The first time somebody admired my car I was getting out of it at Vulcan Video. This guy said 'nice car' and I looked around, mildly surprised to find a late twenties dude with beard and tight jeans starring at my forester. 'It's soooooo boxy' he said borderline lustily. That was the first time I had any inkling that there were Forester admirers and lovers out there. I've definitely really liked the car since the moment I got it secondhand. It always seemed to be able to hold whatever crazy things I was lugging to TX from PA (skis, bikes, chest of drawers, etc.)
When I moved into the house on Nickerson St. in Austin back in '05, my housemate Laura, knowledgeable on all things lesbian, informed me that her and Mandi (our other housie) thought I might be a Lesbian because I didn't have a boyfriend and drove a Subaru Forester. It's almost ridiculous how many references there are to the Forester-Lesbian connection:
1. Subaru Gay Ad Campaign
2. Top Lesbian Cars
3. The term Lesbaru
Mine is a white, 1998 model. I'm pretty sure Foresters entered the US market in 1998, so I'm inclined to think mine is first generation. I'm pretty proud of the car to be totally honest. I decided about a year ago, after making some expensive repairs (not that this is common, because it's not), that this car and I were partners for the length of its life. So I'm trying to rehab it. In the spirit of not leading a disposable life, coupled with my recent unemployment (thus extra time and less money) and my unfairly beating it up for about 6-7 years, I really want to restore it to its former glory.
Step one was going to the dealership to get some glacier white Subaru paint to patch a few chips. It was at the Subaru dealership in Austin that I met a fantastic oracle or Subaruness. I was waiting at the counter for a quote on new mud flaps and a dog guard for the back seat when the guy behind me asked me if I had a forester. I turned around to see a tall, thin, late twenties male in tight jeans (Deja vu?). He asked which one was mine. We couldn't see it from where we were standing so I just told him it was a white '98.
'Wow that's the best color', he said.
'Really, wow?', I said.
'You know', he said lowering his voice and eyeing the dealership parts guy, 'There are websites where you can get parts really cheap. Like have you been to subaruforester.org? They've got great prices.'
'No I haven't. Oh my god that's awesome!', I said.
'And I saw a dog guard on craigslist for a 2000 model but I bet it'll fit. Do you ever look on there?'
'Well not for car parts...but I guess I should though.', I said.
It went on like that for awhile. Eventually I paid for my paint, we exchanged e-mail addresses and he told me to go take a look at his forester; he had just finished recovering his seats with a leather kit he got online for $55. A few days later he e-mailed me a bunch of links and said to stay in touch. It was very much a car fairy tale for me and I feel emboldened to do a bunch of special things to my ride.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Examined Life
I was almost going to make this whole post about eggplant water -- yes, eggplant water. Luckily, before I had a chance to peck out how shocking I found my weeping eggplant this afternoon, I ran into a really inspiring film called Examined Life. I got myself an Austin Film Society membership recently and the movie tonight was my first event (just 4$ for members!!). Firstly I was shocked that the theater was so packed for such a seemingly obscure movie and on a Wednesday night. The only seats left were in the very first row of the whole theater. I was pleased to see up close how large Cornell West's gap is. We are gap-toothed friends.
So it was nice to see that Austinites love their philosophy. Maybe I am in the right city after all. For me it was a bit shocking to see how young some of the philosophers were: Zizek, Judith Butler, Michael Hardt. She seemed to have a pretty simple premise: asking certain philosophers to speak for a time about ethics and meaning as they pertain to the areas of philosophy these people generally concern themselves. They were all pretty ripe to talk and had no problems addressing the camera -- in fact they were for the most part really charismatic and totally captivating.
