Category: personal

I had to drive on Route 22 today, back towards Roselle Park, for the first time in quite a while.  I used to drive on 22 between Somerville and Roselle Park on a fairly regular basis, after I’d moved to Somerville, but my parents hadn’t yet moved to Whiting.  (Looking back at some paperwork, this would have been 1994 – 1997.)  The one thing that stirred the most emotion, unexpectedly, was passing Gertrude Hawk.  I used to stop in there and buy sugar-free chocolates for Mom occasionally.

I was actually taking a trip into Westfield, for my first meeting with the law firm that will be handling Mom’s estate.  We used to go into Westfield occasionally when I was a kid, usually to see a movie.  I passed the Rialto theater, which is amazingly still there.  And I passed by the Town Book Store, which is apparently (and depressingly) the last independent book store in Union County.  Yikes.  (I guess that means that the old Cranford Book Store is gone.)

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. My mom was always big on not eating meat on Ash Wednesday, and on Fridays during Lent. She didn’t normally call to remind me, but if I was calling down to Whiting for anything, she’d make a point of reminding me, or if it was Friday night, she’d ask if I remembered not to eat meat that day. Mom, I want you to know that I remembered not to eat any meat yesterday. Eggplant for lunch and vegetable pad thai for dinner.

I’ve never been really big on the idea of giving something up for Lent, but I usually at least thought about it. This year, I feel like enough has been taken from me already that I don’t need to feel guilty about not giving anything up for Lent. I remember a homily about Lent one of the priests at our old parish in Roselle Park delivered back when I was kid. He said that maybe we should think about resolving to do something positive during Lent rather than giving something up. I gave a few bucks to the Alzheimer’s Association yesterday and lit a candle for Mom, so that’s a start, right?

Virtual Candlelight Rally – Action Alz
I donated & lit a candle for my mom. I’d been meaning to donate to the Alzheimer’s Association for awhile now, but hadn’t gotten around to it.

I used to send my Mom a card on Valentine’s Day, and sometimes flowers.  I mentioned that to someone a few years ago, and got a strange look.  They thought it was weird to send flowers to your Mom on Valentine’s Day.  I never really saw anything wrong with it.

I found out today that someone has been using my AmEx card number. They’ve used it for airline tickets, FedEx shipping, and opening up a couple of accounts for online dating sites, I think. AmEx identified the suspicious activity and called me, which is nice. I’ll have a new card in a week or so.

I think this was limited to just the AmEx card, and isn’t a full-blown case of identity theft. At least I hope so!

I took this online quiz, and apparently, the presidential candidate most in tune with my opinions is Chris Dodd. That was kind of surprising, since I don’t think I’d ever even heard of him, and kind of disappointing, since he seems to have dropped out of the race already.

The second guy on my list is Dennis Kucinich, which isn’t all that surprising. I don’t really think he’s likely to win the nomination, though, and I haven’t really been following his campaign.

Of course, the quiz wasn’t terribly granular, and I can’t say that the multiple-choice options always provided an option that matched up with my sometimes convoluted and contrary opinions.

(The guy I’m least in tune with is Mike Huckabee, which isn’t terribly surprising.)

I haven’t posted anything on this blog in a couple of weeks. I’ve been really busy with stuff associated with my company’s move to Somerset, NJ. I’ve learned a few things during this move, but it might be difficult to post a list without getting snarky. I’m tempted, though! Suffice it to say that a lot of things can go wrong during a company move, and it’s easy to underestimate the time and effort that will need to go into it. Oh, and two days before a move is a *really* bad day to have your main e-mail server crash!

The new couch showed up today. It’s a little bigger than the old couch, which is fine, except that it’ll be interesting trying to get it out of the apartment when I either move or throw it out (whichever comes first). It looks fine, and it’s plenty comfortable, which I guess is all I can ask for in a couch. It’s outgassing like crazy right now, though. I opened the windows up, turned the fan on, and went out for an hour or so, and that seems to have helped a bit, but I can’t leave the windows open overnight, since it’s so hot and humid right now. I’ll leave the windows open all day tomorrow, while I’m at work. Hopefully, that’ll help. Meanwhile, this page has some interesting tips on how to deal with “new sofa stink”. I’m all out of incense, alas.

My old couch, which I’ve owned for about 15 years, is now out on the curb, awaiting tomorrow’s bulk pickup. The couch was a hand-me-down, and wasn’t in the greatest shape when the previous owner gave it to me, so it’s probably at least 20 years old.

The new couch should arrive tomorrow. This will be the first time in my life that I’ve actually bought new living-room furniture with my own money! I was originally going to get something relatively expensive, maybe from Crate & Barrel. I wound up deciding to go with something more modest: an Ashley couch from Crazy Deals, a small furniture store conveniently located right downstairs from my apartment.