Racewalking

I've finally made the commitment to learn how to racewalk.

For those I haven't bored with the story:

On Saturday, I completed a 5k. Ahead of me were two middle-aged women who were walking (really walking, not just strolling in their jeans and Macy's sneakers). Since I'm most motivated by the competition in a race - that's why I love races - I thought that I would use the ladies to set my pace. If I could keep them in sight (or maybe even pass them) I'd be good.

I was left in the dust. I lost sight of them in the first 5 minutes, they were going that fast. This particular course doubled back on itself, so they both passed me coming back. They were super-nice, giving me a thumb's-up and words of encouragement (they could speak!! at the pace they were going. I was puffing.). So, when I found that they were parked right behind me, I went over to introduce myself and commend their athleticism.

Turns out that they'd both been racewalking for years. The best part (for me) was that they assumed I had been racewalking too. How flattering! Learning to racewalk is something that I've been toying with for the past year or two. I love walking. I love walking in races. I'm probably not going to get below a 12 minute mile as a fitness walker. So, in order to keep pushing myself, I have to either walk longer distances as a fitness walker, or learn a new way of walking. And, by racewalking, I would be an athlete. I mean, racewalking is an Olympic event.

My main hurdle is that I'm completely unathletic. I can't tell you how many times I've been worst in a dance class and couldn't get better because my body couldn't understand the instructions that I was getting. What if I sucked at racewalking too? What if I totally didn't enjoy it? I find failure in the physical arena completely humiliating. Why put myself through that if just walking was fun enough.

So, my new racewalking friends gave me just the right push. After all, if I was close enough that they mistook my fitness walking as racewalking, then I don't suck and I do enjoy it. They offered to get together with me on the weekends and show me what they know. I mean these ladies are great!

I was so excited that I had to find out if there were any clinics or lessons in Houston. Hallelujah! Houston is flat, so racewalking is big and there's something almost every day of the week including an actual class on Tuesdays. Since Tuesday was Halloween, I called to see if they were still holding class. And they were! Turns out that Dave Gwen, one of the instructors, came out just for me. What a giving group of people.

I told Dave about the feedback I got on Saturday. He rolled his eyes just a bit; I'm sure he's heard all that before. Then he showed me the basics. Turns out that I did pick up on everything more quickly than average. As a matter of fact, he asked if I'd been practicing. I told him that I had experimented with some of the tips in Prevention's Complete Book of Walking from the Rodale press. I can do it!

That's not to say it was easy. Racewalking is NOT really walking. It's more like a modified jog. There's a lot of tricks to learn and a lot of new muscles to develop. And I'm going to have to learn to work through my shin splints. With walkers, they'll go away in about 15 minutes if you just keep going. (Runners get them for different reasons, so they might have to treat them differently.)

Now that I know what physical attributes are necessary for racewalking, I can see how some of it is natural for me. I tend to keep my shoulders very still, and have a lot of movement in my hips. Bad for ballet. Bad for most sports. Ideal for racewalking. I'll still have to work with the pronation with my left foot, but even that is easier to control by the way you push your leg straight and let your hips take a lot of the upward motion.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that the walker-specific stretches seem to do a lot more for me than the dance, yoga, etc. stretches I've done before. Dave showed me a hamstring stretch, something that I've been working to loosen for YEARS. Did it yesterday when he showed it to me. Did it today after I warmed up and after I finished walking. Wham! I can bend over and touch my toes with my knees completely straight. I swear to you, that is a very rare thing for me. I can usually only touch my toes after months of stretching every day. Also, the DBX stretches in the back of Prevention's book do an awful lot for me. There's just something about the way you use your body that is very right for me.

Right now, I'd like to learn to really racewalk, possibly even in judged competitions. I'd ALSO like to apply the techniques to fitness walking. I'd fitness walk in run/walks, which tend to be hilly in North Georgia, so it's more difficult or even impossible to racewalk. Also, according to Dave, you can actually go faster walking than racewalking, as racewalking has form being judged too. So, I could really work against the clock in non-judged competitions. This is so cool!

No More Fat Cats

Check out this IFilm video for the answer to overweight indoor cats.

