Bibliophile Bungling

Our book club met here yesterday for our monthly meeting. We had chosen a great read, The Wedding Officer, and because the setting of the novel was Italy we had a luncheon with a Neopolitan theme, soup, pasta, savory crusty bread, salad, even Tiramisu for dessert! All washed down with a Da Vinci wine (no kidding!). So the gastronomic part of our meeting was perfect and fun.

Here's the rub. We didn't discuss the book very much. That has been happening with our meetings and is especially true when we all enjoyed the book. But it should be the main focus of our get togethers. How do we get back on track? Point of view, character development, plot and setting . . . that's what I'm talkin' about! That's why I joined the club, to stretch myself literaryily (is that a word?) . . . so how do we get this book club back on track? Subtly. Any ideas?

Utah

We returned from Utah earlier this week. It was a great visit and I'd like to tell you all about it, but Betty did such a great job doing that on her blog already that I'd just like to be lazy and send you over there. Besides, she's got photos! (So until she reads this and helps me out, you'll just have to wait.) If you really want to see it, read the comment posted below :-)

Widget Woes

Have you ever dealt with a government bureaucracy? I mean without pulling your hair out, gnashing your teeth, and finally wanting to take someone's life, maybe even your own!! Just kidding . . . but it can be a real ordeal, can't it?!

I've just gone through this concerning a particular Widget that I was told could be funded by Uncle Sam because it was an important part of a particular program, (mainly because I said it was). So far, so good. I found a way to purchase these Widgets through a friend because her organization wanted the same Widgets and we placed an order together. Now mind you, I'm not selling these Widgets for profit or anything like that, they are given away as instructional materials. Because of the size of our order we were able to get a substantial discount, so of course we were all over saving the government money, right?

The trouble began when going with my Widgets back to the government office to get reimbursed with a receipt that says it was so many dollars, I'm told, oops, you didn't get that through a government approved vendor. (I actually got them directly from the author.) It is indeed the very Widget that we need, at a very good price, so common sense tells me that this a good thing.

Common sense is often nowhere to be found in government offices . . .

A Nine Point Landing

While visiting Betty and her husband we went skiing. It's been a number of years since the Cleaver clan has been skiing, so naturally I was a bit apprehensive. After a few snow plows and a bit of shushing there was nothing to do but get on that lift and go for it. Betty and her husband were the first ones up, followed by the Beave and Wally with Ward and I bringing up the rear. It was a gorgeous sunny, snowy day and a long lift ride. Nearing the top I begin to fiddle with my poles and soon we're at the drop off point . . . only I'm still fiddling with my poles. You really don't get a sense of panic at this point because the lift ride is really very slow moving . . . but you still need to make your exit! Ward has glided off and I'm still fiddling with my poles and I look up to note, uh oh, I'm on my way back . . . so I make a hasty decision to jump!

Oh yeah, so this is what it feels like to be an Olympic ski jumper!! Well, not really, but I ace the landing (meaning I don't fall and wipe out) and nobody from my party even notices, which would have saved me a lot of embarrassment . . . if only the guy operating the ski lift hadn't stuck his head out of the shack and yelled, "Great landing, I give you a nine point o!" Ha, that should have been at least a 9.6 (hey I so STUCK that landing)!

Who Raised These Guys?

Thoughtfulness does not come naturally, I think. Hopefully you are taught these things growing up. And to prove my point I'm going to tell you about my two adult children who did some very thoughtful things recently.

Betty not only planned out in great detail an itinerary that was very interesting for our visit to Utah, but also provided meals for us, which included packing lunches for our many outings and making dinners as well. Wow! In fairness, I'll have to give some credit to Betty's husband (and by extension to his parents) as he was in on the planning as well. Think about what this entailed. Okay, so you're thinking figuring out a schedule that involves six people (besides yourself) getting up, getting showers, breakfast and on the road is easy? Ha! Let's not even get into the different personalities and circadian rhythms and ideas of what we should do when and what articles of clothing are appropriate for the current weather conditions. Whew! They handled all of these variables with aplomb and (mostly) patience. Thanks guys!!

Then, Wally got a chance to demonstrate what mercy really is. He came through for his little bro. The Beave, being the careless guy that a typical 14 year old can be, first dropped his ski gloves while riding up the chair lift. Then, as if that really hadn't given him an idea that you really need to hang onto items securely while going up the lift, on the next trip up , he managed to lose a pole. Wally was kind enough to go back and retrieve both of these items, and what really demonstrates his thoughtfulness is that he did not rub it in or berate his little brother. That is grace. I figure Wally will probably hold onto this incident for future use!

But as you can tell by the title of this post, I'm actually giving the Ward and myself at least some of the credit for everything I've written about because, hey, we raised these guys.

Air Travel Blues

While traveling recently I failed the gate inspection! I forgot just about everything. When looking through my "suspicious" handbag the TSA found three unsecured lip glosses. I was told that I could either trash them, or go back and bag them at the initial entry point to security with a 3 x 5 plastic bag provided by security. Have you purchased lip glosses lately?! So I said no problem, the line wasn't long, so I'll just go back through. That was my first mistake. I handed my carry on to the COL and walked with my handbag back to the POE (that's TSA for port of entry) and was going to proceed through again when I realized after frantically searching that I no longer had possession of my wallet and therefore none of my ID cards! Whoa! I'm trying to maintain my composure as I call the COL on the cell phone. No answer. Ditto with the Beave! AAAGGH! I'm getting flustered (that's a southern term for really aggravated)and the guard is eyeing me with suspicion . . . they won't let me page the COL for whatever reason . . . they finally decide (because the one guard remembers me from not five minutes before with my military ID) to process me through as an S3. I can only assume that must mean a "highly suspicious flustered anglo SAHM" and I get the FULL inspection treatment with the air puff booth and everything. AARGH!

Cell Phone Billing

I just received my cell phone bill for the month and if I wasn't confused before I sure am now. The only reason I noticed was that it was just a little bit higher than normal, and I knew that my company had been sending notices out that they were changing billing but getaloadathis! I'm being taxed from three different states, two of which I'm not living in nor do we have a cell phone number in . . . I realize it can be confusing when you have a family plan and we are military so we move a lot, but here are some of the charges:

Kansas State-Univ Assessment (huh?!)
Washington State-B&O Fee (again, huh?!)
DuPont (WA) City-Utility Users Surcharge (double, huh?!)
Kansas State-911 Surcharge and Taxes (I'm also being charged these for Kentucky and WA)
DuPont (WA) City-Sales Tax
Leavenworth City-Sales Tax

There are a myriad of other charges that appear to be associated with Kentucky, and as I'm living in Kentucky I'm OK with that (I guess) . . .

The company has broken down these charges into two groups, one stating the following: surcharges are not taxes or amounts we are required to collect from you by law. My understanding is that these are entirely arbitrarily set by the company. Hmmm, does that mean my base rate is not enough for them?

Then let's move on to the fees and taxes they are required to collect from customers on behalf of the government. Why are they collecting for states that I no longer live in and have no originating cell phone number in?!

It seems right and proper for me to pay taxes only in the state I reside in. Am I wrong?! Maybe a "to-go" phone is the way to go.