I swear officer...it WAS a China Cabinet that beat me up.
Mood:  irritated
Last night I decided I wanted to put my new china cabinet together. My friend Andy offered to help me and told me he would meet me at the house around 6. I rushed over to the house after work and unloaded some stuff from my car. I looked at the clock...6:15...no Andy. I called his cell phone and there was no answer. I decided to go ahead and start, figuring he would be along any minute.

At one point in the assembly you have to place the hutch on the base. This requires 2 people because it weighs a ton. I looked at the clock...7:32 and still no sign of Andy. I called him again and still there was no answer. I don't know where the strength came from. Must have been the anger of being stood up coming through. I picked up the hutch and placed it on the base and managed to balance it with one hand till I was able to get everything lined up in the right holes.

Now it was time to attach the doors. Of course the cabinet is standing upright now and there is nothing to rest the doors on while you attach the hinges. So here I am with my knee up in the air, trying to balance the door while trying to hold on to the hinge with one hand and a screw and screw driver in the other. I almost had everything lined up when the doorbell rang. I yelled for the person to come in. It was Andy. He comes over and I know he sees me struggling with the door but does he offer to lend me a hand...no he just goes into this story about how he and his boyfriend got into a huge argument and that is why he didn't come earlier.

I finally managed to get one screw in after about 15 minutes of struggle and Andy just watching from behind. As I started to put the other screws in Andy asked me if I had eaten. I said no in a very angry tone. Thinking to myself, "I have been here putting this thing together all night by myself. When the hell did I have time to grab something to eat?" He says, "Well it looks like you have this under control. I better go grab something to eat and get home and see if I can mend things with Richard." As he started to walk away I just looked shocked and said, "Are you f***in' kidding me?" He turns to look at me with a vacant expression on his face. I proceeded..."You call me and tell me you want to help me put this thing together. I waited for you and you didn't show up. You finally show up 2 hours later and stand there watching me as I struggle to put on the doors and never once offer to help. You then ask me if I have eaten and I say no and then you decided to leave. What did you expect me to say? No I haven't eaten...let me drop this f***in' door and make you a sandwich. The least you could have done after standing me up was offer to run out and get me something to eat. You ALWAYS manage to disappear when there is manual work to be done. I seem to recall that Tanya and I had to put your entertainment center together because you got a call on your cell phone and walked out." I don't think he expected me to react like that because he just stood there starting at me. He then asks if I wanted him to run and get me something to eat. I said not right now I am too angry to eat anything. He decides to leave as I continue to try to attach the doors. Finally at 10:30 I put on the last door knob and the project was complete. It really looks nice and I am very happy with it. I am completely covered in scratches and bruises and my back is KILLING me but I managed to do it all by myself. I know that Lennie will be upset that I didn't call him to help but I honestly thought Andy would follow through. I should have known better.

This morning I got an email from Andy apologizing for last night but I am still too upset to accept it.

Tonight the plan is to pack up the kitchen and bathrooms. I am slowly running out of time. I still need to by a grill and put it together. *sigh* I will be so glad with this whole move is over.

I have about 8 boxes of stuff at my apartment waiting for the Vietnam Veterans of America to come and pick it up. I hope the guy doesn't have issues walking up the steps. I don't know what I will do with all that crap he they don't show. Keep your fingers crossed.

Pig Pickin', Renaissance,Faire and Charity Donations
Mood:  lazy
Friday night Lennie and I met up at Duffy's Tavern for a beer. I used to visit Duffy's a lot when I first moved here. They have great salads. Anyway...I kind of wanted to talk to Lennie about what I was feeling lately. When he was gone for his 2 week military training I had time to think about the relationship and where I thought it was headed. When it comes to men I tend to be stand-offish because I have a fear I will care too much and then end up getting my heart stomped on. Let's face it...I haven't had great men in my life. Just look at my Dad. Anyway...A guy once told me that I was the most unfeeling person he had ever met. Not wanting to push Lennie away I decided to relax a bit and let my guard down. Well I found that with letting one's guard down...the paranoia seems to increase. It isn't that "He hasn't called me in two days he must be sleeping with someone else." kind of paranoia. It is more the "he says he loves me but does he really? Is he just settling till something better comes along?" kind. As luck would have it...Lennie had some of the same concerns. After each of us reassured the other that we had no intentions of messing this relationship up, I was able to relax a bit more. The one thing I really love about Lennie is that he isn't afraid to talk about the relationship and to let me know what is bothering him.

Saturday morning I got up and went into to work at the pub. We were DEAD. I think he had a total of 25 people in for lunch. At 4PM I clocked out, picked up Lennie and drove up to Kerr Lake for a Pig Pickin' to celebrate my friend Josh buying his first home. He has always been supportive of me so I wanted to return the favor. We didn't get up there till about 7PM. I was praying that there would be pig left because I was starving. I had made my famous Red, White, and Blueberry pie and Lennie thought we should leave it in the car till we found out if they had saved us some food. I really thought Lennie wasn't going to hand the pie over when we got there. As luck would have it there was a ton of pig left and I scarfed down two helpings and then headed for a piece of my pie. It got rave reviews as always and I was surprised there were two pieces left when we got ready to leave. I think it helped that shortly after we got there everyone else left. LOL Maybe we smelled. Oh well more food for us. We headed back to Raleigh about 8:30 and on the way home I looked over and Lennie was licking the pie plate and server. LOL I guess that means he liked it. His birthday is coming up this Sunday. Maybe I will make him a pie.