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2777180

If I could dance to just one song (a list)

Here's a list of songs that I would give anything be able to boogie down to:

• Save a horse, ride a cowboy - Big and Rich
• Just my imagination - The Temptations (requires a soft, satin halter neck dress with a plunge back, and a bias-cut, ankle-length skirt. Not sure about the shoes.)
  

Praise God Fasting

Per Slate Magazine, Bush offers his support of Dennis Hastert:

Everyone notes that President Bush appeared at a fund-raiser with
embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert. It was the first time the two have been
seen together since Hastert became the target of criticism that he dropped the
ball on the congressional page scandal. "I am proud to be standing with the
current speaker of the House who is going to be the future speaker of the
House," Bush said.

Is it just me or has this, historically, been the signal for the Bush supportee to leave their office under a cloud?

It's still Texas

On the talk-radio show this morning, there was a discussion about what should be done about the shootings that are happening in our schools. Here's a few choice quotes:

• In a discussion about the feasibility of arming teachers, the statement was made that some teachers might not be able to "draw" (point a gun with intent to shoot) on a person. That is ok, because they could be responsible for directing the other children to safe areas. But that the teachers who CAN "draw" on a person should be identified and armed. My thought: do we really want to hire teachers who are capable of shooting children?
• A caller suggested arming teachers with stun guns and putting electronic locks on all the doors, to instantly seal off the school into areas. My thought: Perhaps we should ban all metal objects and shoe laces as well, to better prepare our kids for life in prison.
• Another caller asked where the heck could a thirteen-year-old get an AK-47. "Great question!" I thought. He then went on to say, "I have guns in my house, but my children are taught never to touch them." My thought: That answers your question; they get AK-47s from family members and neighbors.

I might not have an answer to school shootings. We have metal detectors and rules that students can't access their lockers. We have adults breaking into schools and taking hostages. I'm not sure that there is a complete answer. But exploring the question "Where in the heck cold a thirteen-year-old get an AK-47?" might offer a part of the solution.

Is Texas Part of the South?

I was once told by a native Georgian that Texas was more a part of the South than Virginia. Virginia was more “East.”

After a few question, I was told by my beloved late Aunt Margaret, in her pristine, soft, elegant accent that she was a Southerner. She was born in Virginia and Virginia is part of the South. That tone of voice admitted no argument.

So what about Texas, then?

I’m commuting to Houston. Grits are served in all restaurants, but there are only two establishments where sweet tea can be found - one of which is the airport McDonald's. This is deplorable for a Southern city. I’m told by people from places like Baltimore and Philadelphia this is NOT deplorable is because Texas is NOT southern (I think they use the lower-case spelling).

So, here's my Pros and Cons...

Texas is Southern:
· Trucks
· Grits
· Belles
· Jefferson Davis County

Texas is not Southern:
· A serious lack of sweet tea
· Twang instead of drawl
· People refer to themselves as “Texan” not Southern

What do you think?

Lost - Athena

Athena ran away on Friday, April 14th.

I left the basement door open, like I always do.

I should have known better because she'd been showing more interest in the outside.

She was just beginning to let me pet her.

Anyway, I spoke to an expert. He suggested that I put up posters formatted exactly as shown. I got a few calls at first (more than I'd ever gotten in response to a poster before). None of them were her.

If you don't mind, I think I'm not going to post on this blog for awhile. The cool stuff happening in my backyard pales in comparison to Athena's loss.

Poison Ivy

Yikes!

After learning to identify the plant (click here), I realize that I have a poison ivy LAWN in my backyard. And a nice healthy sample next to my front step.

I've done a bit of research on methods of killing it.

You have to root it out, otherwise it will grow back quickly. As I posted earlier, this is impossible as it hides under immovable objects. Like one's house.

There are organic herbicides that use clove oil, but it sounds like they do diddley-squat.

According to Mike McGrath, former editor of Organic Gardening (immediately before the magazine went down-hill with Maria Rodale), pulling as much as you can get works ok. Which is my general Plan A. The problem with THAT is that I have so much and I don't want to continually pull out plants from the same roots. I want to kill the roots.

That leaves Round-Up and Brush-B-Gone. My impression is that Southern gardeners swear by BBG. One lady fills up an eye-dropper with Round-Up and carefully places a drop on the cut stem. Others put a small amount in a coffee can and dip the poison ivy in the can. It is then absorbed by the leaves into the roots, thereby killing the plant from the roots.

