The Forbes List of the Best Places to Live has ranked San Diego thusly:

#25 San Diego CA
Population: 2,986,000
RANK

Engineers1 24

Cost of Doing Business2 148

Cost Of Living3 145

Crime Rate4 44

Culture & Leisure5 17

Educational Attainment6 27

Income Growth* 3

Job Growth* 21

Net Migration* 68

Overall 25

And Tacoma falls just behind it at, um, 123rd:

#123 Tacoma WA
Population: 753,000
RANK

Engineers1 120

Cost of Doing Business2 78

Cost Of Living3 102

Crime Rate4 127

Culture & Leisure5 38

Educational Attainment6 115

Income Growth* 149

Job Growth* 36

Net Migration* 34

Overall 123

But it means the houses are cheaper!

Posted by: Ensie at 05:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Do not spend your afternoon with your husband looking at houses that will be WAY off the market in Tacoma by the time you get there at the end of June.

Also, don't up your price range "just a little bit to see what's out there." It will make you cry.

Lastly, definitely don't look at the houses in downtown Seattle that are WAY out of your price range.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Cannot...get...Picture Book out...of...head.

HP too powerful!

I've given in and forced Frinklin to download it.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:43 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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...take this test.

I'm such a grey-area sort of person. I wish I took a stronger stance on many issues.

Found at so anyway...

Posted by: Ensie at 05:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Last week I placed an ad with our local paper for a garage sale. The ad clearly states (as does my receipt) that the ad would come out in the 05/12/05 edition of the paper and that the garage sale would be Saturday, May 14th.

I read the (05/05/05 edition) paper this morning and there is my ad in the garage sale section clearly stating that Saturday (no date) we would be hosting a garage sale!

Pissed off garage salers have been drivng by my house all morning.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:36 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 oh, boy. diehard garage salers are NOT to be messed with.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at May 07, 2005 10:12 AM (rfFwe)

2 People are stupid. What time did they start driving by? If I had a yard sale, I'd have an "early birds pay double" policy.

Posted by: eden at May 07, 2005 10:21 AM (M2PUd)

3 No early birds, just people slowing down, realizing that there is no sale, then moving on. The real problem is that we actually are having the sale next weekend, so will the fact that I have pissed off some garage-salers this weekend influence how comes by next weekend?

Posted by: ensie at May 07, 2005 10:38 AM (4k5pf)

4 They'll be back. They're like crack addicts.

Posted by: eden at May 09, 2005 06:43 AM (M2PUd)

5 ha! Eden is right. Even if they're angry, they'll be back. They can't help themselves.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at May 10, 2005 08:28 AM (Pj1kJ)

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I'm finally getting around to writing about the stripper. Which is something I was hoping to avoid. But really, when a stripper comes into your life, you have to deal with it.

Last Saturday night I attended a work friend's 21st birthday. This was pretty exciting in my world, as I'm usually in bed by 9pm. We actually drove the 40 minutes to the birthday girl's apartment after dark, and planned to leave after an hour or so. We got home at 3am.

Becuase it was a 21st birthday, alcohol was the gift of choice. I contributed the making for Buttery Nipple (aka "Slippery Nipple") shots and a six pack of hard cider. Upon arrival I wrote my porn name (Brandy Hermasillo) on my cup and did a couple of double shots to loosen up. Good thing.

Then the stripper showed up.

The apartment had a kitchen separated from the dining area by a bar and a living room, all in the same general area. I pressed myself against the far wall of the kitchen, holding my husband planted in front of me, while the stripper did his thing to Nelly's "Hot In Herrre". I'm really a one penis sort of girl. I had no desire to get any closer.

The unsuspecting birthday girl had a wad of dollar bills in her hand when he first appeared. First came off the fireman's coat. Then the helmet. Then the pants. Once he was down to the boxer/briefs and the birthday girl had gone from red to purple, a sudden attack of modesty came upon him and he declined to go all the way down to the neon green thong. It's not that he wasn't pretty, but the idea of a stranger coming into a room of friends and removing all his clothes was a little, well, odd. Certainly not sexy. Mostly just funny.

As he got dressed before leaving, he pulled on a shirt with print on the front. I noted the name of a prominent gay bar in town. I found out later that b-day girl's best friend had paid $150 for 15 minutes of half-naked gay giration. Hardly worth it if you ask me.

PS--Dad, since you just told me tonight that you read my blog for the first time today, indicating that you might read it again in the future, please note that this is not the sort of thing I usually do on a Saturday night. I'm usually at the lesbian bars.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Thanks to Gir, Violet, and Eden for your comments on my last post regarding my Seattle-area job that didn't happen. I did some crying, talked with my Mom and my husband, and came to the realization that this job just wasn't the right one.

