Do I even need the fans now?

It's amazing what a working air conditioner can do for you.
Last year, when I complained to apartment management that my a/c wasn't cooling enough, the guy who came over to check it did three things: he measured the temperature of the unit's outgoing air and deemed it "within normal parameters;" he changed the filters; and then he redirected all our vents to more strategically cool the house.
You all know I've been pissy about how hot my house is getting this year. I kinda decided that it was just my sucky a/c, and went with the ceiling fan thing (Nope, they still haven't been installed). Friday night I came home from dinner to realize that, you know what, my air is just not cooling as it should. Saturday morning, at 6 a.m. when I got up to feed my kid, the unit had been on all night, and my house was not at all cold.
That morning, I called the front office. "No problem," said the girl. "Maintenance is on their way over there right now." Well, I had stuff to do and no time to wait, so took off in the vain hope that this guy might do something more than just shift my vent directions.
Imagine my surprise upon coming home a few hours later to open my door and be greeted by ... a waft of cold air! My goodness! Even part two of my apartment is cooling well! Knock me over with a feather, and beat the hell out of last year's maintenance guy for not knowing what the frick he was talking about! Jeez! The unit is even cooling so well that it's working properly off the thermostat!

Darker, grayer, with a double dorsal stripe

You know I love it when new animals are discovered. It's nice to know that we, as a human race, don't know everything about everything on this planet. The downside, of course, is that now the clouded leopard, just discovered in Borneo, will be exploited, tagged and subjected to all the awful stuff we, as a human race, do to the animals on our planet. There is hope though.
According to the AP: The clouded leopard of Borneo — discovered to be an entirely new species — is the latest in a growing list of animals and plants unique to the Southeast Asian country's rainforest and underscores the need to preserve the area, conservationists said Thursday. Genetic tests by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute revealed that the clouded leopard of Borneo and Sumatra islands is a unique cat species and not the same one found in mainland Southeast Asia as long believed, said a statement by WWF, the global conservation organization.
"Who said a leopard can never change its spots? For over a hundred years we have been looking at this animal and never realized it was unique," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International Coordinator of the Heart of Borneo program, which is dedicated to preserving the flora and fauna in the deep jungles on Borneo.
The secretive clouded leopards are the biggest predators on Borneo, growing sometimes to the size of a small panther. They have the longest canine teeth relative to body size of any cat.
"The fact that Borneo's top predator is now considered a separate species further emphasizes the importance of conserving the Heart of Borneo," Chapman said. The news about the clouded leopard comes just a few weeks after a WWF report showed that scientists had identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants over the past year on Borneo, the world's third largest island that is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Heart of Borneo, a mountainous region about five times the size of Switzerland covered with equatorial rainforest in the center of the island, is the last great forest home of the Bornean clouded leopard. Researchers believe that the Borneo population of the clouded leopard likely diverged from the mainland population some 1.4 million years ago.
Here's hoping that the conservation organizations are able to preserve the animal and its surroundings.

It'll be cheaper, too

Truthfully, nothing really happened today. The guys did not come by and install my ceiling fans (yes, I did call again this morning. Let's hope it'll happen tomorrow).
I did make it to Baja Fresh for lunch though, and while I enjoyed my chicken quesadilla immensely, it kinda made me sick to eat all that cheese and grease. I guess that Subway commercial got to me the other night. Have you seen it? It centers on a couple at a drive-through window, ordering "blubber," "fatty love handles," and the like. The part with the guy didn't bug me, but then the woman says, "Instead of the blubber, I'll have thunder thighs and a badonkadonk butt." That quote has been running through my head ever since I heard it.
Confession: I've been eating fast food lunches regularly. I am smitten with Sonic's corn dogs and iced tea. I love Taco Bell's crunchy tacos and nachos supreme. I thoroughly enjoy a regular roast beef and a chocolate shake at Arby's. And my secret shame is still McDonald's -- love it, love it, love it. All that changes, somewhat, after today. There's a difference in what one orders at these places, you know. I remember from Weight Watchers that a small hamburger is only six points. Herein, at McD's, I'll only get a regular hamburger. Sonic: one corn dog and a large iced tea. Taco Bell: only the tacos. Arby's: junior-sized roast beef, no shake.
Rather than deny myself the pleasure of eating this food, I'll be more realistic and just cut back on what I eat. Logically, that works better for my head. If I promise that I won't eat any of it, I'll fail to keep that promise, and then eat what I want out of shame and spite.

