Wow! 36! Little silly me! Whatever you think, whatever you know about me, if you get right down to it, I am still 6-years-old, sitting on a brown shag rug, holding my toes, glued to the TV, watching Lynda Carter spin into Wonder Woman. And dreaming of doing the same.
Last year was an amazing year. Yes, my income level dropped to precipitous levels but I am truly INDEPENDENT! Unabhängig! And I am going to make this work. In fact, it’s already working. One whole year into it and I am not just hanging in… I am climbing!
One thing I know for sure, this upcoming year will see some major, POSITIVE, changes taking place. Mark my words. And if they don’t, feel free to crucify me next year.
The weather was gorgeous for a week. Seemed like Autumn was right around the corner. Now it’s hot again.
At least my air conditioning is working again. It was nice to get a reprieve from it for a week. And thank goodness it coincided with cool weather.
Last night after Sunday dinner with my parents, Mom and Lisa presented me with birthday presents!!?! I was really surprised especially since my birthday is so far off. Turns out, I’m wrong and it’s in 3 days. Mom gave me a purple necklace and matching earrings. Lisa got me two analog journals, a tunic with cross-stitched roses around the neck and sleeves and a cute tablet. I am very happy with my loot!
At any rate, it did get me thinking about items I would LOVE to get for myself… but I hate to splurge.
My Dream Wishlist (not a call for gifts… this is mainly the big stuff I dream about…sometimes)
PC Projector so I can truly be a public speaker– I hate always having to beg for one.
Licensed copy of Camtasia. Unless someone can convince me that I am simply not using CamStudio to the fullest of it’s capabilities.
I want a new briefcase/laptop case and matching portfolio… I still use my old company’s portfolio and that’s just ghetto… I am sorry I used that term since when I hear people using it, I think they are being racist, and here I am using it.
I want a kick ass logo for my business. And I keep trying and I just can’t do it myself and I think I should maybe just hire a designer but I am just cheap. But when I have tapped designers for help, they give me crappy output… and it seems like no one can understand what I mean when I say Googie, Atomic Age, Mid Century Modern, retro-futuristic, The Jetsons, Thunderbirds are GO!
I spent three consecutive evenings organizing all my receipts from the last number of years so I could find all the invoices from Ray’s HVAC. And I found all of them. There weren’t that many. I put together a little graph showing the amount of money I’ve been spending on repairing the unit over the last 5 years and I waited for Ray to arrive. He came round a little after 12 as he had promised. He went out back to the unit, removed a panel, diagnosed the issue as a burnt out flux capacitor and replaced it. I stood there with my invoices and graph in my hand ready to pounce as soon as the issue was resolved. Ray then said, “Sorry about this Donna, it’s under warranty! See ya!” And he took off. I was dumbstruck. Maybe it was a good thing that I told him last time that I make my money by showing company’s how to get the word out on the top Social Media sites.
Here’s the thing, I like Ray. I’ve always liked Ray. I tend to get angry at Ray when he’s not around but as soon as he stops by, I see him and think, “I like him!” And he did the right thing this time. Watch how fast this changes when the heater stops working.
I am going to have to decide within the next few weeks what to do with the leak that has occurred twice now, each time happening the first day I turn on the air. My 5 year warranty is almost up and if there’s a reason for the leak, I would prefer to get it fixed now rather than later. Of course, why does it only leak the very first day and not again?
I dunno. The main issue of this hour is fixed. I’ll deal with the other issue later.
A Telephone Conversation
“Ray’s HVAC, can you hold?”
“Yeah….”
“Ray’s HVAC, how can I help you?”
“Is this the answering service or the office?”
“It’s the answering service, how can I help you?”
“I need to talk to Ray.”
“Is this Donna X, 666 Brimstone and Hellfire?”
“How did you know that?”
“You must have called before because you are in our computer system.”
“Does your computer system also report that I’m the biatch that screams at Ray at least 3 times every year?”
“No, Ma’am, it doesn’t say that in our system.”
“Well let him know it’s that time again, my air conditioner has stopped working.”
“I’ll have him call you… Thank you so much! Buh Bye!”
Yes. It’s true. My air conditioner… less than 5 years old is on the fritz again. It happened on Friday. I turned it off. Changed the filter. Decided to give it some time off. Left it off for a couple days. Finally today, I decided it was time to check on it. Damn thing isn’t working. The inside fan turns on and blows non-refrigerated air. The outside fan doesn’t turn on at all. It is also emitting a sharp humming sound.
He’s been around twice this year so this next visit will be #3. The unit blew a fuse AND it leaked. Last year it leaked. I am trying to get together all my invoices that I’ve paid over the last 5 years. I can’t imagine that this is acceptable behavior. Like I said to him the last time he was out, “Ray, you’re a nice guy but I was really hoping to go at least 10 – 15 years before I had to see you again.”
Last night I read some old donnaville blog entries from 2005. That was a couple months prior to getting laid off… the first time. Prior to re-branding myself a Sales professional. Reading the entries, I was surprised at how fun, happy and silly I sounded. Things sure did change that January. And I can hardly [...]
I am sitting at the local library, borrowing an outlet and their WiFi, and wondering what it would be like to hold a robin in my hands. It’s nice looking outside and seeing nature. Birds are such odd creatures when they aren’t flying. My power is out. Work is being performed on the lines. PECO [...]
I actually finished that proposal I was sitting on for so long. It feels great getting it off my back. I honestly feel that even if I had forced myself to write it, I wouldn’t have been able to– I needed to sit and ruminate on it for the time it took to finally spit [...]
If you follow me on Facebook, you’d know I spent Thursday evening at the Bethlehem Musikfest, in the pouring rain, just so I could catch The Red Elvises. They were awesome! It seems that Igor and Oleg have reunited! (At least kinda, we asked both Oleg and Igor after the concert if they were back [...]
Rhapsody actually recommended an artist I like! Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed Have you heard him or of him? He’s very retro. Me likey! Listen to Eli Paperboy Reed I really like the song, Name Calling.
