Much ado about …

Life can be overwhelming at times.

At other times, though, it’s just plain crazy.

For example, in the last few months I’ve avoided cleaning my house. Yep, I know that’s not a good idea but I hate cleaning house. I’d rather go to the dentist than clean house and even though my dentist is a pretty nice fellow, he’s not someone I want to see more than twice a year, Which, come to think of it, is about how often I clean my house.

I didn’t used to be so adverse to house cleaning. When my daughter was younger and living at home, I cleaned like a fiend on a regular basis. By regular, I mean more than once a week. But these days it’s just me and the cat and, trust me, she doesn’t care. In fact, she hates the vacuum almost as much as I do and hides whenever she hears it coming.

So, for the record, my not cleaning is doing a good deed for Emily (the cat).

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Psst, anybody know where I can find a cheap maid service?

Ollie, how could you!?!

Posted by goodoldgirl

It’s been almost two weeks since my last post. I can’t say that I’ve had so much to do that I didn’t have time to blog but I can safely say that I had absolutely nothing worth putting pinkies to keyboard.

Hmmm. That sounds awfully negative, doesn’t it? Let’s see, what has been going on in my little world?

I went to SHRM. Big convention of HR folks. Walked, walked, and walked some more. Sat, sat, and sat some more. Ate, ate, and ate some more. Slept for about a minute.

What is it about hotel beds that makes it next to impossible to get comfortable enough to sleep? Is it that they’re too hard, or too soft, too lumpy, or all of these things? I’m betting on all of them. The bed in my room this trip, though, was soft. Not good for my back which is why I’m sitting and walking a little bent over.

It’s really just a minor irritation but added to the swampland of emails I’ve waded through today, it’s been a cruel price to pay for four days away from the office.

Speaking of cruel prices to pay …

I had to board my cats while I was away. When I picked them up, the vet said that Ollie tried to murder Emily so he had to separate them to keep her safe. Ollie probably blamed her for being stuck at the vet’s for four days. Regardless, I can’t have one cat scared to death of the other one. Anybody want a cat?

He’s pretty. He has blue eyes. He only weighs about 15 pounds. And, he’s only mean to Emily … unless he wants in your lap. Then, he can be pretty ruthless, shoving his way on.

The bottom line is …

Emily has dibs on life at casa Good Old Girl. Isn’t she pretty? Such a sweet girl too! Only bites them that ask for it. I worked at home today and she’s been following me around. Ever since I got home yesterday, she hasn’t been more than a few feet away from me.

Seriously, Ollie is outa here if he doesn’t shape up and stop being a bully. Nobody likes a mean kitty.

Are you listening to me, Ollie? It’s way past time you learned to play well with others. You’re eleven years old for pity’s sake. 😉

A light bulb moment!

Posted by goodoldgirl

You’ve probably noticed by now that incandescent light bulbs are scarcer than hen’s teeth. Yep, plain old light bulbs are dang hard to find these days!

Image via Wikipedia.

In 2007, George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security ACT (EISA). This law set an efficiency standard for light bulbs with the first phase going into effect in 2012. I’m not going to bore you with a lot of info about the why’s and wherefore’s of this new law. I’ll just say that it appears that our elected officials were making a valiant effort to conserve our natural resources and let it go at that.

I have problems, however, with this new law — aside from the fact that I don’t like the Feds telling me what kind of light bulbs I can use.

Now, before all you environmentalists, including my own daughter, start yammering about the efficiency of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and what a jerk I am for mourning the demise of the incandescent bulb, let me state, for the record, that I’m fine with CFLs. I use CFLs. In some places. Like closets and porches and places where ambient light is appropriate and the laundry closet. (Oh, I already said closets, didn’t I?)

But, I have some issues. For example:

When CFLs first hit the scene a few years ago, I was excited about it. A new light bulb that would save energy and last much, much longer! I bought ’em, compared ’em. Now, not so excited. Incandescent bulbs created more light than the same watt CFL bulb. How much light a bulb emits is important to me. I read. A lot. And I need good light to do that until the wee hours of the morning. Why? Because I have something like 20-80 vision. Glasses help of course, but the cataracts make it more difficult. (I am having surgery to fix that little problem in a few weeks so maybe that’s not a valid argument.)

Incandescent bulbs are dirt cheap. CFLs, not so cheap. I’ve heard the arguments about how CFLs save money in the long run but I tested that when CFLs first came out, and I’m just not convinced. I am willing to concede, however, that there may have been improvements in the last 5-7 years, so maybe I need to retest. We’ll see.

Incandescent bulbs put out heat. My cats like sitting on the table with their little heads close to a warm light bulb. CFLs won’t keep their little ears toasty. And I’m pretty sure Ollie’s sinuses will stop-up permanently if he can’t melt them with heat from my reading lamp. Aside from that, if the lamps are putting out heat, then my actual heating bill should be less. Right?

I have lamps (lots of lamps, well, three) with clip-on shades. Ever tried to get one to clip onto a CFL bulb? I have. It doesn’t work.

There is movement in Congress to delay the implementation of the EISA. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Will my clip-on shades survive the light bulb debacle of 2012?

We’ll see. Or, maybe we won’t. See, I mean.

And poor Ollie.

Oh the inhumanity!

Pssst, see that pic above? The one with the two light bulbs? That big ol CFL bulb wouldn’t allow the glass cover to go back over the light fixture in my closet so I had to leave it bare-bulb just to be more “green.”

How tacky!