So, I think I'll go out and pull. If I can't get the root out, I'll put a drop of Brush-B-Gone on the cut end. If poison ivy comes back into areas I've cleared, I'll try a careful method of using the Brush-B-Gone to kill the root. MINIMAL toxins. gardenweb has studies posted about the long term effects of Round-Up. Yikes! On the other hand, I have just as much right to enjoy my backyard as the frogs.

As an aside (Have you noticed how recognizing the plant and the rash, and getting rid of the plant and the rash are topics of ALL articles published about poison ivy. There's nothing out there - including this post - JUST about getting rid of the plant.) , washing with Aveeno Body Wash seems to be a necessary ingrediant for the long-term efficacy of Ivarest.

Garden Pests

It's like a blues song.

I got aphids on my roses... da da da dum.

So, I need to get some Safer Insecticidal Soap, which I just saw somewhere. Home Depot? Lowe's? I remember being surprised.

And there's the poison ivy. da da da dum. I'm pulling it, then showering in luke-warm water with CVS brand Poison Ivy Anti-Itch Scrub. This might be working, it seems like I'm getting less of a rash than I should be. Of course, the true test - rubbing ivy on both wrists and only washing one - isn't going to happen, so I don't really know for sure. I'm rubbing on Caladryl Clear afterwards, which doesn't seem to work at all. Ivarest is what I use for the areas that break out. It says "8 hour relief on the package. I seem to get 10 if I use it right after showering. Of course, it flakes off EVERYWHERE. But it's better than itching!

So I have a little bit of rash on both wrists, but it's no big deal. And there's that one spot on my temple : (

2006: the year of the itch. Since I'm no longer as terrified of poison ivy as I was after my HORRIBLE experience last year, I'm pulling it up like gangbusters. Unfortunately, you can't really dig it up, because it's always rooted under something like a sidewalk or a tree. So I'm considering pulling it back as far as I can, then treating the broken end with a poison.

Let me clarify: I identify myself as an organic gardener. I spray my roses with fish emulsion and have a compost pile. I mulch and use the square foot method to control weeds and water usage. But, as I would use chemotherapy to treat existing cancer (though I'd try to prevent it homeopathically), or would call in an exterminator if my house had termites (though I have a brick house), so I believe in using poisons to remove plants and animals that cause horrible or deadly conditions. For example, the last time I was bit by a fire ant, my entire leg swelled. Every time I've gotten bitten by a fire ant, my reaction has been markedly worse. Thus, I'd use a fire ant killer. On the other hand, I will not use a toxin on wasps. Neither I nor Sergie are allergic to wasp bites. So we can afford to mess around with discouragement techniques. My entire backyard, and parts of my front yard are covered in poison ivy. I'm at the point of reaching "last ditch" techniques.

Like many gardeners I use floating row cover to discourage weeds and noxious insects. And any mammals that might have designs on my vegies. So, imagine my surprise when I see a shadow in my garden. It's furry. It's black. It's Henry!!

He's looking at me like "Yum, it's warm in here." Thanks, Henry. Your butt is on my tomato.

He had managed to find a place that I hadn't clothespinned quite tightly enough.
(Maybe I should try the Cat Stop Willow Barrier. You think they'd even notice? Perhaps it's electrified?)

So, I drag him out of the garden.

Then he decides to go irritate the bumble bees that are pollenating my blueberries. Leaps 5 feet into the air to try and catch them. I figure that there's a fast way and an easy way to learn about bumble bees. And, given the don't-listen-to-a-word-I-say cat he's grown up to be, he'll just have to learn the fast way.

Biggest Purrs in the World

I'm getting Athena-sugar now!

We're not even pretending that the treat container is scratching her behind the ears. It's very much on her terms, but that's how it should be.

I'm getting about 15 seconds at night, but she's also approaching me in the basement (which didn't happen before) and becoming much more confident everywhere. She just let me touch her in the morning! in the dining room! So, every day means progress.

There's been a lot of little things I've had to learn:

• Shoe heels on the floor scare her. Henry gets worried too, if it's somebody he doesn't know. Maybe that's early memories of being under the porch? I wear softer shoes now.
• No grabbing at all. Even if the reason my hand is moving toward her is that Henry is pushing it from the other side.
• If she starts looking anxious, I'M the one that needs to run away.

my CATS have FLEAS

'though it's hard to tell around the poison ivy rash.