Zizek was perhaps a scene stealer. His filming was done at a dump. Heavy machinery is shoveling mounds of garbage behind him (very close to him actually) and it's all very loud. Part of the time he has to shout to be heard. Coupled with his orange vest, beard and real intensity, it would be easy to mistake him for a worker there. What I took away was part of what he had to say about ecology. That we are equipped with rational facts about the environment that should cause us to realize we've got a huge (but slowly building) catastrophe on our hands; yet, because in our daily lives we still see trees and birds and relatively clean air we do nothing drastic to solve this looming problem. I think in part he thinks its because its not in our nature to do so. That maybe we play a part in the reality of what ecology is and has always been -- a series of catastrophic events. He also says ecology is the new opium for the masses. And then my brain was happily overwhelmed. I think we was trying to find a way for us to not feel as sorry for how the natural environment is turning out. This didn't make me feel ok. Oh well, I still can't stop myself from wanting to hear more from him.
Another favorite was a conversation with Kwame Anthony Appiah that took place in an airport as he was changing planes. One question was what it means to be cosmopolitan (which is a general challenge for the ever globalizing world). A cosmopolitan is a 'citizen of the world'. Citizens of the world can embrace and appreciate difference without requiring it to conform to something other than what it is.
Also, for anybody who has ever had creative blockage for fear of making something that wasn't perfect or good, Cornell West has a great little spiel about romanticism and dissonance.
I hope you enjoyed this in lieu of my thoughts on eggplant water. Please try to see this movie if you can. It will come out on DVD at some point and there is supposed to be a book that can be purchased to accompany the DVD that will have the rest of the many, many hours of footage with all eight. I don't know more details about where else it will show in Austin though it is supposedly going to get a pretty wide release across the US. The director is Astra Taylor. On a side note, as I was just googling to find a good link for Astra, I discovered that in 2008 she married Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel? Crazy. Though I don't know either party I feel compelled to say 'it's a small world'.
Also, for anybody who has ever had creative blockage for fear of making something that wasn't perfect or good, Cornell West has a great little spiel about romanticism and dissonance.
I hope you enjoyed this in lieu of my thoughts on eggplant water. Please try to see this movie if you can. It will come out on DVD at some point and there is supposed to be a book that can be purchased to accompany the DVD that will have the rest of the many, many hours of footage with all eight. I don't know more details about where else it will show in Austin though it is supposedly going to get a pretty wide release across the US. The director is Astra Taylor. On a side note, as I was just googling to find a good link for Astra, I discovered that in 2008 she married Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel? Crazy. Though I don't know either party I feel compelled to say 'it's a small world'.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sentences that start with 'After the storm...'
I got me some beadzzzzz!!!
I had so much fun catching them. My non chest bearing strategy was a big smile, shaking my hands crazily in the air and jumping up and down--which, happily for me, got me a lot of beads. It helps that there's not as much competition as you'd find in a place like New Orleans--but, whatever.
The coolest and best looking revelers I ran into were clearly Spencer and Kate (see the Jack Russels to the right). Anybody who's in Galveston next weekend can attend the Barkus and Meoux parade there and see them along with the rest of the animal participants, which sometimes includes goldfish and alpacas I was told.
I was lucky enough to get to stay at my cousin's restored home (circa 1890, survivor of the 1900 hurricane) on Mechanic Street. According to local lore, it once covered the head of the famous pirate/privateer Jean Lafitte. Thomas Paine was also a privateer I seem to remember. So if privateer is a nice way of saying pirate, I guess Thomas Paine was a bit of a swarthy badboy. Didn't he sign the Declaration of Independance?
Anyway, it was really sweet to spend the weekend there. They definitely have a lot of stress to exhale in this part of Texas. There was a lot Ike evidence in Galveston. Most people on Galveston island, my cousin included, were just finishing rebuilding from the 8'-0" or more of ocean water that had flooded the island in early September. On Sunday we took the ferry over to the Bolivar penninsula and took a look at what was left of the houses there. Galveston felt very recoverable, despite the prospects for future hurricanes. Bolivar though felt more like a wasteland; the backwash of the hurricane, unfamiliar to what it had been before.
