Where's TD?

Amos Stevens

New Member
Gee after all your waiting was the color that bad that you couldn't put up with it?I am sorry that it turned out not to be the one you ordered :(
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
It was a horrible mustard-yellow colour. :gun: Good for hot dogs, but definitely not for my living room that will be painted green!

However, all is not bad news. Seems there were two made of the same model, and they slapped the sticker with my name on it on the wrong one - they found mine in the warehouse. At least I don't have to wait another month for it while they build a new one - they said they'd deliver it on Monday.

But I wanted it today! Waahhh! :(
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
There is a large blue object sitting in the middle of my living room. Upon closer examination, it appears to be the right size and dimensions of a sofa... specifically, the sofa I ordered.

Yay!

Now all I have to figure out is where its final resting place is going to be...

My living room is very awkwardly set up. I have an L-shapped wall space with the exit to the hallway at one end of the "L" and the entrance to the kitchen at the other end of the "L". The long window wall has a baseboard heater running the full length, and the long wall with the balcony door has the hot water pipe that feeds the baseboard heating all along its length. At present, I have three bookcases on the pipe wall, but, as I discovered, the pipe itself gets just as hot as the heater, so it's not going to do my bookcases (which are only particle-board covered in a fake oak veneer) or the books on the lowest shelf a lot of good.

I still have a couple of bookcases to buy, to house my videos and dvds (of which I admit I have far too many), as well as display some of my collections (teacups and saucers, glass and of course, my Star Trek plate collection! Which I think I'm going to end up selling most of them on eBay, if I can get a decent price for them.)

Not to mention a collection of movie posters and pictures which I would also dearly like to display.

Decisions, decisions!

Actually, I've pretty much decided the sofa is going to sit in the middle of the room which, unfortunately, means one has to go around it all the time, but what the heck. When I have company, I'll just shove it back towards the three bookcases on the pipe wall (which pretty much have to stay there because there's no place else for them to go, so I have to figure out how to protect the bottom shelves of those bookcases from the heat) and folks can use my dining chairs as extra seating.

First, thing, though, is to get those walls painted in the living room. That's going to be a job, now that the sofa is here.

I think a boyfriend might come in useful right about now. (As if!)

-TD, feeling her age
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
Amos Stevens said:
Greedy greedy..first she wants her couch & now a boyfriend :)

Glad your new arrival arrived without the labor pains!1

You know, boyfriend + couch = .... well, more action than I've ever seen, that's for sure! :D

As for labour pains - because it's a sofabed with solid wood (probably MDF) framing, it weighs a TON! I had to get the maintenance man to come up and lift while I put felt pads under the feet, so I could move it around without scratching the floor.

I tell you, though, it's a heck of a lot more comfortable to sit on for watching TV than that footstool!
 

Jampa

New Member
Congratulations on the new arrival! ;-) <LOL>

Do you live in an old building/house? Normally, water pipes are "insulated" - not only to avoid the kind of problem that you're facing, but also to avoid water's loss of heat. In a specialised store, you should be able to find the adequate item - usually made of cork, but maybe they use some more "sophisticated" material nowadays - and the stuff is so efficient/effective that you could even sit a pat of butter on the pipes once they're "wrapped up" in it...

As to the boy-friend matter <G> I don't know of any specialised stores ;-) but I am sure you'll work that one out too... My very best wishes go with you ;-)))

Jampa
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
The architect and the contractors who built this building 25 years ago I think were smoking crack while they were on the job. I mean, I've been in some places that have had their little quirks, but this has to be the quirkiest apartment of them all, and it's not even that old of a building! I don't know what they were thinking putting the pipe outside of the wall (it does have a grate around it for air circulation, but it still gets pretty warm) and then running the damned baseboard heater all along the adjacent wall, thus effectively destroying two walls' worth of wall space - maybe they thought people weren't actually going to put any furniture in the place? I dunno.

