Game day

Dear Ducks:

Well, it's game day. Though I've been a bit distracted this past week and feeling a bit nauseous periodically, I have come to some conclusions that I thought you should know about.

Today is a huge game, gigantic for us Duck fans. For you, I'm guessing, it's just another game day. Your coach is fantastic, and there is no doubt he has employed many strategies to bring you all around mentally and face such a formidable opponent. I survive merely by believing this. And this Saturday morning I'm somewhat at peace.

Because you are the Ducks, my team. A team I have watched faithfully not only for my entire life, but for this season up to now. I know what you can do, I know what you struggle with, I know what you excel at. I know the entire country will be watching, and I know that this is a team that doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

Football is a contest between two opponents, sometimes well matched, sometimes not. Today you face a very talented opponent, and, as in all contests, the best team will win. I have every faith, as I have for years, that you will be that best team. I may hide behind a Pendleton throw through most of the first half, I will probably vomit a little bit, my hands will shake and I won't be able to sit still. There will be much cursing and yelling and jumping and pacing. But that's what I do.

You know what you do. Do your best for your team, your coach, your fans. Nothing more can be asked of you. No matter what, no worse for wear, I'll be here, on the other side, as I've been for forty-five years.

Today I go forth to run my errands, buy new tires, fulfill my obligations, all with the knowledge that my team plays fantastic football and will make me proud. I will fiercely defend my colors, I will give the ojo negro to anyone who smirks or doubts, I will defend confidently.

So yes, perhaps it is just another game day.

Go Ducks!

Faithfully,
TtheD

Mindrat

It's dangerous for me to be fired up about our #1 ranking in most polls, but what the hell. Go Ducks! I just finished up a ridiculously busy week in Hillsboro (well, not really as I'll be back Monday morning to ease the escrow officer back on to the desk) and let me tell you. Friday afternoon was never so welcome. It was tough, I swore a lot, I threw a couple of things around the office but not nearly as badly as I used to, and it was a little bit of old home week to boot.

I've been in touch quite a bit with an old friend from Southern Cal days - not much to it due to his current status, which believe me is FINE with me, but apparently he's enjoying reliving the old days. Okay. Then I got a call for a referral on one old coworker (much more recent) from another old coworker (even more recent) and a phone call from yet another old coworker, who, later in the week, dropped by. It's always fun to reminisce and catch up. Except for when, for every five minute break you take, you get 18 new emails and voicemails. So that kind of sucks. But hey, here I am on the other side of it alive. There you go.

I'm starting to get fired up about Mexico in December. Not super-fired up, as it's a month and change away, and I haven't started tanning yet, but now and again I'll look up from the pandemonium and say, Oh hey, I'm going on vacation. That brightens my thoughts for about 3.5 seconds until I'm forced to read an email from an agent who would prefer I do HIS job instead of HIM doing his job. In retrospect, I should have just responded, Hey, happy to do that for you. Now, what time can I expect you over here to work up three refis, give four fee quotes, scan in some extensions, pull CCRs on a defunct HOA, do three net sheets and work up a short sale HUD?

It's raining. I have some errands to run and the mother to grocery shop for (oh yay) and then, because the Ducks played Thursday, plan on spending a leisurely afternoon watching the Oklahoma game. It's a calm day.

It wasn't so calm earlier in the week, however. All work business aside, I got home on Monday night to the kitties going batshit in my second bedroom/office. Batshit. Running from one wall to the other, climbing up on things, meowing crazily, running, spinning, trying to get something that I couldn't see. I ran in to the kitchen for the Raid and when I came back they were still at it, but I could see nothing. I didn't want to think the obvious, and after a while they mellowed out, but when I reported it back to the girls in Hillsboro the next day the general consensus was "mouse". In my walls. How long does it take do you think for them to chew through my wall?

The next day or two later I called my landlords and they arranged an exterminator. I don't exactly live in the country so I don't need to put up with this. The only problem was that when said exterminator phoned me back he told me it most likely was not a mouse but, rather, a rat. Wow. Thanks for that.

We arranged for me to meet with him Friday morning to set traps and check it all out, but of course there was NO way I could get out of work, so he came alone and set them up outside. Nice. And just now I have been hearing bangs and thuds all over the place in here. The cats aren't freaking out so either it's just me and my vivid imagination, the old broad upstairs, or the kitties are just used to the new member of the family. What the hell. I have nothing else to worry about.

That's it, longest post I've written in ages so I hope it tides you over. I'll keep you posted if necessary regarding the vermin, because we both know there isn't much else going on around here.

