Why do I do this to myself?

My lease is up soon and I've got it into my head to try and find a new apartment. It's like I'm a glutton for punishment. Surfing the listings just makes me depressed because I can't afford a great place on my own. I can afford a dinky mid-town Victorian studio complete with no parking and a window mounted air conditioning. That sounds awesome when it's 105 this July!

I'll just stay in my current neighborhood even if it is being populated by an undesirable element. It's like I'm in a bad relationship and am too weary to bother looking for a new one because I've convinced myself that status quo is fine.

Although, it would be great to find a place where I could actually walk to the grocery store, drug store, or some decent restaurants. The price of gasoline is killing me dead.

Who places these ads?

I was browsing the classified ads in the Sac Bee when I came across this category: Pet Obituaries.

While it is sad to lose a pet, it seems a bit creepy to put an obit in the paper about it. It's not like Rover had old friends who might want to stop in at the funeral. Or does he???

Email Ettiquette

In commercial real estate, many brokers send out their listings via email to the other brokerage firms in the area.

The problem arises when I see 5 emails from the same dude sent within 2 minutes of each other. Make a note that they all go right in the trash simply because that is totally ANNOYING. Multiply that by 10 and that's how much time I spend dealing with the crap. I really would appreciate it if people would space their emails out with at least an hour in between.

Another really annoying email comes from a specific company (they know who they are) that says, "Jane Doe sent you a message! Click here to read it." Yeah right. If Jane can't bother to type the email, I can't bother to click through and read it.

Ignorance is bliss

Mostly, I've been ignoring all the recent economic news because it's bad and because I really don't understand how it got that way. Then I was talking to a friend when she mentioned how 401k's have been taking a hit with all the volatility in the stock market. Morbidly curious, I logged in to my account.

I nearly had a coronary episode right there at work. In 3 months I've lost over $900. Fucking A! I could have gone to Vegas with that money! This being responsible shit is for the birds.

Can we go home now?

My family and I are not on the same wavelength when it comes to events and day trips. I'm a leave in the 7th inning, skip the fake encore kind of gal. Everyone else in my family is a bitter-ender. They stay until the bitter end of whatever event they are attending, with the exception of parties, of course.

I don't mind going to chili-cook offs and street fairs, but I am only entertained for about an hour. Unless there is some cute guy in my party with whom I can flirt, I grow bored. I need something to distract me from the quasi-suffocating crowds besides the displays of knick-knacks and deep fried Twinkies.

Numb

I finally made it to the dentist. It's not so much the the needle in the gums as it is the vibrations in my skull that skeeves me out. Apparently I had quite a cavity going on and that's why my filling fell out. You never want to hear the dentist say, "Get me the biggest drill bit we have."

I'm crossing my fingers that I don't need a root canal. The Novocain finally wore off and I'm not feeling any pain, so that's a good sign.

File this under I told you so

Daylight Saving Time is completely useless. How long will it take Congress to repeal the bi-annual changing of the clocks? Anyone have an over-under on that?

I just don't understand it.

That story about New York's governor being busted for soliciting a prostitute got me thinking.

Why do people stay with cheating spouses? I really hope the governor's wife makes him pay for the public humiliation he's caused her and their family. Speaking of, I'd have more respect for Hillary Clinton if she kicked Bill to the curb. Saying that you stay together for the kids is just dumb. Basically, you are telling your children that cheating on your significant other is OK.

Why get married if you never stop sowing your wild oats? I'd really like to make it more acceptable for people to not get married at all. Even today, people over the age of 30 are considered odd if they are not married or haven't been married at least once. God forbid you should be dating anyone longer than 12 months and have not set a date for the wedding.

I'm glad my parents' generation loosened some of the constraints of society with regard to relationships. It's my generation's task to make those remaining constraints even more loose.

My Tooth!

I was eating dinner when I thought I felt this gaping hole in my tooth. Setting my spaghetti aside, I walked into the bathroom to see what damage was done. My tooth didn't hurt. Needless to say, it looked like something bored a hole in my second to last molar. Weird that it didn't hurt. I wonder how long it's been there.

My sister has recommended a few dentists, but of course they are not in my plan. Having a family member in the dental profession helps to get the inside scoop on who is friendly and not a freak. I don't need to end up like those poor women who were violated by that guy in Woodland.

A Plea to Drivers in Sacramento

There is this feature on your vehicles that you rarely use. It's located somewhere on your steering wheel. You are supposed to use this device to alert other drivers when they slip up and don't follow the rules of the road.

For example, when the frustrated consumers are antsy to get to Arden Fair Mall because they have waited what seems like an eternity to turn left usually because the person first in line is too busy fiddling with their mobile phone or talking to their passengers and then the rest of the line of cars continues WELL PAST the yellow light, those whose turn it is to go as indicated by the green light are required by common sense to lay on the horn in order to gently remind the forgetful of the agreed upon rules.

When I screw up while driving (as we all have done and will do), I fully expect whomever is around and in a position to inform me of my mistake to use the horn as needed.