Sunday I was suppose to go to the Renaissance Faire in Raleigh. It was the last weekend and I was so looking forward to donning my dress and eating some great food. When I got up the rain was just coming down. I turned on the TV and there were tornado warnings in effect till 3pm. *sigh* I called Marie and decided it was just too crappy to go. There were points in the day when the sun came out and I thought "man I should have gone!" But then the sky would turn dark and the rain would start and would just confirm my decision to stay home. I had called a Vietnam Vet group and they were willing to pick up my donations of crap but I had to have it together by Tuesday so I spent the day going through my closets. I have 8 boxes of stuff to go to charity and I think I made 10 trips to the dumpster. Oh and Anne....last call on the lamp. You better claim it now or it is going off to a new home.

Later that night Lennie came over and we headed down to Napper Tandy's (Irish Pub). I used to go here a lot before I started working at Tir Na Nog. I need to start going more often. It is a pleasant pub and they have fans going so you don't end up smelling like smoke. Something is wrong with the fans at Tir Na Nog. Even on days when there is no one smoking I come out smelling like smoke. We have even had a few customer complaints about it. They defiantly need to do something about it.

Well the big move is still planned for Saturday. I have so much to do. Tonight I hope to put my china cabinet together. We will see how that goes. LOL At least I don't have to measure anything.

I should not be allowed to go to Lowes unsupervised
Mood:  hungry
Okay so this is a follow up to yesterday's entry. Sorry if there was some confusion while reading the entry. When I ran spell check it somehow deleted a whole sentence. I fixed it so now it should make more sense. LOL

Anyway...I took the blinds back to Lowes last night so that I could exchange them for 35" ones. Now remember that I need 35" inch blinds.

I get to the customer service counter and the woman, looking less than enthused, proceeded to try to help me.

CS: Can I help you?
ME: Yes I purchased these blinds yesterday and they are too small. I just need to exchange them for a larger size.
CS: What do you mean they are too small?
ME: They don't fit the windows. These are 34" and I need to get 35" instead.
CS: Did you measure your windows first before you bought them?
ME: Yes....sort of.
CS: Sort of?
ME: I measured the existing blinds instead of the window casing. Lesson learned.
CS: (Looking at me with disgust) Let me see your receipt.
ME: (hand her my receipt) Here you go!
CS: What is this?
ME: My receipt!
CS: This is an internet order.
ME: Yes I ordered them online to pick up here in the store.
CS: *sigh* Well this isn't a store receipt. The only thing I can do is issue you a store credit.
ME: Fine...whatever...just as long as I can get the size blinds I need.

She issues me a store credit which was put onto a gift card so I could go and get my blinds and pay for them at another register.

I head over to the blind isle and noticed there was a woman standing there looking at blinds as well. Fearing that she may take all the blinds in the size I needed, I rushed over and spotted 36" X 64". I grabbed 8 and threw them in my cart. Luckily the woman was looking for 31".

I then proceeded to the checkout lane and handed the woman my gift card. They were the same price as the original blinds I got so I was able to check out quickly.

I arrived at my car and started to put the blinds in the back. As I was unloading them from the cart I looked again at the dimensions. DAMN IT!!!! I need 35" not 36". *UGH!!!* So I loaded them back up in my cart and ran back inside the store.

I arrived back at the customer service desk.

CS: (looking at me with mixture of confusion and disgust) What can I help you with now?
ME: I did it again.
DS: Did what again?
ME: Bought the wrong size.
CS: *sigh* Receipt?
ME: (hand her my receipt) I really shouldn't be allowed in hardware stores unsupervised.
CS: I would tend to agree. (Disgusted look)
ME: Would you like me to return those blinds to the isle for you?
CS: Yes and this time make sure you get the right size? Would you like for me to send someone with you?
ME: No I doubt I will make the mistake a 3rd time. If I do then it is the universe telling me I don't need new blinds.

I smiled and headed back to the isle of blinds. I put the 36" back and got the 35". I triple checked each box.

As I headed out of the store I waved to the CS lady. She has no idea she will be seeing a lot of me. *giggle*

I managed to put up 4 of the 8 blinds last night and they fit nicely. Yay me!

Who the hell gave Becky the tape measurer?!?
Mood:  mischievious
Okay so the other night I measured all the blinds in the new house. They all...for the most...part were about 34.5 inches. So I went to Lowes and search their selection of blinds. I found a set for $3.96 and they were in white. PERFECT!!! I looked at the sizes. They had a 34 inch and a 35 inch. Seeing as the blinds were 34.5, I thought I should go smaller not larger so I bought the 34's. I got to the house and went to put one up and it was about an inch too short. WTF? What the hell happened? Well what happen is I measured the blinds not the window casing. The window casings is 35 inches. *ugh* So now I have to trot back to Lowes to exchange all 8 sets for the 35's.

I have repeatedly told people I can not measure. It is a disorder I have. I can't explain it. I am almost alway off on my measurements. It is a good thing I am not a carpenter because nothing I build would be structurally sound. LOL

Lennie came over last night to install the new outlet in the laundry room. I tried to pay attention but I think I was just getting in the way and making him nervous. Since the rest of my bed arrived yesterday I decided to put that together instead. It was fairly easy to assemble as long as you didn't try to follow the instructions. I had directions like..."turn cross support beam up and insert rivet A into slot A and then rotate so that rivet B will fit into slot B. See picture for details" Nothing was labeled slot a or b and there were no pictures of anything rotating. So I just played around with it until I figured it out.

Tonight I will hopefully be putting up news blinds. Wish me luck!

Dude!!! Where's my bed!!!!!!
Mood:  lazy
Friday evening after work I loaded up the car with stuff and drove over to the new house. My new bed and Merlin!|s new cage were scheduled to be delivered that day so I was anxious to get them inside and put them together. When I got to the house the only thing sitting on the porch was the bird cage. I unloaded the car and started to put together the cage. The instructions were HORRIBLE!!!! I was lucky that I managed to figure it out. I have one little thing to fix but that isn!|t a big deal. When I started cleaning up, UPS arrived with half of the bed. Only the rails. I told the guy there should be another package. He checked his truck and said there wasn!|t anything else. So I have the rails but no headboard or footboard. I called Overstock and talked to Armond. After about an hour all he basically told me to do was to wait a few more days and see if they arrived. I told him the box was marked 1 of 1 not 1 of 2. He just said to call back in a couple of days. *sigh* I just love customer service.

