Category: general complaints

things that kinda stink

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general complaints nerdly technogeeky

good thing it wasn’t knickers

In anticipation of my bathroom being finished, I looked online for the perfect floor mirror, and found it at shop.com for a reasonable price.  After some negotiation with the husband (‘well, the OTHER one I like is $700 …’), I purchased it and then went about my other internet business.

Imagine my surprise when I logged into facebook to update my status to something else obnoxious about why my bathroom isn’t done, and found that my recent purchase was RIGHT THERE.  In facebook.  On the page where it tells you about all the things your friends are up to.  And it wanted to know if I wanted to inform all my friends about my purchase.  Oh, and did I want to automatically tell them all about all my shop.com purchases?

Um, no thanks.

Besides the fact that my facebook ‘friends’ don’t really care what I buy, it’s really kind of obnoxious.  Plus, I don’t want them all to know what terrible taste I have.  Or how cheap I am.  I reserve that honor for my real friends; that’s right, for the 6 people who read my blog.

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general complaints

empty promises from the bathroom man

The husband and I signed a contract for a new bathroom in June.  Work started in July.  It is now August.

I realize it takes time to get stuff done, but the work crews only spend about 12 hours a week at my house.  And lately when I call the bathroom man (who has never actually been in my house …) to ask when things will be done, he always reassures me that everything will be wrapped up ‘tomorrow’.

And every time I get such a promise, I come home to find little or no progress on the bathroom.

At the beginning of the work, he told me they’d be in the house for 2 weeks, then they’d special order the glass which would take 2 weeks, and then it could be installed and everything would be done in a month.  And so I was expecting a complete bathroom right about, oh, last week.

Instead, I have a dusty half-bath, still waiting on touch-up patching and painting and some grouting in the shower.  While I am glad I can at least use the bathroom for part of its intended purpose, I really would like to enjoy my gloriously large shower.  Which is still at least 2 weeks away seeing as they only just ordered the glass last week.

I just wish my bathroom man would be honest with me; filling me with false hope just turns me into li’l miss cranky-I-want-my-shower-pants.  And nobody likes her.  Especially my facebook buddies who are sick of seeing my status complain about my bathroom man …

Categories
general complaints home improvements

pleeeeeease, can I dry my hair in the baaaaaathrooooooom?

We’re coming up on the 3-year house anniversary.  And it’s been 3 years of drying my hair in the hallway.  Because the bathroom outlets don’t work.

They managed to pass inspection just fine – but somewhere between the inspection and my first attempt at drying my hair, they stopped working.  Granted, I blow dry my hair about once every 2 months, so who knows how long it was after we moved in that I discovered it.  Who knows what may have happened.  Malicious sellers?  Careless cable or direct tv installers?  Or maybe my 1875-watt monster of a hair dry made the wires asplode.

So as part of the bathroom remodel, we negotiated in that they would fix the outlet and put in a GFI.  Because it had no such protections.

The electrician is here now, and informed me that the … wire? … is only for 15 amps, not 20 amps as is standard these days for bathrooms.  

He has discovered that our GFI is in the basement utility room.  When it is not tripped, the utility room, porch outlet, and two bathrooms work.  The backyard outlet (never even knew we had one …) and the upstairs bathrooms never work ….

The electrician is going to steal power from the upstairs hall, feed it to the guest bath, and use that to power the master bath.  (With GFI protections, of course.)  He can’t upgrade the wire without tearing up all the walls through the entire house, so I’ll be stuck with a wimpy 15 amps.  That probably won’t power my one-true-love of a hair dryer.  But – at least the husband will be able to shave in the bathroom …

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food general complaints

end of the experiment

Hmm, so my problems aren’t solved – though they do seem to be better.  And I’ve lost and inch or two in my waist – so it would seem I’ve been living a bloated life for the last few years …

So I’ve decided to cut out obvious dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream) but not worry so much about the incidental stuff (like in bread).

And with my food diary, it would seem that potatoes, corn and rice seem out to get me – which leads me to think it’s not really a food tolerance, and perhaps more of a need-to-eat-more-complex carbs issue …

Next experiment: non-dairy south beach (maintenance phase, not that awful induction phase …)

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food general complaints

hmmm, what if it’s not the dairy?

So two days into my no-dairy experiment, and, well, nothing much seems to have changed.  I’ll spare you all the details of my exact digestion woes, but my after-eating state of being seems much the same.

So it looks like I may have to move on to wheat.  :'(  Not for another week though, I need some time to get used to the idea …

On the plus side, I did discover rice milk!  One of my neighbors who had her son on a lactose and gluten free diet for awhile tipped me off to it.  Apparently, if you suddenly go crazy with the soy, you can really mess up your hormones.

When it comes to milk alternatives on cereal, I vote for vanilla rice milk over vanilla soy.  It’s obviously not the real deal (i.e., the cat won’t touch it), but, at least for me, there’s no bitter after taste.  And it’s way less sweet than lactose-free milk, so I can eat sugar cereals with it! 

Cheddar-flavored rice “cheese” slices – fuhgeddabout it.  Might be ok for cooking, in small doses.  Not good on sandwiches.  Or plain.  In retrospect, I should have gone with American-flavored – at least American cheese is barely cheese to begin with …

Vegan parmesan-flavored … bits – ok on pasta with marinara sauce.  It’s not the real thing, but with just a dusting, it adds that parmesany essence.  More than that, and it becomes obvious that you’ve just covered your food in parmesan-flavored sawdust.  Mmmmm, sawdust.