Actually, I find most apartment buildings built within the last 25 years to be designed by madmen on hallucinogens. You can tell most architects are men; they have no idea, for example, how to properly design a kitchen, nor do they have any aesthetic sense whatsoever about designing rooms that actually have to be lived in. :rolleyes:

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my new apartment because it is in fact bigger than the last one - but its little "quirks" are driving me buggy and stretching my ingenuity on how to make things fit!

I'll have to look into some kind of rigid insulation that I can tuck in behind the bookcases. I'm not giving up my books!

As to the boyfriend issue - I'm too old now to have a boyfriend. Men like their women young and beautiful (and brain-dead, also, alas) - tender young morsels, not tough old birds like me. I'm a no-hoper now, never wanted when I was in my prime and decidedly to be avoided now that I'm in my middling years and well past my sell-by date. :(
 

Amos Stevens

New Member
Hey don't give up TD..I have heard of people in their 90s getting married! As long as you're alive,there is someone out there for ya!

In regards to your poorly designed place..think of the unique possibilities! You don't just have a normal rectanglar or square room-you get to come up with unique furnishings!
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
All I can say is, thank God for IKEA! They sometimes come up with really innovative solutions to weird furnishing problems. They have (or had, the last time I was there a couple of months ago) a shelving unit that stands on two legs, which then bolts to the wall at the top, giving enough clearance for a pesky, badly-situated baseboard heater underneath. They also had (but alas, I think no more) book cases that bolted right onto the wall, up off the floor. I should have bought a couple of those when I had the chance. Drat!

In other news, I'm thinking of going to an introduction class for Aikido next week. Wouldn't that be a laugh....
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
I didn't want to put this in the Christmas thread, because it's not something that belongs there in terms of "tis the season" and all that.

I've always hated Christmas. Christmas was just another excuse for my stepmother to get drunk. Christmas dinner was always a nightmare - my stepmother would spend the day drinking, my grandmother (my stepmother's mother) would be the one preparing the meal. One year, my stepmother's sister was living with us, and she, too, was an alcoholic. She - my step-aunt - declared I was the cause of all my step-mother's problems and decided to throw me into the television. The television remained unscathed, but I was a bit bruised around the edges. Airport '75 was playing at the theatre and that's where I spent Christmas Day.

(In case you're wondering where my father was in all this, he was oblivious to my stepmother's drinking, and when he did notice she was drunk, he blamed me because I was such a terrible person I forced my stepmother to get drunk just so she could cope with me.)

We could never have any guests over, or go out to visit relatives. The one time we went to a Christmas meal at my father's family's house, my stepmother got so drunk she practically had to be carried out of the house to the car. I was mortified, and flat out refused to be part of anything like that again.

I usually spent Christmas in my room, or went for walks in the park. Or to the movies.

After I moved out of the family home, I spent the occasional Christmas at friends' houses, but I soon stopped accepting invitations. Some of those invitations came from Psychobitch, and I was always made to feel like the poor cousin. My presents to the family were what I could afford - a tin of homemade cookies and specialty coffees for each branch of the family (Psychobitch, her two sisters and her parents). Another time, it was quilted placemats I made myself. I gave a "joke" present one year - Psychobitch was forever renovating, and I had in my possession a calendar of photographs of outhouses from across Canada. I cut out the pictures and wrote copy like you'd see in decorating magazines, put a nice cover on it and called it the "Country Bathroom Style" book. She thought it was funny, for about five minutes. The book soon found its way to the garbage can, as did the hand-stitched pillows I'd made for her husband's leather chair, depicting ducks (he's a duck-hunter).

One year I gave Psychobitch's daughter a gold horse pendant. I didn't have a lot of money, so it was only 10 karat gold. Psychobitch examined it and pronounced it "cheap, base metal." I quietly said to Psychobitch's sister that I had bought it at a gold shop and it was marked 10K, and had I been deceived? She examined it, found the mark and saved face for me by declaring it was gold. I was mortified, though, and never went back.