Yeah, I failed bracketology

I've filled out my bracket for March Madness. There's no money involved, just bragging rights, between my hubby and I. It's funny, really. He takes so much time filling his out, and I just tend to pick the winners based on a whim, and their upset potential.
I won't sugarcoat it for you, I suck at this. Last year, the team I had picked to take the whole tourney lost in the second round. Not a good day for Kimmie's bracket at all. This year, I've gone with the number one seeds more than I have in years past, but still have a healthy dose of upsets in there.
Okay, I'll go on the record. I've got North Carolina going all the way, playing Oregon in the championship game. My Final Four includes Oregon, Kansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. Brian indicated that he thinks my bracket may have legs this year, which would be a good thing. It's a drag losing the whole smash in that second week.

In Boston, snow on Friday

We had a record-setting day here in sunny Arizona. Yep, at 4:20 p.m., even before the official high temperature is recorded, it was 91 degrees, a new record for this day. Great. I suppose it would make for agreeable symmetry that the summer seasons break records since we've moved out here -- the winters in Boston did for the four years that we were there. I've had my air conditioner on for three days (I'm still waiting for my ceiling fans to be installed), and as I sit here, blogging at 8:43 p.m. in the middle of March, I'm comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt.

Clank! Clank, clank, clank!

The guys next door have developed the habit of tossing their empty beer bottles onto the parking lot cover off our balconies. In theory, this is no big deal. In actuality, it makes a sh*tload of noise, incites my dog to bark, and generally, just pisses me around.
Brian says I can't go next door and ask them to stop doing it. I think that since I've let them use our plunger, we have a special bond as humans. I think that because of this bond, I should be able to ask them to cease and desist this irritating bottle tossing. I think that the next time they show up at my door with a backed-up toilet, I'll have a condition to their loan.

A "R"eally "B"rutal "I"nstitution

I'll tell you, it's a bizarre experience to watch a company that I worked within for three years slowly imploding on itself. I'm kept in the loop of what's going on there by ex-coworkers/current friends, and find it sad that the place is falling apart. (This is no current development; the place has been sliding for a while.) Recently, the division itself has been kind of merged, but not really, with the New York division; the president has resigned; people are both leaving and being escorted out of the building; the whole place seems to be heading toward the land of never never; and, oh yeah, one employee wants to buy the place for one reason: to fire everyone he works with. We used to joke that the company had become a dangerous place to work. "Like rats fleeing a sinking ship," actually, is how we described people leaving, and the company surviving. It's an interesting push and pull, emotionally, to want the company to survive for the good of the people there, but then also secretly delight in its failure, because the management is doing so much completely wrong.

Sadly, Tom T. was among them

I bought fresh address pages for my Day Runner today. I got to looking through it yesterday, and found that there were a lot of people in there that I a.) did not have a current address or phone number for, and b.) did not care about anymore.
Harsh? Perhaps, but those of you who know me, know that I do not lose touch with people; they stop communicating with me. Most of the people who were dumped from the Day Runner today have been in it for years, with no communication either way during those years. To be fair, I give everyone several years to redeem themselves before they get pushed from my address pages. (Actually, I don't know why I'm being diplomatic and not naming them, because they don't even know about the blog. One person I haven't spoken to since 1998.)
Fresh address pages though, have brought into stark reality how badly worn my Day Runner is. The top and bottom seams of the cover are split; the plastic lining has turned opaque; and the tabbed dividers are wearing through. I think that tomorrow I will go back to Staples and get a new planner.

