Wednesday

I am so loving the ability to get anywhere whenever I want without getting trapped in traffic. It will all come to an end on Monday but it's only Wednesday and my game plan is to wallow in it.

I got to the pool this morning and there was no one there. By the time I finished some of the regulars had appeared but there was still plenty of room. It was a wonderful swim and I was home enjoying my breakfast burrito by 8:30.

While I was swimming, I was thinking... My twitter and some of my LJ feed is full of Carrie Fisher tributes, animated gifs, favorite videos, etc. I have zero connection. I'm not even sure I've ever seen her in anything other than interviews, in recent years, where she was trying too hard.

Finally, it dawned on me that my ONLY connection to her was when she was born. Movie stars were just coming into paparazzi when I was little. Movie star magazines were all the rage. And on the cover of each and every one was Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. They were the real life Ken and Barbie (long before Ken and Barbie) and when they had a baby, that was THE BIGGEST NEWS in the world of little girls. Like me. It was dwarfed only by the news that Eddie Fisher DUMPED Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor.

Hey there weren't any Kardasians in prehistoric times.

Today will be doll making plus, I need to get some fabric organization done. Right now, there is too much fabric stacked up in the way of Zoey and where she likes to hang while I'm sewing and sleep at night. If I don't get it put away, she will file it on the floor.

And I have errands. After swimming at the West Seattle pool, I often stopped at the grocery, the drugstore, Trader Joe's, the shipping store... Not having those places handy has stacked up some stuff on my ToDo list. So today I'm going to knock them out plus stop and get some donuts at a new (to me) donut shop that is purported to be outfuckingstanding. We shall see. My donut standards are pretty particular.

My tweets

• Tue, 12:53: 3 bites in and I have a new favorite place! https://t.co/vENRBZSGjj
• Tue, 14:15: ??? I have NO trouble remember the days I ate nothing... ok, so that's because it never happens. So don't need an a… https://t.co/lPP2hiBba7

The randomest ever

In the past few weeks I have found myself paying attention to the way people walk. Their gate, their strides. It's amazing how different they all are. But, while I can easily spot differences - this guy walks way differently than that guy - I'm at a loss to spot why. Are his hips being used differently? His knees? Is his posture different. It's kind of driving me a little crazy.

I have the same issue with accents. I can tell if you are from South Jersey or Minnesota. I can tell the difference between Alabama and North Carolina and can nail a Pittsburghian with about 2 syllables BUT I have no clue why. Ditto with Indian, French, New Zealand, Australian... I'm sure it's vowels but are they long/short/hard/soft? What am I hearing and how do I know? I have no idea.

I got the donuts... General Porpoise. Here's the thing. In a vacuum, they are heaven. Perfect. Wonderful. But $4.65 for a donut???? I'm not sure I'm down with that.

On the other hand, I saved $1,250 today. So maybe $4.65 per isn't so bad. The homeowners association has started cracking down on hot water heater replacement. You must replace yours every 10 years. MUST. I totally get and appreciate their doing this. And they are sourcing and managing bulk installs to both keep the cost down and the hassle. All you have to do is say yes and fork over $1,250. The building management will take care of everything else - installation, removal, etc and you don't even have to be home. It's a sweet deal.

BUT they want to do this in January. And in January, I will be paying them nearly $7,000 for a special assessment (roof and tuckpointing). My water heater is top of the line. And, I rarely even use it. I shower at the gym every day, I don't use the dishwasher, I wash my clothes in cold water.

So I replied to the email asking for an extension and got a reply that they would ping me again next year. WHEW! And nice. The 'new' building manager (ok so he's now been here two years but still...new-ish kinda) has annoyed me in a million ways but lately not so much.

Ok, time to get back to the sewing machine.

3 sheets to the wind...

Not booze... spreadsheets. I killed 2 solid hours deader than a doornail this afternoon trying to reconcile my Capital One Credit Card account. Some of it is from the theft. Or not, I can't tell. But, when I add up the nums, I don't the total they get. I'm pretty sure the error is mine because I can't even get the same wrong total twice.

Normally, I'm all over this stuff like white on rice. I have two credit cards*. Capital One Visa and Discover. I monitor them both like a hawk. I'm anal about keeping them current. In fact, I have a crazy system... Everytime the balance gets over $100, I pay it to zero. I use the Capital One card until 3 days before the end of the billing cycle and then I pay off the remaining charges to zero and use the Discover card until the Capital One card statement is released (and their new billing period starts with my $0.00 balance). Then I pay off Discover and the cycle starts again.

I keep a spreadsheet of all the charges as I make them to use as a way to reconcile and it's usually pretty easy since each billing cycle starts with a $0.00 balance. But the theft earlier this month fucked up my system. And my spreadsheets are failing me. I should really do this kind of thing in the morning. I do not have an afternoon brain. I think I'm going to give Capital One a couple of days and have another go - one of these upcoming mornings.

*All of my Amazon purchases go on my Amazon store card.

Before I got mired in spreasheet shit, I made two dolls and cut out the bits for about 10 more. And got all of the fabric wrapped into bolts around cardboard and put away in the fabric dresser drawers. Zoey now has her sleeping area free from my sewing mess.





(The pink bow is another house sock robbery. I found a pair in the closet that had these perfectly sized pink bows on them. I don't need bows on my socks! I do need bows on my dolls.)