Ok, so I told you about my "alleged" violation for toll evasion. Well, I disputed it a second time and further explained how it was not me and that their system must be malfunctioning. I got a letter yesterday totally ignoring the fact that I wrote a letter and just said, "We have received your payment for the above referenced violation. Your payment was more than the required amount. Enclosed please find a refund check for $25.00 for overpayment of the violation. No further action is required by you."
Wait a minute. More than the required amount? I paid what they told me to pay!
Okay, I get it. They knew I was challenging the system accuracy and rather than deal with that, they figured they'd better send this woman her money back because she's not going away. However, keep the four bucks for the toll even though she was never here.
It's great I got my money refunded but I'm thinking this whole thing cost the State a lot more than $25 they originally required but then returned. What an efficient system. And Arnold wants me to vote YES on Prop 1A. As John Stossel would say, "Give me a Break!"
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Interesting...
I received a "Notice of Toll Evasion" in the mail the other day. It showed a photo of my license plate and gave a date/time in which this "evasion" was to have happened at the Carquinez Bridge. What is interesting is that my car was no where near this location. In fact, it was sitting in my garage awating me to drive it to Sunday morning Mass. The time posted was 10:08:48 but it didn't say a.m. or p.m. I'm going to assume it was a.m. because they probably use military time. I did cover both bases, however, and explained that in the morning I was at church and in the evening I had company. I didn't elaborate and tell them that Sunday evenings I watch Desperate Housewives with my peeps. So, I DO have witnesses!
The last time I crossed this particular bridge was in February but that was at 5 p.m. and I didn't use a FasTrak lane! I asked them to explain how this big of a mistake can be made when it was a physical impossibility for me to have been there. Stay tuned...
The last time I crossed this particular bridge was in February but that was at 5 p.m. and I didn't use a FasTrak lane! I asked them to explain how this big of a mistake can be made when it was a physical impossibility for me to have been there. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
More Drama
As if dealing with the loss of our family pet didn't cause enough stress in my life, I'm also dealing with the loss of my computer. It decided to crash and, of course, I didn't have everything backed up. My husband always comes to the rescue and the first thing he asks is if I've backed up my stuff. Huh? Really? Isn't that something you do for me? I know you've told me a hundred times. You can always fix it though. Not this time. Boo hoo. Anyway we picked up a new one, sans the monitor since I already have one. Guess who got to talk to the nice folks in India for close to three hours today. Yep, it was me. The first time it was the HP computer. When everything they tried to get me to do didn't work, I got them to send me recovery disks instead of having to create my own. I think my husband it teaching me the pain of computer ownership. Later in the day I needed to talk to Microsoft because it wasn't recognizing the software I was trying to reload. The last guy I spoke to was great. We became buds during our 90 minutes together. It was pretty cool actually. I gave him the ability to take over my computer, so I could see what he was doing on my screen while he was doing it. It made me feel pretty good because I had done a lot of what he was doing. To make a 90 minute story short, they had to issue me a new product number and reregister it. While I was loading and unloading disks, we chatted about the Oscar winning movie "Slumdog Millionnaire." I really liked this movie and he did, too. It's not an upbeat fun movie like it looks on the previews, it is a quite depressing and violent film and it highlights the horiffic slum conditions in Mumbai. The characters were not professional actors and so it only goes to show that you don't have to be Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie to be a star. Check it out.
Now, I have to remove my old hard drive and get the info off of it. I think this sounds like a great technology assignment for my homeschooled daughter and her dad!
Now, I have to remove my old hard drive and get the info off of it. I think this sounds like a great technology assignment for my homeschooled daughter and her dad!
Friday, February 20, 2009
We'll Miss you Norm!
Norm lost his battle with cancer yesterday. It was just a short month after his very successful surgery. Everyone thought we'd have three-six months more with the big guy but that wasn't in the plan for him.
We was a great dog and smart! One of the tricks I taught him was math. He could add, subtract, and multiply. I suppose he could divide, but I didn't try that out. I remember when Monica was in first grade, I brought him to her classroom and showed the kids how he could add. When I asked him what 1 plus 1 is he would bark twice. They loved it! There's always a smart cookie in class and this was no exception. One of the kids wanted to make up their own problem to make sure it wasn't a trick. I think they gave him something like, how much is a bizillion time a hundred billion. I told them to give him a problem that he could finish in the time we had in class, so he got something more reasonable like 3 + 2. Again, he performed. To this day, I wonder if some of the kids in that class think he really knew math!
We have a lot of great memories of Norm. He was the dog that everyone loved. He wasn't always like that, however. He was a piece of work in his early years. I remember many times, when Norm was such a pain that it almost required marriage counseling for my husband and me. Who doesn't at least consider the Labrador when choosing a dog for the family, right? And better yet, someone at work had a dog who just delivered a litter of purebred pups. And best of all, they were giving them away since it wasn't a planned litter and the bitch (it seems almost awkward to use this word as it was intended ha..ha) hadn't had her hips certified. We'll take him.
So cute at 8 weeks old. Not so cute when they think they run the family. Norm was actually a bit aggressive at first. Clean my ears, yeah right. Clip my nails, no thanks. Take my temperature at the vets, not on my best day. What happened to the adorable little puppy and reputation that all Labs are wonderful pets?
Well, like any relationship, we had some kinks to work out and after some boot camp, live in training, he came back a different dog. He knew who was in charge (most of the time), and became the gentle dog those of you who have met him, know that he is. He was a great entertainer for all and a loyal, loving, and cherished pet.
We'll miss you, Norm!