And of course, fresh fruits and veggies!  In addition to strawberries, this week I splurged on cherries and sugar snap peas.  And some more grapes.  For the freezer.

Dairy-free, chocolate soy “ice cream” bars – surprisingly good!  Though not wheat-free, so that means I’ll have to eat them all this week.  (Such a sacrifice, I know.)  They’ve got the texture of ice cream down, and the chocolate ice-cream flavor seems to mask the non-milk aspects of things better than some of the vanilla soy “ice creams” I’ve tried.

So, even if I never go dairy-free, I’ve discovered some new foods!  The rice milk and soy ice cream might just stick around.

Categories
food general complaints

sometimes i feel bad after i eat

Since high school, I’ve noticed that sometimes after I eat, I feel … unsettled in my stomach.  Occasionally it results in the sudden purging of my stomach contents, but usually, if I just take it easy for an hour or so, I’m fine.

I’ve never really thought much about it, just been annoyed by it when it hits when I’m out running around and don’t have the pleasure of just waiting it out. 

I have long suspected that I have some kind of food sensitivity/intolerance/allergy, but I’ve   never wanted to do anything about it because the most common triggers (according to the internets) are milk and wheat.  And I loooooove me some chocolate chip cookies and milk.  And ice cream.  And breakfast cereal.  And pizza.  And cheese in everything.  And my daily chocolate.  My dear, dear, daily chocolate.

It’s seems that the last few years, things have really ramped up, so I’ve decided to finally do something about it.

So, this week, it’s goodbye to dairy.  :'(  And do you know that there is dairy in EVERYTHING??  And if I give up wheat, too, that means I can’t eat anything except for lettuce and strawberries.  Good thing I like strawberries.

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food general complaints life

Party time: day 12 part 2

Broke the internets (or at least the antenna on my router). So the blogs are being written in old-fashioned word, until the mail man brings me my new internets.

Overall, the day was bad, and the husband came home after a bad day at work. And so we did what any couple does after a double-bad day: we went to Maggie Moos for a shake and a little piece of heaven.  

I tried the dark chocolate, fudge, strawberry and nut concoction – and it is the best thing ever. Total chocolate buzz on the first bite. I am in love with Maggie Moos dark chocolate. Even if I can only eat 6 bites before my intestines pitch a fit. It is sooooooooo worth it. Especially after a bad day.

Categories
general complaints home improvements

party time sucks: day 12

Up early for more patching and sanding and cleaning off dust and patching and sanding and cleaning off dust.

I hate this part of painting.  I rather like painting itself.  But I sure could do without all the prep.

My ceiling patching efforts aren’t getting rid of the ceiling crack.

And the cats will NOT leave me alone.  Right now, as I type, Havok is cramming his entire body on the 4 square inches available on my lap, between my arms and the laptop.  Because he knows that as soon as he steps or sits on my laptop, I will usher him away.

And my vacuum cleaner broke.  That’s right, my 5-year-old $50 Wal-Mart vacuum cleaner that nobody even makes bags for anymore broke.  The vacuum cleaner that I NEED in order to get rid of all the dust I am generating.  Oh, and buckets of cat hair.  I do not want buckets of cat hair in the basement once I start painting.  Cat hair and paint do not mix.  I already have basement trim full of dog hair (courtesy of previous owners).  I do not want to add cat hair to the mix.

I am toying with the idea of running to BB&B for a 20% off dyson.  Because, you know, I’m not earning any money at the moment.  And what better thing to do than SAVE $100 on a vacuum cleaner that doesn’t lose suction.  Because my current vacuum cleaner has given all its suction away.

Grrr.  I think I might be about ready for a real job …

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general complaints

are your wipers on?

Then turn on your headlights.

Categories
general complaints

paaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiin

I woke up monday morning with a sore throat.  I woke about 4 am on account of the pain when I swallowed.  And I woke up every time I swallowed thereafter.  I finally got out of bed at 6 am – a handful of drugs and a chamomile tea later, and the pain was bearable.

I woke up tuesday morning with half a sore throat.  That’s right, just the right half of my throat was sore.  I woke around 4 again, and dozed on and off till finally getting up at 6 am for some drugs and tea.

I woke up today and it was the same drill.  Except the pain never subsided.  I managed to get a doctors appointment today over lunch.  The doctor told me to that my throat would stop hurting when I got better.  And that they never give anything for the pain.  Only antibiotics.  On the hope that my throat infection is caused by bacteria.

I stopped for lunch on my way back to work.  As I sat in the Taco Bell in the parking lot after a quick run through the drive through, it was the most painful bean burrito (no onions) I have ever eaten in my life.  There were literally tears running down my face, but when it comes to me and lunch, I’m gonna eat lunch.

After work I picked up my antibiotics and everything google told me I could gargle to help a sore throat:  listerine, hydrogen peroxide, and children’s liquid tylenol.  I have since gargled it all to no avail.

I just want to be able to eat and most especially sleep without pain.  :'(  I don’t know how parents with new babies get no sleep and then still get up and go to work anyway.  Three days of no sleep and I am useless, I’m lucky I made it home without falling asleep at the wheel.

So how do I get rid of the pain?  I skipped the gargling tobasco suggestion from google, but I am about ready to try it …