Random, dirty items pop forward in the landscape while driving down the center of the penninsula; it's a lot of miscellaneous household stuff: garden hoses, parts of a vacuum cleaner--the list is endless. The trees or shrubs that are standing are mostly gray, possibly/probably dead from being submerged in salt water. A lot things that ended up on the ground (i.e. cars, bathtubs, coolers, etc.) and parts of buildings were heavily mired in thick, clayish mud. Houses were often teetering and twisting over or not there at all, with only wood piers left behind. Some of the houses that were built with concrete piers appeared to have faired better.
According to my cousin, local code requires that houses on the penninsula be built with concrete piers--I hope that anyone who rebuilds here would do this and that building officials get tough about enforcing it. Apparently some homes on Galveston island are being allowed to rebuild with slab on grade foundations--these are areas that undoubtedly will experience flooding at some point in the forseeable future. It makes no sense to me that this would be allowed, especially considering that they appear to be able to enforce strict rules on historic home renovations down to the type of material a window is made out of.
Of course, there were many cars that were ruined. Piles of cars had been collected near the ferry terminal where we arrived. Only a few, that were perhaps more difficult to move, were still left along the road or wherever they fell.
Unlike the aftermath of an earthquake where buildings appear to have gone through a grinder and end up in crushed piles; the hurricane washes things away or strands them and above all drowns them. Things are sometimes intact but often ruined, unusable. Above all so much is missing--some of it in the piles of debris and then so much of it just completely gone or maybe there but unrecognizable.
There is much reason to celebrate this mardis gras probably as there was the mardi gras in New Orleans following Katrina. It helps to understand why celebrations are important and why certain places or people, need to celebrate more often or better or in a way that's different from other places that don't expeience the same kind of loss? Who knows.
This film is a beautiful little meditation on great storms, loss and celebration:
I had so much fun catching them. My non chest bearing strategy was a big smile, shaking my hands crazily in the air and jumping up and down--which, happily for me, got me a lot of beads. It helps that there's not as much competition as you'd find in a place like New Orleans--but, whatever.
The coolest and best looking revelers I ran into were clearly Spencer and Kate (see the Jack Russels to the right). Anybody who's in Galveston next weekend can attend the Barkus and Meoux parade there and see them along with the rest of the animal participants, which sometimes includes goldfish and alpacas I was told.
I was lucky enough to get to stay at my cousin's restored home (circa 1890, survivor of the 1900 hurricane) on Mechanic Street. According to local lore, it once covered the head of the famous pirate/privateer Jean Lafitte. Thomas Paine was also a privateer I seem to remember. So if privateer is a nice way of saying pirate, I guess Thomas Paine was a bit of a swarthy badboy. Didn't he sign the Declaration of Independance?
Anyway, it was really sweet to spend the weekend there. They definitely have a lot of stress to exhale in this part of Texas. There was a lot Ike evidence in Galveston. Most people on Galveston island, my cousin included, were just finishing rebuilding from the 8'-0" or more of ocean water that had flooded the island in early September. On Sunday we took the ferry over to the Bolivar penninsula and took a look at what was left of the houses there. Galveston felt very recoverable, despite the prospects for future hurricanes. Bolivar though felt more like a wasteland; the backwash of the hurricane, unfamiliar to what it had been before.
Random, dirty items pop forward in the landscape while driving down the center of the penninsula; it's a lot of miscellaneous household stuff: garden hoses, parts of a vacuum cleaner--the list is endless. The trees or shrubs that are standing are mostly gray, possibly/probably dead from being submerged in salt water. A lot things that ended up on the ground (i.e. cars, bathtubs, coolers, etc.) and parts of buildings were heavily mired in thick, clayish mud. Houses were often teetering and twisting over or not there at all, with only wood piers left behind. Some of the houses that were built with concrete piers appeared to have faired better.
