Possibly. Just possibly. If we can tie the fire to the leach field failure, the insurance will have to pay. Halleluia. Cuz they drove those trucks over our backyard alll night long looking for (and finding) hot spots. Naturally, our insurance people aren't calling us back.

Suddenly my decant circle debacle took a back seat. Today's disaster was a guy standing in my yard telling me I need to drop a ton of money on a new leach field. Like $5,000 to $8,000. Within DAYS. As in Emergency.

And since he was only there to pump and doesn't do that kind of work, I'm pretty sure he was telling the truth. Especially since it's 40 years old and hasn't been maintained, if the rest of the property is anything to go by. We knew there were problems with the leach field but we were really hoping there was SOMETHING that the next buyer could get stick with fixing instead of us. Of course not. Effing money pit.

I know it's not politic to get ticked at the lab (BPAL). They're a small company. Do their best and all that. But I just set up a decant circle, was selling slots, and hadn't yet ordered bottles for it (hadn't sold enough and no paypal balance to fund it). I just found out they pulled the scents off the Dark Delicacies web site. Which were just added Friday. Word is they're going to (who knows when) add them to the lab's web site for sale there. Worse yet, I can't access the lab site at home. I have a computer glitch, so I have to go to the library (15 mi. one way) to see it.

Unfortunately, DD ships in a day or two. The lab takes a couple of weeks. My circle people were kind of counting on quick delivery, since the scents were at Dark Del. Ever so briefly. WTH??

What can I say? Well, a lot as my friends all know :D But I've already digressed. Convergence was a blast. My roomie was a sweetheart. *waves to Sam* She did NOT snore, like she claimed she would, although it's entirely possible I drowned her out. I only did a few incredibly stupid things, starting with forgetting my cell phone in my car before I even left, and finishing with leaving my folder full of my itinerary, roomie's phone # etc., at the Enterprise counter. Oh yeah, and totally forgot there were even B Movie scents at Dark Del, so I never even went looking for them. *pretends to shoot self in head with finger*

But other than those TEENY snags, a perfect trip!! We went to In-N-Out Burger, a first for me, and definitely as good as Sam said. Also went to a great Pizza place in Long Beach with Sam and Ryan (honeycat on LJ, who stayed next door to us on the ship), can't recall the name, but I was surprised that they didn't have any seafood toppings since they were right on the beach, LOL. Great veggie special, though.

Convergence! The Queen Mary was beyond spectacular. What a grand old lady. I walked onto the ship and said, 'well, obviously it's the original carpeting.' Yeesh. The wood paneling just glowed down the long hallways and it had what looked like all original electrical fittings. Really big bathroom too - bigger than mine at home! And nice size bedroom, bigger than I expected really, with a double porthole, very cool. I kept getting turned around on the ship (no sense of direction at all). There weren't an awful lot of vendors this year, but they were selling some really gorgeous things. Sadly I waited to browse, planning to go back closer to closing time, and when I went back, they'd already closed. They'd changed the closing time from 6:00 to 5:00 and we didn't know, so I never got a chance to buy a Convergence souvenir. There were lots of QM giftshops but I wanted to support the vendors. :(

More later (my DH just got home from Alabama) ~

I bought a pair of these from a lovely person but I've got multiple conflicts, so I can't go to the events for which they were bought. These will give you entry to the party on the beach (including free liquor til it runs out), the goth fashion show, the bands, and I'm not sure what else. 

Is anyone looking for some? (I can't afford to donate these, BTW, as I paid full price for them.)

Not only do I not have a definite roomie for Convergence, but this I can't believe. A friend of my brother's put him on his D3 list just today. Flying privileges on American. Because they're friends on a ball team. Lucky SOB!!!!! 

Here's my annual post, LOL.

I've waffled about going to Convergence for, wow, 3 months now? My airfare was originally about $199. Now it's nearly $400. Teach me to not make up my mind. But it didn't sound like any forumites were planning to go, except for daytrippers. Us Texas people, we can't exactly do that, I checked. Um, 1350 miles. That's a helluva day trip. So now that the lab FINALLY announced some plans about what they're doing, I''m definitely going. I've bought laminates, and I have a room on the Queen Mary lined up from someone who can't go. All I need now is a roommate. (My DH will go but he's not thrilled about it. He kind of liked C13, but this isn't really his kind of deal.)

Also, I'll have to hide the trip from my family because they're all pressuring me to attend a wedding reception. I don't want to go because:

a) The wedding was sometime in January. My nephew got married and didn't even have the decency to tell my sister. The bride let it slip on the phone.
b) It's dumb. Why a reception 6 months later? Presents, that's why. And to gather the fam to meet the other family I suppose. I don't care.
c) If it's about the gift I sent one. They had a 'mail shower.' The happy couple will open them when they get there I guess. For the record, I think the shower was dumb, too.
d) I did all this last summer for my son's graduation party. It was stressful even without as many of my extended relatives. Don't want to repeat the experience that soon.