Today I gave the Washington District Manager a call and we discussed the job possibilities up North. She surprised me by describing something I wouldn't have thought possible; not just a transfer, but a promotion! She has offered to create a position almost identical to my own in the store closest to the area we plan to move into, then promote me into a District-focused (as opposed to store-focused) role once the kinks are ironed out in the near future (Corporate hoo-ha and whatnot). The job would be created specifically for me, and I would be based out of any store I would like, as well as working from home much of the time. Hello, possible dream job.

We also discussed a store management job that would propel me toward a future as a General Manager, so I'll likely apply for that and see where things take me.

Finally, she asked what my timeline is for moving to Tacoma. I told her I wasn't sure, since I was anticipating moving when a job happened, not moving whenever I wanted with a job waiting.

I feel a real sense of possibility right now.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:48 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Many, many thanks go out to Eden of so anyway... who sent me this great shirt in return for the Bob's Hogs' Free Schlock I sent her way. I love it!

I cracked up at the note she sent along with it:

"I need a picture of you wearing this, in public. Preferably in church."

IÂ’ll do my best to get that shot soon.

Thanks Eden!

Posted by: Ensie at 06:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 You're welcome. It was a good trade & I'm glad it came at a time you needed a smile

Posted by: Eden at May 06, 2005 08:14 PM (M2PUd)

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...

Posted by: Ensie at 10:16 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Barring any more missing resume problems or time difference miscalculations, my final interview should happen next Monday.

And I was afraid this interview process might get dragged out a bit.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm pretty sure they didn't use a lot of deoderent back then. So the Scent of Jesus probably wasn't so good.

This idea really grosses me out.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:44 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 miracle candle? yeah, ok. bet THAT works.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at May 01, 2005 05:19 PM (rfFwe)

2 In the future, whenever I smell BO stank, I'm going to say, "There's the scent of Jesus."

Posted by: ensie at May 02, 2005 05:25 PM (4k5pf)

3 I bet it's patchouli.

Posted by: Eden at May 03, 2005 08:32 PM (M2PUd)

4 It's 'cause Jesus was a dirty hippie.

Posted by: ensie at May 04, 2005 10:12 PM (4k5pf)

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The interview has been delayed due to (shocker!) an error on the part of Bob's Hogs' HR. The Associate Director of of Everything Ensie Currently Does As Well Everything Ensie Would Do In Seattle did not receive my resume.

The HR guy (who apparently screws up everything) had the day off, as well as my resume held hostage in his files.

On the up side, the Regional Director of Everything Ensie Would Do In Seattle called to tell me what areas to focus on during the interview. The end of our call went something like this:

RDEEWDIS: "Good luck! Sara [the District Manager] and I really like you. I probably shouldn't have made this phone call. Good luck! Bye!

This has got to be a sign.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:32 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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After dealing with Young America and T-Mobile the other day, I figured I'd have an uphill battle when I actually got ahold of one of them in person on the phone. Not so. They were surprisingly helpful once we figured out what the problem was.

It turns out that the entire problem stems from Jorge F. Jorge is a high school student working at some crappy mall kiosk selling phone. When we decided to uprade Frinklin's phone on February when his original one-year contract was up, we decided to go to that crappy mall kiosk to do our upgrading. That was obviously a mistake.

Jorge was helpful at the time, and I certainly trusted him, however, he really fucked everything up. While pondering the phone upgrade Jorge informed me that although the phone we wanted was usually $200, they would knock off $50 automatically, making it's cost only $150. Then, we would receive a $100 upgrade rebate, making the phone only $50. After that, we would finally get a $25 credit on the T-Mobile bill, which would show up within a couple of months. We decided to go for it, after all it's a $200 phone for only $25. We had to pay $150 up front, and Jorge helped us fill out the rebate paperwork.

Upon arriving home later that day, I finished the rebate paperwork and noticed that it stated that the rebate was only $50, not $100. I figured it must have been a hearing issue on my part, even though "fifty" and "one hundred" sound completely different. The required barcodes and receipts went into an envelope, and the envelope went off to be processed (please allow 8 - 10 weeks for processing).