Saturday morning I got up and went in to work at the pub. As I was setting up the tables and chairs in walked this guy who I thought looked just like Lennie. He started walking towards me with this HUGE smile on his face and I realized IT WAS LENNIE!!!! He wasn!|t suppose to be back till Sunday so what was he doing here? Not that I was complaining. He gave me a huge hug and kiss which seemed to anger bartender Chris because he seemed mad at me all day. But then again he always seems mad at me. *shrug* Lennie told me how they had driven back Friday night and when he got to Norfolk he couldn!|t stand it anymore and rented a car to drive all night back to Raleigh. After work I met him over at the new house to give him a tour. He then handed me my housewarming gift. A tool belt, a home improvement book, and a Lowe!|s gift card. Apparently I am supposed to wear the tool belt and nothing else. *giggle* I am so glad to have him home.

Sunday morning I got up and took Lennie home before heading down to the pub to work. We were busy but not as bad as everyone thought it would be. Lennie came into eat at one point but I was too busy to talk much to him. He left at some point without saying good bye. We had planned on getting together after I finished work so that we could install an outlet at the new house. When I got home I decided I wanted to take a break from the house so that I could spend time with Lennie. When I called him I told him that we could wait to do the electrical work till later this week. He informed me that he still had a lot to do at his house and that if he got done he would call me and we could do dinner. From the tone in his voice I just knew that I wouldn!|t see him at all. I was a little upset and disappointed but then I realized that he had been away for two weeks and needed to get settled in and get his stuff back in order. It is tough for me some times because I can be very selfish and self centered so it is easy for me to get hurt when someone tells me that they don!|t want to spend time with me. But I think the fact that I was upset and not relieved that he cancelled shows me just how much a care about him.

Tonight I am taking over yet another load of crap to the house. I have also ordered new blinds that I will need to pick up as well as a lock set from Lowes. It is amazing how every time I go into the house I see things I want to improve. I just need the money to do them. One thing I really need it s cordless drill/screwdriver. I have dropped a few hints to a couple of people so I am hoping I will get one for a housewarming present. ƒ?

Well I guess I should end it here. I am loaded up on NC BBQ and fried chicken so all I want to do right now is take a nap. Only 2.5 hours to go.

Burn it all down to the ground
Mood:  lazy
Some of you have asked me questions about what exactly is a prescribed burn and why do we do it. Well a prescribed burn is a forest fire started on purpose. We do these burns to cut back on fuel content on the ground as well as improve the forest stand for wildlife by clearing out the briars and getting rid of exotic plants. It can be fun but most often it is a lot of work. By the end of the day you smell like a camp fire and can barely keep your eyes open.

On the last fire we did at Jordan someone had a camera so I thought I would use the photos to walk you through a burn.

Early in the morning we check the fire lines that were prepared ahead of time and clear off any debris that might have fallen. Then the group is formed and we discuss the burn we are about to do and discuss safety which is very important.

Here we all are going over how to run the pumper in case the fire was to get out of control. That is me on the left with the light blue bandana.

Next the drip torches are filled.

Then we light a test fire. This is very important. There are certain burn criteria that we must meet before we can get clearance to burn. Two of those criteria are the direction the fire will run and where will the smoke go.

On the day of the burn the winds were suppose to blow southwest but it often changed when the wind sometimes came up off the lake. The goal was to send the smoke out across to lake to keep it off of roads and away from homes.

Once the test fire is lit it is now time to start the burn and a strip line is started.

The person running the line walks into the woods and tries to walk a straight line until he comes out the other side. After the first person enters the woods a second person waits about 15 minutes or so and then starts another line about 30 ft up from the last line until the area is done.

If the conditions are right the fire should take hold and run quickly. I didn't run line on this fire. My job was to make sure the fire stayed within the fire line.

The tool in my hand is called a flapper. It has a large rubber mat on the end which is use to suffocate the fire. It is used for grassy areas. In the wooded areas we used a tool called a rake. It isn't like the leaf rake you have at home it actually has 4 large sharp teeth on it. It is designed to you can rake dirt over the fire or chop up roots and small limbs to move them out of the way.

Close up of the Flapper

The Rake

It tends to get a bit smoky at times.

Sometimes it can total cover the road which can be bad for drivers. Luckily this isn't a heavily travel road.

Once the fire lines have been run then we patrol the fire lines and look for trees that can possibly fall on the line and spread the fire outside the contained area. If such trees are found then they are cut down. We also check to make sure no vegetation is burring close to the line. Wind can pick up and carry hot ash across the line and start a fire on the other side. This part of the fire process is called mop up work.

Once the mop up is complete you return to the staging area to wait for the burn boss to release you. You then put away your tools and go home.

You shouldn't have.....No I mean it....You shouldn't have
Mood:  lazy
The other day I came home to a Fedex notice on my door stating I had a package at the office. I was a bit confused because I wasn't expecting anything.

I drove up to the office and sure enough there was a large package waiting for me. I looked at the return address and noticed it was from my Aunt Dorothy (Dad's sister). What on earth was she sending me?

When I got back to the apt I grabbed a knife and cut into the box. On top was a card that stated that this was a house warming gift. That it was something my Mother's Mother had painted. I dug through the packing peanuts and this is what I pulled out.

WFT!!! Have you ever seen anything so hideous in your life? What the hell and I suppose to do with it? It matches NOTHING in my apt or my future home for that matter. Even if I were to do a nautical themed room I doubt I would even have the nerve to display it. I think my Aunt, like my dad, has completely lost her mind.

