Okay, I confess I'm addicted. It's those dang adult coloring books. I have a love/hate relationship with them
On the one hand I love them, they are relaxing, exhilarating, elating, inspiring, beautiful and perhaps the most creative coloring I have ever, ever done.
On the other hand I hate them, they are the most complicated, exasperating, annoying, intrinsic and frustrating coloring I have ever, ever done.
I tried using colored pencils, but found I could not stay within the itty, bitty lines and that told me I would never be able to use crayons either. So I settled on fine tipped markers. I love them. However, when I first started using them I colored while the picture was still in the book, and immediately discovered the markers 'bled' through to the picture beneath. Lesson learned? Remove the picture from the book, oh, then I learned the ink also 'bled' onto my TV tray and I can't remove the markings. Lesson learned? Place cheap newspaper paper under the picture.
Oh, yeah, I'm getting the hang of this.
Here's something else I learned. I must never, never color if I am in the least bit drowsy. I've ruined many a picture by falling asleep, pen in hand, to awaken and find a long, crooked colorful line going across a perfectly beautiful work of art.
I've also learned I cannot color well once it gets dark and I have to turn on lights. Oh, I do color but found I don't stay in the lines as well as when I work in natural light. I do get exasperated. Still, these coloring books present a challenge that (again) I both love and hate. Frankie wants to know why I continue with this new hobby since she often finds me with my nose barely an inch from the picture.
I've no answer for her.
I know she wishes I'd quit mostly because I'm ignoring her a lot...Zorro doesn't much care for this time consuming hobby either. I find myself telling him "Just a minute, I have to finish this one section, then we'll go out." In the meantime he is prancing and dancing about eager to find out who's talking and walking by. Or, perhaps his water bowl is empty and he paws it into my view to let me know...sadly, again I make him wait.
I suppose eventually I will tire of this new 'time consumer', I generally do...for a while it was word jumble, then cross-word puzzles, then sudoku, and for years I built miniatures for dioramas so I guess this too will pass.
In the meantime, I will continue getting ink stains on my hands, arms and TV trays till I move on to some new time consuming hobby. However, if you haven't tried these adult coloring books I can guarantee you will find them relaxing, exhilarating, elating, inspiring, beautiful, complicated, exasperating, annoying, intrinsic, and frustrating but you will discover you've created the most beautiful works of art you have ever done.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Sunday, August 28, 2016
At the moment....
...I'm a non-person.
A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to get a new state ID and went on line to see what sort of identification I would need to get the job done. I should have taken care of this as soon as I moved but didn't. It just didn't seem that important.
So, after learning what was required I put together a file folder including A. A utility bill. B. A bank statement. C. My voter's registration card. D. My old ID card. E. My social security card. F. The only copy I've ever had of my birth certificate. Boy, I thought I was ready for everything.
The DMV guy looks at all my papers and announces to my daughter that he is quite impressed with how prepared I was. Then....he looked at my wrinkled, folded, torn, old...very old...birth certificate. He excuses himself and walks to a woman sitting in the back of the room and they discuss my certificate. As the two of them are walking back to where I'm standing I whisper to my daughter "Uh-oh, this can't be good."
It wasn't.
They told me my certificate was not good because it did not have 'the state seal', and there was no writing on the back indicating it was good for anything...actually it was good for nothing. I was told I need to send for a certified certificate from my home state and then come back when I had it in hand.
Always one to obey the law, I sat about to obtain said certificate.
I went to my home state's official website, vital records department and there in the upper right hand corner there was a box that said if I wanted to get my certificate quickly I should 'click here' and before the dust could settle they would see to it I would get my certificate 'post-haste'. Of course I wanted my certificate as quickly as possible...at the moment I'm a non-entity. So, I filled out the application and sent off my credit card information and sat back to let them do their magic.
Here's the thing!
They informed me they needed my photo ID, and it had to have the same address as the one they were going to send my certificate. What??????? I informed them I had moved and I was trying to get an ID with my new address on it, but could not because I didn't have the required birth certificate.
Next they told me to send other documents to prove I live where I live. I immediately scanned them into my computer and shipped them off along with a copy of their form saying I am who I am and I have not had someone else filling out this form.
Zip...off they go.
I get an e-mail telling me the documents were not legible. Please send a photo ID.
