Hecticity

I've found myself using a word I believe was coined by comedian Stephen Colbert. The word you ask? Crumbalievable. I'm not even sure what it means. And, what it means isn't actually the point.

The point is that I would like to invent a word. And I thought I had until a few moments ago. Hecticity - an adjective (or is it a verb) characterizing something as unusually hectic. This led to hectivity, meaning a hectic and stressful moment/activity.

But, I didn't invent them. I googled both words and found them in Urban Dictionary.

If my life was not characterized by such hecticity lately, I might have been able to invent these words first.

There is a small passel of things I thought about inventing, only to realize someone else got to it first, like decorative, reusable match boxes that allow the user to store matches out in the open. I was so excited about this, and actually investigated the patent process. Then, while at a conference in Pittsburgh, I saw this exact same thing in the gift shop at the Andy Warhol Museum. Dammit! Other inventions I'll never get to include a butter dish that has a receptacle on the side for storing a butter knife. Brilliant! I also have a book idea that I've talked about for years. I mentioned it to BMG, a professional writer. He then mentioned it to a publisher friend. And now I am *supposed* to prepare some sort of brief (2 sentence) pitch. Is it the type of book that will allow me to pay off my student loans? Not likely.

But, I like to think of myself as creative Idea Man. Not a drone who works hard for 50-60 hours a week and doesn't have the energy to retrieve her mail each day, or wash the dishes, assemble new furniture, or call her mother. I need to do something about all this hecticity, so I can write a book, learn French, set up my iPod roadtrip, and call my mother.

The downside of electronic tax filing

I started working on my Turbo Tax e-filing this morning. Imagine my surprise when, as I was led lemming-like through the tax forms, I noted the running total on my tax refund in the upper left corner. My refund is going to be $100,000.

That's almost better than winning Mega Millions!

But, I'm not sure it is right. I think I'll abandon it for now, and try again later.

And...IT'S Here!

In addition to having Baby H join the family, my new futon arrived today! A special shout out to UPS for hauling it up the front steps, and to BMG, who was kind enough to put a hand written, "Freight delivery okay" note on the front door for me.

It is out of the boxes (2!) and I'm going to tackle assembly tonight. Hooray!

He's here!

My sister, NSBN, gave birth to her second child this afternoon! Baby H was born at 1:45 in the afternoon on Friday, March 9th. Little H is a healthy 7lbs. 2 oz., and a good nurser (so I'm told). He gets circumcised on Saturday, and mom and baby head home on Sunday.

He replaces his older sister, (M3) as the youngest kid in the family. His cousin (N), the only other little boy in our brood, has been asking his mom, "When does Baby H come?" because he is eager to have a little boy with whom he can play. N will be so sad when he realizes that Baby H won't be able to play with him for at least 12 months! So, N can look forward to another year of Barbie, Dora, and dress-up.

10 pieces of sushi...

...is the amount I can comfortably eat. My favorites are caterpillar rolls, mackerel, and fish roe rolls. Need an introduction to the culture of sushi? I highly recommend First Book of Sushi, or any of the other child-friendly board books in the World Snack Series by author Amy Sanger Wilson. As the Japanese would say (if they used online translation tools and had no idea how sentence construction worked in their language), "enjoi goshujin bangohan!"

I'm in! I'm in!

I ended up drinking last night with a group of eight people from work - most of whom I had never met before. We were in a little watering hole, known largely to locals. Items on the menu included "The Good Catholic," a plate of fish and chips (it is Lent) and cheese steak with fries. A large DJ section in one corner of the bar was set up, and a drunken locale did a karaoke rendition of some rock ballad while we looked on from across the room seated at a series of tables hastily thrown together, littered with the detritus of the free appetizers they gave us (fish sandwiches, cheese pizza and fried clam strips).

My job is one that puts me in contact with people who have significant formal power within the organization. This puts me in an interesting situation vis-a-vis the front line workers (in this case, teachers) in the system. I have to be especially sensitive to what I say to whom, and need to be certain that I'm building trust - regardless of who I'm working with. To be able to go out and drink, to joke about sex and talk about local politics, with front liners, - some of whom are true townies - feels like a victory of sorts. A victory of belonging.

On the victory of belonging front, my office was recently moved from the hinterlands to the bona fide central office - the belly of the beast as I've joked with some. I moved because a much loved senior staffer retired. A senior staffer who was also a townie. As a newbie and a yuppie, I was bracing myself for passive-aggressive hostility in the office. This has not happened. In just over a month, I feel as if I've been accepted into the office culture. How can I prove it? I was asked to contribute to the office Mega Millions ticket pool. Together we bought $110 worth of tickets. And, sadly, I left all of my numbers at the office - so I have no idea if we won. I'll need to wait until Monday to figure it out.

Futon Postscript

I cancelled the order on the new futon I so excitedly blogged about in February. Why? When scheduling the pick-up, the customer service representative was exceptionally rude to me, a peeve of mine. (An example of what he said? After a long and boring exchange about their odd delivery notification procedure, he said to me "I'm sorry, but you are the only person who has ever had a problem with this." I replied, "It would be nice if you could also say you are sorry that I'm disappointed with the procedure." "No, I can't say that. I'm not sorry. You are the first person to ever have a problem with this, so I can't be sorry." Huh? Where is the logic here, I ask?) Anyhow, after talking with BMG, I realized the the only power I had was to cancel the order, I did.

Sigh.

So, I'm still without a functional couch.

Do not despair, however! Another futon was ordered - this time online, and is en route via UPS. What can brown do for me? Apparently a lot more than Boston Sleep-a-rama!

PS: Oh! I do have one more tiny piece of power. I DID file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If you've never done this, I highly recommend it as a satisfying process that can be done entirely online. And, the Business in question is supposed to respond to the complaint in writing, so there is a possibility of closure.