According to my cousin, local code requires that houses on the penninsula be built with concrete piers--I hope that anyone who rebuilds here would do this and that building officials get tough about enforcing it. Apparently some homes on Galveston island are being allowed to rebuild with slab on grade foundations--these are areas that undoubtedly will experience flooding at some point in the forseeable future. It makes no sense to me that this would be allowed, especially considering that they appear to be able to enforce strict rules on historic home renovations down to the type of material a window is made out of.Of course, there were many cars that were ruined. Piles of cars had been collected near the ferry terminal where we arrived. Only a few, that were perhaps more difficult to move, were still left along the road or wherever they fell.
Unlike the aftermath of an earthquake where buildings appear to have gone through a grinder and end up in crushed piles; the hurricane washes things away or strands them and above all drowns them. Things are sometimes intact but often ruined, unusable. Above all so much is missing--some of it in the piles of debris and then so much of it just completely gone or maybe there but unrecognizable.There is much reason to celebrate this mardis gras probably as there was the mardi gras in New Orleans following Katrina. It helps to understand why celebrations are important and why certain places or people, need to celebrate more often or better or in a way that's different from other places that don't expeience the same kind of loss? Who knows.
This film is a beautiful little meditation on great storms, loss and celebration:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Those Dang Yogurt Shops
The first time I experienced one of those pay-by-the-pound, self serve yogurt shops, my boyfriend immediately noticed that he was one of only two guys in the whole place. It was true and has been true every time that I've gone back. It's a chick magnet (dude repellant?). If somebody starts a 'what soccer moms like' website they can put these yogurt shops right after volvo station wagons.
You might wonder, as I did, why these yogurt shops are so amazingly popular. I distinctly remember having a conversation with a Californian about them maybe a year ago, before Austin had any. Well, I don't have an answer to their popularity other than the quirky Asian toppings & sauces (mochi, red beans, condensed milk, lychee, pomegranate sauce), modern & hip interiors and the gap in time between now and the last frozen yogurt phase (think TCBY, 1981).
I wanted to go there today because my head was swimmy after chaperoning a first grade field trip to the Texas State History Museum. It's a sweet place but seemed to be more about churning up the image of Texas through animatronics than recording much real, complicated history--perfect for a first grade class, however. The majority of their exhibits were pretty kid-proof which was good because the minute we got in there it was mild pandemonium. Kids bouncing from exhibit to exhibit, totally overstimulated and excited from the moment they got on the bus.
The highlight was a film we watched in the museum's multimedia special effects theater. They give you a quick ride through Texas history making sure to include events that allow them to shake the seats, blow air on the back of your neck and spray a slight mist or fake smoke depending upon the event. What events of Texas history did they select for the film you might ask? They seemed kind of random but I'm not a Texan so maybe I just don't get it: Cowboys blowing up a rattlesnake den with dynamite, Attack of the killer locusts (or other bug, it was unclear) somewhere in Texas and then one that made more sense, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
Ummm, somebody needs to tell them it might not be a good idea to simulate historical hurricanes anymore in the gulf coast region. When you combine the shaking seats, loud sounds and strobing images of waves crashing on huge screens right at you, it's a bit too good of a simulation and can be slightly scary. I did only see one kid crying, but I certainly wouldn't want to be there if a group of tourists from Louisiana happens to stumble in there.
I'm trying to fill my days with volunteer activities, a modest search for a restaurant job (also freelance archi work), studying for my final ARE exams and going out to all the fun things going on around Austin. As an aside, I had gotten really excited recently about a perp cook & dishwasher position at a catering place after a good conversation with the chef, but they ultimately found somebody else, C'est la vie. No matter. I will keep searching for the elusive good match. I'm pretty giddy to be cooking in a kitchen and watching all these food shows has got me even more amped. So I'll just have to keep you all posted.
This things I am excited about doing soon:
1. Pecha Kucha night
2. Phillip Glass Book of Longing
3. AFS screening Examined Life
You might wonder, as I did, why these yogurt shops are so amazingly popular. I distinctly remember having a conversation with a Californian about them maybe a year ago, before Austin had any. Well, I don't have an answer to their popularity other than the quirky Asian toppings & sauces (mochi, red beans, condensed milk, lychee, pomegranate sauce), modern & hip interiors and the gap in time between now and the last frozen yogurt phase (think TCBY, 1981).