For two weeks, I went around and around and around with these folks. I was ready to scream. Finally a light bulb came on and I decide to go on line and check these folks out. Oooooooh brother, do they have a bad, bad, bad reputation. But, now my dander is up. I e-mail my home state's governor's office and tell them about this company. Then I write the Vital Records department and tell them the same thing. Finally I e-mail the company (who is still insisting they want a photo ID, and that the documents I'm sending are not legible) and tell them I don't believe them (because many, many, many other customers have been getting the same messages) and further I had written the governor and the vital records department of my home state telling them all about their 'shady' practices. And, I just might visit a lawyer and start a class action suit against them.
Next morning I get the same form e-mail from them telling me I need to resend my documents.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Once I regain my composure I reply to their e-mail asking if they are even reading my e-mails, and tell them I am going to send them hard copies of my documents via USPS Certified Mail. And, I did that immediately. The people at my substation took care of this in a few minutes and gave me a receipt so I could track my envelop, which I did, every day, several times a day. When I saw it reached their post office box I was daring them to tell me there was something wrong with the documents.
Lo and behold, the every next morning they tell me my documents had been forward to my home state's vital records department. Gotta' tell ya', I didn't even e-mail them a 'thank you'.
In the meantime, I went back to my state's website and thought there has got to be a better way to get a certificate, so I scrolled down, down, down the page and there close to the bottom I was informed I could order certificates...by mail...at five different offices throughout the state. Yeah, Buddy!!!!!! So, I filled out the exact same form the outside vendor had required me to do (without the photo ID) and sent that package out Friday afternoon. I got a tracking number and already know the package will be delivered first thing this morning.
What an ordeal this has been. Here's the lesson I have for you. If you go to your home state and up at the top of the page you see a box that says if you want your certificate quickly order on-line. DON'T DO IT. Keep looking til you see where you can either walk in or order by mail. It's a lot cheaper and certainly a lot quicker.
Anyway, with a little luck in four to six weeks I should receive six copies of certified certificates: one from the 'quick' vendor, and five from the state's vital records department. When asked by a friend why I ordered so many I replied, "So when I die my kids can prove I actually lived." Oh, and when I return to the DMV to get my new ID you better believe I'm gonna' take all six copies.
A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to get a new state ID and went on line to see what sort of identification I would need to get the job done. I should have taken care of this as soon as I moved but didn't. It just didn't seem that important.
So, after learning what was required I put together a file folder including A. A utility bill. B. A bank statement. C. My voter's registration card. D. My old ID card. E. My social security card. F. The only copy I've ever had of my birth certificate. Boy, I thought I was ready for everything.
The DMV guy looks at all my papers and announces to my daughter that he is quite impressed with how prepared I was. Then....he looked at my wrinkled, folded, torn, old...very old...birth certificate. He excuses himself and walks to a woman sitting in the back of the room and they discuss my certificate. As the two of them are walking back to where I'm standing I whisper to my daughter "Uh-oh, this can't be good."
It wasn't.
They told me my certificate was not good because it did not have 'the state seal', and there was no writing on the back indicating it was good for anything...actually it was good for nothing. I was told I need to send for a certified certificate from my home state and then come back when I had it in hand.
Always one to obey the law, I sat about to obtain said certificate.
I went to my home state's official website, vital records department and there in the upper right hand corner there was a box that said if I wanted to get my certificate quickly I should 'click here' and before the dust could settle they would see to it I would get my certificate 'post-haste'. Of course I wanted my certificate as quickly as possible...at the moment I'm a non-entity. So, I filled out the application and sent off my credit card information and sat back to let them do their magic.
Here's the thing!
They informed me they needed my photo ID, and it had to have the same address as the one they were going to send my certificate. What??????? I informed them I had moved and I was trying to get an ID with my new address on it, but could not because I didn't have the required birth certificate.
Next they told me to send other documents to prove I live where I live. I immediately scanned them into my computer and shipped them off along with a copy of their form saying I am who I am and I have not had someone else filling out this form.
Zip...off they go.
I get an e-mail telling me the documents were not legible. Please send a photo ID.
