Meeting my Neighbors

As if having a housewarming party wasn't exciting enough, I've gotten an interesting idea into my head. Most of my neighbors are Eastern Asian and most have families with children. At first I thought it'd be cool to have a tea party but now I need to figure out how to deliver invitations. I don't know ANYONE's name so I guess I could just hand out a card and invite them. We'll see, it's just an idea but I should probably unpack the rest of my stuff before I try and host another event!

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned...

White collar crime is back people with "2 Former Bear Sterns Excutives Arrested". There's nothing quite as strange as seeing suits escorted into court in handcuffs. These are guys who probably last quarter were sitting in their corner offices on Madison Avenue or Wall Street planning their golf outings around financial earings calls on the links. Now they're busted,

Lyrics to Ray Charles' "Busted":

"My bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I'm busted
I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away cause I'm busted.

I went to my brother to ask for a loan cause I was busted
I hate to beg like a dog without his bone, but I'm busted
My brother said there ain't a thing I can do,
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu,
And I was just thinking about calling on you 'cause I'm busted.

Well, I am no thief, but a man can go wrong when he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone and I'm busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow,
Me and my family got to pack up and go,
But I'll make a living, just where I don't know cause I'm busted.

I'm broke, no bread, I mean like nothing.."


Maybe they do have some bread to eat but their cash reserve is bound to dry up quickly. Wives will be divorcing them and ailimony bills will come due soon enough. They'll be sitting in an orange jumpsuit instead of Hugo Boss or Brooks Brother and Lifetime will not be making a movie about their prison stay (see "Martha Behind Bars").

In other semi-related news, I found out the CEO of my old company is g-o-n-e and they're shutting down the office I set up and hauled ass to, to sit there for someone to show up maybe once a week to use the space. I was tipped off when the old HR director called to ask if the office furniture was leased or owned. I left her a v.m. with the particulars and called her assistant when I knew she wouldn't be there to get the d.l.

All I can say is I got out JUST in time, I mean that place is either moving its operations abroad or it will not exist by year's end, IF they're lucky. I suspect this year's annual shareholders meeting will be quite "dramatic" to say the least.

I can't wait to talk to George about this! He's on his first business trip and it's been amusing for him (my words, not his). As a finance MBA and a history buff, he has very little tolerance for the old-money upper class movers and shakers. More on that later....

Home Depot Is Like...

I feel like I just gave birth to my first child. My body aches and up until last night I had almost a week of sleep deprevation. My house is still not unpacked but it's so close I can see the floor. My kitchen is getting a lot of action, of course, but I have zero desire to unpack or unwrap anything else, I feel like all I do when I get home is open things. My hands look like they've been run through a meat grinder. I've been to the garbage cans at least once a day, so for a girl who never took the trash out more than once a week, it's a new thing for me still.

I've been to the Depot 4 times in 5 days, and only returned things once. Been to the food store 3 times and Wal-Mart two times. My current points card is switching out at the end of the month so I'm trying to squeeze two more coupons outta the program.
I still get lost in Depot and prefer to go the store near by office if possible but you can't exactly carry two resin chairs home on the train, can you?

Tenacity over Stupidity

Well, it ain't over 'til it's over. But as of 25 hours ago, I became a homeowner after over 90 days of Baby Mama Drama. The seller left behind a hideous bistro table set and some odds and ends that will be trashed tonight. When I went under the sink to clean that out he/she had left a bounty of various cleaning products, horray there is treasure for a filthy hair and pistachio shell laden condo. I'm also finding hair pins in places they shouldn't be (i.e. behind the fridge).

I spent about 3 hours there yesterday and about an hour (right after dawn) there this morning getting on with the sorting and making a plan of nesting. I did some cleaning yesterday (bathroom, swiffering, kitchen) and if I can stand up paint tonight after work. My new commute was fine, once I found a seat. I'm going to enjoy not moving two times on the train ride in, that's for sure.

I bought a new properly fitted A/C for the boudoir, thank you Sears but not without some problems with billing address (dummy I put my new one instead of the old one, the changes I made won't take effect until next billing cycle).

In other news I now have a P.O. Box (thank you Timeout Robbie for the suggestion) so that will help me with getting my mail since I'm not exactly sure which mailbox is mine at the complex.