A pretty princess

This is a picture of the very first black princess in Disney's movie-making history. Goodness gracious, it's about time they had some princesses of color. If not for Aladdin's Jasmine, I would think the crop of princess movies was the worst kind of country club's debutante class.
Isn't she beautiful? I'm digging her dress in a big way.
Anyway, this image is of a recording session for the movie, The Frog Princess, set in New Orleans. (That's Randy Newman there on the piano, and that's a rant for a different time. Get some new music makers, please, Disney.)
More than the fact that the movie is making an African American girl a princess, and showcasing the amazing New Orleans as a backdrop, I'm happy that we are finally getting a new princess. I've got to tell you, I never thought I'd get tired of looking at Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, Ariel and Jasmine. This overwhelming princess hysteria has turned me a bit sour to the whole thing. Walking into a Disney store now can be likened more to cruising the Barbie aisle at a toy store!

Fay! You're killing me!

* Check out what I did on Starbucks.com this morning. On the site, you can create a wallpaper for your computer based on your favorite drink! My idea for them? Get into clothing, and make this an option for having t-shirts created for loyal customers. I totally would buy a shirt with my mocha order on it.
* There's a news anchor out here who continues to rock the big hoop earrings and sprayed up bangs. This, you may remember, was quite the look in the late 80s, early 90s. Seriously, every time I see her, I'm all, "Woman! Get someone to give you a real hairstyle! Find new earrings, right now! You must cease and desist this crime against humanity!"
* "It's getting hot in here ... so take off all your clothes..." At least that's how I think the verse goes. Anyway, I turned on my air conditioner today for the first time this year. It's supposed to get up into the 90s this weekend, they say. New project: My apartment is in two parts. Part one is the living room, kitchen, master bedroom and master bathroom. It gets cool from the air conditioning. Part two consists of the office/guestroom, guest bathroom and Sydney's room. Part two does not get cool. So, to combat the oven that is the second half of my apartment, I have decided that we are going to get ceiling fans for those rooms. (Actually, we'll also get one for the living room, since its window gets sunshine all day.) I checked out The Home Depot, and they've got a decent-looking one that's not that expensive. Our apartment is already wired for fans in every room, so I'll call maintenance to see if they'll install them. It's not that I don't trust B and I to do it right; I just don't trust us to do it right without fighting or breaking something.

But does he know when to use an en-dash

If I were to list for you my favorite things (an idea for the sidebar over there to left, actually), U2, the best band ever, and Vanity Fair, one of the best magazines ever, would be on it. And to have the two combine into some bizarrely ultra-cool coexistence is tripping me out. Look here, at Bono guest editing a future issue of V.F. Another awesome reason to be working at that magazine! I guess this is the first time the mag has had a guest editor, so it should be an interesting issue.
Graydon Carter, the actual editor of V.F., sits to Bono's right. Said Carter of Bono, "I think there isn't one editor in the world who would not pay attention if Bono pulled up and said he wanted to edit a magazine." I agree.
I guess the issue is going to focus on Africa (according to the gossip site I found this on), and "won't be preachy." I confess to being a bit skeptical on that. While I love Bono and U2, I don't love being preached to, and Bono does love his causes.
And here is my pessimism based on the singer's editorial prowess: I suppose I'll look forward to the very special issue of Vanity Fair, and see how the lead singer of my favorite band can screw up one of my favorite magazines.

Click the link! Give some women their tampons!

Deal or No Deal has been on for a while. I wouldn't venture a guess as to how many episodes -- really, I won't. Tonight, in watching the show, I was struck with a wonderment. Do the models have a pool going for every contestant? Are they silently wishing the people good or not from a room backstage? What do they do after their cases have been chosen and they've been released from the stage? For whatever reason, these questions consume me right now. And the show's web site is disturbingly vague about such things. So I will declare that yes, the models do bet on how far a contestant will go, and how much money they'll take home.