I liked making presents for people - cookies, or crocheted "snowflakes" to hang on their trees, if I didn't have anything else to give. But I guess the kinds of people I used to call my friends were looking for something more impressive, and cheap gold, home made cookies and crocheted snowflakes just didn't cut it.

I spend Christmas alone, now, and I much prefer it. This year I'm planning to rent all three of the "Die Hard" movies (well, the first 2 are set at Christmas, aren't they?) and settle down with a box of Belgian chocolates which will play merry hell with my diabetes and cholesterol, but what the heck. I just gave away most of my teddy bears and other stuffed toys to the Catholic Children's Aid Society (the social worker who lives on my floor was ecstatic; the toys were distributed amongst five foster families). I wouldn't mind going to the Humane Society and hanging out with the dogs and cats, so I might look into that. At least dogs don't blame you for their problems.

Last year was nice - I watched "Path Beyond Thought" on continuous loop for most of the day.

I tossed my artifical tree when I moved (well, it was pretty much in tatters, being 16 years old and most don't last beyond 7 or 8 years, so it didn't owe me anything), so I don't have a tree to put up, and I'm underwhelmed with the thought of just putting up a string of lights around the window.

Work has dried up, so money is very tight this month. I'm not sure I can afford both the movies and the chocolates!

Sorry; this time of year brings back horrible memories and I don't have many good ones with which to replace them.
 

Storm

Smile dammit!
Oh that's a real sad tale TD! No-one deserves to be treated like that,let alone at Xmas. I hope this year is better.Maybe one of your friends or work colleagues will be doing something eh?
As for the comment about being too late to get a man,no chance! There are so many decent fellas out there who'd love a chance.
Still can't get over your relatives...:(
Hey,at least the sofa is ok now:D
 

Amos Stevens

New Member
I'm sorry that for most of your life Christmas has been a nightmare TD...well now you have us who won't let it go wrong for ya! SO stick with us & soon we will have you going caroling(with a stun gun in your back pocket just incase)
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks, Storm; thanks, Amos.

I don't often think about "before", but this time of year does tend to bring it all back, rather forcefully. It's also why I don't like going to parties where I know there's going to be a lot of alcohol consumed; I hate seeing my friends get blotto. It changes them, in my eyes; I can never see them again in the same light. Ditto if they smoke dope or use some other mood enhancing drug.

Weirdly, though, I'm a statistical anomaly; I should be an alcoholic or a drug addict myself, since both my own mother and my stepmother were alcoholics and substance abusers. However, I made up my mind early that I wasn't going to be like them; unfortunately, I am very much like my father insofar as I tend to be overcritical and unforgiving. My father's never forgiven me for being, well, me. And I haven't forgiven me for that, either.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. We now return you to your regularly scheduled cheery Christmas programming.
 

Jules

Potters Clay
You done venting there girl!?!...well TD....I do hope you have a nice Christmas! :) Your a peach! You can singe our peach fuzz anyday if it makes you feel better! ;) :)
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
Storm said:
Don't be so hard on yourself. have a nice Xmas this year!

I intend to! Actually, once I get the venting done, I'm usually all right. It's like a little poisonous abcess that needs to be lanced (eeeuuuwww!). Once that's done, I'm okay.

I like to plan what I hope to accomplish in the year to come. I'm hoping that I'll be able to write enough fiction that maybe one will finally catch an editor's fancy. Work has slowed down, predictably, this month, so now's the time to start writing outlines.

I've still got a lot of painting and decorating to do, but I won't be able to do that until the new year (no spare money!). And there's a trip planned with a friend that should be pretty exciting, if it comes off.

I haven't figured out yet how to enjoy life now I'm in the new place, though - it's taking a while to get the bad karma from the other place filtered out.

-TD, tired, in post-migraine mode and not making much sense at the moment so going away now
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
I'm here! I'm here!

Well, sort of here.

I've had two weeks work - unheard of in December, especially in the past couple of years - right before Christmas, I have a newsletter that needs doing by the end of the week (alas, Christmas holiday!) and two weeks' work again on-site at a very interesting place (I keep getting these jobs that show me the door to get into the entertainment industry, but never the key to unlock it!), as well as another newsletter and another article for my friend's magazine to write.