I wanted to go there today because my head was swimmy after chaperoning a first grade field trip to the Texas State History Museum. It's a sweet place but seemed to be more about churning up the image of Texas through animatronics than recording much real, complicated history--perfect for a first grade class, however. The majority of their exhibits were pretty kid-proof which was good because the minute we got in there it was mild pandemonium. Kids bouncing from exhibit to exhibit, totally overstimulated and excited from the moment they got on the bus.
The highlight was a film we watched in the museum's multimedia special effects theater. They give you a quick ride through Texas history making sure to include events that allow them to shake the seats, blow air on the back of your neck and spray a slight mist or fake smoke depending upon the event. What events of Texas history did they select for the film you might ask? They seemed kind of random but I'm not a Texan so maybe I just don't get it: Cowboys blowing up a rattlesnake den with dynamite, Attack of the killer locusts (or other bug, it was unclear) somewhere in Texas and then one that made more sense, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
Ummm, somebody needs to tell them it might not be a good idea to simulate historical hurricanes anymore in the gulf coast region. When you combine the shaking seats, loud sounds and strobing images of waves crashing on huge screens right at you, it's a bit too good of a simulation and can be slightly scary. I did only see one kid crying, but I certainly wouldn't want to be there if a group of tourists from Louisiana happens to stumble in there.
I'm trying to fill my days with volunteer activities, a modest search for a restaurant job (also freelance archi work), studying for my final ARE exams and going out to all the fun things going on around Austin. As an aside, I had gotten really excited recently about a perp cook & dishwasher position at a catering place after a good conversation with the chef, but they ultimately found somebody else, C'est la vie. No matter. I will keep searching for the elusive good match. I'm pretty giddy to be cooking in a kitchen and watching all these food shows has got me even more amped. So I'll just have to keep you all posted.
This things I am excited about doing soon:
1. Pecha Kucha night
2. Phillip Glass Book of Longing
3. AFS screening Examined Life
Monday, February 9, 2009
Gosh I'm Hooked on Top Chef
While I feed my addiction by re-watching all the seasons, my wine of choice for the evening is: House Wine by The Magnificent Wine Co. It's a blend of a bunch of different grapes (6), mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. A little snooping on Wikipedia reveals that though it's grown all over the world, it's a young grape. A cross of a Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Resistant to many things that might destroy it, it is known as the great colonizer for its tendency to become really popular/dominant wherever it goes.
I've finally finished the book for our book club: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's published by MTV books which made me feel silly. What are they doing publishing anything? But then I thought about Napoleon Dynamite and changed my mind a little. It's for sure a page turner. I think its best audience may be a younger crowd 16-21, but I like that it really stuck with its format and worked it like the rent was due. (That's my new favorite expression, I'm sure you heard it before. I heard it on Top Chef)
I'm hoping to read this other book for another book club: Orlando, A Biography by Virginia Woolf. If you would have asked me a year ago if I could ever see myself being in two book clubs at the same time I probably would have said "only if I loose my job or something".
I've finally finished the book for our book club: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's published by MTV books which made me feel silly. What are they doing publishing anything? But then I thought about Napoleon Dynamite and changed my mind a little. It's for sure a page turner. I think its best audience may be a younger crowd 16-21, but I like that it really stuck with its format and worked it like the rent was due. (That's my new favorite expression, I'm sure you heard it before. I heard it on Top Chef)
I'm hoping to read this other book for another book club: Orlando, A Biography by Virginia Woolf. If you would have asked me a year ago if I could ever see myself being in two book clubs at the same time I probably would have said "only if I loose my job or something".
Friday, February 6, 2009
Zsa Zsa Gabor's birthday
Zsa Zsa turned 90 today. It's Bob Marley's Birthday today too. He died in 1981 when I was 1 year old, Zsa Zsa was 62 years old and he was 36 years old.