I'm willing to bear the pain - I think I exterminated the ivy that got me last year. Yea!!

The thing about cats and poison ivy is that it's ivy, it's a vine. So, it's long and string-like. This means that after you pull a tendril and it breaks off above the root, you need to dispose of it immediately. Otherwise you'll look around to find a kitty rolling in it and biting it as if it were a ball of yarn. Pulling it has it's own dangers. It sends the vine snaking through the grass like a particularly attractive rodent.

Luckily, no adverse effects. On the cats.

Not being willing to gain the 20 pounds I did last year, I'm forgoing the prednesone and helping the itch with Aveeno Body Wash and Benedryl Itch Stopping Cream. They help enough - for about two hours after I wash and apply the cream, I'm fine. Then I reapply the cream as necessary.

So, my cats have fleas. My plan is to go to the vet's before work and get that (expensive, but effective) Advantage Flea Control. So, I went to bed between 10 and 11, thinking I'd get up between 7 and 7:30 (when the vet's office opens). Sweet dreams. Henry started yowling for his wet food at 6:30. So I rolled over and put in an ear plug. At 6:45, Orpheus, who's allowed in the bedroom started wreaking havoc. This isn't fair. On the other hand, they hate the flea stuff. And I'm not going to feel one bit guilty about applying it to the little b@$%@&*s.

On the knitting front: I went to see the knitting guru, Jolie, at Purly Gates. You know how my collar folded over on my first adult sweater? It was because I sewed it so that you couldn't see the edges, so they came together like this: = , on the inside of the sweater. This was pushing the collar over. I picked off the back part and re-sewed it to display my sloppy edges.

Jolie shares my passion for the knitted, three-dimensional construction of cloth. What gets her going is flawless technical knitting. She's doing a cardigan that is knitted and folds in such a way to create no seams. A knitter's knitter. I, on the other hand, am in my third year and have huge mistakes in each of my pieces. Thankfully, knitting is forgiving and I can quietly repair and hide my boo-boos. Except for that short-rowed jog on the bottom of my 1st adult sweater.

I showed her my lace cardigan, the bottoms of the sleeves are curling. Yes, I bound off my picot too tightly. She recommends steam and, if that doesn't work, backing out and binding off more loosely. Jolie suggested either going up two needle sizes, or (how do I explain?) not dropping my bound off stitch from the needle right away. You work the second stitch on the left hand needle before dropping off the first stitch. Then you work the third stitch before dropping off the second stitch.

They got in some more of that el cheapo acrylic mohair, so I am going to be able to do the reversible-ribbed cabled shawl in the Vogue book. We'll call it the Vogue shawl, since I'm not yet doing garments that have names. This will be a nice stepping stone to the complicated cables in Rogue. Sigh. Which is what I'm working up to with the socks and all.

BTW, I LOVE socks. Fast and simple, yet intimidating for most knitters (little do they know). Lovely. I've just completed 1 1/2 of my first pair, using the wonderful, wonderful directions in Simple Socks. I'm planning to do a pair for a Friend. A pale blue merino, with a design done in a self-striping yarn. I'm considering buying an hour of 0ne-on-one from Jolie to learn to do instarsia. I do pretty well out of books and off of patterns, but I always miss something small that's just not there.

Anyway, it's 8 am and I'm already running late.

Athena got petted!

Last week, Athena rubbed her head against my hand.

Since then, she hasn't allowed her to pet me.

On the other hand, I've perfected the art of scratching with two fingers while holding a bag of treats. After she's rubbed her head on the treats, and my hand is behind her head, I flip out two fingers and scratch her shoulder blades. BIG purrs.

BUT, she's still offended when she realizes my hand is involved.

Today, she actually rubbed against my hand and let me scratch her behind the ears!! Like, realized that I was petting her with my HAND and allowed it. And purred!

We're still working out the finer points. But if SHE approached ME and asked for it once, the second time is right around the corner. Whooo Hooo!

The Lion King

You know, in Disney's The Lion King, how Simba runs away from his pride after his father gets killed. Then, the next time we see him, he's a young male?