Good karma alert: I rarely pay much attention to the chain e-mails that are sent to me. In fact, I tend to delete them the second I realize what they are. (Mom knows this, but she sends a couple to me anyway.) I don't believe that good things happen by forwarding an e-mail; I don't think that anyone suddenly "receives" a million dollars; I don't think that sending a message to 15 people will cure some kid's cancer. Call me harsh and pessimistic, but the Internet, though definitely an influence, isn't that kind of powerful.
But every once in a while, someone will send something to me that I act on. More rare than that, I also post it up here on the blog. Today's one of those days, and Maria is the e-mailer who has compelled my action. Following is the e-mail and link:
You probably have never thought of this, but women's shelters in the U.S. go through thousands of tampons and pads monthly. While assistance agencies generally help with expenses of "everyday" necessities such as toilet paper, diapers and clothing, this basic need is overlooked. Seventh Generation, a green paper products and cleaning products company, has a do-good attitude and will donate a box of sanitary products to a women's shelter in your chosen state -- just for clicking the link. Talk about easy; it literally takes less than one minute and they ask nothing of you. And, yes, it is legitimate!
http://www.tampontification.com/donate.php

It also has a teether

I have a crutch ... a monkey on my back ... an obsession. Spoken in a couple words: baby stuff. Auntie Donna accompanied Sydney and I on a trip through Babies R Us yesterday, where I filled up on all the stuff I found that we desperately needed at home. What's funny is that so much of it was necessary, like the baby lotion, plates and spoons for (somewhat) solid food, wipes, rice cereal and oatmeal. The fun stuff, by way of the natural order of the universe, cost the most, but also was the most fun to buy. Stroller toys, closet organizers, a couple more footie pajamas (I love those on her! She's so comfy in them!), and a lion toy for her crib were all on my list of stuff to buy as well.
The obsession starts though, when I think to myself, "I didn't really like the footie selection at Babies R Us yesterday. Maybe we should go to Carter's tomorrow." Or when I consider, "I should have picked up another 'Mazie' while I was there, too. What if she loses this one just as she's starting to really dig her?"
It's a sickness, truly.

[Editor's note:
This picture, though adorable, is not of my far-cuter baby.]

Not too taxing

I've been pulling together all the stuff we need for our taxes this year. In so doing, I've discovered that there is a lot more to deductions than I ever thought there was. This is our first year filing a "long form," thanks to the kid, so there's a lot more to what I needed to send to the accountant. Color me naive about the whole thing, but I guess, up until now, Brian's and my taxes have been really simple to do.
With Sydney and a long form though, I can add all the health insurance, and hospital and doctor bills from her birth; and because of Brian's job, we can include all his licensing fees and association memberships. Oh yeah, and the moving expenses, and my donations to Goodwill prior to that.
I was a little nervous that we'd get bent over this year because I had some freelance pay that we'd get taxed for after the fact. We usually get really healthy returns because of Brian's loans, so I was actually hoping that we would break even. But with all the stuff that I've been faxing to Mom to add to my pile for Frank, I'm feeling quite optimistic.

Happy March!

I'm watching Thriller Max, one of the Cinemax channels, waiting for 2:50 p.m. when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is scheduled to start. During the day on these premium movie channels, one never knows what one will get. Witness the movie I'm forced to endure until H.P. starts: They Live, starring Roddy Piper ("Rowdy" Roddy Piper, of wrestling fame, I assume) and Keith David. Here's the best part -- "When two men put on special sunglasses they see aliens and subliminal messages." I bet people get paid for coming up with a summary like that. Better yet, people get paid for coming up with a movie idea like that. The credits are rolling now, so the movie's over, but I don't remember any kind of ending. It was that good.
So here's the March avatar! She's breezy in her St. Patrick's Day scarf and at the St. Pat's parade, huh? Love it! This is the kind of avatar that would make my angel Gramps very happy.