He died of cancer. It seems to be generally believed that it started in his big toe. Incidentally, my mom's awesome, large-for-his-breed sheltie named Snickers also has cancer and it started in his toe. That's my great grandmother in the picture. She died when she was 101 in 2008. She was diabetic for half of her life which some people think is amazing.
He died of cancer. It seems to be generally believed that it started in his big toe. Incidentally, my mom's awesome, large-for-his-breed sheltie named Snickers also has cancer and it started in his toe. That's my great grandmother in the picture. She died when she was 101 in 2008. She was diabetic for half of her life which some people think is amazing.
These are the things I am thinking about today. From what I've gathered, Bob Marley's toe went untreated and he eventually died from a tumor in his brain. Snickers has started radiation treatment on his foot.
There is definitely a sense of disbelief when someone tells you that an enflamed bump on a toe is actually a dangerous cancer. Another dog we know had an enflamed bump for several months and it turned out to be a porcupine quill; the swelling was so great they couldn't find the quill in his skin and the veterinarian had initially diagnosed that dog as having cancer.
Not sure what the weekend holds just yet other than drinks at Shangri-la. Apparently Domy is having a reception on Saturday night. Since I've never been there before, and it may give me happy nostalgia for Houston, I think I'll check it out. 7-9. For more info on the opening: Domy
Last night I was able to hang out with three friends at Vino Vino. We had a really great, cheap wine from the Loire Valley of France named You are so Nice. From the Vino Vino's description this wine is very earth friendly: biodynamic, organic, hand harvested -- wow.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
HSAs & The Wrestler
I've been eligible for COBRA twice in my life but in both instances couldn't use it. Even getting to continue the negotiated rate that my previous employer had with the insurance company was way too expensive for the situations I had been in (even if I had still had the same salary).
Luckily I do have an HSA this time around, which is nice. Rather than being at ground zero, I've got a little health-nest egg. It does make me happy to think that the egg is built out of money that otherwise would have come from my paycheck and gone into the black hole of normal health insurance monthly premiums. So, I guess until the fountain of youth is found or universal health care is figured out, whichever comes first, I am relatively happy for a little while.
My trouble is that I find it hard to imagine the funds I accrue in my HSA will cover me as I age. Perhaps if I was in a profession where I could count on my employer making contributions for me, or at least matching them, I might make the $2,900 maximum contribution per year but as it stands I put in a little less than 60$ a month and the interest I earned is considerably less than the $2.00 service fee they charge me with each month. I also wish I would have not paid extra for the dental coverage over the past six months. Clearly I should have put that money into my HSA since I didn't go to the dentist once during that time.
It doesn't appear that I will make that much money with my HSA over time unless I find some way to feel comfortable investing the money so as to get a better interest return on it. I'm not interested in gambling the money in my HSA through investing it. All I have to do is imagine being 75 years old and loosing the money in my HSA because of a bad investment that some faceless person at my HSA bank made. This kind of example is very real right now. There are people out there that lost the bulk of their retirement-eggs. I think they say that the only thing certain is death and taxes. So just put the tax man in charge.
As it stands I found myself a high deductible health plan for right around $100/month to go with my HSA. I won't be contributing much into it for awhile which is ok because I'm young and I have time to make money and put money into it. A solution would be good universal health care. Like public education, I don't see how health care is not a basic right. The crisis we're experiencing right now is really indicative of how capitalism tends to experience these crises and privatization of things that need to be provided is not a solution. Basic needs should be guaranteed by the government since they're the only ones who are structured to provide it no matter what.
