Gallifrey :P

I used to work at this group home for people with developmental disabilities. One of the residents was also a member of the Board of Directors, a fact he used to boast or threaten, depending on his mood. This home had a manager who I suspected was just "rubber-stamping" time sheets (i.e., not looking them over very well before signing them). I decided that since the time sheets were due on April 1, I would fill out a time sheet with the following:

Employee Name: (the resident)
Title: Board Member
And for the time, I put down that he worked 24/7, but took a floating holiday on St. Patrick's Day. 

I waited for days to hear from the manager.

Nothing.

I finally asked her if she saw anything strange with the time sheets. She said no. I explained to her what I had done. Turns out she had sent them up the ladder to the main administrative offices. She had just enough time to call them and play it off as if it were her own joke.

Paraphrasing a phone call to my father:

Father: Hello?
Me: Hi Dad... I kinda need your help.
Father: What is it?
Me: We're Catholics, right?
Father: Of course.
Me: And Catholics are against abortion, right?
Father: Yes
Me: Then how am I going to finish school..
Father (interrupting): Don't be silly, many people have kids and go to school...
Me (sensing the beginning of a long lecture): APRIL FOOL'S, DAD!
Father: Dee, stop yelling, and listen to me.
Me: No, Dad. Listen to ME. IT'S APRIL FIRST!
Father: Oh, you're fooling...
(followed by a long lecture about the ACS workers that got arrested, and how I should have stayed in nursing school, and ending with an admission that I did a pretty damned convincing job of being distressed and pregnant)

You can earn some extra cash by clicking on my link and watching some ads:

http://www.varolo.com/village/sometimesdee

OMFG, I used to be in love with Bubbleworks, now I feel like I just got out of a bitter custody battle (not meaning to discount those who have actually been through them).

OK, for those not in Brooklyn or Manhattan, Bubbleworks is a laundry/drycleaning delivery service for the rich and lazy (or, at the very least, the relatively affluent and busy). You log on to their website, schedule a pick-up time (4 hour window) for your dirty clothes to be picked up, and, schedule another time for your clean clothes to be delivered. At $1.09/lb, this service ain't cheap. But with my depression and obsession with Second Life, compounded by the fact that our local laundromat burned down, I was months behind on our laundry. I convinced Kevin to pay for one big Bubbleworks order, so I can get a "clean" start, and do small batches in our basement laundry machines 1-2 times a week.

Early Monday morning, I finally figured out how to log onto their newly and poorly designed website (I had to create a new account in the process), and placed an order, with pickup time for 7-11pm Tuesday night and drop-off time 7-11pm Thursday night. I thought my troubles would be over until Kevin found out how much the bill would be.

WRONG.

First of all, they did not come on Tuesday night. Instead, they came Wednsday morning. Kevin gave them the laundry, and the ticket they gave us had our address and phone number right, but a totally different customer name and zip code. (Zip code is minor; we live about 12 blocks from Bubbleworks' Brooklyn site, and not everyone realizes that the OTHER side of Eastern Parkway has a different zip code.) We did, however, wonder if we would end up with our own clothes, or someone else's. The other issue with the slip is that it checked off FRIDAY as the drop-off time, but that made sense; they charge an extra $5 for next-day delivery.

Wednesday afternoon, I received a phone call from Bubbleworks, with the price. $110. I wasn't surprised, as it was a SHITLOAD of clothes. I was told this included the new customer discount, and was asked if we'd be home between 6 and 10am tomorrow (read: Thursday, a.k.a. the day of this journal entry). I said, "sure," thinking there'd be no charge since they fucked up in not picking up the clothes on Tuesday night.

Fast-forward to this morning. 11am rolls around, no clothes. I call Bubbleworks; I was told the driver had my clothes, and he was running late. OK, whatever. I call around 12:30. I'm told the operator can't contact the driver. At this point, Kevin is pissed because he doesn't have any clean clothes to go to work. I ask if the clothes are actually on the truck, because if not, I'd just go and pick them up myself. She doesn't know. At this point, I demand to talk to the manager, to figure out: 1. WTF is up with my clothes, and 2: "so we can discuss how much I'm going to pay for this mis-service" (yes, I know the term is "disservice," but I was peeved at the time).

I get a call from the manager at 3pm, asking if we'll be available at 5 to get the clothes. I say yes (at this point, Kevin's gone to work in clothes of questionable cleanliness). He says he'll call me back in regards to the discount, and the driver will call me as well.

I call at 6 and ask to speak to said manager, as I heard nothing from the driver or the manager. The lady will contact the manager.

7:25. I get a call from the driver; he's downstairs. When he comes up, he tells me the bill is still somewhere aroudn $105. I ask about the discount. He says they took off the $5 fee for next-day delivery. I argue that we never asked for next-day; they screwed up by not picking up on Tuesday. I ask him to call the manager. He informs me that he is indeed the manager (something I already knew from the caller ID; I mean, what are the odds that both the delivery man AND the manager have Northern NJ cell phones?) We haggle a bit, I ask about the new customer discount, etc. and we finally agree on $95-something. I give him $100, and he gives me $5 back. Like hell am I giving a tip at this point; something they usually try to sneak into the total of the bill anyway.

I was actually going to go get my hair done, something I'd been delaying for months, because I had gotten up early. This clusterfuck was my reward.