MF

Motherfucking work is so motherfucking busy I don't have time to motherfucking do anything for myself let alone motherfucking blog. I can't motherfucking wait for Friday to be here and gone. I also would have preferred to put this on Facebook but I can't say motherfucking this much anywhere else so here I motherfucking am.



That is all.





Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm blogging in the middle of a Duck game, it's halftime. What do you think I am, an idiot?

Look for the shout out at the end

Um, hi.

So another week goes by, and I'm sure you all have been scratching your heads and wondering where in the heck I am. Because you think of me when you're not near the computer, don't you?

So where have I been? I've been in Beaverton all week, that's where. On a busy, busy desk. Luckily I had the help of a very experienced escrow office that was pulled out of retirement to help the officer on her desk, and I gotta tell you it's made a WORLD of difference. I can chat, screw around, go to lunch... just kidding. It HAS made a world of difference, because that desk is brutal, but at least I wasn't working 6am to 6pm like I normally would.

Next week is Hillsboro, on another crazy desk, but the officer I'm covering is vacationing in Cancun, so it's totally worth it for me. And Hillsboro is a fun office (not that we didn't have fun in Beaverton - I'm all about the fun), so I'm looking forward to it as usual.

Ducks have a bye week so I am totally stress-free right now, but I AM looking forward to the Wisconsin-Ohio State game at 4pm. What else? Basically I have spent my morning running around and I, as usual, thought of a million things I wanted to blog about but kind of can't remember them right now.. wait. Let's see.

Okay. So people suck at driving around here, rain or shine. That's obvious. Oh, and I was going to mention at some point how much I hate Nebraska. Not the state, necessarily, but the football team. How are you ranked? Half the teams you play are just nobody. But Nebraska fans are all up on themselves, thinking their shit doesn't stink because a long time ago it didn't. Whatever. I fucking hate them. I could tell you how much I hate the Beavers but you already know that. And since we're on the subject I'm not getting how Boise State is #3 when they are basically playing high school level teams for the rest of the year (except for Nevada). I don't mind Boise State, though, I just don't get it. It's the WAC. Have you seen the WAC? Whatever.

Ohhh yeah, booked Cabo. I don't know exactly WHERE yet, but the flight is booked. That Bruja and I are going and it's been a long time since we sat down and had some drinks together so I'm looking forward to that. I guess what is difficult for me is trying to figure out where to stay - Cabo San Lucas or San Jose del Cabo - one WAY more touristy than the other. I don't like touristy. I don't like paying $10 US for a drink. That's why I like Cancun - I know where to go to spend my money. Here, I don't. I don't want to think about it anymore right now. But yay vacation! Fun!

Okay I think that's it. I really will try to blog more, but I can't promise much. It's freezing again in the casita (no heat 'til November 1 rule in effect) but I guess that's why I have 478 sweatshirts. And I think I'm going to vacuum again today. Um, that's like 2 weeks in a row. IN A ROW. I'm not sure what's up with me.

Happy Birthday to Kimberley today and Happy Birthday to that Becky T (nka Rebecca H.) tomorrow!

It was dark until like 8:30 this morning.

Wow, a week already. I'm not sure what it is that keeps me from blogging. Is it a fear that the nothing I do most of the time isn't enough to keep you interested? Or is it merely the fact that I do ... nothing?

Except work, come home, putter around, and go to bed. Love the upcoming winter, let me tell you. I read somewhere that we are going to have a La Niña winter again, which apparently means wet and snow and cold and just general crap. So you can imagine how much blog fodder THAT will give me. Maybe this year I'll buy boots. I should probably buy tires first, though, but my God they're expensive. Everything is expensive. It's pouring down rain outside right now and all I can think about is how flipping expensive everything is and how I don't have any money. Bright and sunshiney right out of the gate after a week's absence..

I have very little to report this week except that that Marita has been given the challenge of finding vacation options for me and a couple of friends. Cancun is probably out. Probably. But Cancun is only a teeny tiny part of Mexico, and I'm going to be tan in December, God damn it. Considering Los Cabos but my fellow blogger and friend Jackie said it's expensive as all hell. I don't know. Marita's really good at this so we'll see what comes up.

And Go Ducks! After yesterday's game (and seriously I had no doubts through any of it, no stomach knots, nothing), however, I am thankful we have a bye next week. I'll leave it at that. Nice to be 6-0 right now.

Today, in the rain, I swear to God I am going to clean up this house. And by "clean up this house" I mean vacuum. That's really the worst of it. I don't know why, either, because I LOVE it when it's done. Why am I depriving myself of something I love? (Okay. I realize psychology probably isn't going to work in this instance, but it's worth a shot.)