Now how do I get rid of it? My first thought is to put it up on Craig's List to see if anyone would actually give me money for it. Then I thought I would just give it to Goodwill. I remembered this lamp from somewhere. Then it dawned on me that my sister had the exact same lamp in her room when we were growing up. That's it!!! I will box it up and send it to Anne! :)

Some of you have asked me what you can get me for a house warming gift. Well let this lamp be a guide for what not to get me. LOL All kidding aside. You don't have to get me anything, but it you feel you must...giftcards to Lowe's, Home Depot, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target and Walmsrt are excellent.

I made my first home repair yesterday and I am so proud of myself. The previous owners had put those tacky toilet seat covers on both toilets. Well at some point they had gotten wet and had bled and stained the toilet seats. So I had one hot pink and one teal toilet seat. I tried everything and could not get the stains out. So I ran to Lowe's buy new seats. I didn't realize there were so many different kinds. Rounds ones...oval ones...ones with metal hinges...ones with plastic hinges. Luckily I picked the right one. I was surprised how easy it was to put new seats on. I did it all on my own without help from anyone. *cheer* Now I just have to figure out how to light the pilot light on my hot water heater and I will be set.

I'm a homeowner!!!
Mood:  happy
At 1:00pm on Friday March 30th I closed on my very first house. I guess I am an adult now.
The closing only took about 30 minutes. I had already signed my mortgage papers about a month ago so there were just a few final papers to deal with. I thought I was going to have to pay about $800 at closing but it turned out that I didn't need any money. They actually gave me money back. Don't get too excited it was only $49. The Seller was suppose to show up with the keys but he never came. So I had to drive over to the house and try to get the lock box open to get the keys. After about 20 minutes and 2 phone calls to my agent I got the door unlocked. I then went inside with my steam cleaner in hand so that I could clean all the carpets. I turned on the sink...no water. *sigh* I called the water company and they said they can't get it turned on till Monday. Having to return the cleaner Saturday afternoon, I decided to buy jugs of water and boil it on the stove. I went back to my apt and grabbed a large pot and went back over to the house. I sat the pot on the stove and went to turn on the burner when I noticed the stove wasn't working. I pulled it out to make sure it was plugged in.yep! Then I went and checked the breakers. They all appeared okay. I called my agent again who then contacted the seller's agent. He was apparently on his way to my place to pick up his lock box and sign. He came in and looked at the stove and then called a friend of his who is an electron. Apparently there is a 2nd breaker box I didn't know about and sure enough the owners had turned off the AC and the stove. *sigh* Well now everything is working. I spent all afternoon cleaning the carpets. There are some stains I wasn't able to get up. I really should replace it but I just can't afford $1000 for new carpet. Put that on my to-do list.
Saturday morning I got back up and went over to the house to clean the kitchen, windows, bathrooms, and floors. I got most of it done except the floors and outside windows. I will try to get that done Sunday evening.
The buyer's remorse set in last night but after getting all that cleaner done and spending all that time in the house I am starting to feel like it was a good decision.
For those of you who live in Raleigh...On April 21st (that's a Sat.) if you are bored out of your mind...I could use some able bodies to help move some furniture. There isn't a lot. My hope is that I can get a good number of people together so that we will only have to carry one or two things. Then afterwards I am going to cook hamburgers and hotdog on my new grill. Oh yeah there will be beer too. :)

Check out a slidehow of the new house.

Do you think people will know who we are
Mood:  mischievious
Our new tent arrived today. You know the one I said I wasn't going to buy. Well they found a use for the old tent so I decided to go ahead and buy the new one. It arrived today and we put it up. I am worried that people wont know who we work for. What do you all think?

Bad Checks, Bachelorettes, and Email Hackers
Mood:  hungry
I know what a title huh? Guess you can tell I had an exciting weekend. Let's start with the bad checks...

As most of you read on Friday that the check my Dad sent for my house closing bounced. When I got home from work that night the following message was on my machine. The word in Italics is what was running through my mind as I listen to the machine.

"Hey Becky...it’s your Dad. Yeah I got that...recognized your voice. You really had me going today with that check stuff. I had YOU going...pretty much ruined MY day. Well not you but your bank. That is a relief...it’s my bank's fault then? I don't know what kind of bank you took that check to. Yeah probably wasn't a good idea to switch from the Check Cashing/Bail Bonds place to the guy who sits in his Cadillac with the tinted windows in the side alley. I guess he could be a little sketchy. But they should have cashed the check. No they should have...you didn't have money in the account. It was YOUR bank who called MY bank to tell them not to cash it. My bank apparently sent me new checks back in 2004 and I didn't realize what they were for. What they are for? They are checks Dad. You use them to pay for things when you don't have cash on hand. I didn't realize that the account number was different. It is pretty much the same except the last digit. So you have been writing back checks since 2004 and no one has stopped you till now. I am pretty sure the bank sent you a letter to tell you they were changing your account. But they said your bank should have cashed that check. Anyway I have sent you a new check. Fedex'ed it overnight. Sorry about the miz up Hun but hopefully this one will work. Yeah lets hope so. Wow I just realized that in a span of 30 seconds he managed to blame 3 people and not one of those three were him. There was me, my bank, and then his bank. We are all conspiring against him. *insert evil laugh here*

I did receive the check yesterday and ran to the bank to deposit it. I just hope it will clear by Friday.