Six weeks later I checked the T-Mobile website to view the status of my expected rebate. I got what I expected "Your rebate is still being processed." While on the website, I also verified the available upgrade rebates available at the time we got the new phone and lo and behold--we were eligibe for a $100 rebate! I e-mailed T-Mobile, asking why we had only been given the $50 rebate paperwork. The reply I received had some vague reasoning that the $50 rebate is the one we should have received, so stop complaining! We don't like you! Go away!" [italics added by me, obviously]

I continued to wait, patiently, for my $50. Instead, the letter rejection letter discussed in the previous post arrived. It took four phone calls, but Young America, at last, figured out the reason our rebate was kicked out of the system. It turns out Jorge had given me a "new account" rebate as opposed to the "upgrade" rebate. I also found out that the rebate should have been $100, another paperwork error of Jorge's. After much discussion, the ($100!) rebate request has been resubmitted and a check should be issued within four weeks.

In other "upgrade" feature news; I've left two messages with Jorge about the $25 credit we still haven't received. His supervisor has yet to called me back. I'm wondering if it's worth another round of phone calls and arguing...

Posted by: Ensie at 05:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I did it! I made it to the fourth interview for the job in Seattle with Bob's Hogs. I got a call this afternoon to schedule the fourth (and please, God, the last) interview with the Associate Director of Everything Ensie Currently Does As Well Everything Ensie Would Do In Seattle. It's scheduled for tomorrow at 11am PST.

The PST would be important, as I've had two other interviews scheduled, I get all freaked out, and then the interviewer doesn't call. I contact HR to find out what's up, and I find out that the interviews were accidentally scheduled for East Coast time.

Must remember to breathe tomorrow.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:16 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Good luck!!!!

Posted by: Rachel Ann at April 28, 2005 11:06 PM (fo9pg)

2 Good luck!

Posted by: Erin at April 29, 2005 05:44 AM (iRA6o)

3 Yay yay YAY!!! Congratulations! Good luck! : )

Posted by: Violet at April 29, 2005 07:10 AM (HhDyc)

4 Thank you everyone. The Associate Director called, we spoke for two minutes. It appears that HR forgot to give him my resume, so we have to reschedule next week! I'll take all your good wishes with me though.

Posted by: ensie at April 29, 2005 04:28 PM (4k5pf)

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Wrong. I hate the South. I'm not a fan of overly cold winters. I loathe Florida. Las Vegas is literally hell on Earth for far too much of the year. Hawaii might be nice.

But overall--WRONG.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:11 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 heh....I'm going to "hell on Earth" in June... hope it's not too hellish.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at April 28, 2005 12:33 PM (oNdEw)

2 I just took the quiz, and my #1 choice came out as New York City, which is one place that I have never, not once in my life, had the slightest desire to live. The quiz is junk.

Posted by: Mediocre Fred at April 29, 2005 06:49 PM (mzrXZ)

3 Thank you for that validation. Frinklin took it and it was dead-on; tied for Seattle and San Francisco, both places that suit him very well. Lots of Portland and other rainy places. I think he's just a freak.

Posted by: ensie at April 29, 2005 08:17 PM (4k5pf)

4 Hah Hah, I got Honolulu, Las Angelas, San Fransisco, San Diego, and Seattle. Perfectly fine with me. Love ya, Katie

Posted by: Katie at May 10, 2005 02:18 PM (S6Wcf)

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In fact, the whole household did, depite the propane leak. The stove spent some vacation time away from it's usual spot between the counters until this afternoon when The Boonies Propane Co. stopped by with the sniffer. The sniffer is cool. It's a handheld box that "smells" propane in the air. It emits a ticking sound while searching and an alarm when it finds gas.

Well, the sniffer didn't find anything. Not a trace of gas. The propane guy even tested it by turning on the stove's burners and showing that it did recognize propane when the burner was on. But there was no propane smell then, and still no propane smell now. No obvious leaks.

The stove went back to it's usual home and the propane guy advised us to just pay attention when we were in the kitchen, occasionally getting down on our hands and knees to smell the air near the floor, as propane is heavier than air. I feel much safer now. Thanks.

If I don't post in the next week you'll know our house exploded.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:59 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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We have a propane leak right now in our house. It wasn't there when we got home at five, but by six we could smell it all over the kitchen.

I've turned off the propane to the house at the tank, opened all the windows, called my landlords to let them know what's going on, and, finally, called the propane company to come and assess the problem. I was hoping it would be quick and easy, but obviously the propane has gone to my brain, as nothing is every quick and easy with The Boonies Propane Company.