The only place I still have yet to visit is the "basement" to see what my storage if any is available. I'm going to skip the onsite laundry b/c my mother CANNOT imagine me doing it there so I can still have her do it (I know I'll get crap about that dependency from someone).

What else? I think it's just about 4 days until I think everything will be in my place (not unpacked mind you) but at least onsite and I will start sleeping in my humble 710 s.f. condo by Saturday night.

Horray, my seller's stupidity only increased my tenacity (thanks George for labeling me that) to get this place. Oh and one more thing: my mother likes the place b/c there's a lot of children living there. Okay so much for labeling my neighborhood "interesting".

If only I could find a bagel place in Little India and then I'd feel completely content.

When Your Guy Friends Abandon You

One of the very unexpected changes since I started dating George is once my guy friends got wind of it, they completely disappeared. People I was counting on to help me move are suddenly "busy" or said "It's your boyfriend's problem now."

Steve was the first friend to lay low and almost didn't come to the beach with me on M-Day because he didn't want George to get upset. That took a few emails to work out and George ok'd it and Steve had a good weekend I think.

Not that my neighbors would notice but oneweekend, Steve showed up and drove me away with my stuff until we returned Sunday; then the next George showed up, put his stuff in my car and we didn't return until Sunday. Perhaps a century ago this would've made me look like a "loose woman" but truly that was not the case with either trip.

As for my moving helpers, this is a one time favor and it's kinda pissing me off that I can't really get people I can count on. I get it- it's June and they probably have better ways to spend a Saturday. But I can think of many times I was there for these guys and this is the thanks I get?

On another note, I've decided that I'm going to never ever try and play yenta again. I got lucky the one time I set a couple up (they've been married 2+ years now and I never see them :)) but these other guy friends are just impossible to work with. They always come up with a particular reason why my girl-friends wouldn't be a good match for them.

I'm lucky to be sure that things just happened with George, no one had to smush us together or at least continue to seat us together at dinner parties. We were friends for a couple years (yes as opposed to months) so I think that gives us a good head start for a solid foundation.

I'm Addicted to Netflix

I finally gave into the banner ad and joined Netflix. I decided that when I move I'm not going to get a full cable package, just basic. I'm going to watch my fav. cable shows online and watch a LOT of shows on DVD that I've missed over the years or just plain miss. I have 89 DVDs on my lists which include: House, the Office, PeeWee's Playhouse, Inspector Gadget, Sports Night.

I think I love watching DVDs almost as much I love reading but not as much as I enjoy cooking. It's all a balance.

Rebel without a Clue

Thank you George for giving me the title to this latest entry! I spent most of the holiday weekend with a guy friend Steve at the jersey shore. For someone who had major surgery on his leg within the last eight weeks, we sure walked a lot! He admits he's not much of a talker (an ex once labeled him as "aloof") but there are two things he will talk about: the Marines and the women's he's dated. As one who's interested in stories about relationships I break a major conversational taboo and let anyone who wants to share their "ex stories". Well Steve has two in particular that puzzle him. The first is this girl he labeled as "Summit Chick". She was well educated and had a good job but when it came to Steve she eventually began arguing with him because, as she put it "you can't be broken". Hello Summit chick, a Marine cannot be broken anymore than he already was in basic training at Paris Island!

The next ex we debriefed on was "Broadway Chick." I forgot how they met but their brief courtship left Steve completely clueless. It turned out she'd never been asked out before and didn't know what to do, plus she had body image issues. Unfortunately this came to a head when Steve planned a really romantic date and he got her to talk about her ambivalane to dating .


Steve's a great catch and I think these two women gave him the wrong deal. The only caveat with him is his work requires a lot of overtime and an unpredictable schedule. But when he actually spends time with you, it's quality time and he's a gentleman. Anyway, I can understand his frustration is probably not making him want to get out there and meet more women. As he says "the women I meet are either too young and old". All weekend at the shore town, older women were hitting on him left and right (on the Boardwalk and at church mostly). I really want to be his yenta and find him a nice girl. I just hope he's learned from all these experiences that he has to find a balance between pursuit and not trying too hard.