Bachelorettes:

Lennie's friend Roisin (Rosh-Sheen) is getting married next weekend. Some how I got invited to her bachelorette party. I was introduced as either Rebecca the park ranger or Rebecca, Lennie's girlfriend. We met the Hibernia to have a few drink before heading to dinner at the Red Room. Lennie walked me in so I didn't have to locate them on my own. HE then decided to stay a bit and have a drink with the girl's. He wanted to buy Roisin a drink and we made him go and ask the waitress for an Organism. LOL He was pretty embarrassed but his did it. After he finished his beer he left me alone while he went down to join the guys at Tir Na Nog. The party was being organized by this woman named Karen who is a very "I’m in control" sort of person. There were so many rules to the evening that it was hard to keep up. Roisin could only have one drink per hour. Which I thought totally defeated the purpose of the party which was to get her completely trashed and then have her do things she would do sober. No one could wear wedding rings. Apparently it scares guys off. *shrug* That wasn't a problem for me...I don't have a wedding ring. Right now those are the only two I can remember. Once we got the "Buck a Suck Lifesaver Shirt" onto the bride to be we headed over for dinner. The Red Room is a Tapas place which I have only been to once. We sit down and someone orders a pitcher of Sangria...pretty sure it was Karen. Then I looked over the menu and picked out a few items I thought sounded good. Before I knew it all this food arrived. Apparently Karen took it upon herself to order for all of us. Half the stuff wasn't appealing to me. I think I had 2 pieces of Duck, half of a half of banana, and some spinach and feta dip. I let them have all the hummus and raw fish. We then decided to head over to Bogart's for dancing and Martinis. I was STARVING at this point and thought I would just grab and appetizer over there. We got over there only to discover they had some jazz band playing and it wasn't really "dance to" music. So we headed back to the Red Room who had a DJ but there wasn't much of a dance floor. I ended up leaving around 12:30. It wasn't the wild and crazy party I had hoped for. But seeing as I didn't really know these people I behaved myself. I need to get a group of girls together one night and let loose. Anyone game?

Email Hackers:

Now if you were just skimming the rest please read this section carefully. It could save you a headache in the future.

Yesterday morning I got up completely covered in hives. I think it was all stress related seeing as I didn't eat any coconut. I decided to stay home from work and thought I could use the day to start packing for the big move. I decided to check my email to see if the seller had sent back the repair request. I logged into my yahoo account and tried to enter my password but it kept telling me that it was invalid. I must have retyped it a dozen times. I then tried to go through the Lost Password screen but it told me that the information I entered didn't match what they had on record. I then went onto Yahoo Answers and asked if anyone was having the same problem. A guy responded to me that the same thing had happened to him. He gave me a number to call and said that someone had hacked into my email account. He also said to check my Ebay account. I tried to log onto Ebay and sure enough that password wouldn't work either. I called the number the man gave me and it was for Yahoo customer service. The woman was very nice and helped me set up new passwords and protections. When I logged into my email I saw a bunch of stuff that scared me. He had read a lot of my personal emails and even started responding to one Alex sent me. He didn't get a chance to finish it so he saved it in the drafts section. I also had all these messages from Ebay Sellers in response to some emails the hacker sent them. Some of them were very nasty. So I quickly contacted the Ebay Security Folks and talked to a really sweet guy and Fabian. According to him they have had a rash of this kind of stuff lately. He said they are more than likely located in Nigeria and they were working with law enforcement and the FBI to get this resolved. Here is how the scam works. You get an email from Ebay stating that they need you to change your passwords. I did receive the email but didn't open it which seems to confuse everyone working on the case. Normally when you open the email and click on the site, you are taken to a phony Ebay site. You enter your old password and BAM they have you. They use your password to access your Ebay account and then cause havoc with it. In my case they think the message sent had spyware attached. When I would go into yahoo to enter my email login and password a "cover screen" would pop up that looked exactly like the yahoo site. But instead of https: it would read http: They would capture my email address and password and then go in and change my information and then logon to Ebay and say they lost their password so Ebay would allow them to set up a new on. Then they would go around and try to get sellers to agree to go outside of the auction on items like playstations and cell phones. They then request the seller to provide them with the seller’s paypal info. They then hack into the paypal account and reroute the money to their account somewhere in Nigeria. Here is a sample of the email sent by the person who hacked into my account.

Dear seller,
Am Thomas Marry, a Sociologist in home of art in United kingdom, I fortunately came across your Item placed on this site, with which I'm really interested in buying from you and I'm buying it for my cousin who is on vacation with his Mum, who works for the American embassy in Africa. I want to get it for him as a birthday gift, I will be paying for it via PayPal as it is faster and get approved maximum of hour. All you need to do for the payment made is just to mail me your full names and your PayPal email account where you will like to credit your money too and a valid email address for confirmation of payment. With all this once payment is made and approved. I will like it to be shipped out Via USPS Global Express 3-5 working days before the end of next week. And will make you an offer of $950 USD for the item including shipping and handling of this item. mail me back to this email address: thom_jlo_marie05@yahoo.com

I managed to get everything worked straightened out and email all the people he sent responses to. Most of them were very sorry that this happened and one said that he had fallen for a similar scam and now only accepts money orders. It is so sad that there are people out there who devise these tricks to get you to let go of your hard earned money. Ebay has a great tutorial and keeping your account safe if anyone is interested I can get the website for you.

Well the hives are mostly gone now and Friday is fast approaching. I don't know how much updating I will do between now and then so I hope everyone has a great week.

Just when I thought things were getting better....
Mood:  irritated
As most of you know I have a VERY strained relationship with my father. Until I moved here to NC I hadn't spoken to him in 7 years. Our conversations since then have been brief and usually one-sided since I really had nothing to say to him. Well one day he called me to see how things were going and I told him that I had put an offer in on a house. He asked me what he could do to help. At first I said nothing because his gifts always come with strings attached. He said it would be string free. All he hoped for was that maybe we could start to mend our relationship. So I told him that I could use about $2500 to pay for my share of closing and get out of my lease on the apt. He agreed and sent me a check.