Hope this post wasn't too boring. I'll finish up by saying that I finally saw The Wrestler, a movie I was very eager to see. So, the whole movie is very grainy which I thought gave it a nice, raw feeling. The casting was superb. Mickey Rourke was so real as 'Randy the Ram' I had to go back and find old pictures of him to remember what he looked like normally. I'd be sad and disappointed if he didn't get the Oscar. Marissa Tomei was also a perfect cast is seemed to me; however, I feel like there was not enough of a role or performance for her to get the Oscar. For some reason the whole movie felt sort of slow and then it was over before there was a chance for there to be a good plot. I wish his daughter's role had more of a chance to exist as well as Tomi's role; it was a sparse, pretty movie about a gristley, real man. So no award for screen writing to be expected or anything like that but most definitely worth seeing.
Luckily I do have an HSA this time around, which is nice. Rather than being at ground zero, I've got a little health-nest egg. It does make me happy to think that the egg is built out of money that otherwise would have come from my paycheck and gone into the black hole of normal health insurance monthly premiums. So, I guess until the fountain of youth is found or universal health care is figured out, whichever comes first, I am relatively happy for a little while.
My trouble is that I find it hard to imagine the funds I accrue in my HSA will cover me as I age. Perhaps if I was in a profession where I could count on my employer making contributions for me, or at least matching them, I might make the $2,900 maximum contribution per year but as it stands I put in a little less than 60$ a month and the interest I earned is considerably less than the $2.00 service fee they charge me with each month. I also wish I would have not paid extra for the dental coverage over the past six months. Clearly I should have put that money into my HSA since I didn't go to the dentist once during that time.
It doesn't appear that I will make that much money with my HSA over time unless I find some way to feel comfortable investing the money so as to get a better interest return on it. I'm not interested in gambling the money in my HSA through investing it. All I have to do is imagine being 75 years old and loosing the money in my HSA because of a bad investment that some faceless person at my HSA bank made. This kind of example is very real right now. There are people out there that lost the bulk of their retirement-eggs. I think they say that the only thing certain is death and taxes. So just put the tax man in charge.
As it stands I found myself a high deductible health plan for right around $100/month to go with my HSA. I won't be contributing much into it for awhile which is ok because I'm young and I have time to make money and put money into it. A solution would be good universal health care. Like public education, I don't see how health care is not a basic right. The crisis we're experiencing right now is really indicative of how capitalism tends to experience these crises and privatization of things that need to be provided is not a solution. Basic needs should be guaranteed by the government since they're the only ones who are structured to provide it no matter what.
Hope this post wasn't too boring. I'll finish up by saying that I finally saw The Wrestler, a movie I was very eager to see. So, the whole movie is very grainy which I thought gave it a nice, raw feeling. The casting was superb. Mickey Rourke was so real as 'Randy the Ram' I had to go back and find old pictures of him to remember what he looked like normally. I'd be sad and disappointed if he didn't get the Oscar. Marissa Tomei was also a perfect cast is seemed to me; however, I feel like there was not enough of a role or performance for her to get the Oscar. For some reason the whole movie felt sort of slow and then it was over before there was a chance for there to be a good plot. I wish his daughter's role had more of a chance to exist as well as Tomi's role; it was a sparse, pretty movie about a gristley, real man. So no award for screen writing to be expected or anything like that but most definitely worth seeing.
Monday, February 2, 2009
All Day on The Phone
Today I spent almost the whole working day on the phone with Texas Workforce Comission. Boy am I tired after a hard day on the dole--for real. It started at 10 am when I realized that I couldn't request my first payment online because I didn't know my PIN number. I hadn't been asked to specify a PIN but somehow I had one and damned if I knew what it was. I tried to find some way to reset it online, as is often so easy to do these days. Not so fast you unemployed person!!--it's only possible to reset over the phone with a real, live operator. So I thought 'no big deal I have all day', right? Not right actually, but whatever I want my PIN and then I'll figure out my lack of health insurance.
So, I call the number. It goes straight to an automated voice that says due to high call volume they cannot receive my call at this time please hang up or try again later. Whoa...Surely I should have been given the opportunity to wait on hold until my ear went numb if that was what I wanted, right? Surely they aren't just saying 'Sorry!'?
