Sunday, January 30, 2011

Skating

For many years, I skated and taught artistic roller skating. You know, like the Olympic ice skating. I did the compulsory figures and, whenever I had a partner, dance. Never did better than regional championships, but I enjoyed it.

So, of course, over the years I watched ice skating regularly, attending all the local ice shows and goading the stars into doing their more difficult jumps, judging competitions from the comfort of my couch, and so on.

Then everywhere you turned, there was some kind of ice skating competition on tv. Fakey professional competitions. Nationals. Worlds. More fakey pro/am competitions. Overkill!

At that point, I quit watching anything more than an occasional glimpse of a competition here and there. Over the years what I saw was mostly average with little spark or excitement.

I did notice a couple of things. Ice dancing was rapidly becoming pairs skating with slightly lower lifts and men's singles had become a race to see who could do the most sloppy quads. Nope! Not for me!

This weekend the boredom factor around here was so high that I paused for longer than a few seconds on the televised National Ice Skating competition. And I was just in time for the inane spotlight pieces where each competitor rambles on in front of a camera for 2-3 minutes. YUCK!

Then the routines began. Ladies short program. Not bad, at least not the competitors I saw.

Next there was a special piece on the people who stand behind the JUDGES and tell them what each of the program elements are and whether they were completed correctly.

HUH?!?!?!

There's this part of me that understands the desire for a bit of objectivity in a sport that is largely subjective. But really? Shouldn't the judges KNOW what the competitors are doing and whether they've done it well or not?

I almost fled the scene in horror.

Remember me commenting on the boredom factor at my house yesterday afternoon?

Yep. Stayed around a bit longer. Just in time to see what they've done to ice dancing. Adding freestyle to the compulsory dances? Twizzles? SPINS??? GAH!!!

I think I'm declaring a permanent moratorium on watching ice skating.

(Probably not. I suspect there'll come a day when the boredom factor around here hits double digits again and I'll get suckered once again.)

But I sure do miss the good old days of ice skating!

You know, I'm really not completely averse to change and progress. But this doesn't feel like progress at all. *sigh*

(And, yes, I'm allowed to be contrary. Lifts on Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance are just fine. Just leave the pairs skating out of ice dance, thank you very much!)

Friday, January 28, 2011

Weirdness

Well, at least a little bit of weirdness.

The past three Fridays I've gone out to the mailbox at the usual time, lifted the lid, swished my hand around inside (it's too high for me to just look), and come out with ... nothing! Just to be sure, I've gone back and checked later, closer to sunset and ... nothing! (Well, not today on the sunset thing. It's still lunchtime.)

Has someone declared a Friday mail moratorium? I'd think that'd be a dumb day for a moratorium. Saturday makes more sense than Friday. At least, then, there'd be a whole lot of businesses closed and not awaiting mail.

Maybe someone's just trying to drive ME crazy by not delivering mail on Friday. I know I haven't dropped completely off the map, because I've continued to get mail on other days, usually.

Weirdness.

Now yesterday's mail came with some treasure. In God's unending comedy, I won a "date night". Yes, happily single, solo me won a date night. Pretty nice shekels for it too. So, I'm planning to take me and myself for a spa day/overnight somewhere. Not sure where yet, but I've some research to do.

Weirdness.

It's also shorts weather today. All right! I'll admit that far Southeast Texas doesn't tend to get particularly cold during the winter months. But shorts?! I'd turn on the a/c, but I'm not especially uncomfortable and don't want to waste the energy.

Weirdness.

All in all, I'm feeling just a bit off-kilter. Nothing radical. Just not quite normal, if that makes any sense at all. I'm ready to move, take on new tasks, meet new people, get things going again. And, yet, I feel "flat", not three-dimensional in an emotional sense. I'm looking forward to the day when I figure out where God's calling me to be and start the new work ahead of me.

Then, maybe in the midst of the weirdness to come, I won't feel so weird!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Hate When That Happens

This morning, as I was slowly returning to consciousness, I had a really nice little blog post plotted in my brain. Then the brain got distracted by other thoughts. Now I can't for the life of me remember what I was going to post.

Hate when that happens!

Wonder if going back to bed would help any.

Nah! Probably not, but it's worth a try. See ya later!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Greedy Banks

In today's mail, I got a letter notifying me that, starting next month, my free checking account will now have a $9/mo fee attached to it, unless I have a direct deposit of $300/mo or more or maintain a $1500 average balance each month.

So I jumped online to see what else is out there. The best rate I could find was $5/mo, free with direct deposit or that pesky $1500/mo. Other banks are tying their free accounts to a certain number of debit card purchases per month. Sorry, but the Luddite in me comes out big time with debit cards. They don't have the protections built into them yet to encourage me to risk my limited funds.

Now, if you have plenty of buckos to leave laying around a bank, there's no fee involved. Banks stumble over each other with offers of this, that, and the other.

Yet those whose financial situations are already precarious must now scrape up additional income to maintain some security in dealing with their money.

Changing banks may not be an option, either. If your credit rating isn't pristine, banks may refuse to open a new account for you. Doesn't matter if your financial situation may be the result of the sagging economy and persistent unemployment levels.

And what if your employer doesn't do direct deposit? That will likely be the case once I receive a call to a new church. How many of those on the fringe financially are able to maintain a $1500 average balance?

Banks received a major boost on the backs of all Americans with the TARP supports. Now they're climbing once again on the backs of those least able to afford it through increasing use of fees.

*sigh* Yes, I understand that banks are businesses. Doesn't ease the frustration involved in trying to make ends meet and survive with limited income, nor eliminate the sense that the people with most of the money in the first place are trying to gather even more onto their already full plates.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Is It Just Me?

I've had my house on the market for a year now with nothing more than quick nibbles. The most frequent reason the potential buyers tend to say no? They want wood floors, not carpet.

Excuse me! I didn't particularly like the carpet or the wall colors the house had when I bought it, but that didn't stop me from buying the house. I liked the floor plan and the neighborhood and the price. I figured that if I didn't like something about the decor I could change it. And that's exactly what I did when I had the chance!

Now, I'm looking at renting the house. A property management person just came through and gave me an estimate for what I might be able to get. You know what she said would cause problems with renting the house? You've got it! The color of the carpet!!

Excuse me! You're RENTING! What difference does it make what color the carpets are (or the apparent age of the kitchen cabinets, for that matter)? Does the floorplan work for you? Is the property in good shape? Is the house in a good neighborhood? Are you getting good value for the rent you're paying?

GAH!!

Is it just me? Or are people becoming more irrational about wanting others to fix things to their liking before they're willing to even consider making a move? It just doesn't make sense.