Now that I've let off some steam, I should probably go and check to see if the clothes in these bags are indeed ours.

The Peace of Heart Choir, which was formed after the September 11 attacks to promote peace and healing in the NYC community, is holding auditions in Midtown Manhattan on the following days:

Thurs 1/20 from 6-9pm
Sat 1/22 from 6-9pm
Sun 1/23 from 6-9pm

We're looking for all vocal parts.

To find out more, please check out our website. Rehearsals are on Thursday nights from 7-9:30pm in Midtown.

Come join some awesome newyorkers such as potatomistress, xse99, and too many or me to think of right now! :)

Email us at peaceofheartchoir@yahoo.com to schedule an audition!

Interesting timing with the question. What I need is a good snack for a snowpocalypse

I would have to assess the risk. There's no sense in there being two victims instead of one. Same goes for pets. If I can do it without extreme risk to my own safety, I'll give it a shot. Otherwise, I'll just have to wish Fluffy and Fido goodbye and hope they meet their humans at the Rainbow Bridge.

Depends on the age. One consequence is that kids will be too afraid to get the consent, but will have sex anyway, resulting in unintended pregnancies...

I threw in my post from June 5 into this webpage, and it concluded:

These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 16:53 I favorited a YouTube video -- Re: pandarr | Old Spice youtu.be/-8JsvwUcok0?a #
• 17:01 Check this video out -- Star Wars Subway Car youtu.be/J5gCeWEGiQI #

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These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 15:06 Just got soaked on the way to the subway... to find out I was 1/2 hour late for my dr's appt and it has to be rescheduled. FML #
• 15:06 And my phone got soaked in the process and refuses to act normally. #fml #
• 15:28 Frakkin' A, the Brits have Cylon Raiders! - Yahoo! News yhoo.it/aL4AaJ #
• 16:46 of course, dead crackberry also means no #worldofwarcraft authenticator. Oh, the joys of being on hold with blizzard - on the land line! #
• 19:20 Just got myself this bit.ly/9o9zS7 Hope I can make the transition from Blackberry to Android with minimal issues. Got insurance too. #
• 20:56 Just made someone at Blizzard very happy by having my authenticator serial no. when I called to cancel it. (Blackberry fallout FTL) #
• 21:06 Achievement unlocked! bit.ly/theguild4 #theguild4 #
• 22:58 I liked a YouTube video -- Re: Gail Berg | Old Spice youtu.be/Dlo7UeTI6gg?a #
• 23:04 Is it just me, or does "MyTouch 3G Slide" sound like a brand of personal lubricant? #android #tmobile #innuendo #
• 23:15 I subscribed to oldspice's channel on YouTube. www.youtube.com/user/oldspice?feature=autoshare #
• 23:48 Tell me your fave Android Apps! #
• 00:24 I just ousted Heather M. as the mayor of My Home on @foursquare! 4sq.com/9j2Uhr #

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Meh. I hate it when people complain when a band becomes too "mainstream" (who are they, Williamsburg hipsters?). It's great for the band if they get a larger audience. However, if the band changes their music (for the worse), just to sell more, then it sucks.

These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 14:46 via @patkiernan: Not so fun to stay at the "Y" without the "MCA" | Pat's Papers bit.ly/c1vLHj #

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These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 02:03 wondering, not for the first time, why I inadvertently named my primary #worldofwarcraft character after a former co-worker #

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These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 20:42 My primary #worldofwarcraft character is level 57... 154k XP before she can go into space, biznatch! #

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These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 01:43 WTF? I try to go to youtube on my mac and it goes to Myspace instead!?!? #
• 01:59 I liked a YouTube video -- No Hair (No Air Parody) youtu.be/8VGnV2I5u68?a #
• 02:13 LOLOL - What's the Perfect Length for Your Man? youtu.be/-9pu8GOIOvE #

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Option #1, please.

Day 01 - Your favorite song
Day 02 - A song that makes you happy
Day 03 - A song that makes you sad
Day 04 - A song that reminds you of someone
Day 05 - A song that reminds of you of somewhere
Day 06 - A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 07 - A song that you can dance to
Day 08 - A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 09 - A song from your favorite band
Day 10 - A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 11 - A song that describes you
Day 12 - A song from your favorite album
Day 13 - A song that you listen to when you're angry
Day 14 - A song that you listen to when you're happy
Day 15 - A song that you listen to when you're sad
Day 16 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 17 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 18 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 19 - Your least favorite song
Day 20 - A song that you know all the words to
Day 21 - A song from a band you hate
Day 22 - A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 23 - A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 24 - A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 25 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 26 - A song you can play on an instrument
Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 - A song from your childhood
Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year

---

My brother had me convinced when I was 6 or so that "Strawberry Fields Forever" was about Darryl Strawberry, who, incidentally, looks a lot like him.



Did I use this song already? No? Good. I like the entire album. This is still one of my favorite songs.

These are my tweets from the last 24 hours. You can safely sail right past them if you don't like 'em.

• 10:38 "When the Queen of England takes a red-eye so she doesn't have to spring for a night at the Radisson, NY is too f'n expensive" - Jon Stewart #
• 23:56 Always had doubts about the skill of the Erhu player in Grand Central. It was confirmed when he frakked up "Ode to Joy" and "Frere Jacques." #
• 23:57 Considering trying to busk on the violin. Now to build a repertoire and pick a location... #

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