We was a great dog and smart! One of the tricks I taught him was math. He could add, subtract, and multiply. I suppose he could divide, but I didn't try that out. I remember when Monica was in first grade, I brought him to her classroom and showed the kids how he could add. When I asked him what 1 plus 1 is he would bark twice. They loved it! There's always a smart cookie in class and this was no exception. One of the kids wanted to make up their own problem to make sure it wasn't a trick. I think they gave him something like, how much is a bizillion time a hundred billion. I told them to give him a problem that he could finish in the time we had in class, so he got something more reasonable like 3 + 2. Again, he performed. To this day, I wonder if some of the kids in that class think he really knew math!
We have a lot of great memories of Norm. He was the dog that everyone loved. He wasn't always like that, however. He was a piece of work in his early years. I remember many times, when Norm was such a pain that it almost required marriage counseling for my husband and me. Who doesn't at least consider the Labrador when choosing a dog for the family, right? And better yet, someone at work had a dog who just delivered a litter of purebred pups. And best of all, they were giving them away since it wasn't a planned litter and the bitch (it seems almost awkward to use this word as it was intended ha..ha) hadn't had her hips certified. We'll take him.
So cute at 8 weeks old. Not so cute when they think they run the family. Norm was actually a bit aggressive at first. Clean my ears, yeah right. Clip my nails, no thanks. Take my temperature at the vets, not on my best day. What happened to the adorable little puppy and reputation that all Labs are wonderful pets?
Well, like any relationship, we had some kinks to work out and after some boot camp, live in training, he came back a different dog. He knew who was in charge (most of the time), and became the gentle dog those of you who have met him, know that he is. He was a great entertainer for all and a loyal, loving, and cherished pet.
We'll miss you, Norm!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Pet Photos
Norm
When Billy is home, this is his usual position. He only comes around to eat and sleep. Otherwise he roams the neighborhood hunting.
This is Cinder aka angry kitty. She has something to say about everything. She's so annoying she's lovable.
When Billy is home, this is his usual position. He only comes around to eat and sleep. Otherwise he roams the neighborhood hunting.
This is Cinder aka angry kitty. She has something to say about everything. She's so annoying she's lovable.
Norm
We have a black lab named Norm. He's ten years old. A few weeks ago he wasn't feeling well and I took him to the vet only to discover that he had something bothering his abdomen. The vet took an xray saw that his spleen was enlarged and then sent us for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed a large cyst that was most likely cancerous. It happened so fast and I needed to make a decision within a few hours whether he would undergo surgery to remove the spleen or be put down. Well, my vet felt good about doing surgery since all of his other organs were clear. If it turned out to be cancer, she gave him three-six months before it came back. Surgery was our choice since it was pretty simple and we just weren't ready to say goodby to this great dog. Surgery went great, he was back to normal just a couple of days later. He even wore his ridiculous Elizabethan collar without complaint!
We've had two scares since the surgery. One day he's great, the next day we thought he was going to visit his maker. For a treat we gave him a rawhide bone (which we never do) and it did not agree with him. He lay lethargic and glossy-eyed for the entire day. The next morning, he was feeling himself again! Whew. No more rawhide. Then, just yesterday he was standing next to me and I was petting him and his back legs collapsed and down he went. Here we go again. We made him comfortable and offered him food and water. Water yes, food no. I told my son to grill him up a burger. He found his appetite for that alright! He continued to be very stiff and had sad eyes. But today is a new day! He is chasing his toy and our other dog and you'd never know anything was wrong with him. Hmmm, perhaps we was holding out for the sirloin burger!
I told him that three weeks post surgery was not long enough to justify the cost of his surgery and he was going to need to hang in there for a few months anyway. He just looked at me, kind of like everyone else in the family does when I make stupid comments. Here's a picture of Normie and Skittles.
We've had two scares since the surgery. One day he's great, the next day we thought he was going to visit his maker. For a treat we gave him a rawhide bone (which we never do) and it did not agree with him. He lay lethargic and glossy-eyed for the entire day. The next morning, he was feeling himself again! Whew. No more rawhide. Then, just yesterday he was standing next to me and I was petting him and his back legs collapsed and down he went. Here we go again. We made him comfortable and offered him food and water. Water yes, food no. I told my son to grill him up a burger. He found his appetite for that alright! He continued to be very stiff and had sad eyes. But today is a new day! He is chasing his toy and our other dog and you'd never know anything was wrong with him. Hmmm, perhaps we was holding out for the sirloin burger!
I told him that three weeks post surgery was not long enough to justify the cost of his surgery and he was going to need to hang in there for a few months anyway. He just looked at me, kind of like everyone else in the family does when I make stupid comments. Here's a picture of Normie and Skittles.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Therapeutic Horseback Riding
One of the activites I do to help me with my MS is horseback therapy. It really helps with my balance and gives my legs relief from spasticity (rigidity). I've been riding for a few years now. Not only is it therapy, but I am learning lot about horses and riding skills as well. The program is reasonably priced for the rider and the tuition does not cover expenses. This is a wonderful organization to support. Check out the website.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Boy, time does fly. I haven't posted anything for weeks! I told you not that much exciting goes on in my life! I start school tonight. I'm in my fourth (and last) ASL (American Sign Language) class. I started taking ASL to help me keep my brain sharp as well as my hand/eye coordination. You see, this comes in handy for two reasons. First. I'm getting to the age where CRSS comes into play. You know, Can't Remember Sh** Syndrome. The other reason and the more valid of the two although I didn't put it first was that Multiple Sclerosis can (and usually does) mess with cognitive thinking. I'm not a crossword puzzle person and Suduko, well, let's just say my brain doesn't work like that. Besides, what's more productive, completing puzzles or learning the second most popular language in the US? Surprised that ASL is the no. 2 language in the US? I was, especially given that I live in California and usually think of Spanish as the most popular (which in CA it is). Here's a video of me from ASL 3 telling a story (made up) about how my grandparents (both sides) came to the US and how my parents met.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
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