But actually they were saying that. I called back 21 times in a row without getting the privilege to wait on hold. At 1 pm I relocated myself to a coffee shop for a change of scenery...15 times, 20 times--no dice. Once and a while I got a busy signal instead of the auto-man, but mostly I got the auto-man voice.
51 times...New auto-man! I made it through to the first of a series of 5 or 6 menus that led me to a wait of 22 minutes and then (drum roll): a live person. I have to say she was really nice; however, the steps she gave me to reset my PIN, to my devestation, did not work--AAAAhhhhh. 3 pm...13 times...21 times...22 times. 4:00-4:30 pm PIN is finally reset, but I've got an appointment at 6:00 and I need to get ready so there's no time for requesting payment today. It'll just have to wait another day. Oh well for me. I wondered if I could get a part time job working at their call center.
Did I mention coffee shops are full of people? They really are. You've gotta be on your game and stake out seating as soon as you get there so you don't get stuck with a coffee and no seat--it's crazy. In several separate conversations I overheard people talking about how they were unemployed. One girl had a piece of paper taped to her computer that said she was an unemployed MBA. I admit it's somewhat comforting that some of these other coffee drinkers are in the same boat.
Have you ever played the game apples to apples? It's really fun. We played on Saturday at dolce vita, which I've fallen in love with all over again. I could have sat there all night.
So, I call the number. It goes straight to an automated voice that says due to high call volume they cannot receive my call at this time please hang up or try again later. Whoa...Surely I should have been given the opportunity to wait on hold until my ear went numb if that was what I wanted, right? Surely they aren't just saying 'Sorry!'?
But actually they were saying that. I called back 21 times in a row without getting the privilege to wait on hold. At 1 pm I relocated myself to a coffee shop for a change of scenery...15 times, 20 times--no dice. Once and a while I got a busy signal instead of the auto-man, but mostly I got the auto-man voice.
51 times...New auto-man! I made it through to the first of a series of 5 or 6 menus that led me to a wait of 22 minutes and then (drum roll): a live person. I have to say she was really nice; however, the steps she gave me to reset my PIN, to my devestation, did not work--AAAAhhhhh. 3 pm...13 times...21 times...22 times. 4:00-4:30 pm PIN is finally reset, but I've got an appointment at 6:00 and I need to get ready so there's no time for requesting payment today. It'll just have to wait another day. Oh well for me. I wondered if I could get a part time job working at their call center.
Did I mention coffee shops are full of people? They really are. You've gotta be on your game and stake out seating as soon as you get there so you don't get stuck with a coffee and no seat--it's crazy. In several separate conversations I overheard people talking about how they were unemployed. One girl had a piece of paper taped to her computer that said she was an unemployed MBA. I admit it's somewhat comforting that some of these other coffee drinkers are in the same boat.
Have you ever played the game apples to apples? It's really fun. We played on Saturday at dolce vita, which I've fallen in love with all over again. I could have sat there all night.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Reverse Cougar
I went to see my friend Chad's band last night. They were really fantastic! It looks like their website hasn't been updated in awhile but the bio is really nice reading (though the trumpet was missing, right?): Transgressors
I overheard, or think I overheard, something really funny as I was walking in the door to Beerland last night. This middle-aged, bearded and very bellied dude said to his buddy: "yeah, this girl was trying to pull a reverse cougar on me". Wow.
The urban dictionary says that the Reverse Cougar is a guy, but I kind of like the bellied dude's take on it -- a young girl on the prowl for a +/- 40 yr old dude. For anybody out there that might be writing comedic roles for women, you heard it hear first.
I overheard, or think I overheard, something really funny as I was walking in the door to Beerland last night. This middle-aged, bearded and very bellied dude said to his buddy: "yeah, this girl was trying to pull a reverse cougar on me". Wow.
The urban dictionary says that the Reverse Cougar is a guy, but I kind of like the bellied dude's take on it -- a young girl on the prowl for a +/- 40 yr old dude. For anybody out there that might be writing comedic roles for women, you heard it hear first.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
