Dear So and So

Roasted veggies, mmmm. I have dreams of roasted broccoli and cauliflower now that my place doesn't have an oven. My colleague just told me to try cutting the broccoli so they look like little 2D trees and roasting them for the more...erm...imaginative (a.k.a playing with food) effect. :D

Dear research paper,

I spent 4 years in college writing about literature. Why on earth are you still so difficult to write? Why do I have no clue where to start? Why am I having nightmares of failing??!!

Dear food center near my house,

Why do you sell such delicious and cheap food? I must live in one of the only places on earth where it's really cheaper to eat out than cook.

Dear Contractors:

I thought the economy sucked and you needed work. We need 2 things done to our house before it goes on the market (which is soon!). None of you will even return my phone calls. You were all recommended by neighbors or real estate agents. What's up with that?

Dear Self:

Panicking about the amount of work to be done before the target market date will not help. Put the stuff that has emotional baggage attached to it in boxes. Put the boxes in storage. We are definitely at a point where we need to deal with that later.

[QUOTE=alexis_the_tiny;627129]Roasted veggies, mmmm. I have dreams of roasted broccoli and cauliflower now that my place doesn't have an oven. My colleague just told me to try cutting the broccoli so they look like little 2D trees and roasting them for the more...erm...imaginative (a.k.a playing with food) effect. :D

I roast my veggies in the toaster oven. I like the idea of slicing the broccoli thin and roasting. I'll try it next week. This week I'm alternating roasted asparagus or brussels sprouts. Roast at around 400 in toaster oven until nicely browned and then a squirt of balsamic reduction. Heaven.

I could live a very happy life with only 2 kitchen appliances: blender and toaster oven. Toaster Oven is the best thing ever.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blueberry

Dear Contractors:

I thought the economy sucked and you needed work. We need 2 things done to our house before it goes on the market (which is soon!). None of you will even return my phone calls. You were all recommended by neighbors or real estate agents. What's up with that?

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Dear Blueberry - Find your self a real estate agent who deals with the contractors himself (or herself - whatever:rolleyes:). If they want to get your house on the market and make some money, let them be the nag. It shouldn't be your problem unless you are getting once heck of discount on the commission.

To whom it may concern
what DO you do when you have to go to the bathroom after waiting 30 minutes on hold after several different attempts and finally getting the right extension?

LOL, Trek and I had that conversation a few months back. I just go, and if they have to listen to it, TFB. :cool::p Though I'm pretty careful with my phone, since I lost one in a portajohn a couple of years back when I wasn't even using it. :rolleyes:

Haha, yeah, me too. Just put it on mute in case they happen to answer, but whatever. Obviously leaving someone on hold for 30 minutes isn't exactly polite, so I figure I'm just returning the favor if they happen to pick up while I'm in there!

oh wait... and it's a land line!

Dear Self,

You got today and rode 4-5 miles. It may not be much, but you got out and enjoyed yourself. You will conquer that killer hill this summer. If not, there's always next summer.

Feeling so much better today. Cycling really does help with depression.

Now to figure out why my two of my cogs in my cassette aren't catching the chain right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Dear Blueberry - Find your self a real estate agent who deals with the contractors himself (or herself - whatever:rolleyes:). If they want to get your house on the market and make some money, let them be the nag.

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That's a good idea. The economy is tough, contractors want work but they are looking for big projects; ones that keep the cash flow flowing.

The smaller your project the harder it is to find someone good.

Your realtor has contacts for smaller jobs whether to fix for quick sale, stage or fix after a sale. S/he wants to keep them busy so they stick around and work for him or her.

Dear trees:
Ah. It's been nice, so you're taking it as license to do whatever foul, depraved things that you trees do. I really don't care what you do, but I must draw the line when it ends up in my nostrils, eyes, and so forth. So now I have to go on the loopy pills until May. Loopy pills are expensive. I don't want to be poor and loopy! You could have at least provided some warning. :mad:
Yours,
The person who thinks tree condoms might be a good idea.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Owlie

The person who thinks tree condoms might be a good idea.

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LOL. I've been hearing alot about this lately. Allergies that is and an earlier start to the "season."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Owlie

Dear trees:

The person who thinks tree condoms might be a good idea.

