1. Our income tax information wasn't guarded well enough by the city we live in so it has been shared on the internet with everyone. Why is this a big deal? Well, they have our social security numbers, address, date of birth and all that fine information. As if that wasn't nice enough, some doofus who hates the city but has his nose all into it decided to share that link (to the hacker website that posted the sensitive information) with 1400 of his friends so that they could "check the list to see if they were on it." The list had SSNs of over 30,000 people on it. His defense? "I didn't give out any information that anyone else wouldn't have possibly had." Really now. I've spent $60.00 and the meeting that the city scheduled for us to have at our community center was moved from 12-6 to 2-8. Nice. I had no idea and I went down. Oh, and the police report that they are handing out is an "unofficial copy" which means that their presence at the community center is about as helpful as a heart attack. I still have to either request reports in writing or truck down to the city, find a place to park, pay to park and go through all of that junk. Rrrr.
2. We have the leaking bathtub faucet that causes us to have to shut the main valve of the house down before we go to bed or leave. About 5 gallons of water every 2 hours is what is coming out in a steady stream. I have a call out to the plumber.
3. I called the city to see if the crabapple on the tree lawn could get trimmed. Believe me, I tried. I'm too short. The city arborist came out and left me a message stating that the tree has a "cavity 3/4 of the way through" and that "it needs taken down." He did call back later and assured me that they would replant a tree. He said that they could trim it up and it might hold for another year or two, but knowing that it is hollow 3/4 of the way through, I think that declining removal (which I don't have to pay for because I already have with tax money) would leave me liable if the tree would fall on someone/something. No thank you.
I'm hoping that is it. :(
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
PW mixer giveaway with 10 cents donated to the tornado relief charity of winner's choice for each comment received.
Go!
Now!
The mixer is a lovely thing, but Ree (the Pioneer Woman) is donating 10 cents for every comment received. The money will go to the tornado relief organization of the winner's choice. (Read the details to make sure that I got it all right.) So far, there are well over 28,000 comments!
Sign up now!
Now!
The mixer is a lovely thing, but Ree (the Pioneer Woman) is donating 10 cents for every comment received. The money will go to the tornado relief organization of the winner's choice. (Read the details to make sure that I got it all right.) So far, there are well over 28,000 comments!
Sign up now!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
"Do you want the bad news or the bad news?"
I asked my husband earlier if he could tighten the faucet in the tub. It wasn't dripping, but running a continual stream.
Idiot me thought that you could just give it a tweak.
My husband used some stinky spray stuff (PB Blaster, if memory serves) to loosen up something. He went from the bathroom to then the hallway access panel.
I knew that wasn't good.
In the end, he said that the faucet needs replaced. To replace the faucet calls for the surround to be pulled out. To pull the surround out would resolve the issue of the misfit and the fact that no matter how hard I try, water collects and causes mold. Honestly, I'm kind of good with replacing the surround.
I had plans on painting the bathroom. I didn't get to do it last year as I wanted. Hubs said that he's glad that I didn't. In fact, just a few weeks ago I bought paint and a new bathroom fan.
Hubs asked if I wanted a jacuzzi tub. I declined.
I asked him if he wanted to install a window in a windowless bathroom. He declined.
We have to call in our plumber. Usually, we're (Hubs) is able to handle things. When it comes to plumbing overhaul (which is what we suspect in this case), we bring Butch to the rescue. We love Butch.
In the end, it isn't the type of overhaul on the bathroom that we did before. Right after we bought the house, we did a poor guy, year long redo on the bathroom. Given my work schedule and Hubs' work schedule, it took us a while but we got it done. We had to replace the floor including the sub, toilet, install a medicine cabinet, frame the surround and around the mirror, rewire the bathroom, replace the fan, replace the towel bars, repaint the cabinet and replace knobs, replace the sink faucet, replace the swag lights with a wall mount and the install a shower can above the tub since the wall mount cast a shadow across the bathroom and re-tile back behind the sink. Whew.
This run will call for the border to be removed, repaint the ceiling and walls, replace the surround, replace the fan with a super quiet one, get the plumbing fixed and replace a little bit of woodwork. Voila.
Still, we sit in the land of, "All I wanted to do was paint." Growing up, that's all my mom ever wanted to do. In her case, a wall was ripped out, found to contain asbestos, the room was tented, the ceiling raised because of layers of lath and in the end, it took probably 4 months to paint the front room.
We're hoping we don't have the same length of time. Ugh.
Idiot me thought that you could just give it a tweak.
My husband used some stinky spray stuff (PB Blaster, if memory serves) to loosen up something. He went from the bathroom to then the hallway access panel.
I knew that wasn't good.