That's what happened to Henry when I went to Aberdeen for a week. He's bigger than Alma now. Both the kittens are almost a year old.

Henry has more-or-less figured out the no biting, no scratching rule of being petted and played with. It's kind of crazy, there are animal shelters that won't take or will automatically put down cats that bite.

Four out of four cats in Varda's household bite. What's the problem? Cats bite. They just shouldn't draw blood.

On that note, the Black and White cat up the street needs to get the memo about not drawing blood. I think he's the one that bit Henry. Which required surgery. Ouch.

I'm considering a guerilla neutering.

Amazing!

You know how I've been offering Athena stuff that I have in my hands? Well today, during the bedtime dance, I tried to get her to sniff the cat box odor remover. She actually rubbed against it! A couple of times!

Of course, each time she rubbed against it, she looked at me like "How dare you touch me?" But, she did it again. This is the closest she's ever come to asking me to pet her! Her tail touchedmy fingers for a second!

Also, when she was waiting for me to flick her treat across the room, she batted at my finger! Like, she's suddenly less afraid of my hands. She's willing to be impatient with me, instead of just scared.

This will only happen after 10pm, but it's a major crack in the wall she's built.

Yea!!

Miss Chatty

It's 10pm. I just put the cats in their room. At Athena's request.

I'm sure I've described how that works. First, I clean their box. Then I make sure that they have fresh water and a little food. Then I give Alma, Henry and Orpheus treats. I flick Athena's treats across the floor, so that she can run and pounce. She prefers it that way, and she gets some much needed exercise. Finally, I turn out the lights and close the door on the family Cat. Orpheus gets to sleep with us.

Unfortunately, this past month I've been gone quite a bit. First I was gone the 16th and 17th, then the 20th through the 23rd. When I got home on the 17th, Athena was pretty happy to see me. So much that, when I started the bedtime routine, she actually forgot herself enough to strop my legs. She's very soft.

As a matter of fact, she's the most physically attractive of my cats. She's compact and well put-together with a round face. When she moves and sits, she makes a series of curliques. Her tail is always gently rounded in a pattern of graceful curves and her body seems to follow that lead. Unless she's skittering across the floor like some sort of abused feral.

The feral act is what I was treated to on the evening of the 23rd. Until about 9:45pm. At which point, Athena thought it was time for bed and became very adamant that the routine had to be followed exactly and immediately. I had a couple of more days of wild kitty in the morning and princess at night, until she got over my absence.

She will sniff my balled fist, touching it with her tiny nose, though she remains terrified of my extended hand. I've started requesting her to sniff it several times a day, though it's no big deal if she won't. I had a mini-breakthrough on Saturday - I was cleaning the box in preparation for bed. Athena was excited and was rolling around on her cardboard scratching box. I gave her my fist, and she grabbed it with her paws and pulled it toward her. When she realized what she'd done, she considered scrambling away, but I pulled back my hand and ignored her. She calmed back down quickly. Hopefully, that will go to build the idea that she is really safe. I'm also trying to hold things for her that she seems interested in: the banana that I'm eating, the box of treats, my book, etc. She'll sniff about half the time, which might get across the point that everything's generally ok.

The yearly vet appointment is fast approaching, but I think that Athena will skip it this year. It's just too important that she be socialized.

One interesting point: Athena is a talker. I say "Athena-mina," and she says "meow." I say "Don't be a silly kitty," and she says "meau." I say "Is it time for treats?" And she says "mewp." For a cat that "doesn't like" people, she's quite the conversationalist. She will half-way follow me around the house when there's not another cat to hang out with too.

She's got a little pattern that she needs to follow in order to come up on the sofa with me and her family, but she's getting a lot more comfortable with that. And, if she were allowed in the bedroom or on the bed, she'd get up there with me alone. I was actually playing with her under a piece of paper until she realized that it was my hand and ran away. Or at least I would have been were she allowed on the bed.

And she'll play with the feather on the string if I'll wiggle it for her.

I just wish that we could bring her the rest of the way home.

Cat Box Odor

Necessity is the mother of invention and eliminating cat box odor with four cats takes some work. Let me tell you how I do it.