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Every year at about this time I feel like I am bleeding to death through my eyes. I have to manually unseal my eyelids when I get out of bed and after rinsing them out with warm water, they drip and water all day long to the point to where I look like I am crying all of the time. At this point not even allergy pills help. Soooo glad we are expecting some rain later in the week.
Other than the eyes, the allergy pills take care of everything else except the blahs from having my eyes burning all of the time so I guess I shouldn't complain.

allergy seasons are miserable.

marni

Patanol. Seriously, if your insurance will cover it, Patanol. For all my allergies I never really had conjunctivitis until last year when it looked like I was draining a sinus infection out of my left eye. :p It was so bad I thought it was infected, but my doctor took one look and told me it was allergic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Patanol. Seriously, if your insurance will cover it, Patanol. For all my allergies I never really had conjunctivitis until last year when it looked like I was draining a sinus infection out of my left eye. :p It was so bad I thought it was infected, but my doctor took one look and told me it was allergic.

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+1 I need them for about 4 days a year, but I really need them for those days.

My eye doc suggested Alaway as a less expensive alternative, if insurance wouldn't cover Patanol. Per her - not quite as good, but works sort of the same way.

Of course, check with your doc.

Thanks, all.

We're down to 2 in the selection process. None of the ones we've talked to (and we've talked to a lot) would actually hire someone (or, perhaps more accurately, coordinate someone) to do the repairs. I'm working from their contacts. I think we're just in a really busy real estate season here. Houses are going under contract in a week or less fairly often.

Blueberry, are you moving away or just moving around? Best wishes on the speedy sale of your house. It's a cutie!

Dear research paper, Y U NO write yourself??!?!!! And where have all my gender theory stuff from four years ago gone to??

Not Much Love,
my poor eyes that are fuzzy from reading all those studies

dear snow gods,
really, snow today? The one day we have to drive through Idaho and Nevada on a two lane road. Me thinks you could have waited one day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexis_the_tiny

Dear research paper, Y U NO write yourself??!?!!!

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I loled :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tulip

Blueberry, are you moving away or just moving around? Best wishes on the speedy sale of your house. It's a cutie!

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Thanks:) We hope someone else will think so!

We are staying in town for now - downsizing in a big way. Our plan is to rent a small apartment for a while. We need less house to maintain for right now. I'm planning to go back to school and my DH has a soft money job, so flexibility is good!

Dear Checking Account:

I need a few hundred dollars to materialize between now and tomorrow morning. Please. I have two big races that I need to register DH, myself and DD for this week.

That is all,
Limewave

what's a soft money job, Blueberry?

He is an employee of a big university, but his position is grant funded. So, if the grant funding doesn't get renewed, he doesn't have a job anymore. His position is odd - it looks like a post doc, but he doesn't have a phd.

Dear convoluted and thorny legal issue: You're making my head hurt. I know I get paid to sort this kind of a thing out, but could the Westlaw gods please drop a case in my lap that's directly on-point? Thanks.

Dear Landscape Architect that graced us with her presence at today's project meeting:

1. You are NOT, repeat NOT the Project Manager. So nit-picking about other department's project schedule doesn't matter.
2. The project is a ecosystem restoration project, NOT an urban landscape project. Therefore beavers and flooding could happen, get over it.

Dear Self,
Next project team meeting, sit next to the Sargent Major - his calm demeanor will keep you from throttling the Landscape Architect as mentioned above.

Dear Sargent Major,
I'm really glad that life landed you in our office.


Self again - remember to play nice in the sandbox. You can't throw the sand in someone's eyes. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by bmccasland

Therefore beavers and flooding could happen, get over it.

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You're funny :D Sounds like some of our meetings. "Yes, power plants are visible. No, it doesn't necessarily help slapping ye olde fashion panelling on the outside and grass on the roof."

Dear lovely people on this thread,

you all made me LOL big time which I really needed after my week.

Dear work,

My room has some kids with really, really high behavioral needs. And I say that after having observed classes elsewhere. Sure, my kids can read and write but some of them STILL HAVE BIG BEHAVIORAL ISSUES. I can get maybe 15 minutes of teaching in a 4 hour day and those 15 minutes are conducted trying to make myself heard over the singing, screaming, flying objects and things being pushed over in the class. "You guys are still doing pretty ok" is NOT what I expect to hear from the intervention specialists simply because there are management issues.

Dear applicants to the position of my closest co-worker:

why, oh why are you applying for a position where you have to write - lots, coherently, and building up to a logically bombproof conclusion - if you can't even write a half-page application well? I've really tried to be nice, I know many of you are young and inexperienced, but the amount of crap I've had to wade through is just appalling. Youth is no excuse for being a pompous a**. Or writing sentences without a verb.

