There’s just not enough room for everything that I want to grow. The bed is surrounded on two sides by a fence. I plan on growing small decorative gourds on the fence. Yes, I know that they aren’t flowers but neither are the decorative grasses that are already in the bed. I’m such a rebel! Being a long time volunteer (6 years!) has its privileges. I’ve decided to branch out and try growing veggies. There is a waiting list for veggie beds, but the Volunteer Coordinator allowed me to jump to the head of the list and grab a bed that was being relinquished by another gardener. I will be growing stuff that I cook with such as parsley, carrots, onions, garlic and herbs. I have to have a few flowers so I will be growing edible flowers such as nasturtiums, marigolds and calendulas. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on flowers for my own yard because I am still hopeful that my house will eventually sell but I did see some really neat varieties of zinnias and marigolds, so perhaps I will plant a few annuals. This is my favorite time of year when I can dream about my gardens. They always look lovely and never have weeds. |
| I think I’ve figured out why my employer is refusing to move me to days. It’s not they don’t want me working days, rather it’s because there is no else who is willing do the insane things necessary to ensure that there is a nightshift 24/7/365. It was snowing lightly when I entered the gym on Sunday. An hour and a half later, I could barely make out the parking lot as I walked out the door. My normal short, leisurely drive home became a white knuckle odyssey in near whiteout conditions. I called my boss as soon as I got home. If it was this bad at two in the afternoon, there was no way that the nightshift guy was going to make it in to work at 9 pm. I volunteered to do nightshift from home. So while the wind howled and the snow piled up, I spent the night sitting in front of my computer remotely tending to the network. Okay, that wasn’t so bad. This is where it got ugly. After only a few hours of sleep, I began the herculean task of digging myself out so that I could … wait for it … go to the office. Yes, after telling my boss and the nightshift guy that it was too dangerous to drive, I volunteered (this is really stupid, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME) to go to the office and change the back-up tapes from Sunday night tapes to Monday night tapes. Yeah, I know. I’m suing them because they won’t do the decent (and legal) thing and move me to days so why am I knocking myself out for these people? I posted some photos on my Garden/Photography blog showing what I was up against. Incredibly, I was able to extricate my car only to be hit a second time in one week. This time by a snowplow. Okay, a small plow. On the front of a pick-up truck. So close to the scene of the first accident that I now have the Green Brook Police on speed dial. Believe it or not after reporting the accident, I KEPT GOING! I made it to Westfield but couldn’t get off of the highway. None of the exits had been plowed. I couldn’t turn around because none of the u-turns had been plowed. I finally used a restaurant parking lot in the median that had been plowed to get to the westbound side of the highway. There’s a joke in there somewhere. Why did the Network Engineer cross the road? Because she was out of her effing mind. I backtracked, found a plowed exit and got on a road through a nearby park that had been plowed to the width of only one lane. There was traffic going both ways and families with kids, dogs and sleds crowding the road. I can’t believe that I made it through the park without killing anyone. The road to my office had been plowed, but the parking lot had not. It’s a good thing that I work out regularly. I climbed six foot piles of snow left by the plows and then waded through thigh-high drifts of snow in the parking lot. At this point, even I was questioning why I hadn’t just turned around and gone home. I called my boss again and conveyed the bad news about the state of the roads and parking lot. And asked if I could expense the repairs to my car since I was on company business. He said there wasn’t an expense category for car accidents. Hey, it was worth a shot. At this point, I think I could be considered legally insane because I volunteered to work a second nightshift from home saving the nightshift guy (you know, the one who calls in sick all the time forcing me to work double shifts?) from having to commute in less than ideal conditions. This guy has accused me of racism (he’s Philipino) so remind me again why I am being so nice to him? My ride home was slow but uneventful. Even the second time around, it felt strange sitting in front of my computer at home in my pajamas with a cat in my lap troubleshooting problems in Europe by phone and email. I got a little more sleep on Tuesday because there was less snow to shovel. I only had to excavate my kitchen door, garbage can and recycling buckets. Rain is predicted for New Years. Rain that will melt the snow and flood my basement. So next weekend, instead of shoveling snow, I will be bailing water out of my basement. |
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