So I had the job at Whozit & A$$holesrus for two whole days last month and got canned, for I have no idea what reason. Ostensibly because their 'overhead was killing them.' Uh huh. I almost bought that, except their ad came right back out again, tweaked to request someone versed in TX law. Well, can't lie about that (nor did I). Ennyway.

Moving on, my husband comes home a couple days ago and tells me there's a part time job at the base post office I could probably have if I want it. I chat with George, who works there, whenever I pick up a BPAL package (that is to say, often), and they're great, laidback folks there. It's a teeny place. It'd be kinda mindless. This I already know, having worked at a base po before, over the holidays just for the hell of it. But I'm almost tempted, just for something to do. Gawd, I'm bored. It's just that, well, it is mindless, and I wonder how long it'd take me to get bored. Sighhhhh.

Time to clear off my shelves! If bottle/decant level is unlisted, it's full. Levels are my best estimate. Everything is at lab price or below.

Payment: I take all flavors of paypal (timnjo4 at hotmail dot com) and money orders; please include your forum ID on paypal payments. Since prices are lab cost, you must use www.ppcalc.com for total (I get charged for ALL payments).

Shipping: $2.50 US/Canada. $3.00 rest of world. I use new padded mailers. Possible adjustment for major purchases (I have a scale and will be fair.) If you include 'last 4' for your zip code, it can speed delivery by 1 day. I don't use delivery confirmation except by request.

LE Bottles:
13 (April '07, purple label) 90%+ $15.75
13 (July '07, pink label) $17.50
(20% off for the pair)
Cancer '07 90% $18
Chaos Theory IV (DCXCV) [see reviews: lemon sugar, other citrus/fruits on drydown] 95%+ $14.25
Crimson Christmas w/velveteen bag $20
Frau Holle 90% $15.75
Fruit of Paradise, The (picture label, untested) $18
Head of Holofernes 80-85% $15
Hexennacht '08 $17.50
House, The 55% $11
Ides of March '05 75% $9.50
Knecht Ruprecht 75% $13.25
Madeline 80% $16
Marae 45-50% $8.75
Metal Phoenix 60%+ $12
Midnight Kiss (untested) $20
Misk. Valley Jr. Baseball Assn. (cracker jack scent) $19
Moai 40-45% $8
On Darkness 90-95% $16.75
Ostara $10
SGA (set only) $50
Sea of Tranquility $10
Sir Hugh's Winding Sheet 80% $16
Snow White '05 40-45% $7.25
Sportive Sun, The $10
Sticky Pillowcase $17.50
Sugar Cookie '08 80% $14
Sugar Moon '08 $17.50
There's a Certain Slant 60% $10.50
Thunder Moon $17.50
Tupapau 30% $5.25

GC Bottles: GCs need too!
Black Lotus $15
Lady of Shallot, The 90% $13.50
Robotic Scarab, The (untested) $15
Scherezade (untested) $15

LE Imps:
13 June '08 3.50
Beaver'versary 4.00
Earth Phoenix 4.00
El Amor y La Muerte 5.00
Famine $5
Haunted Palace 4.00
Herr Dosselmeyer 3.50
Hexennacht '08 3.50
Huesos de Santo 3.50
Ides of March '07 3.50
Jacob's Ladder '08 3.50
Jasmine Cottage $5
Jolasveinar 3.50
Judith & Holofernes $5
Nuclear Winter '08 3.50
Phantom Calliope $4.00
Pirate Moon 95% 3.25
Pollution $5
Proshitapathika 60-70% 2.75
Pumpkin Patch II '07 3.50
Pumpkin Patch III '07 60% 2.00
Pumpkin Patch IV '07 3.50
Pumpkin Patch V '07 x2 100%/50% $3.50/1.75
(20% off for the set of PPs)
Samhain '07 $3.50
Shadwell $5
Sugar Cookie '05 80%+ 2.50
Sugar Skull '08 3.50
War $5

BPTP:
Yuletide Past atmosphere spray $22.50 [$3 US shipping]

This sale is cross-posted to the forum. Thanks for looking ;)

What I wouldn't give for a whole night's sleep. *says she with crossed eyes* Every time I roll over, the pain wakes me up, so my nights are ending very very early. I see the surgeon next week. Frankly, I'm afraid of what he's going to say. After they f***ed up my surgery at BAMC in April (gotta love the military), I don't want any more surgery. But I don't know what alternatives I'm going to get offered.

I think it would be nice if they at least tried to figure out why first one, then the other shoulder went to hell for no apparent reason in the space of 9 months. Too logical? 

I'm just really really tiiired.

Wow, there's so much rhetoric flying around about her. Amazing. BTW, I'm an Alaska resident ;)

She's definitely shaken up the campaign. If she hadn't, all this EMOTION wouldn't be swarming. This is the most interesting election in decades.

