Monday Mumblings
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Yeah, I'm a day late, and I almost didn't blog today. I'm stuck in Ennui City and not enjoying it at all. No sir, not one bit.
Oh, there's plenty of reasons, but you don't want to hear about them. I will say that allergy and bug seasons are in full swing, which accounts for a lot. I hate bug season. It's not the bugs that bother me as much as the stuff we have to use to keep them outdoors. We had a pest control contract once, but the annual ritual consisted of an inspection during which I'd hand over a check, followed by an invasion of ants two weeks later. One year they mixed it up and found the little buggers early and promised to come treat - but I couldn't get them to come out. Why in the hell was I paying them money? One year they almost doubled the rates. I told them not to send out an inspector, and when he showed up on my doorstep, I was left explaining why I didn't want him inside. I felt kind of bad. I could tell by the look on his face that he'd been sent out to multiple households against the homeowner's wishes, apparently in hopes they'd relent once they saw the happy uniformed exterminator on their doorstep. I just checked the rates this company is now charging - they're 60% higher than they were when we dropped their services. And they say inflation is going down. Hah!
See, that's the problem. Gas is dropping, food is dropping, but the other costs of living - homeowner's insurance, maintenance, electricity, and so on - are going up. We won't even talk about the cost of car insurance. Public transit? Hey, the cost is going up another buck! The fine (cough) folks in Washington who figure out the inflation index can't possibly account for all the crap going on in each state.
And speaking of my state, don't blame me. I didn't vote for the governor.
Yeah, I'm stuck in Ennui City.
So, what's going on that's interesting? Well, The Seattle Times has chosen "Two of the Deadliest" as one of this month's mystery selections. Unfortunately, the book won't be available until July. Pre-sales seem to be doing well on Amazon UK, too. They still show a May 14 release date.
Well, I'm off to bed to read. I picked up Beyond Heaving Bosoms over the weekend. So far it's a fun read.
Perhaps I'll be in a better mood tomorrow.
Tags: Life
Filed under: Life
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