I scoop daily using a Durascoop, the biggest metal scoop you've ever seen, and PetSmart's Exquisicat Premium Scoopable litter. I scoop everything in to one of those paper lunch bags you used to take to school with you. Bio-degradable, cheap, and exactly the right size for what I need. Then I sprinkle some Simple Solution cat litter odor remover on the top. It's the cats' job to work it in.

Every two weeks I dump the litter and put in fresh stuff. It seems like that's about all the litter can take - it gets slightly darker and doesn't absorb the smell, though it still clumps just fine.

When I fill up the tray, I sprinkle a layer of Ammo Cat in the bottom. The cats usually work this through the litter with their normal action. The one problem with it is that it's too big for the holes in the scoop. I can't use a scoop with bigger holes because we also have tiny clumps about the same size. I don't worry about it and just scoop the Ammo Cat too. It doesn't seem to run out by the time I change the litter. On the other hand, I might try using the Simple Solution only.

I wash the pans every couple (few) months. I might try the Simple Solution cat box cleaner, their products are great, but right now I just use Pine Sol.

The Last Straw -or- Don't bank at Bank of America

I have not been, emotionally, a "Bank of America customer" for quite some time, though I've continued to bank with them. I was waiting for a convenient moment to change banks. That moment has found me. Get this:

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll know that I have an "e-bill initiated payment" set up. This means that my billers send their invoices to my bank. I have requested that my bank automatically send these payment to arrive three days before the due date on the bill. Ideally, this requires no interference with me. In the real world, during "cash poor" months, I'll adjust the payment dates the bills are paid to correspond with my having money in the bank.

Let me recap: on the ebill online page, I have checked a radio button that states "Send my payment to arrive ____ days before the due date." I filled in the blank by choosing "3" from a drop down box. This means that my request is to "Send my payment to ARRIVE 3 DAYS BEFORE the due date" for the majority of my ebills.

This weekend, Bank of America (BOA) changed their policy in sending e-bill initiated payments. To show you how I got screwed, I'll show you BOA's statement, translate what it means, and compare a before and after scenario. Then I'll tell you what happened.

Here's how I was alerted to the change:

Bill Pay just got better.

You've helped make Bill Pay #1 among online banking service. As our way of saying thanks, we're making it even easier for you to use. With our simplified scheduling, just tell us when you want your payment delivered and we'll see that it gets there on time. Even better, funds can stay in your account longer - since your money remains in your account until the payee receives the payment. Select the Bill Pay & e-Bills tab to start enjoying these Bill Pay improvements today.

This isn't real clear, so let me break it down for you.

In the BEFORE world, you would schedule when you wanted bills to be sent. BOA would give you a rough estimate of how long it took for the payment to get there (e.g., 2 days) and you would choose when your money left the bank.

So, if I wanted my payment to reach my biller by Wednesday, March 1st, then I would have to send the payment on Monday, February 27th. The money would be withdrawn from my account on the 27th, but not credited to my bill until March 1st. I would also have until the 26th to alter the amount of the payment or the date that the payment would be sent out.

In the AFTER world, you schedule for the bill's arrival. So, if I want my payment to reach my biller by Wednesday, March 1st, then I would request for it to arrive on the 1st. The money would be withdrawn from my account on the 1st and it would be credited to my bill on the 1st. A few business days before the 1st, the ebill would be shown "in process." This means that the money hasn't left my account, but I am not able to adjust the amount or date of the transaction.

If I were given a choice, I'd pick the BEFORE world. It means that the money is being taken out of my account a few days earlier, but it is more intuitive given the way the world currently works. In the world of paper, you receive a bill and write a check. You mail the check reasonably early, so that the post office has sufficient delivery time. Billers understand that there are variances in post office delivery, so they generally grant 3-5 days grace before you are considered "late." Thus, if the BOA payment arrives in three days instead of two, my biller will likely mark the bill as being paid "on time."

And, recall, in an attempt to be responsible, I have my payments sent to arrive three days before the bill is due. Given the 3-5 days grace, I have 6-8 business days to fix any problems or arrange for alternate payment before my bill is past due. The AFTER world only has an impact if you are drawing income on the money used to pay your bill, such as a business that requires tight cash flow and liquidity. Unfortunately, having $300 in my savings account for an extra two or three days does not provide enough interest to make up for the inconvenience of having to transfer the money to checking on a specific day. Remember, you can only withdraw from a savings account six times a month.

