August 26, 2010 by kim.

Well, that didn’t happen here …

Funny thing is, I frequent a nearby drugstore (which will remain nameless), and this is the SECOND time this has happened – with the same product! The first time, I took it back and exchanged it for one that was intact. No problem. Then, a couple of months later, I needed to buy vitamins (that’s what they were), went to the same drugstore, and it happened AGAIN!

In fact, it looked like the same puncture. Did the store actually put the same damaged product back on the shelf?? I returned it the next day and watched as the cashier tossed the vitamins into some unknown basket. Was that the basket of items to be re-shelved? I guess I’ll never know since I won’t be buying vitamins from there again.

Posted in Annoyance | No Comments »

August 22, 2010 by kim.

I can’t believe that I’m telling you that I’m moving … AGAIN. How many times has it been now? Three times? Four? No. Let’s count EIGHT TIMES in the last FIVE YEARS. To begin with, we moved to New York City one week before 9/11 and stayed from 2001-2005 which was great! Then we went nuts:

1. New York to Chicago (2005) – 3 months – seriously?

2. Chicago to Las Vegas (2005-2006) – 6 months – not our style

3. Las Vegas to Chicago (2006-2007) – 10 months – better

4. Chicago to New York (2007) – 7 months – NYC is the place to be!

5. New York to Chicago (2007-2008) – 10 months – How many times do we need to be here?

6. Chicago to Chicago (different apartment 2008-2009) – 13 months – more than a year!

7. Chicago to New Jersey (2009-2010) – 11 months – getting closer to where we want to be

8. New Jersey to New York (2010-???) – September begins the third time living in NYC!!
(third time’s the charm, although we lived in Chicago three times before and it wasn’t …)

Now, the packing. Ugh. Here are the boxes waiting to be unpacked and used to pack all our stuff:

Here is a peek at the lobby of the place that we’re moving to, which is in a beautifully restored art deco building from 1939:

Sneak peek at portion of our apartment (dining room to living room):

And here is what I’ll look like when I move there and step back into time:

The picture above was actually taken back in 2004 for a photo shoot by Ann Brown, in the very building that we are moving to!

What a journey it has been!

Posted in Celebrate, Annoyance | No Comments »

August 3, 2010 by kim.

I have one. I was on the computer the other day, talking to Chris about some off and on double vision I had been having. Chris told me that I needed to be taking time out to relax, just like the doctor prescribed. I was arguing back and forth about how all the things I have to do are on the computer, and he said I was addicted to it – completely. Almost like I don’t know how to function without it and I go through withdrawl when I can’t sit down to work on mundane things like projecting our finances three years out. I’m sure there are computer programs out there to do the same thing that would make my life much easier than doing it with my excel spreadsheet which requires a lot of cutting, pasting, and formulas, but why do that when I can sit there and ponder how to move pennies to make things work the way I want them to work and no I don’t have a problem I can quit at any time.

Or not …

I have a tendency to lose track of my days, too. Heaven forbid that a little thing like taking time out for breakfast should throw off my whole day, but it does. Somehow one stinking hour going out of the house to have a bagel and take a walk means that I can get nothing done for the rest of the day. What is that? Maybe I have more than just a computer addiction. Maybe I have something more like an obsessive compulsion. Or, more like a control freak thing. I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. Control freak.

Either way, the timer has gone off, signaling that it is time to relax and play with my coin collection.

Posted in Observation, Annoyance | No Comments »

July 22, 2010 by kim.

Went to Starbucks and ordered an iced tall decaf mocha with whip. I was asked my name so the barista could write it on the cup. I said ‘KIM’. She heard:

Close.

Posted in Food, Observation, Annoyance | No Comments »

July 2, 2010 by kim.

HAIRCUTS

This update comes from the post I put up a mere week and a half ago. By now, everyone should know that I hate having my hair cut, right? Right. Well, I needed to have it cut because I couldn’t do a thing with it and I was tired of the dead hairs falling off of my head and into our dinner (that happens when you have long, unmaintained hair, I guess). I decided to have it cut in Manhattan this time, to avoid a repeat of the last experience. I went into the salon I had planned to visit, and was told there would be a 15 minute wait. I said that was fine and looked around for a place to sit. It was a tiny place and there really was nowhere to sit comfortably. The girl at the desk told me she’d see me at 11:30 and I took that as a cue that I should just go out and walk around until my time arrived. So, I did.

While wandering, I wondered if I could find someplace else to have my hair cut. I really wasn’t thrilled with the first salon, because it put out the vibe of, “We are so much cooler than you are, wearing your Old Navy t-shirt, Target shorts, and shoes from who-knows-where along with your grandma purse and backpack …”. Or, maybe I’m just paranoid.

As I was getting close to the salon again, I happened upon a place that looked a lot nicer and friendlier. I went in, asked how much a cut was, and had it done. The woman was a really nice Russian lady, who took one look at the picture I brought and proceeded to cut. She did a good job, and then we discussed all the gray hairs I have. I mentioned that I was told by ANOTHER salon (in Chicago) that I should have partial highlights to cover the grey. She agreed, and I decided to go ahead with it:

I don’t look too happy, do I? That’s just the way I look when stylists are messing with my hair.