Dear Neck/Cervical Spine,

Thank you for improving as much as you have. You are probably 85% healed from the mtb trail fall/whiplash injury last October. I've been good, though I should do more stretching - that has fallen by the wayside since I was released from PT. Time to get back to it.

Bottom line, I want to ride my mountain bike this year and NOT on the road! Please don't make make me start wondering if I sold the wrong bike, it would be a shame if I only had one lonely mountain bike season because of you.

:( :o :mad:

Bloggers: Please don't put on your home page, a menu selection: "My Bucket List". Life isn't always like neat, perfect checklist.

Actually reading someone else's to do list in life...is not what I came to visit your blog. I want to read about how you are experiencing life --in the now/recent past.

Dear heart (in general, not mine):
Why are you so vulnerable to toxic effects? Could you work on that, so that I don't have quite so much to memorize in two weeks?

Love,
A student

And I wish only more cycling women-bloggers could comment on my cyclewrite blog (I'll comment on yours too. But I've nearly given up...since very rare others comment on mine.)

It's very ironic: I get way more comments from other people, but it's very rare from cyclists. :confused:

Let me know what I'm doing wrong. :confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

And I wish only more cycling women-bloggers could comment on my cyclewrite blog (I'll comment on yours too. But I've nearly given up...since very rare others comment on mine.)

It's very ironic: I get way more comments from other people, but it's very rare from cyclists. :confused:

Let me know what I'm doing wrong. :confused:

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Maybe cyclists are too busy riding? Seriously, I have very little time to read blogs. I ignore lots of the new threads on TE that seem to be started "for the sake of discussion." I gate myself a lot more on the internet than I used to to preserve time for other things (I'm working tonight, and taking a break - the only reason I'm on TE now). I really don't read many cycling blogs - I'm very picky. I also tend to read what I read through an RSS feed - and commenting requires opening in a web browser - which I usually don't do.

Are you inviting comments? I tend to see blogs are one way conversations, not two way. I've never considered commenting an obligation, or a badge of honor. Why does it matter to you if people comment on your blog? Or your forum posts?

PS - I like Bucket Lists. I see them as goals - or a roadmap for how I want to live life going forward. No - life might not fit perfectly into them, but.... If you don't like that perspective, maybe read other blogs?

Quote:

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I like Bucket Lists. I see them as goals - or a roadmap for how I want to live life going forward. No - life might not fit perfectly into them, but.... If you don't like that perspective, maybe read other blogs?

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That's what I do: I leave the blog.
I see participating in TE forums in whatever "goals" we discuss very different since it's casual conversation. Not flashing the bucket list every time one logs into the TE forums.

I guess once I leave my job (where I have to aim towards specific goals/deadlines), I tend to adopt a totally different attitude when reading other people's blogs for leisure/recreation.

No, it's not a big deal that very few cyclists (which was what I was referring specifically), comment on mine. After all, I tell other bloggers (who don't cycle), that's my 1 of my other passions -- cycling :)
Most likely because sometimes I write on other topics which others just aren't interested enough to comment. Oh well.

I read only 2-3 cycling-related blogs per month. Others I look and then leave. Maybe never to return again. I don't visit cycling blogs that are a person's training blog.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

I guess once I leave my job (where I have to aim towards specific goals/deadlines), I tend to adopt a totally different attitude when reading other people's blogs for leisure/recreation.

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This is an interesting, and I think very accurate perspective for me too.

I tend to avoid contentious topics on TE - and elsewhere - because I deal with conflict for my job. Hmmm....might require more thought:)

Dear TE:

Please forgive me if I'm grumpy. I don't deal well with stress, but the future plans to reduce it are causing more of it right now. And I'm not getting my bike endorphins:(

Dear self, remember: the potential of the person, not the paperwork. That's what you're here to achieve. Try not to let management get to your head too much these days, it can be very depressing. Kids learn skills over years, not in the space of 9 months. Now, go and ride.

Dear TE,

Update on my mom: she is now 2.5 weeks post op on her surgery (aortic valve replacement and triple bypass), she is at a rehab center and it is slow going. She wants more than anything, to go home and have her life back, but they're trying to control her BP and she's just tired all the time.

On a personal note, I'm exhausted and would really like my life back too.

Signed,

So, so tired TE'er