Send me an email with Gmail in the subject.
If you requested a Gmail invite the other day and didn’t get one, you might want to check your spambox, because the invites sometimes get marked as spam, especially by Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL. If you check your spambox and didn’t get one, let me know and I’ll resend your invite.
I’ll take this down when I have no invites left.
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So, the house appraiser (as someone predicted in my comments yesterday)was here about fifteen minutes, if that. She walked around the house, measured things, came in and asked a few questions, wandered around the house a little, and then was on her way.
I should totally become a house appraiser, because I wouldn’t be stuck in an office all the time, and I’d get to tromp around peoples’ houses and see their stuff and how they have their house decorated. That sounds like an awesome job.
How does one become a house appraiser?
When the doorbell rang, all the cats except Miz Poo scattered. She huddled on her cat bed on my desk, her eyes all big and dark, and looked scared to death, as if the house appraiser was going to fly at her and begin beating her about the head.
The other cats spent the rest of the day hiding under beds until they could be sure there was no longer a stranger in the house.
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Speaking of cats, we watched
Shrek 2 last weekend, and when Puss in Boots was barfing up that hairball, Fred laughed so hard I thought he was going to pass out. Also, when Puss in Boots had his leg hoisted over his head, and was grooming himself, we laughed pretty hard.
We weren’t much looking forward to watching the movie, but we certainly enjoyed it anyway.
Last night we watched
The Forgotten. Not a bad movie, especially since we got to see Lee Tergesen (AKA Beecher from
Oz), whom we love to death, and always excitedly exclaim “It’s Beecher!” Also, Linus Roache was heating up the joint; I’ve loved him ever since I saw him in
Priest almost ten years ago.
I would really have liked to see a different explanation for what was going on, though. The explanation we got was a bit cheesey.
(Those of you who’ve seen it will know what I mean!)
I have 100 movies in my Netflix queue. That just amazes me – oh wait, I just added
Priest, so that makes 101. We currently have
Collateral on the way to us, need to send
The Forgotten back, and I have
7 Up still to watch.
So many movies, so little time!
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I picked up my mouthpiece from the dentist’s office the other day. It looked different than I expected – the old one looked like this:
It was made of plastic, and as you can see, it went all the way around my teeth. The new one looks like this:
It doesn’t cover my front teeth, and it’s made of a much harder acrylic. When I have it in, you can’t even tell I’m wearing it, except that I lisp a little more than usual (did you know that I’m a lisper?). It goes across the roof of my mouth, and I thought I was going to have a problem with that, but I’ve worn it for three nights now, and have been just fine; in fact, once I get it in I hardly notice it’s there.
Until the morning.
When I wake up in the morning, I usually lay in bed for a few minutes before I get up. I’m fine just laying in bed, but if I sit up and still have the mouthpiece in place and don’t get it out of my mouth fast enough, I gag and almost throw up.
Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that. I guess I need to start taking the mouthpiece out of my mouth BEFORE I get up, huh?
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I had a dream the other night that
Victoria from
The Amazing Race and I were driving along in my Jeep, and the engine went kerflooey, and we ended up in the river. We both escaped just fine, and then she disappeared – probably to be berated by her asshole of a husband – and some homeless guy showed up and offered me a blanket.
AND THEN GAVE ME THE QUILT I KEEP ON THE CHAIR IN MY BEDROOM. Thief.
I’d say that the dream was my subconscious telling me that the Jeep is on its last legs (wheels?), but my conscious is pretty well aware of that. Maybe my subconscious was trying to tell me I should donate my beloved quilt, which I’ve had since I was 7 or 8, to charity, and it’ll come back to me tenfold?
Fat chance.
Speaking of cars, I’m really liking the
Suzuki Reno lately. I saw one in the mall yesterday and it’s reminiscent (at least, to me) of the
Toyota Echo. It doesn’t come in yellow, but it does come in a kicky burnt orange color. Hmmmm.
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Pardon the blurriness, but this picture cracked me up so much I just had to post it!
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Now you’ve done it.
I have a question for you (or anyone in the US, really)
Say you order something on the internet and have it shipped regular USPS ground mail. You aren’t home when the package arrives. What happens? Does a little card get left in your mail box, telling you to pick up the package at a local outlet, or are you out of luck?
I’ve ordered a few things that I’m having shipped to my in-laws in Florida and just found out that they are on a cruise for a few days (of all the nerve) and I don’t want my packages returned….
Help!
I agree with you about “The Forgotten” ending/explanation.
Appraisers have to be licensed by the State. Does seem like a sweet job. Especially since (well here anyway) for that 15 minutes plus a little time plugging it all in to produce the official report they get $300. to $400. 🙂
Laura: My mailman will leave packages in front of the door (usually over to the side of the front door, really, so that it isn’t easily visable from the street), but I know that when I lived in an apartment if I wasn’t home when the mailman showed up, he left a card telling me to pick it up at the post office. It all depends on the mailman, I guess, but I would say that either the packages will be waiting for your in-laws when they get home, or they’ll have a card telling them they have packages to pick up. Generally the mailman makes several attempts to deliver a package before it’s sent back, so you should be okay. 🙂
ms7168: Well-paid, PLUS they get to snoop around peoples’ houses? That sounds like the job for me! 🙂
Spanky says: “eh”
You ain’t gots nuttin’ on our Netflix list. 289 movies, tankyaverymuch. What the hell is up with that???