When she finished, she had me look at it and then she blew it dry and styled it. For whatever reason, she curled it under instead of away from my face. I don’t know why. I think I’m not meant to have it that way, I guess. When I left the salon, I thought it looked a little lighter than I wanted, but I knew I had to wait until I got home to make my judgement.

Not happy.

I had Chris take a picture of me a couple of days later when I calmed down and stopped threatening to shave my head:

Looking at it now, it doesn’t look so bad, but it is lighter than I would have liked, and it doesn’t feather out at all! It just sort of pops out every which way. Chris says that’s the style nowadays, though. I just don’t get it. My hair has a mind of its own.

C’est la vie!

P.S. - update to this update - I kind of like it now that it has grown out a bit!

Posted in Observation, Annoyance | 1 Comment »

July 2, 2010 by kim.

CRACKER JACKS

Remember when I told you all about Cracker Jacks and how their prizes totally suck nowadays? Well, I had bought a 3-pack and when I posted in May, I had only eaten one box. Since then, I’ve polished off the other two, and here are the “prizes” that were inside:

Wow. Clever.

The final prize was a huge favorite of kids everywhere:

A pencil topper.

Again.

Lame.

Posted in Food, Annoyance | No Comments »

June 23, 2010 by kim.

Anyone else out there have an aversion to having their hair cut? Anyone over the age of five? I hate having my hair cut. Hate, hate, hate it. It is almost as bad as shopping for me. It’s so bad, I would rather go to the dentist. At least I know what to expect when I walk in.

My hair drives me crazy. I can never get it to do what I want and neither can anyone else, so I don’t get it cut for months at a time. I think it has to do with some bad experiences I’ve had at salons and budget-cut shops. Actually, the experience for anyone else probably wouldn’t be that bad, but I am just extremely fussy when it comes to my hair. Ask anyone who knew me in high school. When I started styling my hair with curling irons and hairspray instead of the wash-and-go perm, a monster was born. I would spend hours trying to perfect the ‘womb’ as we called it in WI.

Here is a picture of the ‘womb’:

My friend’s locker was covered in hairspray from me trying to keep it from moving throughout the day. Note that it curls back, as opposed to the ‘claw’ which curves forward like … anyone? … like a claw. Right.

Anyway. Let me tell you about a couple of my salon experiences. One time I went to a salon in Chicago. This was back when my hair was short:

I asked for a pixie cut (it had grown out). He asked me if I even knew what a pixie cut was. I said I did. Did I get what I wanted? No.

Then, some years later, I went to a salon in NYC. I asked the stylist to style my hair so it flipped up, like this:

I had it cut like that for a couple of years prior but couldn’t remember who I went to so I went to this guy. He refused to cut it the way I wanted. He said that was out of style and I should have it curl down toward my face. I didn’t want that. I wanted it to flip up. Did I get my way? No.

Somewhere along the way, I got the cut I wanted, pretty much. Then, back in Chicago, I went to a salon. I had a consultation with the male stylist and he cut my hair. Then, he proceeded to straighten it. I thought it looked good after he was done, but when I got home, I wasn’t so sure:

What is that? Did he really think that look worked with my face? Not only that, but he charged extra for straightening it and didn’t bother to mention that extra charge. Why, I oughta …

Fast forward to Jersey. Enough said. I didn’t have a guy cut my hair this time (bad luck with me, I guess), but the woman who cut it at the budget-shop butchered it. Seriously. I had two different women cut my hair at the same place months before and they understood what I was talking about when I said I wanted to feather it back – away from my face – like this:

Easy, right? I brought the picture for an example. I ended up with this:

How is that feathering away from my face? It isn’t. I guess maybe half of it is, but I tried to get it to work three different times and it still looked chunky and mullet-ish. I finally went back to get it fixed. I should have gone a different day, because even though I sat down with a different woman, the original hack (woman) came over and said she’d fix it. Really? I didn’t trust that she would, based on the way she cut it the first time (she took a handful in her fist and tried to cut layers that way), but I let her do it. First she tried to tell me that I didn’t blow-dry it correctly. Come on. She blew it dry and curled it toward my face. What part of “feather away from my face” did she not grasp? She then proceeded to cut it more and now here I am, almost three months later, waiting for it to grow out properly so I can get it cut again.

Jiminey Cricket. Maybe I should just let it grow out so I can wear it as a scarf.

Posted in Annoyance | 1 Comment »

June 12, 2010 by kim.

Is it really too much to ask for quiet at 3, 4, and 5am? Huh? IS IT?

Every day – EVERY DAY – some garbage truck makes it’s way up the one-way street outside our apartment. It wouldn’t be so bad if they just drove on by, (or would it?) but they stop to pick up the garbage from one of the businesses near the apartment, so they idle there until they’re done. I could deal with one pick-up a week like NORMAL towns or states do, but that’s not what they do here. Oh no – every business must use their very own garbage service and they each come on a different day. WHY? Let’s get it together, people, and have everyone’s garbage picked up the same day so I CAN GET SOME SLEEP!