In the end, he said that the faucet needs replaced. To replace the faucet calls for the surround to be pulled out. To pull the surround out would resolve the issue of the misfit and the fact that no matter how hard I try, water collects and causes mold. Honestly, I'm kind of good with replacing the surround.
I had plans on painting the bathroom. I didn't get to do it last year as I wanted. Hubs said that he's glad that I didn't. In fact, just a few weeks ago I bought paint and a new bathroom fan.
Hubs asked if I wanted a jacuzzi tub. I declined.
I asked him if he wanted to install a window in a windowless bathroom. He declined.
We have to call in our plumber. Usually, we're (Hubs) is able to handle things. When it comes to plumbing overhaul (which is what we suspect in this case), we bring Butch to the rescue. We love Butch.
In the end, it isn't the type of overhaul on the bathroom that we did before. Right after we bought the house, we did a poor guy, year long redo on the bathroom. Given my work schedule and Hubs' work schedule, it took us a while but we got it done. We had to replace the floor including the sub, toilet, install a medicine cabinet, frame the surround and around the mirror, rewire the bathroom, replace the fan, replace the towel bars, repaint the cabinet and replace knobs, replace the sink faucet, replace the swag lights with a wall mount and the install a shower can above the tub since the wall mount cast a shadow across the bathroom and re-tile back behind the sink. Whew.
This run will call for the border to be removed, repaint the ceiling and walls, replace the surround, replace the fan with a super quiet one, get the plumbing fixed and replace a little bit of woodwork. Voila.
Still, we sit in the land of, "All I wanted to do was paint." Growing up, that's all my mom ever wanted to do. In her case, a wall was ripped out, found to contain asbestos, the room was tented, the ceiling raised because of layers of lath and in the end, it took probably 4 months to paint the front room.
We're hoping we don't have the same length of time. Ugh.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Punishment and appropriateness.
I was just reading the article about the mom who made her child wear "ugly" clothes to school because she had been bullying someone about the clothes that they were wearing. I guess that someone thought it was a dreadful punishment. Personally, it is exactly what I would have done. (K wears the American school uniform. For us, it doesn't apply.)
It got me to thinking about weird things I've done. I remember blogging about K and the broken crayons. I know that some people would have thought I was horrible. I recall standing outside the kindergarten door, calling K to come so that we can go to the store. Her teacher asked in a sing-songy fun voice, "Are you buying something fun?" K told her that she was going to go buy a box of crayons. Mrs. H kind of tipped her head a bit and I explained what happened. I told her that there had been some kindergarten peer pressure, K broke up all of her crayons as a result and were now going to replace them.
"I wondered why she was using broken crayons all week."
"I told her that she had to. I told her that she had to not only use the broken crayons, but she also needed to do extra chores to earn money to purchase a box of crayons herself. The box of crayons she buys has to be Crayola and I'm taking her to Walgreen's so that the $2.00 that she earned will be basically entirely spent on that box."
She told me that she would have a talk with the class about treating our friends nicely and so forth. She understood my doing that, but in mom circles just like the article that I've referenced above, I would have probably been considered abusive.
You know what? It didn't hurt K. It did, however, teach her a lesson.
K is currently under TV restriction. She did poorly on a reading test that we studied and studied on. She didn't read carefully and didn't do well. The OAA has really made K's brain check out, but I told her that she must press on for a few weeks longer. K is without TV until I get that test in my hand and see that she has done better. Yes, I realize that it is a long holiday weekend. (She got a D. A C or better in my house is what we consider passable.) K had gotten two D's a few weeks ago on her weekly reading tests, got a C, then went back to a D. She called and she 'fessed up. I told her that first and foremost, we wanted to praise that 100% on the spelling test. I told her that we would look over the reading test to see what went wrong. Part of the wrongness was that the teacher missed a question and marked it wrong when it was right. She also didn't count written answers for points, when clearly one answer should have been 1/2 credit. I did mention the question that was completely right. Hubs wanted me to mention the written responses and I told him that they were subjective and I won't argue those. Part of K thinking that her teacher isn't loving her isn't helping her cause. Still, a few more weeks and we are outta there. She's got to know that her brain must still function. It is not an option.
Other unusual punishments? K had repeatedly (for months and months) forgotten her chores. I was so tired of getting after her about them that I came upon a wonderful idea. I wait until she is good and asleep. Snoring. I then go and give her a good shake. It's only taken twice of my having to wake her from deep sleep and have her take recycling out to the bin in the rain, in the dark and down the back yard and break down her lunch pack. She makes a point of telling me, "Mom! Look! I'm taking the recycling out!" She's even good at remembering to take the compost container down to the barrel and emptying it out, too.