For two weeks, I went around and around and around with these folks. I was ready to scream. Finally a light bulb came on and I decide to go on line and check these folks out. Oooooooh brother, do they have a bad, bad, bad reputation. But, now my dander is up. I e-mail my home state's governor's office and tell them about this company. Then I write the Vital Records department and tell them the same thing. Finally I e-mail the company (who is still insisting they want a photo ID, and that the documents I'm sending are not legible) and tell them I don't believe them (because many, many, many other customers have been getting the same messages) and further I had written the governor and the vital records department of my home state telling them all about their 'shady' practices. And, I just might visit a lawyer and start a class action suit against them.
Next morning I get the same form e-mail from them telling me I need to resend my documents.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Once I regain my composure I reply to their e-mail asking if they are even reading my e-mails, and tell them I am going to send them hard copies of my documents via USPS Certified Mail. And, I did that immediately. The people at my substation took care of this in a few minutes and gave me a receipt so I could track my envelop, which I did, every day, several times a day. When I saw it reached their post office box I was daring them to tell me there was something wrong with the documents.
Lo and behold, the every next morning they tell me my documents had been forward to my home state's vital records department. Gotta' tell ya', I didn't even e-mail them a 'thank you'.
In the meantime, I went back to my state's website and thought there has got to be a better way to get a certificate, so I scrolled down, down, down the page and there close to the bottom I was informed I could order certificates...by mail...at five different offices throughout the state. Yeah, Buddy!!!!!! So, I filled out the exact same form the outside vendor had required me to do (without the photo ID) and sent that package out Friday afternoon. I got a tracking number and already know the package will be delivered first thing this morning.
What an ordeal this has been. Here's the lesson I have for you. If you go to your home state and up at the top of the page you see a box that says if you want your certificate quickly order on-line. DON'T DO IT. Keep looking til you see where you can either walk in or order by mail. It's a lot cheaper and certainly a lot quicker.
Anyway, with a little luck in four to six weeks I should receive six copies of certified certificates: one from the 'quick' vendor, and five from the state's vital records department. When asked by a friend why I ordered so many I replied, "So when I die my kids can prove I actually lived." Oh, and when I return to the DMV to get my new ID you better believe I'm gonna' take all six copies.
Whew!
It's been one heck of a month.
The complex where I live decided it needed to replace the four overhead decks of my unit because of decay...let's face it...old age. The demolition and remodeling was supposed to start months ago but unknown delays put the whole project off until August.
The first day a rather burly guy drug a four foot by four foot hunk of particle board and screwed it into the outer side of my screen door's jams and announced it would not be removed until the project was completed. Okay, I could live with that...I didn't like it much...very inconvenient, but went through two remodeling jobs on my 'used to be' home and was used to what remodeling involved.
The first part of the remodeling was removing the concrete floors of the decks. That required a lot of jack-hammering, and WAS A VERY NOISY MORNING.
Next came (uh-oh) unexpected water damage under my patio wall siding. Well, nobody expected that! Gross! The wall behind the siding of my patio was black with dry-rot, and could be flaked away with a fingernail. They removed the plywood, and the insulation, and found the two-by-fours below needed to be removed as well. They actually went down to my next door neighbor's drywall...and almost sawed through it. That was an amazing day.
Then a few days later they started to remove the rotted wooden, pressure treated, beam on the outer side of the deck above, that hunk of lumber was huge...I don't know the size. Anyhoo, I'm sitting at my desk working and this thundering piece of rotted wood came crashing down. Fortunately the guy working below had just seconds before walked out of harm's way. I went to my screen door I can't open and announced "Well that was pretty scary." The construction workers agreed. Had that lumber hit anyone it would have been ug-ly.
The remodeling moved down the building. When they finally got back to my end, we were in the midst of a heat wave, temperatures in the high nineties. They spread clear plastic over the ground and all the plants...including my wonderful vegetables. The plastic cooked them, and the workers stomped them to death. Poor, poor plants.
Rumors started to spread...when was the work going to be done? Was the work going to be done? How long were we not going to be able use our doors?
Little by little things got done, after the workers left each day I would go out, sneak under the yellow caution tape and water what remained of my plants, hoping by morning any evidence of my indiscretion would have evaporated away.
Then, Friday I came home from a luncheon engagement and found the particle board blocking my screen door was gone and a letter from management was attached to my door knob. The letter announced that "the completion of deck replacements and some siding repair" was "almost finished." I was a happy camper.