So it's nearly Monday again, a day in Hillsboro and then four days in Beaverton, and with any luck at all I will not be wearing two different colored shoes on any of those days like I did on Friday. Maybe a clean house will create a clean mind and a clean mind will create focus. Maybe. Or maybe it will just inspire a really long nap.

In cold wet rainy weather.

Money poorly spent

Saturday, in an effort to take my mind off the approaching game, was spent doing what I apparently do best: spending buckets of money on the wrong things. While chatting with my sister on the phone, my mouse suddenly took a dump. Just died. Right there in front of me. Which, you know, is fine, because I bought that thing with its wireless keyboard buddy back in 2004 right before I moved to Mexico. It's been back and forth with me twice. And it outlasted the original laptop I bought back then, too. The keyboard died about a year ago, but I got used to using the laptop keyboard, and now, finally, no more mouse.

I was in the Tanasbourne area so I went to the Best Buy and shopped around a little bit. Flipping $59 later I bought pretty much the same Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse set, and then, after stopping at the Nordstrom Rack for pants (which I took back today) and a sweater, then stopping at the kitty store for some liners, and then stopping at the Fred Meyer for some groceries (which included the foulest of coffee purchases I have ever made) (because they didn't have my Cafe Bustelo) (for God's sake just about every grocery store carries it now and that Fred Meyer couldn't be in a more Spanish-speaking area), I finally made it home.

So I'm bitter now. The new mouse sucks. The keyboard is taking some getting used to but the mouse... ugh. It's not smooth, the little wheel thingie on it doesn't work, it's jerky and I hate it. But it's all out of the box and used and I'm not sure if the Best Buy will take it back. I hate it. But I need a flipping mouse. I guess during another one of my painfully long stretches of having nothing to do at work tomorrow I'll phone them and see if they WILL take it back, but good Lord. Tanasbourne? It's like 420 miles away from where I'm working right now. I wonder if I can whine more? Or if they'll take it back at the Cascade Plaza store?

The game itself was awesome, despite the beginning, and all the vomiting and pots-and-pans throwing around going on in this casita. Ultimately it was a relief to win, but I was so exhausted on Sunday that all I could do was go out and find my Cafe Bustelo and forget the other purchase ever existed (because I'm pretty sure the Fred Meyer isn't going to let me return the coffee I bought there). I didn't shower, I took two naps, I did one load of laundry and didn't do anything else the whole day. It was like being hungover except it was no vacation so I clearly didn't drink.

I'm sort of looking forward to this weekend because I'm getting a little bit sick of throwing up, and I could use a good productive couple of days. It's been a great season so far all in all, and really, all I can add to wrap this baby up is GO DUCKS!

Weekend

Already. I've had quite an horrific week. I had to close a gigantic transaction on Friday and started working on it pretty much Thursday. Gigantic. Strangely enough, we pulled it off. So, you know, whew. The swan song for my two week stint at the circus.

Huge game today. Huge. A lot of you read this only during the work week, so you'll already know the outcome by the time you log in. Who knows - this could be it for me. If it's Monday morning and you haven't seen me around, maybe call someone to check on me. Just in case.

I of course don't have much to report, except remember my rant about that one service provider we just started using that sucks so bad? Yeah. They're not getting any better. As a matter of fact, they're now laughing at our receptionist when she phones in requests. Laughing. Can you imagine? And the guy that works for us that made this switch in service providers? We tell him the problem, he calls Blow Hard, Blow Hard says "Sorry, I'll talk to them" and it only gets worse. I'd just like to go out on a limb here and say that that particular approach isn't working.

Think about it. How is the guy that sold you this service successfully going to fix the reality of how shitty this company is? He's just spent months convincing you they're great. What's he going to do, say, Oh yeah, well, we do kind of suck but I promise to make you not see how bad in the future? That's all he CAN say. He won't though, because he's Blow Hard and he's pretty much going to rant and rave and stomp his egotistical little Blow Hard foot and say I'll fire everyone if they fuck this up again! Blow Hard to the rescue! And then he hangs up and takes another call. Because I hate to break it to you, Guy That I Work With That Made This Decision, they DO suck, we were sold a load of shit, and it's NOT going to get better. Because the little phone people that get paid $9 an hour and the drivers that get paid worse honestly could give two shits if our company is less than thrilled with their performance. They don't care. They just don't. It's not going to change. And we're going to have to compensate for it over and over again, like we've been doing all month. Thanks for trying, but it didn't work. Now do something to fix it before escrow goes postal on your ass.

Okay. Gotta run, College GameDay on ESPN is in Eugene and I need to go do something to settle my stomach.

GO DUCKS!