auntiec.wordpress.com

For those of you who are reading this and who know me, you already know my not-so-secret secret. I’m, um…well, I’m a pack-rat.  

The stuff I save is stupid.  Most of it is paper.  But I do have twelve pairs of shoes under my desk.  I’ve seen Dr. Phil and various TLC shows handle this sort of mess.  My home and my office (and my car, actually) are full of stuff.  My apartment is much better than it was – it is so small that I HAVE to keep up with the cleaning or I’ll hurt myself.  It is overwhealming.

The only way I’ve ever found to successfully remedy this situation is to move.  Fortunately, my office is being re-arranged and I’ve been forced to pack everything up and get it ready to move next Tuesday.  I’m thrilled.  Not only do I rate a window this time, I’m also purging paper and unwanted stuff like there is no tomorrow. 

As I gaze around my current office, I am looking at a monster sized recycling bin (chest high for me), two other bins about the same size that are meant for the shredder, and two practically empty filing cabinets and a shelf.  How can all of that stuff come from that little bit of space? 

Happy cleaning,

C

CFB PETAWAWA, ONT. — Wives, husbands, parents and children at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa will say farewell to about 120 soldiers headed for Afghanistan’s front lines today, knowing more than ever that some may not come home alive.

In light of the increasing casualties, and at the request of the families, the base commander decided not to allow news media to capture what will certainly be tearful goodbyes as the soldiers board a bus this morning for CFB Trenton, where they will fly out this afternoon to Afghanistan.

Instead, journalists were invited to meet with soldiers yesterday as they packed their bags and received last-minute necessities such as passports and $200 in U.S. currency. The troops, mostly wearing shorts, T-shirts and sandals, were generally relaxed and upbeat, despite the sombre news of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.  >> Full Story globeandmail.com : Once more, into the breach for Canadians

My cousin is being deployed to Afghanistan today.  One of the major news stations was at his base and I actually saw him on the news last night. 

Come home safely.

Did anyone else get caught in that monster storm that hit Ontario yesterday?  It hit here (I’m in Ottawa) sometime after 8:30PM last night.  Hope everyone is well.

My power went out after I got home (very dramatically too – I saw the streak of lightening hit and KABOOM) and I got to practice my power outage skills that haven’t had any use in a long time.  It was kind of fun. Fortunately, it was only out for a few hours.

Funny thing 1 - I didn’t have matches handy – I found the matches after the power came back on, but I did have a lighter by the tub. 

Funny thing 2 - As soon as the power went out, I ran around filling buckets (water to wash with, water to flush toilets with…).  When I got to work this morning, my co-workers laughed at me …Don’t you know that city water has constant pressure due to the water towers?  (No, I didn’t!) 

Hope everyone has power by now.  Fortunately the heat is lessened. 

C

Rant Warning – this is mostly for my benefit though so I’ll write it anyway.

So my Condo corporation changed management companies as of August 1 and it turns out that the old management company forgot to cancel about 80 direct deposit payments for condo fees.

The result of this is that I’ve been charged my condo fee TWICE this month.  Since I get paid tomorrow, I only had a $50 buffer in the account and am therefore in overdraft by $94. 

I just got a call from the new Manager telling me that it is the other people’s fault and that the new people have yelled at the old people on our behalf and that it should be fixed by the end of day today. 

Hopefully all will be well but that was an unhappy surprise this morning.  Next will be billing the old company for the overdraft fees.