I also have K write. If I have to have her write about something a few different times, what she writes gets longer. I have one on my desk right now. "I will not moan and groan." There is also, "I will obey my mom and dad. I will listen to what I am told and I will NOT do as I choose anyway. I will do what I am told the FIRST time." (Obviously, I've had to have her write that one 4 different times. It grows a sentence each time we have to have her write it.) It starts with 5 and goes up with 5 time increments until she has stopped the grumbling and funkiness. She's written 10x. She's written 35x. It doesn't hurt her and maybe she'll learn how to spell a few new words.
I think that it is important that we discipline our children. I applaud creativity with discipline. I don't applaud abusiveness. The children will remember what we went through to try to teach them a lesson. Hopefully, it will stick.
It got me to thinking about weird things I've done. I remember blogging about K and the broken crayons. I know that some people would have thought I was horrible. I recall standing outside the kindergarten door, calling K to come so that we can go to the store. Her teacher asked in a sing-songy fun voice, "Are you buying something fun?" K told her that she was going to go buy a box of crayons. Mrs. H kind of tipped her head a bit and I explained what happened. I told her that there had been some kindergarten peer pressure, K broke up all of her crayons as a result and were now going to replace them.
"I wondered why she was using broken crayons all week."
"I told her that she had to. I told her that she had to not only use the broken crayons, but she also needed to do extra chores to earn money to purchase a box of crayons herself. The box of crayons she buys has to be Crayola and I'm taking her to Walgreen's so that the $2.00 that she earned will be basically entirely spent on that box."
She told me that she would have a talk with the class about treating our friends nicely and so forth. She understood my doing that, but in mom circles just like the article that I've referenced above, I would have probably been considered abusive.
You know what? It didn't hurt K. It did, however, teach her a lesson.
K is currently under TV restriction. She did poorly on a reading test that we studied and studied on. She didn't read carefully and didn't do well. The OAA has really made K's brain check out, but I told her that she must press on for a few weeks longer. K is without TV until I get that test in my hand and see that she has done better. Yes, I realize that it is a long holiday weekend. (She got a D. A C or better in my house is what we consider passable.) K had gotten two D's a few weeks ago on her weekly reading tests, got a C, then went back to a D. She called and she 'fessed up. I told her that first and foremost, we wanted to praise that 100% on the spelling test. I told her that we would look over the reading test to see what went wrong. Part of the wrongness was that the teacher missed a question and marked it wrong when it was right. She also didn't count written answers for points, when clearly one answer should have been 1/2 credit. I did mention the question that was completely right. Hubs wanted me to mention the written responses and I told him that they were subjective and I won't argue those. Part of K thinking that her teacher isn't loving her isn't helping her cause. Still, a few more weeks and we are outta there. She's got to know that her brain must still function. It is not an option.
Other unusual punishments? K had repeatedly (for months and months) forgotten her chores. I was so tired of getting after her about them that I came upon a wonderful idea. I wait until she is good and asleep. Snoring. I then go and give her a good shake. It's only taken twice of my having to wake her from deep sleep and have her take recycling out to the bin in the rain, in the dark and down the back yard and break down her lunch pack. She makes a point of telling me, "Mom! Look! I'm taking the recycling out!" She's even good at remembering to take the compost container down to the barrel and emptying it out, too.
I also have K write. If I have to have her write about something a few different times, what she writes gets longer. I have one on my desk right now. "I will not moan and groan." There is also, "I will obey my mom and dad. I will listen to what I am told and I will NOT do as I choose anyway. I will do what I am told the FIRST time." (Obviously, I've had to have her write that one 4 different times. It grows a sentence each time we have to have her write it.) It starts with 5 and goes up with 5 time increments until she has stopped the grumbling and funkiness. She's written 10x. She's written 35x. It doesn't hurt her and maybe she'll learn how to spell a few new words.
I think that it is important that we discipline our children. I applaud creativity with discipline. I don't applaud abusiveness. The children will remember what we went through to try to teach them a lesson. Hopefully, it will stick.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
And the final answer is . . .
. . . Yes, we are on the spooty hacker list. I finally got through the city information line. We've done all we can. I asked that when the FBI and city get everything figured out, will they send information on to those with compromised information. The person couldn't tell me. I'm guessing that we won't find anything more out.
Rrrr.
I started freezing everything within hours that it happened. Everything is on monitor and fraud alerts are with all three agencies. Now is the time we sit and home nothing happens.
No news is good news, right?
Rrrr.
I started freezing everything within hours that it happened. Everything is on monitor and fraud alerts are with all three agencies. Now is the time we sit and home nothing happens.
No news is good news, right?
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