Last week I deposited the money and everything seemed to be coming together. Well Monday I got a call from my bank stating they put a hold on the check I deposited. The bank said they had gotten a call from my Dad's bank stating that funds may not be paid. I asked what exactly that meant. She said that it was common. That he might have automatic drafts to his account and they wanted to make sure those cleared before they paid the check he gave me. She told me not to worry that everything would be fine.

Well this morning I got a call from the bank to tell me that my Dad's check had bounced. WHAT!?! She said it was returned for insufficient funds and they were charging me $5 to send his check back.

At first there was this wave of anger. Then the worry set in because I had cut back on my hours at the pub because I was counting on his check. How was I going to pay my closing costs now and how the hell am I supposed to come up with $1400 to get out of my lease? In the end all of that was replaced with sadness. I thought...or I should say hoped...that he had changed. I thought that maybe I might get my dad back. Granted we would never have a great father/daughter relationship but we could at least talk and that was something. Now it is all ruined. I am sure he will have some sort of excuse. I called him and left him a message but haven't heard anything back. I don't really expect to.

Everyone has been great. My boss sent me out to "walk it off" because I was about to cry and I knew once that started I wouldn't be able to stop. I called my mom who I think was madder at the situation than I was. She calmed me down by saying that we would get the money somehow. Even Lennie has offered to help. I know that I am surrounded by great people and I thank the powers that be everyday for that. But they shouldn't have to come to my rescue.

It has just put a damper on the day.

I'm Still Alive...Just Barely
Mood:  lazy


What a weekend! I am so glad St. Patrick's Day is over although I had it a lot better than most. I was scheduled to arrive at the pub at 9:30AM. I was expecting most of the set up to be done prior to my arrival. It wasn't. So we had to scramble to get everything set up. We were told a week prior to the event that we would have a breakfast buffet. So when people called that is what we told them. A bunch of people came in for the buffet and after I sat them I went to ask the owner where the buffet was. He informed me that we didn't have a buffet just Bangers and Mash. We had some very pissed off people. Great start tot he day.

After the Race for the Oaks ended people started to flock into the bar to start drinking and eating. I quickly ran out of tables and we went to a 2 hour wait. The bar became so packed that it was impossible to seat people so I just gave up and told everyone who was waiting, "If you see a table open up...grab it!" That pissed people off who had been waiting for a table for over an hour. Oh well. I then started to go around and pick up trash. The occupancy of the pub is 200 people we had well over 1000 people crammed in there. The original goal was to block off the street and the park. People would come in and get their beer and head back outside. Well the weather was so cold that people didn't want to stand outside. It got so bad it would take me 20 minutes to get from the front of the pub to the back and trust me...the place isn't that big. About 7 o'clock Lennie came to me and asked if I was ready to go. Those of you who know me know that I don't like crowds. I suffered two panic attacks and had to hide in the mechanical room for a few minutes until I could breathe again. I went to Annie and the owner and told them that if they didn't need me I was going to leave. I had been there all day and was tired and hungry. They weren't happy about me leaving but at that point I didn't really care. I knew that if I didn't get some sleep I wouldn't make it back to work brunch the next morning. Lennie and I headed out, caught a couple songs from The Battlefield Band and then headed to get something to eat. We stopped first at Mosaic’s which is a VERY trendy club in Raleigh. If you haven't been there before you must try it out. We had a glass of wine then headed up to the Hudson Oyster Bar which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to eat. Thanks to Dave for telling me about the place. Hopefully the next time you are in town I can come out and hear you play.

After dinner we headed back to my place and went to bed. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Then up at 7AM Sunday to head back downtown for Brunch. Lennie came with me to see if they needed help cleaning up but they didn't so he ate and left. Lucky Bastard! I however had to stay. We were busy but not as bad as I thought we would be. I felt so bad for the waitresses who had worked till 4AM and then had to come back in at 9AM. They are young though and can bounce back quicker than I can.

After getting home I made spaghetti for Lennie and me then we crashed on the couch. I feel bad that I haven't been more active when it comes to Lennie. He is leaving for two weeks to go play war games with the Marines and whenever he comes over I am exhausted.

I was suppose to burn tomorrow but looks like the wind might be too bad. I will know this afternoon if I have to drive to Jordan or not. *sigh* This is going to be a rough week.

I don't know how much posting I will get to do so I hope everyone enjoys their week.

The Eggs Have Hatched
Mood:  happy
If you have been following the Norfolk Eagle Cam you will be happy to know that all three eggs have hatched. Both adults seems to be great parents. The female is very alert and you can see her scanning the area for predators. The males has been a great provider. He has brought back 5 fish and 2 sea gulls. If you look closely at the edge of the nest you will see the carcasses. At this rate all three chicks with have a great chance for survival. If you haven't been checking out the site...have a look. As of 1:57 on Friday both eagles were on the nest.

Eagle Cam

Also there is a great picture of the chicks on the Eagle Blog

Maggie the Cat seems to always land on her feet.
Mood:  hungry
My friend Tanya likes to call me Maggie the cat. Not because I resemble Elizabeth Taylor but because I always manage to land on my feet. Maybe it is just the luck of the Irish. :)

I decided back in December that I wanted to buy and house but I knew it would be difficult to come up with the extra cash I needed for the inspection, earnest money, and appraisal fees. The nest day I get offered a part time job at Tir Na Nog. Extra cash problem solved.

I was worried that the inspection fees would be costly but I found an ad online and managed to get $15 off the inspection. Then the guy said if I wrote a reference on his site he would take and additional $10 off.

After the inspection I submitted my repair list to the sellers. A lot of it I thought would be rejected because it was all stuff I could have easily done myself. But my agent said to put it down anyway. They could always say no. Well as luck would have it, they are trying to close on a house and they can't do that until they close on this one. The husband feared if he didn't meet my demands that I would back out of the deal so he has agreed to fix everything and even fix two things I didn't mention on the repair list.