Whee!

I've also been enjoying NOT being on the computer. I have to confess that some days I feel like I'm welded to the damned chair and the computers are holding me hostage.

I find working on-site very tiring, mostly because I have to be on-site the whole day - no sneaking off and having a 20-minute power snooze in the middle of the afternoon! And of course, I work with intense concentration so by the end of the day, I'm as stiff as a board and as bent as a pretzel.

Mind you, the fun thing about this particular contract is that I don't have to take public transit to get there - a ten minute walk is all it takes! I like that!

I went to my annual sing-along Messiah on 19th December. Fun, as always, even though I didn't get a chance to practice. And something happened that was totally unexpected... as I was scanning the section for a seat (it's general admission) I saw someone from behind who I thought I recognized. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be... one of my high school music teachers! And with her was another teacher, my gym teacher (people think I am pulling their legs when I tell them I had a swimming teacher named Mrs. Waters, but I did, and there she was with my music teacher!).

What was really cool was that she remembered me (once I reminded her what instrument I played) - not just my first name, but my last (with more-or-less correct pronounciation!). It was quite funny. Turns out I was one of the "memorable" students, though not, perhaps, for the best reasons. (I was a good student, but one of those that would be classified as "at risk" in today's culture, because of the stresses of my life at home.)

We had a good natter. My music teacher had retired the previous year, and sadly, her husband died the same year, before they could enjoy their retirement together. I asked about some of the other teachers, particularly the one whose children had been in a terrible car accident when they were just toddlers (I'd heard about it on the news the day after it happened, in the early 80s. just as I was on my way out the door to go to work.). The kids had recovered without any lasting problems, thank goodness, and were finishing up their education in university.

She promised she'd come back the next year, and gave me a really big hug and said it really made her day to have seen me again. I think it was the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.

Christmas was quiet - I called my father on Christmas morning, and then spent the rest of the day watching my Harry Potter dvds. I wasn't quick enough to get the Die Hard movies from the video store, as I had planned; I'm hoping maybe New Year's Eve I'll be luckier.

My Christmas tree this year was a five-inch tall European pine in a small pot. I'm supposed to transplant it into a bigger pot, then set it outside for the summer, bringing it back in when the weather gets cold, for next year. We'll see... (TD having inherited the worst traits from her father, did not, alas, also inherit his ability to grow and nurture plants).

Big snow storm in Nova Scotia left my father without power for 20 hours, and no power means no air compressor so he couldn't take his lung meds. But, thank goodness he was living in his house - he has a wood stove to keep him warm. If he'd been living in an apartment, he would have had to have gone to a shelter, and I know how much he would enjoy that... (not!).

Anyway, I'm going not going to be around much over the next couple of weeks, but I will check in to update the Location and Upcoming Movies threads (starting new ones for the New Year!) and I hope everyone had a good Christmas for those who celebrate it, and nice holiday for those who don't (who live in such places as have the Christmas season public holidays), and I hope everyone has their list of New Year's Resolutions ready to go!
 

TDWoj

Administrator
Staff member
Happy New Year, everyone!

Well, 2005 is only three days old and already I'm busted, in terms of my goals, objectives and aspirations for this year....

"I promise not to be as cranky as I was last year."

Poof.

Or, loophole: "...as cranky" means there's still some wiggle room to be cranky... (evil grin).

Actually, I'm thinking more in the long-term, averaged over time.... ;)

Okay, I'm rambling, but it's late and I've had a weird day.

I do have things I want to accomplish this year. I have many, many, many unfinished projects that need to be completed, and already I'm pressed for time, since I'm working "temp" on-site at an office for the next week or so, as well as having two newsletters and an article (another article!) to write. (Money is good.)

I want to write more fiction, and get it "out there" in the hopes that something will click, right time, right place, right editor... (if wishes were horses, I'd be buried in manure right now).