She does have leadership experience. More than another candidate ;)

I think she's been doing a good job for Alaska in the time she's had. Just my opinion, natch. In fact, that's one reason I'm not sure I'd vote for her & McCain. I'm not sure "the country" needs her more than Alaska. What'll happen with the natural gas pipeline talks? And extending the Canadian rail line into Alaska? And logging the Tongass and and...

I thought I was getting around here reasonably well. Not great, but not bad. Today I found out that a bunch of things I replied to never got to the people I expected them to. It might have had something to do with the screening feature I was using. I never did find a clear explanation for that, so I used it hoping I understood the use of it correctly. Possibly not. 

There are a lot of features on here I just don't "get." Today I had to do a bit of research on how to send a message to someone directly. It should be self-explanatory. I mean, really. It's not that it was difficult, it's really easy (but what isn't when you know how?). Simple functions should be simple to determine from the layout. I don't find LJ to be all that user friendly. I suppose that doesn't make sense to anyone who's been bouncing around on here for years.

My perfume collection is out of control. I try to keep it under 100 bottles. It's setting at 180. *cringe* Don't throw anything at me, 'kay? I firmly believe there's no sense in keeping so much of it that you can't use it in several lifetimes. Particularly as I was only given the one lifetime. 

This belief was reinforced when I tested out a partial bottle of June Gloom I swapped for last week. June Gloom! *swoon* One of my Holy Grails!! Okay, back to earth. Tried it out aaand...disappointing, really. Not the fact that it didn't live up to the hype, although it couldn't. It was the fact that the oil I got disappeared in an hour, and other than the initial hit, it was pretty faint. I suspect it was just deteriorating with age. 

This stuff isn't made to last forever. It's meant to be used. It's not even made of collectible components. And so, it's time to get a lot more ruthless about weeding out that collection. Maybe I'll even stop calling it a collection. Nah. One thing at a time ;)

The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things. Of ?? and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. Well, I almost remembered it! Anyone?? I've been mulling over selling a few of my rare decants. I never think about 'em. They're stashed away in a little box, ignored, because I can't wear any of 'em (*$*(^!! skin chemistry). 

What got me thinking about this was wrestling with my labeling program - yet again - this morning. It's a free download, and it's full of glitches. Some computers come preloaded with a decent program. Mine didn't. And I can't download anything very big (i.e., good) because I have satellite internet. Le sigh. So. Today I thought 'Aha! I have all these impie dust collectors around. I should sell a few. Then I'd have $ for shiny new label-making software (without bugging DH for $) and all would be well in Decant Circle Land!' *cue bugles* I've got Storyville, Heartache & Loss, Ah'Dunno, Delousing Powder, all kinds of junk. 

Only problem is, I know a few decants were gifts, but I'm not sure which ones. When they come to my house, they just become part of my  BPAL family  ;)  For some reason, I remember givers of bottles. Decants, not always. I kinda think I shouldn't sell gifted decants.

I was musing about this today. Some people on the BPAL forum were talking about whether they were going to sign up for the next gift swap or not. One of the Yea/Nay factors was the big shakeup initiated by the board moderators. People don't like change. We're funny little creatures of habit. We don't like to be bored but don't change things up on us either, LOL. The swap changes may end up being for the best, but it's hard to tell from up close right now.

I've had more changes in my life than most people, and I've had to get used to it but I don't recommend it. We move every 4 to 6 years. My kids don't know what to say when people ask them where they're from. I barely remember myself. I do remember what it's like to grow up in one place, though. People don't realize how lucky they are if they did that. Try to provide it for your kids. "Seeing the world" is vastly inferior to that.

And it's all nice and gloomy gray outside. This is me doing a little blissful happy dance ----------------------------->

OK, maybe you have to visualize a little...

Finally, finally, finally a break from the damn heat. I'll bet the temp has dropped 20 degrees. Bliss, I tell you!! Life is good.

That is all.

Tim is in Philly this week for a convention. I wanted to go with him and he claimed we never had the conversation so he went and I didn't. It's 98 degrees in the shade. In the garage where I had the bright idea to crush cans, it was probably 110. Don't do that, BTW. Makes ya dizzy.

I went to a paralegals' group luncheon today. Good me. Was going to try to do some networking for jobhunting purposes. I am not good at this. It involves pretending to be interested in people I don't know in hopes they can/will help me out. Repeat, I am NOT good at this. Got lost only twice on the way over, so it only took me 40 minutes instead of the estimated 30. *shrug* Anyway, I chatted halfheartedly with 5 women I didn't care about (over an overpriced plate of not-very-good Mexican food) and listened to a chubby speaker talk about her pet charity, which I also didn't care about. Sorry, but I didn't. Never heard of it. Made no useful contacts. Go, me. I still, however, smell divine (Old Morocco). They soo did not deserve that.

And how was your day?