I was a little worried about the condition of the roof. I contacted the builders and they representative agreed to meet with me out at the property. He said the roof looked fine but that it had some damage done to it by what looked to be a large tree limb. The owner expressed that the limb came from the dead tress on the neighbor’s trees and they he planned to fix the roof. The builder said that after I move into the house and have a problem with the siding or the roof that we would come out and take care of it free of charge.

As I got ready to leave the house I went over to look at the large dead trees on my neighbor's lot. There are about 4 of them and they look as if they could go at any minute. I knocked on the door to see if I could talk to the owner to see if they had plans to remove the trees and express the liability I would place on them if they damaged my roof. This little Hispanic woman opens the door and true to form...doesn't speak any English. The daughter of the family who owns my house came over to translate. I found out that this woman just rents the house but I didn't have any luck getting the name of the owner. I look at the deed records for Wake County and found out that the house is owned by the City of Raleigh. I called and talked to this REALLY sweet woman who said she would check it out. This morning I got a concerned call from her. She was appalled that she didn't know of this situation and said she was starting a work order to get them removed as soon as possible. She also gave me a form to give to the current owner to be reimbursed to the repairs to my soon to be roof because the damaged was caused by their trees.

So everything seems to be falling into place. Just when I think there is a hiccup the situation turns around and usually to my benefit. The lawyer has been booked and the appraisal is about to happen. So barring a major catastrophe March 30th at 1PM I will be the proud owner of the little house on Silverdene.

St. Patrick' s Day and massages too!!!!
Mood:  happy
Are you looking for something fun to do for St. Patrick's Day? Are you tired of bars who only offer green beer and no entertainment. Well look no further!!!!!

St. Patrick's Day O'Raleigh Block Party 2007!

Hosted by Tir Na Nog and a bunch of other people.

There will be a parade starting at noon at Moore Square so get there early and reserve your spot. Then at 4pm the party doors will open for the biggest block party Raleigh will see this year.

featuring the award winning Scottish rock legend The Battlefield Band. Also playing: The Best Local Party Band EVER...The Dickens!

Free Admission before 4pm. $5 Admission for Adults after 4pm, Kids under 13 Free.

I am not sure where I will be working but I am sure if you wonder around you will see me.

Are your muscle tired and sore will Primp Salonbar (that's right it is a salon and bar combined) in Raleigh on Glenwood is offering a great deal for the month of March. 60 minute deep tissue or Swedish massage for $40. Trust me folks...That is a great deal. I pay almost $80 normally. So give them a call an book your appointment.

Primp Salonbar
401 N. West Street
Raleigh, NC 2760
(919) 821-9885

Okay now that I got all the advertisements out of the way.....

The weekend weather was gorgeous! I managed to get some hiking time in between my shifts at the pub. As you read above we are gearing up for St. Patrick's day which should be huge. Looking forward to making some major money. We had a meeting last night at the pub to discuss the event but the only thing we did was look at a map and then were told there would be another meeting Tuesday afternoon. Which I can't attend because I have to work. *sigh* So basically I wasted an hour of my time. I could have been out hiking instead.

On the house front...I made a few phone calls and manged to get an appointment with the guy from Beazer Homes (the builders) to look at the defected roof. So keep your fingers crossed. If they agree to fix the roof then the rest of the repairs will be minor.

Helicopters, Eagles, and Shanty Shacks
Mood:  hungry

Yesterday the weather was finally perfect to fly. A little cold but the winds were much calmer than Tuesday. The above picture is of me and our pilot, Stanley. Stanley used to be a ranger at Ulmstead State Park but now flies for the Guard full time. You can see our lovely little tin can of a copter in the background. Stanley strapped me in and gave me the exact same death talk that Ty gave me last year. "In the event that I become incapacitated...." Once again I zoned out and imaged us all crashing to our death.

We left the airport at about 11:30am and headed straight for an area where a bald eagle nest had been reported. A co-worker and I had been out on foot the week earlier to locate it but no such luck. After about 10 seconds of searching by air I discovered it in a pine stand near a development.

I know the picture isn't real clear but if you look in the center of the picture you will see a white speck. That is the eagle. There were two birds on the nest and the female was in incubation posture. I now have to go back out and locate it on foot. But I was happy that we found it.

Next we flew towards to dam and the visitor center to take a few pictures.

The above is a picture of the dam. It isn't a concert dam like most of you are used to seeing. This is called an earthen dam. It is made out of rock, sand, dirt and grass with a conduit running through the center to release water downstream. On the left you see Falls Lake. On the right you will the tailrace and the emergency spillway.

This is a picture of the Visitor Center where I work. Can't you just imagine the views I have from my office? Jealous yet?

After a fly over to wave at my co-workers we headed up the lake to check out a few more nests. Two nests that we had observed last year were now gone. One destroyed by a storm and the other torn apart by a raccoon. We did see eagle on another nest and an adult and juvenile eagle soaring around below.

We had heard reports of some eagle activity up in the Beaver Dam Creek area so we headed up there next. While searching for the nest we discovered this.

Someone has built a Shanty Shack in game lands complete with rocking chair front porch. The only way to access this would be by canoe or kayak which amazes me because they somehow hauled all that building material out there. I am not sure if this is just a very elaborate hunting blind or if someone is actually living in it. I have given the info and picture to my boss so we will see what happens.

The flight lasted about 2.5 hours and there was only one insistence where I felt a little queasy. All in all it was a good flight but in all honesty I an glad to have both feet back on the ground.

Pictures
Mood:  don't ask
This is going to be a very short entry. I am SWAMPED with work. I have finally loaded the pictures to photobucket. I was going to do a really cool slide show but the govt has now decided to block photobucket and myspace. MEANIES!

