Ramblings from Hinterspace

This blog seems to proceed by fits and starts. For a few days I'll be inspired to post daily, and then nothing for weeks at a time, as the minutiae of daily life overtake me and consume my blogging time. But never fear, I'm still alive out here in Hinterspace. So here goes with my latest bloggin' fit (or start, as the case may be).

• What possesses my air conditioner, after running like a top for several weeks, to suddenly decide it's going to take a siesta every afternoon so my house can heat up to 80+ degrees in time for me to arrive home from work? For, say five days in a row, until I call the A/C service guy and set up a service call threedays hence, at which time the air conditioner cancels its afternoon naps so the A/C guy will say he really can't diagnose the problem if it's not doing it. And then, once its sure I've cancelled the service call, it waits till the Fourth of July to snooze off again.
  
  This is not random, spontaneous appliance behavior, I say. It is a premeditated job action, calculated to drive me insane. Or to give me heat stroke, whichever comes first.
  
  
• My company scheduled their move to the new offices to begin on Friday, June 3oth, and extend through the sort-of holiday weekend. Fortunately, my supervisor, who is based in California and thus exempt from such madness, decreed that I should work at home on Friday (and thus was one of the handful of people in the company who actually got something accomplished that day). Also fortunately, I had the foresight to claim July 3rd, well in advance, as a vacation day. This not only gave me a four-day weekend in which to fight with my recalcitrant air conditioner, but also allowed me to bypass any and all moving-related activities on Saturday or Monday.
  
  
• At the old offices, there has been a constant battle over the thermostat between the CEO -- who likes it on the cool side -- and everyone else (except me, I like it cool too) -- who are always complaining "It's freezing in here!" To which I say, put a sweater on. Now you might not think there would be much of a battle with the CEO -- he's da boss, so it should be any damn temperature he wants, right? -- but (a) he's often out of town on business, leaving the thermostat to the mercy of all the freezing people, and (b) he was never around at the satellite office, where I spent the last month in a seriously undercooled state.
  
  So, when I noticed at the new offices there were clear locked boxes over all the thermostats, I had hoped it indicated that said CEO was going to control the temperature to his liking, which hopefully would be more to my liking. Be careful what you wish for, "they" say, and "they" are right as usual: my office seems to be hovering around 65 degrees, which would be dandy for sleeping under a toasty comforter, but for sitting at a computer all day... not so much. I spent today bundled up in a sweatshirt and long pants and was still freezing. Seems like we could come to some happy medium between 65 and 75.
  
  
• After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus I have returned to eBay-ing as a means of getting some of the excess stuff out of my house (and, incidentally, a bit of cash back in my bank account). So far I have managed to unload a few unused board games bought in a weak moment at PrezCon four years ago; a box of Scum & Villainy that's been lying around since about the time I moved to Virginia; and a crap-load of Star Trek TNG paperback novels that I have finally concluded I am highly unlikely ever to want to read again. Next up: a couple of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments that I no longer wish to keep(sake), yet more Star Trek paperbacks, and some Star Trek trading cards (no, not the CCG cards -- those are for later) that are just taking up space I'm sure I can find a better use for.
  
  Conveniently, the new company offices are literally across the street from the main Virginia beach post office, so all that eBay shipping is going to be a piece of cake.
  
  
• Why can't my hydrangeas and daylilies grow as rampantly as the weeds in my lawn?
  
  
• Cutting the daily commute from 30 miles a day (round trip) to 16 saves me 20-30 minutes of commuting time each day, $110 a year on my car insurance, and, at today's prices, at least $45 a month in gas.