I want my poor health to be less poor health and more good health.

I want to be more patient with my father, which, I confess, gets harder and harder to do. I don't know if it's my impatience or his orneriness that's the issue; probably a combination of both. (He's back to trying to control my life again. See, I'm 47 years old but I'm too stupid to know how to count to ten on my fingers without using my toes. It was ever thus; but more so now.)

I want to try new things, and not be so afraid of change. (Another ghost from my past: going to seven schools in four cities before the age of eleven made me most desirous of things staying the same for extended periods of time; but I am finding that I've been "staying the same" for so long now, it is holding me back instead of making me feel secure, so it's time to be a bit more adventurous than I have been.)

I need to get out more. The last seven years in my old apartment were horrendous - I never went out because where I lived there was nowhere to go, and no one ever came over because I lived too far away from anyone to come and visit. Now I'm in the heart of downtown Toronto, and still I stay home... now, that's just silly! Not to mention I've only had my business colleague over because I'm hiding the fact that I bought a sofa (I owe a friend of mine some money, and I have been forbidden from buying anything for my place until I pay said friend off. Thank goodness for Visa....)

I need to find better paying work. I'm tired of working for nickles and dimes; but I know that getting a full-time job will drive me back into depression and I can't afford that, either emotionally or financially. (I have a very busy mind; it needs constant stimulation, and the only way I can get that is if I have a variety of things to do. Doing the same job day after day after day without hope of promotion or advancement or the opportunity to learn anything new has twice sent me to the brink, and even thinking about a full-time job has my hands shaking and me breaking out in a cold sweat.)

I have decided that this year, I am going to buy a keyboard and go back to playing music. I think a lot of the angst I've been suffering over the past 14 years is because I gave up music. (Well, at the time, it seemed like the only thing to do.) I'll never be any good at it, but it gives me enough satisfaction just to practice.

I'm still thinking of running for city council, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.

I like doing things for other people, but I've never found a satisfactory outlet for it that I can squeeze into my schedule (work for money always has to come first, since being a freelancer, work can evaporate at a moment's notice). I used to be a lector in my church; people liked listening to me because I had a good, strong, clear voice, they could hear me even at the back of the church, and I read the lessons as if they were stories, and so folks sat up and paid attention - it wasn't just buzzing coming down from the lectern. I felt I was doing something to contribute to the mass and giving something to the congregation - my speaking voice and my expression was my gift (heaven forfend I should sing, though!). I haven't been to church since my stepmother died, since I have to call my father at precisely 9 a.m. Sunday morning, or suffer dire consequences at upsetting his routine for the day. And, alas, I'm now living in the Archdiocese of Toronto, which means NO WOMEN ALLOWED near the altar to assist in the mass (the farther away a church is from the Archdiocese, the more relaxed the unwritten rules are).

(I'm considering volunteering at St. Mike's hospital, or perhaps down at the Toronto Humane Society. I can get along with just about any dog or cat, and since I've decided against getting a pet as long as I'm living in an apartment, this might satisfy my needs regarding pets.)

I have lost my capacity for patience with the elderly, I'm ashamed to admit. My father has been driving me round the bend ever since my stepmother died, and each year he finds new ways of being difficult that always seem to catch me off guard. I try to be a good daughter; I've done the best I could, but I will never, ever measure up to his expectations of me. I'm single; I'm childless; therefore, I'm worthless. Worse, I'm stupid and a bad person because I won't do as he tells me; I have failed in life because I won't live my life according to his rules.

Because of this, I no longer have the patience to sit with the elderly and be 'company' for them. The constant barrage of bitterness and complaints and harangues and ravings and sometimes downright hatred I get from my father has pretty much made me gun-shy in this regard. I don't want to be impatient or unkind; but I don't want to be buried in any more of another person's bitterness, either.

These are the things I've put on my list of goals and objectives for this year. I hope they are not selfish, or self-serving. I just want to be happy so that I can spread it around.
 
Top