when you think it's all figured out...

When you think you've got the person you're married to down - no more surprises..

Here comes a good curve ball.

Earlier this week, Hubbs has been talking about some BBQ joint he thought we should try on Sunday..Out in Ontario, CA (about 40 minutes from Casa de Us). Hey, no problem. i'm all about good BBQ.

So yesterday, we had a busy day: my stepbrother wanted to have breakfast with us before he left to move back east. We drove down to Oceanside. After coming home, i finally printed some pictures from Philadelphia.

Then about 4, Hubbs wants to know if i'm ready to go eat.

What th'....

Are we so old now that we're trying for the Senior/Early Bird special?

Oh, and take your camera & is that what you're going to wear?

Now i'm pissed. Since when has he ever cared what i wear to dinner..Unless we're going to Ruth's Chris'. Apparently, jeans are better than the cargo pants i'm currently wearing, so i change. And, we're off.

On the road, Hubbs keeps checking his watch. Weird. He's usually late to everything, so why suddenly the concern with time? AND WHY AM I BRINGING MY CAMERA??

We arrive at Ontario Mills, a HUGE mall. It's a summer weekend, so, of course, it's packed and parking is a mess. But, we finally get parked, and start walking to the mall, passing by the entrance to the Improv comedy club. On the marquee, i can see a comedian we like and i comment on it...And Hubbs says, "yeah, but look who's here tonight."

Christopher Titus. Cool.

And he walks me towards the box office.

Well, bowl me over with a feather.

See, Titus' website had him in Brea around my birthday, but the schedule got changed, so when Hubbs tried to buy tickets, it was all for naught. Then - last week, he just went on the website, and saw Titus coming to Ontario. Tickets were purchased.

And i was surprised.

So, the moral of the story - just when you think you've got it (and them - guys or girls) all figured out, surprise!

May all your surprises be good ones. Happy Monday!

the Husband is a genius...

he installed my new photo editing software on the laptop. it totally rocks!

my favorite function: editing out unwanted things in my photo.

like this: in the background, was some telephone wires, and a drainage pipe.

not attractive.

but, with this super-whammy software, i can just edit it out.

can't even tell where it was, can ya?

this SO rocks.

but now...the new laptop isn't recognizing my color printer.

hmmmm. let me think: no photos, no scrapping.

no scrapping, no happy.

i know. i can go to Wal-Mart, or Target, or anyplace that develops photos.

i'm just spoiled & i wanna print from home.

me no like. bad medicine.

but in other entertainment news...CMT is showing Hee Haw all weekend. boy don't that take me back.

gloom, despair and agony on me. deep dark depression, excessive misery.

if it weren't for bad luck, i'd have no luck at all.

gloom despair and agony on me.

who says there's only junk on the internet?

came in my email today..love, LOVE, LOVE it.


Tips for Handling Telemarketers by Andy Rooney~

(1) Three Little Words That Work !!
The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt. Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.
These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end? This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.This technique is used to determine the best time of day for
a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home. What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone , 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your
number out of their system.
Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help: When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back. It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage
was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice! Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again.

You get the idea! If enough people follow these tips, it will work -- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.

i always suspected as much...

Which Animaniacs Character are You?

You're cute! And, when you're not, it's not pretty. Sure, you like girly stuff, like pink frilly outfits, flowers, adorable baby animals, tiny boxes that you can't fit anything in, and tiny doll-sized clothing, but you're also quite the firebrand! People who scorn you, and just plain stupid people who get in your way, often pay dearly. You are nearly as likely to jump up and kiss someone as to drop an anvil on someone's head! You are not the sort to be trifled with. You are, after all, Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fana Bo Besca, the Third.

all i want is a freakin' password...

that's it.

just the bloody password to our computer.

why?

so i can install my new photo editing software, that's why!

i realize that it's not that important in the Grand Scheme o Things. famine, tsunamis, bombs, this sort of thing is important.

BUT I AM SERIOUSLY JONESING TO DO SOME SCRAPBOOKING AND I CAN'T DO A FLIPPING THING UNTIL I GET THESE NEW PICTURES, MODIFY 'EM AND PRINT THEM!!!!!

ah. i feel much better.

i bought Microsoft's Digital Suite last week - it looks like a much less expensive (and probably does less) version of Photoshop, but it looks like it's gonna do what i want to do. tried installing Monday & the computer asked for the password.

password? what th'...

so i asked Hubbs for the password. his answer "password? what th'..."

so what the dillio? i can't install anything until we get the password, but no one seems to know what the password is. i've tried our usual suspects for passwords - but all for naught.

hate to think my $60 software just became $60 coasters.

help me. i need to be creative and i got nothing.

except $60 coasters.

we love to fly - and it shows.

remember that slogan? it was from Delta Airlines.

no? well how about this one: Fly the Friendly Skies of United.

still nothing? what about: US Air...begins with u suck.

OK - i may have slightly altered that last one.

but it's true...at least in my latest experiences with them.