We have a 100 gallon propane tank that should be regularly filled with propane in order to make sure that we never run out. At least, that's what The Boonies Propane Co. told me when we moved in. Since then we've run out FIVE TIMES in three years. The fill schedule we are on coincides perfectly with the calendar, allowing us to be out of popane for each Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. And if you think it's a pain in the ass to get ahold of The Boonies Propane Co. on Christmas Eve, you are totally right. I'm averaging 3 - 5 phone calls before I get anyone to take me seriously.

The first time we ran out was the first hosting of the Ensie/Frinklin joint Thanksgiving dinner in our new house, which shall henceforth be called "The Thanksgiving Day That Will Live In Infamy." It was horrible. There was no propane until late that afternoon so everything was late, the wind knocked out the power, my Dad and Uncle were in some sort of holy-roller mode and gave a 40 minute "blessing" complete with Abraham Lincoln quotes and something from the Bible about women being subservient to men. My Dad made my brother cry. My Dad made me cry. I told my Uncle that if he didn't stop harrassing me he was going to be booted from the house never to return. It all climaxed with me in a sobbing mess in the spare bedroom. Really, I think the whole bad day can be traced back to the lack of propane that morning that prevented showers and the early cooking I had planned on.

So, now, I sit. Waiting for the propane guy to rescue us. To relight our fires and allow for hot water once again. At least this time we didn't just run out like usual. We have an actual leakage issue to contend with.

Pray for me and hot showers please.

Update! Karl, the Boonies Propane Co. delivery driver showed up to help, sort of. Our stove is now four feet away from it's home and the propane has been shut off at the wall. There were three half-chewed dog bones nestling in the dust bunnies where the stove normally lives. The water heater pilot light is lit again (although we had to hear all about Karl's mishaps with the relighting of various pilot lights including the one where all Karl's hair "got fried clean off!") We will have hot showers in the morning. Hallelujah! I will be spending most of the day at home tomorrow, waiting for the "real propane guy" with the "sniffer" to help diagnose our propane problem further.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Me: Was the Koo-Aid Man wearing pants?

Frinklin: I believe that he was wearing pants.

Me: Why was the Kool-Aid Man wearing pants?

Frinklin: I don't know. He doesn't appear to have any sort of Kool-Aid genetalia.

Me: Thank God. Image that for a moment.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bob's Hogs has decided that I am ready to move into the current century and has granted me a laptop computer with actual internet access at work.

Now that you've stopped laughing at the total lack of web access in a place we spend far too many hours in to be web-less, I will now announce that this means that I can now blog from work.

That's right. I can blog in real-time instead of having rely on my completely unreliable memory each day.

It arrives on Wednesday.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:48 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Oooooh. Live BH&WP dish.

Posted by: eden at April 23, 2005 08:11 AM (M2PUd)

2 Wait – are we supposed to consider this a positive development? Just kidding. I kid because I love...

Posted by: Richard at April 24, 2005 08:50 PM (XtiK2)

3 Haha.

Posted by: ensie at April 25, 2005 07:50 PM (4k5pf)

4 I have an old piece of shit with a 13-inch monitor and dial-up connection at work. Ugh.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at April 26, 2005 07:43 AM (zMhug)

5 Until now I didn't even have a real computer at work! It's a dummy monitor and CPU that I can't do anything on but e-mail and access Bob's Hogs programs. No internet access. I can't even change the view on the control panel. I have been privy to "PC Anywhere" software allowing our IT guys to "jump" into my computer and do whatever they want with it. Viewing your mouse indicator flying around the screen while actual mouse sits motionless on the desk is a little erie.

Posted by: ensie at April 26, 2005 01:51 PM (4k5pf)

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T-Mobile's rebate company, Young America (which by the way is just the lamest name EVER), sent me a letter today. It very politely informed me that "We regret that we are unable to process your request as received. The 10 digit T-Mobile wireless number you provided is not valid or found in our data base at this time your request was processed."

First off--"...at this time your request was processed." makes no sense.

But my real complaint is this--how can the number I provided not exist when this letter shows up the SAME DAY as the actual BILL from the company that holds the account? Shouldn't these two letters have caused some sort of time/space continuum error by sharing space in the same mailbox together? At the very least I think I shouldn't have to pay my bill since the number doesn't exist.

Elizabeth, the T-Mobile rep who helped me on the phone confirmed that I do, indeed, have an account with T-Mobile and I should contact Young America immediately so they can confirm it with T-Mobile via phone. However, Young America has annoyed me further by closing before my mail is even delivered. Now, after waiting 8 weeks for a rebate (and checking on it two weeks ago and being assurred that "It is in process") I must wait through the weekend to vent my righteous anger upon discuss this issue further with a Young America customer service representative.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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