However, and, coming back to rumors. We began to speculate when the job would actually be finished. You see, painting still needs to be done with regard to that dang siding that needed repair. Word went around that the contractors that rebuilt the decks, will not be the contractors who will be doing the painting. Hmmmmmmm! So, although I now have access to my screen door and patio, I don't think I can actually use the patio until the 'the repair is finished up' or until the painting is done. Hmmmmmmm!
So, here's what I've done. I re-attached Zorro's 50' leash to my new support corner post, so he can lie in the sun, and put one of my patio chairs out there so I can keep watch over him while he snoozes and stays out of trouble. It's not perfect...but it will do for the time being.
Also, there are a few things I've learned out of all of this, One...plastic will cook and/or burn plants. Two...a fallen cross beam can and/or will kill somebody. Three...plant your vegetables in movable containers not in the ground. Four...every remodeling job will have unexpected problems...a person either learns to live with them and/or....well...a person learns to live with them. I know. I know walkin' through life...stuff happens....and generally speaking it's one grand adventure.
I'll keep you posted what happens next.
The complex where I live decided it needed to replace the four overhead decks of my unit because of decay...let's face it...old age. The demolition and remodeling was supposed to start months ago but unknown delays put the whole project off until August.
The first day a rather burly guy drug a four foot by four foot hunk of particle board and screwed it into the outer side of my screen door's jams and announced it would not be removed until the project was completed. Okay, I could live with that...I didn't like it much...very inconvenient, but went through two remodeling jobs on my 'used to be' home and was used to what remodeling involved.
The first part of the remodeling was removing the concrete floors of the decks. That required a lot of jack-hammering, and WAS A VERY NOISY MORNING.
Next came (uh-oh) unexpected water damage under my patio wall siding. Well, nobody expected that! Gross! The wall behind the siding of my patio was black with dry-rot, and could be flaked away with a fingernail. They removed the plywood, and the insulation, and found the two-by-fours below needed to be removed as well. They actually went down to my next door neighbor's drywall...and almost sawed through it. That was an amazing day.
Then a few days later they started to remove the rotted wooden, pressure treated, beam on the outer side of the deck above, that hunk of lumber was huge...I don't know the size. Anyhoo, I'm sitting at my desk working and this thundering piece of rotted wood came crashing down. Fortunately the guy working below had just seconds before walked out of harm's way. I went to my screen door I can't open and announced "Well that was pretty scary." The construction workers agreed. Had that lumber hit anyone it would have been ug-ly.
The remodeling moved down the building. When they finally got back to my end, we were in the midst of a heat wave, temperatures in the high nineties. They spread clear plastic over the ground and all the plants...including my wonderful vegetables. The plastic cooked them, and the workers stomped them to death. Poor, poor plants.
Rumors started to spread...when was the work going to be done? Was the work going to be done? How long were we not going to be able use our doors?
Little by little things got done, after the workers left each day I would go out, sneak under the yellow caution tape and water what remained of my plants, hoping by morning any evidence of my indiscretion would have evaporated away.
Then, Friday I came home from a luncheon engagement and found the particle board blocking my screen door was gone and a letter from management was attached to my door knob. The letter announced that "the completion of deck replacements and some siding repair" was "almost finished." I was a happy camper.
However, and, coming back to rumors. We began to speculate when the job would actually be finished. You see, painting still needs to be done with regard to that dang siding that needed repair. Word went around that the contractors that rebuilt the decks, will not be the contractors who will be doing the painting. Hmmmmmmm! So, although I now have access to my screen door and patio, I don't think I can actually use the patio until the 'the repair is finished up' or until the painting is done. Hmmmmmmm!
So, here's what I've done. I re-attached Zorro's 50' leash to my new support corner post, so he can lie in the sun, and put one of my patio chairs out there so I can keep watch over him while he snoozes and stays out of trouble. It's not perfect...but it will do for the time being.
Also, there are a few things I've learned out of all of this, One...plastic will cook and/or burn plants. Two...a fallen cross beam can and/or will kill somebody. Three...plant your vegetables in movable containers not in the ground. Four...every remodeling job will have unexpected problems...a person either learns to live with them and/or....well...a person learns to live with them. I know. I know walkin' through life...stuff happens....and generally speaking it's one grand adventure.
I'll keep you posted what happens next.
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