Wimington Pictures

The Eagles Have Their Own Web Cam
Mood:  happy
I keep meaning to post this but I seem to always get distracted.

Many of you get jealous over the fact that I get to traipse all over the woods looking for bald eagles. Well thanks to the Norfolk Botanical Garden you can see a nesting eagle live right from the comfort of your computer screen. Unlike me...you wont have to wade through turtle infest swamps and tick infest grass. This is a great site for kids as well. The Eagle has laid eggs and is now in incubating posture. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks there will be chicks.

Enjoy!

http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

Helicopter a no go
Mood:  blue
We got the call this morning that it was too windy to fly this morning. I was so looking forward to it. We are going to try to reschedule for sometime this week.

The home saga continues. The pest inspection was supposed to occur this morning. I haven't heard back from my real estate agent. I am hoping that isn't a bad sign. I got my inspection report and I have gone over it 20 times. I just wish I knew more about building practices and materials so I knew just what I am in for. I know that I can not get the sellers to fix the siding. I am still waiting for a call back from the company that built the house. There are some things my boss said are easy fixes like replacing damaged siding, fixing the plumbing, caulking windows and doors. The roof however is what concerns me. The repairs the owner did are not correct and need to redone by a professional. As for the condition of the shingles...I think someone needs to contact the shingle manufacturer. Like I said...I just wish I knew more.

I went last night to the home of the lady from Craig's List who offered me some boxes. The woman and her daughter were VERY nice but I walked in the front door of this beautiful house and was hit with the smell of cat urine. It always amazes me that people who live with the smell can't smell it. But like I said they were both very nice and they gave me a lot of boxes.

Working at the pub tonight. I was hoping to get home around 9:30PM and start packing some stuff. But I know I will be too tired tonight to do anything. LOL

Still working on getting the pictures posted. Hopefully they will be up soon.

Dragonflies, Battleships, Home Inspections, and Helicopters
Mood:  lazy
Dragonflies:

My weekend was fantastic. Lennie took me to Wilmington, NC for a romantic weekend. We had been planning this for a month and all Lennie really had to do was book a hotel. As the weeks approached I kept asking him if he had managed to find a place. He would get this look on his face and would just say, "I'm working on it." Friday evening I picked him up and we headed south. As we got closer to Wilmington I asked where it is we would be staying. He smiled and said that he decided that we would just find a place when we got down there. I got a little angry. I didn't want to be driving all over Wilmington trying to find a place to sleep and end up in some bug infested rat trap. I took the exit for Market Street because I had stayed at the Wingate Inn there a couple of times. As I made the turn Lennie whipped a piece of paper out of his pockets that had some instructions on it.
ME: What is that?
Lennie: Directions
ME: Directions to what?
Lennie: I little place I found.
ME: What place?
Lennie: Some little place called the Dragonfly Inn

At this point I wanted to pull over and give him a huge hug. See I collect dragonflies and the fact that Lennie would remember that and would find us a B&B called The Dragonfly Inn was so sweet I just wanted to cry.

The Dragonfly Inn is a restored Colonial house in historic Wilmington. Both ladies who run it worked in the health care field for many years. All products from the food you eat, to the linens on the bed, and even to the soap you use are made of all natural organic products. It was such a fantastic place to stay and I felt totally relaxed there.

Battleships:

On Saturday Lennie and I got up and headed to the newly opened Aquarium in Ft. Fisher. They have done a great job with the layout of the museum and the exhibits. There are only a few changes I would like to see like the placing of animal identification plaques. Some were not right next to the exhibit so it made it hard to identify certain fish. I also felt the exhibits lacked interpretation. They seemed to be more informative. Which isn't bad but I think you really need to express to people why they should care that the sea turtles are declining in numbers not just...here is a sea turtle and this is what it eats. Maybe it is still a work in progress.

After lunch we decided to tour the USS North Carolina. I have been down to the Cape Fear River many times and have seen the ship but I never took the time to go on board. Lennie was in the Royal Navy when he lived in Scotland and is now in the US Navy Reserves here in the states so this was right up his alley. He took me around and explained everything to me. It was so fun to watch him get excited about something. At one point we went into the engine room and he lit up like a little kid. All I could do was smile.

Sunday morning we went for a hike at Carolina Beach State Park. Actually it wasn't really a hike. It was more like a really long walk. But it was nice and the weather was perfect.

I took some pictures and once I get them uploaded I will post a link.

Home Inspections:

Part of securing a loan and buying this house is getting both a building and a pest inspection. Both were scheduled for this morning but the pest guy called and said he was sick and wouldn't make it till tomorrow. My realtor and I met the home inspector at 10AM. He had gotten there early and had all ready done the outside. There were some minor problems inside like the kitchen sink was leaking and the hot water pressure was weak. The outside of the house was a totally different story. They didn't place a house wrap on under the siding so some of the wood was getting wet and starting to rot. The shingles on the roof appeared to be defective. They were drying out, curled up on the edges and cracking. They had done some repair work to the roof but it apparently was a homemade fix because he said they didn't lay the shingles right. There was no flashing on the roof or windows and there weren't any gutters. *sigh* So now I have to wait for him to give me the detailed report and then I go back to the sellers with what I found. Hopefully they will fix it all. The inspector stated that sometimes the builders cut corners and go with the bare minimum required by law. That way they can build cheap and sell high. He said there might be a warranty for the roof but that I would have to check.

Helicopters:

It appears that tomorrow I will be flying in a helicopter over the lake. I went last year so it was someone else's turn. The person who was supposed to go is in TX this week so I have been chosen to go in her place. I had a great time last year and I am really looking forward to going again.

Well I think that brings you update. Hope everyone had a great weekend. I will try to get pictures up soon.