My preferences aside, I still got screwed because Bank of America took this as an opportunity to send an unauthorized draft from my account. As I have stated, my online request to BOA was to have my payment "sent to arrive three days before the due date." My bill being due on March 1st, my directions to the bank meant that my money should arrive on February 24th.

In the BEFORE world, this means that my money would leave my account two days early, on February 21st, to arrive on the 24th. I could change this date and amount anytime up to February 20th.

In the AFTER world, my money should be drawn from my account and applied to my bill on the 24th. It would be "in process" starting around the 21st, but I should be able to edit the date and amount up to the time it is "in process."

In the REAL world, Bank of America sent my payment on the 18th to arrive on the 21st. This is because, according their records, my money left my account on the 21st. So, they sent my money so they could withdraw it from my account as they had done in the past. BUT, this is not what I authorized.

I did not check a button saying "take the money out of my account 6 business days early." My request was that BOA send my payment to arrive three days early. Thus, the payment they sent was not what I requested or authorized.

I can understand their reasoning. In the past, the money left my account 6 days early but, equally, I was able to alter the payment any time up to 6 days before the due date. Given the way BOA handled this bill, I had to change the date 9 or 10 days before the due date. I think that's before I received the bill. On the other hand, who cares? Paying the bill 6 days early or sending the money 9 days early was not what I authorized.

Pop quiz:

1) My original request/authorization was based on:
a. The date the payment was to be sent
b. The date the payment was to arrive

2) How many days earlier than the due date was the payment to arrive?
a. 6
b. 3
c. 9

And, of course, they can't do anything about it. Though they won't charge me late fees. Nice of them, hunh? If I had done the same, not only would I have had to reverse my charges, but I would have had to pay BOA a substantial additional amount.

Also, being Bank of America, you can rest assured that they won't fix matters with my mortgage company if they deny payment, or take care of my credit card companies when my rates are jacked up because I have a delinquent account. In my experience, BOA takes care of what they do, but they won't take care of the consequences of what they do.

So, I'm fixing their mistake myself. One of the ways I'm fixing it is by changing my banking establishment.

Seriously, it's about time.

Pop Quiz Answers:
1) b
2) b

Cold, Warm, Hot

Post on Best Friends website (to Ann H, a horse trainer):

BTW, I tried your tactic of moving away with my kitty Athena. She is determined to remain feral, even though she was rescued before 6 wks old and despite having the fuzziest, sweetest, purriest mom and brother. (Though, actually, I think it's just that she's still really, really afraid of my hands.)
I've been trying to get her used to being around me and being touched. No dice, even though it's been almost a year.

So I've stopped trying to touch her and started "running away." I act like she does with me. When I see her, I skitter off and hide somewhere, or move to the farthest edge of the room. She's reacted to this by following me (my god! approaching! what a breakthrough!) and by jumping on the dining room table, just to see what I'd do. (No, still not allowed.)

I sense that it's given her a greater feeling of control in our relationship, added a new word to our vocabulary ("I respect your personal space"), and given her the confidence to sit on the couch when her family and I are having our evening snuggle.

She's actually touching me on occasion (though I can't touch her). Laying down next to me. Coming up to me and biting my feet. Enormous.

It snowed today!

Black silk cat

on white sugar snow

eats green grass

Great minds think alike

You know how much I love my George Foreman Grill?

A whole lot, right?

You know about the GF Grill with the removable plates that you can stick in the dishwasher?

I'd love that more.

BUT, there are also electric griddles, flat grills that butterfly out so that you can use it as either a clamshell or as a griddle and waffle irons.

I don't understand why you couldn't have a GF grill with different types of removable plates: a grill plate, a flat plate, a waffle plate; AND that you could either use as a clamshell OR open up to use both sides as a griddle.

Apparantly, Georgie-boy and I are sisters under the skin. He's come out with the G5 grill. It has a steak grilling plate (with little holes), a regular grilling plate, a flat plate that you can use open as a griddle or closed to bake, and two waffle plates. I don't see that it has the "open up flat" option, so my psychic wishes didn't come through completely clearly. But, he's doing pretty good. It is $129.99 at Target, so don't pay more if you find it elsewhere.

Since my birthday is coming soon, perhaps you could all chip in and get me one! ; )