It’s not like they come at the same time every day, either. Each place must have the garbage dumped at least twice a week. This morning, for instance, the truck was here at 3:15am. Then, when I had finally gotten back to sleep, Matilda started meowing for me to get up (that is neither here nor there – I’m talking about trucks), and then ANOTHER garbage truck came by at 5:20am. COME ON! Give a girl a break! That time, I decided to get up and take a picture. Of course, I didn’t do it right away because I was trying to fall asleep again, but my curiosity got the better of me. I jumped out of bed, got the camera (I’m surprised Chris didn’t wake up and wonder what the hell I was doing), and tried to take a picture of the obnoxious truck, but I just missed it. I did see it hiding behind a building, though:

Do you see the top of the green truck?

It must have sensed my seething anger.

I know one can’t expect total quiet until one is living in a bunker somewhere (Chris – can we build one?), but it would be nice if the whole garbage truck thing could be reduced to once, maybe twice a week, preferably after 8:00am. Does that really seem so unreasonable?

Not to me.

Sure, you’re probably wondering why I don’t move into the country or someplace where no one is around to bother me (it’s all about me, isn’t it?), but that wouldn’t work, either. First of all, I’d be terrified being so isolated (I actually feel safer living in Manhattan – hopefully we can move back there soon), and second – I’m sure creatures that I love (like birds and insects) would eventually drive me insane! I could complain to the city about the truck noise and maybe the construction noise that has been going on for two months (the city would just laugh at me and send me on my way, I’m sure), but who would I complain to about birds and crickets? Smokey the bear? He only deals with fire issues – not noise complaints.

Sigh. I guess I’ll just have to deal with this problem my own way.

Wait – that sounded a little harsh. What I mean, is, I should work on myself to deal with this noise issue that has been plaguing me for the last nine years. Not that I should ‘take care’ of all the things that irritate me. Geez – do I look like someone who would do something destructive?

Don’t answer that, if you know what’s good for ya …

Posted in Annoyance | 1 Comment »

May 12, 2010 by kim.

I haven’t picked up Cracker Jacks in a long time, but a three-pack called out my name when I was in the A&P last week. Forget that I was hearing voices, and let’s focus on the Cracker Jacks. I remember when I enjoyed eating this snack as a kid and always looked forward to the prizes inside.

Boy, was I disappointed.

Not only was I disappointed, but my folks were as well. Seems they had picked up a three-pack around the same time I did (they must have heard the same voice), and also tried a bag of the same product. We came to the same conclusion. The popcorn was tough, the peanuts were miniscule, and the prizes sucked.

Sucked, I say! Sucked! When I was a kid, Cracker Jack had TOYS. Things you could play with. I remember one toy that was a little puzzle or pinball game with tiny metal balls that you tried to get into certain areas to complete the puzzle or get points. THAT was a toy! They also had tops, instant tattoos, whistles, plastic toys, etc. Now? Now what “prize” do you get? This is what you get:

Wait for it …

A PENCIL TOPPER? What kind of a prize is that? It’s a piece of PAPER! We didn’t even have a regular pencil to put it on:

Are kids even using pencil and paper anymore? I think the prizes need to move into the 21st century here. How about an iPod? They have really small ones that would fit into the box, easy.

On a side note (ha ha, this is from the SIDE of the box), it doesn’t taste like I remember at all:

Nope. Not at all.

Liars.

Posted in Food, Annoyance | No Comments »

March 25, 2010 by kim.

You know, as if walls moving in a rainstorm wasn’t bad enough, a couple of weeks ago we got socked with multiple leaks in this … this … apartment.

This building has such issues, I’m amazed we live here at all. I think we have a knack for picking crummy dwellings. Not all of them are bad – just this one and the one with leaking in the bedroom which caused the carpeting to smell like dirty sweat-socks and the closet to smell like cat urine. Oh, and then there was the apartment which ended up having 40 building violations including rats crawling in the lobby and the parking area which made it smell like a barn since they mainly made their homes in there …

Yeah – we can pick ‘em!

So, when we had a big Nor’easter two weekends ago, we started to see major leaks primarily in our office area. Major leaks. We had actually seen leaks start in the area about a month before and told the building manager about it, but it didn’t seem like much could be done about it at the time. Then, when we had the big rain and the 40-70mph winds, that’s when the leaks really let their presence be known.

Here’s a beautiful water filled bubble:

Here’s the bubble with the water running down the wall to completely soak the carpeting underneath:

A snippet from our windowsill in the office area:

Here is what the area looked like the next day after maintenance came and peeled back the carpet:

Track marks from dried icky water:

We were informed that the water had run in-between the wall from the roof (we’re on the top floor) and they’d have to take part of it apart, as well as replace the carpet after the roof itself has been fixed. Great. I did hear that some apartments below us had it worse, and another person’s window actually blew in from the wind, so I would say we got pretty lucky.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, we can’t use that area now so my computer and desk have been moved into the bedroom making a small space even smaller. The good thing is that I get a lot of natural light pouring in from the balcony door/window/wall of glass, so it’s nice and bright.

Silver lining …

Posted in Annoyance | No Comments »