What? What? Done what?
Martha: Fred’s afraid that by mentioning the car I’m currently lusting after, people will start saying bad things about the Suzuki Reno and I won’t want it anymore. Ha! Obviously he doesn’t realize just how damn cute the car is!
Most states I think you have to take some kind of certification test, not sure what else is involved. I once dated a guy whose dad owned an appraisal business–apparently it’s a pretty recession-proof job since during good times, there are plenty of appraisals to do for buyers, and during bad times there are appraisals to do for banks who’ve foreclosed.
My mouth guard looks a lot like your old one–is it the kind you boil? Anyway, the new one looks a lot comfier. Can you breathe through your mouth while it’s in there? (I had a cold a couple of weeks ago & couldn’t wear the mouth guard because I can only breathe through my nose while I’m using it, and what with the cold I couldn’t breathe at all with the mouth guard in. Sucked.) I know what you mean about the gag reflex with them, though–if my stomach is the tiniest bit upset I just can’t fall asleep with mine in my mouth.
Spanky! Spanky! What a great day for a Spanky!
Also — my driveway is nearly 1/3 of a mile long, which is one-tenth of a mile longer than the USPS officially *has* to drive to deliver my mail, so if I get a really big Sears catalog I have to go to the postoffice and get a number and wait in line…
Needless to say, my mailperson does not get a tip, a Cristmas gift, a card or even a smile from me. Every time I go to the post office to pick up an Amazon box containing one CD I think about driving her off the road on my way back to the house.
Leat’s hear it for UPS and FedEx Ground!
Stacey: No, the old mouthguard I had was one that my dentist (15 years ago, this was) made for me by taking an impression of my teeth and all that. I don’t have any problems breathing through my mouth with the mouthguard in, which is lucky for me, because I usually sleep with my mouth wide open. 🙂
Amanda: After it took some packages I sent via the post office almost two weeks to get there, three weeks before Christmas, I decided that next time I’m mailing via FedEx, because they’re awesome!
Speaking of dreams! Robyn, I had a dream about you the other night. You invited a bunch of guys over to your house for a slumber party, and you told me that Fred, for SOME reason, was not happy about it. You said you couldn’t understand what the problem was. LOL
Robyn,
We’ve enjoyed the 7 Up Series for years! We saw the first one on television when we were living in The Netherlands and have made sure we’ve caught every one since! It’s a fascinating series, isn’t it?
I just saw a suzuki commercial there is one that starts with an F that I like. My husband wants to know why I want the cars I do. He calls them ‘Practical’. I drive 1 and half miles to work. I just want something smaller and newer to drive- I have a 99 jeep grand cherokee and it drinks the gas. I like your choices in cars.
Hi Robyn, i’ve never commented before, but i’ve read your journal for awhile now. You rock!
I also have about 50 gmail invites, so if anyone asked you, but didn’t get a chance to get one, tell them to shoot an e-mail my way, as I have NO CLUE who to give these too.
-Maria
I was an appraiser for 10 years – ugh!!!! You have to take classes (about 1 million hours worth) and then you have to take tests. And then you have to get licensed. But in most states in order to get licensed you have to have done some appraisals, so you have to find someone to hire you without a license. You do all the grunt work and get little pay. For most houses (read tract homes) it is a pretty cruise job; an hour or two of work for around $400. But if you get a complicated house it can take you days and days to do an appraisal; and in general you don’t get days and days worth of money.
You go into the house and look it over and take some pictures. Then drive around the neighborhood and take pictures of similar homes. Then go back to the office and type it up. It’s a cool gig. I got out of it cause I got tired of the abuse. People telling me I don’t know what I’m doing cause my appraisal wasn’t as much has they thought it was worth.
They always take pictures of itty bitty cars from an upwards angle like that to make them appear huge…
Here’s a “screen-cleaner” for you…
http://screenclean.j1media.com/lick.html
What is Gmail??
You and the gals at Smart and Sassy answered one of my questions… I am tickled! Thanks so much to the three of you for your advice. You hit things on the head, SMART women that you are 🙂 Thanks.
One more thing.. I have a new mouthguard (similar to your old one in fact.) and ever since I got it I wake up thinking I am eating something. Trying desperately to CHOMP through whatever it is. Sheesh, probably a good thing I have the darn thing or I might not have teeth LEFT. Yours looks odd, no front to it. Thinking the back part must be quite thick..
I love the kitty picture and the mouth guard looks funky. It makes you look like you have a weirdly shaped mouth. Well, that’s what I thought anyways…
I drive a 2001 ECHO and I absolutely love it! Runs like a dream, and it’s surprisingly roomy. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve moved in that thing! I fit six portable massage tables in the trunk once.