USAir has merged with America West...and neither has what i would call stellar customer service. see, about 9 years ago, Hubbs & i were on our honeymoon in Sedona, AZ. an absolutely beautiful place. peaceful. has an almost zen quality to it. oh, and Hubbs also ate sushi there & got a raving case of food poisoning.

well, duh. eating raw fish in the desert? but, that's another post for another day.

coming home, we were flying out of Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport on America West. Hubbs, still recovering from his sushi experience was making one of his frequent trips to the Lil' Boys room, when i hear the airline make an announcement regarding our flight home.

as in, we're canceling your flight.

what th'...

oh, but it's OK, because after an hour or so delay, they're putting us on other flights, none of which are going in to Long Beach (where my mother-in-law will be picking us up), but into the OC. where they will bus us to Long Beach.

only problem, is we can't reach my mother in law. this was in the day when most of us don't have cell phones. she's not at our apartment (and it's useless to leave a message, she won't work answering machines).

long story short, our luggage was stuck in Oakland before finally making it to Long Beach, where it was then delivered to us. we were stuck in the OC until we finally got a taxi to go back to Long Beach as well, where my mother in law was freaking out.

fast forward to 2006.

on these last trips i've been on to Philadelphia, we've flown US Air back to Long Beach...MUCH easier than flying in & out of LAX. we've had delayed flights, but the customer service was mediocre at best.

then yesterday, my boss calls me at work. she was flying back from her jaunt to PA, and should've been home Tuesday.

she was still in Phoenix. at 7:30 in the morning.

the weather has been such around here, that there's been a lot of thunderstorms going on. and in Phoenix, it was worse. she sat in the plane, on the tarmac for 35 minutes before they decided to cancel the flight, because it was just too dangerous to try & take off.

here's where US Air's customer service doesn't come in to play.

first they inform my boss that her flight out will be Wednesday a.m. and she will be routed into the OC, instead of Long Beach. so, she asks that her luggage be routed into Long Beach because she has no one to pick her up in the OC (don't get me started on why she didn't call me or anyone in her team to pick her up), and she doesn't want to schlepp her luggage.

they say no. they do, however, let her know that she can pick up her luggage (as soon as the storm lets up) from baggage claim, and then go through security again.

did i mention that her luggage was soaked?

so then she asks the Friendly Customer Service Rep if she can have a bottle of water, as most of the kiosks at the airport have closed because of the storm.

nope. it's against Company Policy.

however, another rep hears this and comes over to tell my boss he can give her the little 8oz bottles that the company gives the employees.

hey - it's better than nothing!

so, she spent the night at the airport, because all the hotels were booked. that stressed her out but she came home safely. and weepy.

OK - i'm good with the fact that US Air has no control over the weather. but come on...you can't even spare a bottle of water? or reroute luggage and not offer any explanation?

no wonder so many airlines and businesses in general are in trouble. everyone talks customer service, but very few put it in action. it's just a small gesture, but like the old saying goes - if you have a good experience, you only tell a few people, but if you didn't, you'll tell everyone.

besides - there's that little thing called the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

and a little thing called Valerie's Rule: Karma's gonna get you, if you don't watch out.

let's be courteous out there.

forgive me if i repeat myself...

but...here's my question for de day:

if you were a celebrity, wouldn't you be nervous when fellow celebrities starting cacking off?

i would.

just before i fell asleep at night, i'd probably jerk away wondering "am i next?"

and i wonder if other celebrities do, and if you were one, would you worry?

and where the hell is TomKat's kitten? seen hide nor hair of that child.

or could it be that the spaceship took her away to safety?

OK - so it's two questions: if you were a celebrity, would you worry when your fellow club members died and where is Sari Cruise?

discuss.

it's cooler.

yippee.

i'm also going through withdrawls. i have a ton of pictures from my last Philadelphia trip that i want to scrap, but can't.

i have no photo software downloaded. so i have raw pictures. pictures that need help.

i got nothing.

so all i can do is read scrapbooking magazines? woo-hoo.

needing some creativity, y'all.

sheesh.

the whole state is about to implode, i believe.

the highs in some valleys here in Mostly Sunny So. Cal. is around 108.

eh. no big, right?

but it is still SO humid. that's what's killing us.

and it still ain't right when it's 5a.m. & already 76 degrees.

in other news...

took a half day yesterday, but wasn't planning on it. our system was down when i got in @ 7, and at 10:30, didn't look like it was coming up for many more hours (our networks are based in Dallas). so, we were given the option of taking half a vacation day.

i, of course, took it.

after Hubbs got home from the gym, we got some lunch - went to the bookstore - saw a movie.

"Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest"

funny stuff. Johnny Depp never did much for me, but i did think he was an incredible actor. still do. and funny.

and Orlando Bloom? yum.

Kiera Knightly? Hubbs says yum. even though i read someplace that she swears worsen' a sailor.

but what makes me laugh is that movie theater owners complain that attendance is down. well, let's glance at the facts, shall we?

1) general admission on average here is anywhere from $9-11
2) matinees $8-9
3) snacks? sheesh. one of the "specials" was two medium drinks & a large popcorn for $14.

$14? gimme a break. we opted for an extra large bottle of water, small popcorn & a box of Raisinettes. that alone was $12.50.

this could be why attendance is down.

but considering how hot and humid it was yesterday (and will be till next week), i'd gladly have paid twice that, just to stay in the air conditioning.

playing hooky with the company's blessings!

so, to quote me when i called the Hubbs:
"clear out the hookers, honey; Mama's coming home!"

we started out this a.m. with our production site hardware (based out of Dallas) being down. first estimates to be back up was 10 Central time. then it was 11. next, an email was sent saying they didn't really know how long, it could be more hours.

and no one had an answer as to how long.

so - the Big Boss called in. told the supervisors that if people had vacation time, they could take a 1/2 day off. if they didn't, well...you're stuck. get ready to do some dusting.

ummmmm, no. i can do that at home. but at least at work i would be in the air conditioning.

so i opted for the 1/2 day.

it really works well, especially since this is Brendan's day off.

so clear out the whores. Mama's coming home.